EarthQuaker Devices - Barrows - Fuzz Attacker

Barrows™

Fuzz Attacker

Barrows pays homage to the iconic MKII circuit while adding modern refinements that would make even the most discerning vintage purist weep tears of harmonic joy. At its heart, Barrows features a trio of carefully matched germanium transistors nestled within finely tuned circuitry that has been lovingly coaxed to produce everything from light, singing distortion to crushing fuzz tones with nearly infinite harmonic-rich sustain. 

The phase-corrected and buffered output ensures it plays nice with other pedals down the line, while the increased output volume and wide range of fuzz tones make it a versatile sonic weapon. All this power is packed into a compact footprint that saves precious real estate on your pedalboard. This isn’t just another fuzz box – it’s a portal to the fabled tones that have haunted the dreams of fuzz fanatics for decades.

Controls

Level: Controls the output volume of Barrows. Unity gain sits around noon, but you’ll find plenty of volume boost available when you need to push your amplifier into blissful submission.

Attack: This is where the magic happens. At lower settings, Barrows provides singing, amp-like distortion with superb touch sensitivity. As you rotate clockwise, the circuit transforms into an increasingly aggressive fuzz monster, building to crushing, sustain-drenched tones that seem to go on forever. The wide range of this control means you can find everything from gentle breakup to full-on sonic annihilation.

Dimensions

3.75 x 2.00 x 1.75 in. (95 x 51 x 44 mm) with knobs

Current Draw

10 mA

Input Impedance

10 kΩ

Output Impedance

100 Ω

Switching

Barrows uses mechanical true bypass switching.

Power

This device takes a standard 9 volt DC power supply with a 2.1mm negative center barrel. We always recommend pedal-specific, transformer-isolated wall-wart power supplies or multiple isolated-output supplies. Pedals will make extra noise if there is ripple or unclean power. Switching-type power supplies, daisy chains and non-pedal specific power supplies do not filter dirty power as well and let through unwanted noise. DO NOT RUN AT HIGHER VOLTAGES!

Artwork

Artwork by Dave Neeson

WATCH THE DEMO HERE