Given that Strymon's reputation was built on unapologetically digital pedals, it was a little surprising to see them launch the Series A line — a new product family dedicated to all-analogue effects. Following on from the debut pedal in the range, the Fairfax, the company have announced the release of its successor, the Canoga.
The new arrival is a fuzz pedal, and has been based on a small selection of pedals built by Strymon’s CEO Gregg Stock over a decade ago. Originally created as a means of clearing his head, the pedals have apparently been sat on a shelf gathering dust ever since. With the Series A line launched, the company set about bringing the designs to life, resulting in a new circuit that offers a ‘tweaked’ version of a silicon FuzzFace.
Opting for a simple but effective approach, the Canoga features just two controls: Drive and Level, plus a footswitch. Strymon say that the two controls still provide plenty of tonal range, though, with much of its versatility owed to the interaction between the pedal’s input circuitry and the guitar’s volume knob. Pushing the pedal’s two controls hard will apparently yield “the full fuzz experience” with the connected guitar maxed out, while rolling back the instrument’s volume will result in more subtle, semi-clean blues, rock, Americana and pop tones, while also maintaining a cleaner high-frequency response than is typical of many traditional fuzz designs.
Pricing & Availability
The Canoga is available now, priced at $199.
