Chuck Collins Harmonic Percolator

     This review is for a Chuck Collins Harmonic Percolator I bought about 5-6 years ago.   It is built by Chuck Collins, who also builds Theramins, and is a clone of the rare original Interfax version, down to the NOS transistors, sliders, components, and enclosure.   Back then the box, which is brown and tan, didn't come with any lettering or graphics on the enclosure, just the two sliders for gain on the left and volume on the right.   No jack for any adaptor, battery powered only.   And the input jack is on the top right, with other output on the left, which is backwards from most pedals.
     With the volume at unity, and the gain below the 1/2 mark, the tones range from light to medium gain overdrive, which is quite transparent and warm.   Increased sustain and enhanced harmonic response with almost no coloring of the guitar's original tone.   Because this circuit almost exclusively enhances the even-order harmonics, the breakup is pleasant to the ears and crunchy yet smooth, very tube-like.   As you increase the gain above the 1/2 mark, the pedal goes into a nice balanced distortion and at the uppermost gain levels, into a slightly nasel,creamy fuzz tone that bring to mind the even-order harmonic enhanced sound of a germanium fuzz more so than a cranked tube-amp distortion.   Thru the entire travel of the gain slider the tones are well-balanced and easy on the ears and the volume slider has enough boost so you can overdrive a tube amp with some increased volume to further distort your overall sound.
     This pedal is just as much at home in front of an already overdriven amp as it is in front of a clean amp.   When driving a overdriven amp, it doesn't mush out too hard and note clarity is preserved well.   This pedal is great in all applications.
     When you open the pedal up to install the battery, the guts look a little primitive and simple, but the tones this pedal generates are anything but simple.   It's tones are 3-dimensional and complex and the even-order harmonic thing makes this a valuable pedal for anyone's collection.
     Steve Albini uses an original Interfax Harmonic Percolator for some of his guitar work with Shellac.   This pedal is great for 80-90's indie rock sounds but is not so much lo-fi as high-fi...
    When I bought the pedal it was only about $200.00, which is kinda pricey, but now it goes for about $300.00, which is kind of out of my spending range.   But if you have the funds, this pedal is worth it, it's a unique, excellent sounding pedal that is hand-made by Mr. Collins using the original circuit with NOS components, for maximum authenticity.