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Fryette Valvulator Mini Tube Buffer
High Voltage Tube Buffer - Pickup Load Shaping - Compact Tube DI and Signal Conditioner
£199.00
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The Fryette Valvulator Mini is the longawaited evolution of one of Fryette's most loved problemsolvers, the original Valvulator 1. Players adored the tone and feel of the original, but it was large, heavy and built around features that no longer match modern pedalboard setups. The Valvulator Mini keeps everything people loved about the concept while dramatically improving size, efficiency, noise performance and headroom.
At its core, the Valvulator Mini is a high voltage vacuum tube buffer that converts your guitar's signal from high to low impedance. This eliminates the highfrequency loss, dullness and signal collapse caused by cable capacitance, impedance mismatches and long pedal chains. The tube front end also acts as a tone sweetener, restoring the harmonic richness, dynamics and touch sensitivity associated with plugging straight into a great amp.
The improvements over the original are substantial. The old DC pedal power outputs are gone, because modern players already rely on dedicated power supplies. The oversized transformer is gone as well. Thanks to a new highfrequency power supply that is roughly 80 percent efficient, the Mini generates a full 250 volts of plate voltage from a compact module that weighs almost nothing and runs on a simple 12volt input. The result is a dramatically smaller, lighter and more practical unit that fits easily under most pedalboards and can be powered by common supplies like a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 3.
Pickup loading switches allow you to fine tune the midrange and topend response by emulating the way different guitar cables interact with passive pickups. It may seem counterintuitive to remove cable problems and then selectively add them back, but the Mini does it intelligently: you get the correct pickup behaviour and feel while still maintaining a lowimpedance output that keeps the rest of your pedalboard quieter and more stable.
The Valvulator Mini also offers significantly more headroom than the original. The older unit could clip when hit with active pickups like EMGs, especially with the onboard boost engaged. The Mini handles those signals cleanly, making it suitable for modern highoutput rigs. It is also super quiet, with lower noise and greater dynamic range than its predecessor.
Connectivity is extensive. The Mini provides an unbalanced lowimpedance output, an unbalanced transformerisolated output, a balanced XLR output for use as a tube DI and an isolated B amp mode for feeding a second amplifier without noise or ground issues. It is a compact, elegant solution for both pedalboard and studio environments.
As Steve Fryette explains: "The Valvulator Mini is the longawaited evolution of one of our most popular rig solutions. The Mini features increased headroom and dynamic range, together with significantly lower noise. As always, I wanted a solution for myself that I knew would be a welcome tool for players, especially those who really appreciate the tone and feel of plugging directly into an amp."
The Fryette Valvulator Mini is a simple, powerful and modern answer to the same problems the original solved, now in a form factor that fits any rig and performs better than ever.