Thorpy FX | Scarlet Tunic | ANALOG AMP EMULATOR ThorpyFx

ThorpyFX label their Scarlet Tunic pedal an “analog amp emulator”. But which particular amp does it emulate? Well, the project came about when guitarist Lee Harris (of Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets) asked the company to create a stompbox that could mimic the sound of a rare Selmer Treble & Bass 50 amplifier — famously used by Syd Barrett in early Pink Floyd music. As Saucerful of Secrets specialise in performing early Pink Floyd material, he wanted the pedal to provide those vintage amp tones so that he could sound as authentic as possible whilst playing on the Saucerful of Secrets World Tour.

ThorpyFX ensured that the Selmer was covered tonally during the pedal’s development phase. But, as always, they went further than the initial scope of design and ensured that the Scarlet Tunic could convincingly achieve DR103 and AC30-style tones too. It’s almost like a greatest hits of British amp sounds in a pedalboard-friendly box! Fitted with a high-quality transformer, the pedal reacts to your playing and distorts like a full-sized amplifier would.

The ThorpyFX Scarlet Tunic can work fantastically well with your existing amp and pedal setup; making it easy to integrate into your current rig. You can therefore think of it as a tweakable preamp pedal, or a sophisticated overdrive. Use it into the front-end of your amp to harness classic sounds; giving your amplifier a completely new voice and transforming it into a British powerhouse! Tested worldwide during its development on the biggest of stages, you can be confident that the Scarlet Tunic will deliver.

Controls

• MASTER: Use this control to increase the volume output of the pedal. This balances with the gain knob and sensitivity switch.
• GAIN: Increases the level of drive available on the pedal. Everything from lightly crispy, through to full-on amp saturation is available. The scope of this control is affected by the sensitivity switch.
• TREBLE: Allows you to tweak the treble response of the pedal. Counter-clockwise yields smoother sounds, whilst clockwise produces brighter tones.
• BASS: Influences the bass response of the pedal. Counter-clockwise yields a thinner sound, whilst clockwise forms a darker timbre.
• PRESENCE: A powerful control that affects the upper mid-range response of the Scarlet Tunic; changing the character of the pedal entirely.
• DEEP SWITCH: This influences the low-end character of the pedal and acts like a master bass control.
• BRIGHT SWITCH: Affects the brightness of the pedal and acts like a master highs control.
• SENS SWITCH: This changes the gain character of the pedal and is like the 1/2 or ‘hi/lo’ input jack option you find on old-school amps, but with 3 gain levels.

Specifications

• Power: 9V DC, centre negative (the voltage is bumped up to 18V internally). PSU not included.