Crazy Tube Circuits has announced a new Raw edition of its acclaimed Unobtanium pedal – but stock is highly limited.
The Greek effects specialist has dished out some interesting builds over the years, including a pedal that crams the sounds of Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here into a stompbox, and the original Unobtanium, which offered coveted Klon Centaur and Dumble tones in a single unit. Now, that design has been revisited.
The Klon Centaur is an often-imitated, highly sought-after and ultra-expensive overdrive pedal, with some players willing to empty their piggy banks for an original. It's a similar story for Dumbles, which are regarded as some of the best amps money can buy.
Crazy Tube Circuits (CTC), though, impressed with the Unobtanium upon its release, scoring a lofty five stars in its Guitar World review.
Now, CTC has returned to that recipe for a Raw edition that delivers the same tones, but with some choice tweaks and upgrades to boot.
Beneath its redesigned casing are the same Klon-style overdrive and Dumble-style guitar amp voicings, which bring together two of the most unobtainable guitar tones in the world.
For the Raw variant, a couple of extra “magic ingredients” have been thrown in for good measure. For example, a set of hand-selected ‘60s New Old Stock Mullard/Valvo labelled OC45 germanium transistors have been added to the Klon’s clipping section.
After trying out a range of transistors, the pedal maker concluded these were the only ones that “added a supernatural feel with organic compression for increased gain and sustain”.
For more authentic tones, the Unobtanium's stock mode retains the pedal's original vibe. Here, the germanium diodes clip just like the flagship unit.
On the Dumble side of the pedal, CTC has delivered an additional Raw option, which promises to be a “glassier and punchier” version of the Standard voice.
The Unobtanium Raw carries over the passive effects loop of the standard version, with additional outputs allowing for the two sides of the pedal to work as independent effects when paired with an external bypass switcher or looper.
The upgraded Unobtanium is being made in limited quantities, at the mercy of the availability of those NOS Mullard/Valvo OC45 germanium transistor, and costs $349.
Jump on over to Crazy Tube Circuits to learn more.
The Athens-based firm is no stranger to meshing several pedals and amps into singular units. Its Mythos pedal, which dropped earlier this year, packaged together Dumble and Bluesbreaker tones.
