Monarch Pedals - effects pedals for guitar and bass designed and handmade in Auckland, New Zealand.
"We make original circuit effects pedals that make playing the guitar more fun, more inspiring, and make you want to play that little bit longer, building them by hand one at a time from road-tested components that are built to survive the rigours of the road, or wherever you want them to go. A funky paintjob doesn't hurt either!"
A setlist in a box.
The SunDog is a boost/overdrive/distortion/fuzz unit capable of just about all the drive sounds that are out there with a massive sweep available in the gain and EQ controls.
The DRIVE control is a dual gang pot controlling the gain in the feedback loop of 2 different opamps in the circuit, both clipping at different thresholds and boosting different frequencies.
What does that mean?
It means the high notes are clipped differently to the bass notes basically, so lead lines have a rounded edge while riffs and chords remain tight and full. We’ve not seen another design like it.
The SAG control adds a little fuzzy edge to your playing, reminiscent of classic 70s rock where the notes bloom organically a la Santana or Gary Moore.
And then there’s the 2 switches along the bottom row - the one on the bottom right is the on/off bypass switch, the one on the left is to engage the second channel which is linked to the BOOST VOLUME control. This means you can set the VOLUME where you’re happy, then set the BOOST VOLUME for a different level when you feel like it.
The LED in the centre is a bi-color LED that changes colour depending on the channel selected. It’s green when in channel 1 and red when the boost is engaged. As a helpful reminder there are little coloured circles under the switches to let you know which colour means what :).
An active three band EQ means you can sculpt the sound however you want it. Scoop the mids for chugga chugga, roll back the bass and treble and dime the mids for a great classic rock tone, or crank the gain for total doom.
The name is inspired by Bess the dog who traipses around the house looking for patches of sun in which to curl up and sleep. The artwork is inspired by the view from the workshop here in Auckland, New Zealand.
NOTES:
Runs on 9/12/18v
12 month RTB warranty
Gain enough for anything
1590BB size enclosure
Handmade one at a time
The SAG control (depending how fast you turn it) may cut the sound out temporarily. It’ll come back soon enough but that’s just an electrolytic dumping its charge to ground before it sucks up new power. If you turn it slowly this doesn’t happen. This limits adjusting it on the fly but that’s ok.
