The Kill Chain is a pedal designed to accomplish a specific set of goals. First, I wanted a fuzz full of aggression, and raunchy raucousness. Second, I wanted a simple feature set that was easy to understand and dial in—nothing to obsess over or fiddle with. Plug it in and rip. And third, I wanted a pedal that felt worth more than the price of admission, both in dollar value, and versatility of the feature set.

I decided to forego the traditional EQ tools. No tone knob, no active tone stacks, no adjustable high pass filters. I chose a fixed filter towards the end that gave me what I felt was perfect for how I play, while still feeling natural across multiple pickup, amp, and music styles. I implemented the Depth toggle to give me control at the front of how much bass entered the circuit. This toggle provides a wide range of heft, and helps you make easy adjustments between different guitars and pickups. The Level control also adjusts treble frequencies as you adjust the volume. I found when I was playing at lower fuzz volumes I liked more treble, but as I turned up the volume they could get out of control. As you increase the level control treble is attenuated, which keeps everything balanced. The final EQ tool to the party was the Bleed toggle. This toggle does a few things. First, it adjusts the cutoff frequency down for less prominent treble across the Level sweep. It reduces the overall compression for a more open and aggressive sound. Finally, it gives a massive volume boost.

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Kill Chain

Der 1312 begann sein Leben als physische Verkörperung einer der Grundüberzeugungen von Black Mass Electronic: Black Lives Matter. Es bot uns auch eine umsetzbare Möglichkeit, unsere Unterstützung finanziell zu demonstrieren. Diese neue Version des 1312 verkörpert ein weiteres wichtiges Gefühl: Trans-Rechte sind Menschenrechte. 50 % der Gewinne aus diesen Pedalen werden zwischen mehreren Organisationen aufgeteilt, deren Anliegen wir unterstützen – No More Dysphoria, Transgender Emergency Fund, Asian American Resource Workshop, Black & Pink – Boston und Solidarity North Shore.

The 1312 began its life as a physical embodiment of one of Black Mass Electronic’s fundamental beliefs: Black Lives Matter. It also provided an actionable avenue for us to demonstrate our support monetarily. This new iteration of the 1312 embodies another important sentiment: Trans Rights are Human Rights. 50% of the profits from these pedals will be split between several organizations whose causes we support - No More Dysphoria, Transgender Emergency Fund, Asian American Resource Workshop, Black & Pink - Boston, and Solidarity North Shore.

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1312 Distortion V3

Growing up learning how to play guitar, my house had one pedal: my dad’s ’73 Rams Head. This sound is ingrained in my psyche. Black Mass started its life with me trying to clone this pedal. When I started working on The First Herald, I decided to start fresh. I scrutinized every component value, and spent months finalizing it. While the topology remains similar, the sound is modern, decisive, and unmistakably malicious.

Review by guitar pedal X

The First Herald

The First Herald features two independent and reversible circuits. The Fuzz takes advantage of a modernized tone stack and three distinct clipping modes.  An added Scoop control allows you to dial in exactly where you want to sit in the mix. All the way down, you have a full and present fuzz, but turn it up to add some of that signature midrange scoop. The clipping section is extra special. With the toggle to the left, both soft-clipping stages utilize a hybrid MOSFET/LED combo for a huge, open, cutting fuzz. To the right, the two clipping stages use traditional silicon diodes for extra compression and that smooth, squashed, vintage sound.
The Boost side is a simple discrete boost circuit. The magic here comes from the order reverse switch that allows you to run the boost before or after the fuzz. Run Boost before for extra thick Fuzz saturation, or run it after to drive the amp harder or for a solo level boost. This is not a clean boost, it adds some color, grit, and tons of volume, making it the perfect accompaniment for the Fuzz side.

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