More than ‘just’ a distortion pedal, this all‑analogue overdrive boasts real amp‑like character.
Strymon Fairfax all-analogue distortion pedal.Strymon have an enviable reputation in the effects pedal world, and they’ve earned it with a series of high‑end digital pedals. The Fairfax, however, is an all‑analogue creation. While that might appear a surprising move to guitarists, even digital pedals need high‑end analogue circuitry either side of the converter chips, and Strymon already have engineers with the necessary expertise. They’re drawing on that talent to design a new ‘Series A’ range of analogue pedals, of which the Fairfax is the first.
Fair Facts
The first thing to say is that the Fairfax is more than a typical overdrive. It replicates a complete valve amplifier’s signal path, including an emulation of the output transformer, which is an important factor when recreating the sound and feel of a real amp. Apparently, the original inspiration was Garnet Amplifiers’ Herzog amp, but the final design owes more to the Fender Champ. FET circuitry is used to replicate the behaviour of valves, and Strymon have included a variable Sag circuit, to emulate the way the output of a valve amp power supply is affected by the dynamic load of the amplifier, creating a natural sense of compression that’s triggered by loud transients when a real valve amp is pushed hard.
This circuity needs a high operating voltage to provide the necessary headroom, so the standard 9V (500mA) input feeds an internal transformer‑based power supply that steps up to 40V. An internal jumper sets the power up state. The default state is bypass, but those using the Fairfax with a loop switcher can change it to be active, which is a considerate touch. Physical considerations include connections at the top end of the case to make fitting adjacent pedals easier, and a no‑click footswitch.
Though it operates on a standard 9V supply, the voltage is stepped up internally to 40V to provide headroom for the all‑analogue amp‑emulation circuitry.
Despite the internal sophistication, the controls are straightforward, with knobs for level, drive and Sag. The I/O is mono, and the footswitch operates a true bypass relay. As expected, the level control sets the output level (which, unusually, can’t be turned right down to zero), while drive determines the amount of preamp gain. Then there’s that adjustable Sag control. A Bright switch sets the high‑frequency profile: with Bright turned off, highs are tamed slightly for a smoother sound, while with Bright on, the original guitar tonality comes through more. There were occasions when I might have liked a tonality somewhere between the two but there’s no separate tone control here.
Fair Play
At lower drive settings the Fairfax remains ‘polite’, just adding a natural, touch‑sensitive harmonic richness. This is particularly effective for adding a little ‘hair’ to clean amps, and also works brilliantly to push an amp that’s just on the edge of break‑up. The level control can also be used to push the front end of an amp harder when using lower gain settings, as there’s plenty of boost on hand. At higher drive levels the output becomes more obviously saturated and the control offers a large gain range, going from virtually clean to heavy saturation. So the Fairfax will work well with both single‑coil and humbucker appointed guitars. It can be pushed to sound aggressive if that’s what you want, though personally I found gain settings in the first two thirds of the control’s travel the most useful.
A small amount of Sag really does help to nail the real‑amp feel.
A small amount of Sag really does help to nail the real‑amp feel, but the control has so much range that you can, should it be your thing, take it well past the sweet spot to sound like an amp that’s about to fail! I found settings in the first third of travel worked best with my Strat. There was just one design decision that puzzled me a little: when using high drive levels, even when turning the level control down fully the output sounds noticeably louder than the bypass position. So if you need to kick it in just for solos where a lot of overdrive is needed, the increase in level may be more than you want, especially if driving a clean amp with no natural compression.
In summary, then, the Fairfax is no ordinary drive pedal. It’s excellent for adding a natural edge to a clean amp, but also sounds extremely good when pushing an amp already on the edge of breaking up. It feels deliciously touch responsive, and the appeal to live performers just needing to add some edge to a clean or slightly driven amp is obvious. But the Fairfax has a lot to offer studio users too — when working with hardware or software amp modellers, it may well help you achieve a more natural result when chasing those elusive edge‑of‑break‑up sounds.
Summary
More than a mere overdrive, the Fairfax emulates a real amp, complete with power‑sag compression.
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