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The Frus Atlas is a pedal based on the existing preamp in the Boss CE-1, which is a circuit that remains active even when the chorus/vibrato is turned off, acting all the time in the signal chain. This gear is essential when building John Frusciante’s tone, who uses it since when he joined the Chili Peppers in 1988.
The discovery of the importance of the preamp in the Boss CE-1 was shared on the JFeffects email series with Dave Lee (Frusciante’s guitar tech from 1998 to 2007) in March 2017. Since then, the replication of this circuit have become frequent in between the Frusciante tone admirers. Almost a decade after sharing this information, those responsible for this revelation put out their updated reinterpretation of this circuit, reinforcing it’s positive characteristics and offering an upgrade for it’s issues; The original concept of the Boss CE-1 aimed mainly at keyboard players, and due to incompatibilities with the guitar signal, it commonly generates clipped sound and/or without definition, depending on the knob’s position. Through these analyses and a thorough development, it was possible to get around this situation, and offer more headroom and more usable range of the knob, when compared to the CE-1, while we could keep all the desired sound interactions.
The LEVEL CONTROL controls a gain structure which interacts with the HIGH and LOW modes in different ways (the “Check”green LED indicates when the pedal is on). On HIGH mode, the knob brings a lot of volume, a lot of gain and mid-high frequencies, being Frusciante’s option for Mother’s Milk, Californication, By The Way and Unlimited Love / Return Of The Dream Canteen eras, with the Level around 11-12 o’clock - with the exception of the UL / ROTDC era, which the knob was kept around 09-11 o’clock. The LOW mode delivers less volume, less distortion and a low-mid sound, and was used during the Stadium Arcadium era, with the Level around 02-03 o’clock, which interacts better with the combination in between all the saturation pedals and the four preamps from the Moogerfooger MF-101 and MF-102 (these preamps being reproduced in a pioneering way with the creation of the Frus Axis, in 2022).
Our pedal has a Peak Level indicator (red LED) which blinks according to the dynamics of the received signal, being sensible to the equipment used in its input and the position of the LEVEL CONTROL. Besides that, the pedal has a strict component selection, adding quality to the build and the sound of this circuitc originally from the 1970’s.
The discovery of the importance of the preamp in the Boss CE-1 was shared on the JFeffects email series with Dave Lee (Frusciante’s guitar tech from 1998 to 2007) in March 2017. Since then, the replication of this circuit have become frequent in between the Frusciante tone admirers. Almost a decade after sharing this information, those responsible for this revelation put out their updated reinterpretation of this circuit, reinforcing it’s positive characteristics and offering an upgrade for it’s issues; The original concept of the Boss CE-1 aimed mainly at keyboard players, and due to incompatibilities with the guitar signal, it commonly generates clipped sound and/or without definition, depending on the knob’s position. Through these analyses and a thorough development, it was possible to get around this situation, and offer more headroom and more usable range of the knob, when compared to the CE-1, while we could keep all the desired sound interactions.
The LEVEL CONTROL controls a gain structure which interacts with the HIGH and LOW modes in different ways (the “Check”green LED indicates when the pedal is on). On HIGH mode, the knob brings a lot of volume, a lot of gain and mid-high frequencies, being Frusciante’s option for Mother’s Milk, Californication, By The Way and Unlimited Love / Return Of The Dream Canteen eras, with the Level around 11-12 o’clock - with the exception of the UL / ROTDC era, which the knob was kept around 09-11 o’clock. The LOW mode delivers less volume, less distortion and a low-mid sound, and was used during the Stadium Arcadium era, with the Level around 02-03 o’clock, which interacts better with the combination in between all the saturation pedals and the four preamps from the Moogerfooger MF-101 and MF-102 (these preamps being reproduced in a pioneering way with the creation of the Frus Axis, in 2022).
Our pedal has a Peak Level indicator (red LED) which blinks according to the dynamics of the received signal, being sensible to the equipment used in its input and the position of the LEVEL CONTROL. Besides that, the pedal has a strict component selection, adding quality to the build and the sound of this circuitc originally from the 1970’s.
HOW TO BUY?
The Frus Atlas will be available for purchase on April 5th 2025. We will open a batch with 10 units for pre-sale, with a deadline for shipping up to 30 days. To join the sale of these units, text +55 (41) 99191-2258 on WhatsApp or click here.
Value:- Pay Pal: US$ 149 + shipping
PHOTOS:
TECHNICAL INFORMATION:
Power supply: 9V center-negative power supply with P4 connectorConsumption: 40mA (9V DC)Controls: DriveIndicator: 5mm green LED to indicate the effect on or off / 5mm red LED to indicate the intensity of the received signalConnections: Inst. (Input), Amp. (Output), P4 connector for power supplyDimensions:- Length: 11cm- Maximum width (with jacks): 7.5cm- Maximum height (with fooswitch and knobs height): 5.1cm- Minimum height (only cabinet): 3.5cmWeight: 175g