Surfy industries SurfyVibe Vibrato

The vintage Magnatone amps were known for having that amazing wobbly sound, from discreet low intensity effects that makes an instrument mix well into the sound of a band, to extreme effects that can take the sound of guitar out of this world ! Depending on settings, it can be deeply bluesy, very modern or spooky sounding.

The SURFY INDUSTRIES SurfyVibe compact effect pedal is emulating the mono channel of a Magnatone 280. The "sweeping" mode adds a feedback path to create a unique effect that is a mix of phaser / chorus / tremolo.

The original circuit in the Magnatone 280 used a component called "varistor", a type that has been obsolete for years. This is the reason modern circuits use other techniques to achieve pitch shift.

To get the sound as close to the original as possible, we have found a way to emulate the original circuit. Surfy Industries replaced the tubes with jFET transistors and the varistors with special diode arrays.