Earthquaker Devices Dirt Transmitter Rancho de la Luna

EarthQuaker Devices

Dirt Transmitter Rancho De La Luna

In early 2023, Jamie Stillman was invited by legendary guitarist and producer Dave Catching to participate in a recording session at Rancho De La Luna for an album celebrating 30 years of Rancho, during which Dirt Transmitter was u sed on a lot of the recordings. After the session, there was talk about doing a Dirt Transmitter release in conjunction with the album, and Dave suggested we use his friend, Mike Egan, to create some super special Rancho-themed art to celebrate the occasion. It just so happens that Mike is from Ohio and lives just a short drive from EQD headquarters. It all just seemed to fit together perfectly.

The Dirt Transmitter is one of the oldest circuits in the EarthQuaker line. The design is Fuzz Face inspired, and the idea started when Jamie Stillman came across some very unique silicon transistors. These transistors are lower gain and have a warmth similar to germanium transistors when overdriven. But they also have the top-end grind typical of silicon-based fuzz pedals, which adds to the mids and helps cut through.

The first Dirt Transmitters started shipping in January of 2008, and these original units were housed in a small enclosure with only three controls: Fuzz, Tone, and Level. Shortly after the release, Jamie decided to add the external Bias control, which opened up the circuit and brought it to life. By varying the Bias the transistor is starved of voltage. The Dirt Transmitter is properly biased when the Bias control is all the way up, when turning it down, the voltage is starved, and the fuzz tone becomes gated. This produces a sputtery ripping velcro tone that increases in character as you roll it back.

The combination of these rare transistors and the starved voltage creates a wide variety of textures at the turn of a knob, which made the Dirt Transmitter a beloved mainstay in our line until its untimely discontinuation in 2017.

Controls
• Fuzz: For heavier or lighter tones.
• Tone: For a brighter, more cutting tone, or to roll off top end for more mellow tones.
• Bias: Affects the voltage to the transistors which will create more gated velcro fuzz tones or thicker, natural fuzz tones.
• Level: Output volume.