SolidGoldFX Imperial MKII Fuzz & Gate Pedal

The Jumbo Fuzz

Upon first glance at the Imperial MKII, you might be intrigued by its charmingly retro appearance. Inspired by the JEN Jumbo fuzz, which is one of our personal favorite vintage fuzzes, the Imperial MKII’s four sliders, textured black paint and bold red graphics show that this pedal means business.

If a ripping, royally raucous fuzz, with impeccable manners, is what you seek in your tone conquest or whether you are chasing those soaring Gilmour-esque leads that propel you to the far side of the moon, then look no further than the Imperial MKII.

So, what is the JEN Jumbo Fuzz and what makes it so awesome? JEN Elettronica was an Italian manufacturer who made pedals for Vox, Dallas Arbiter and Sound City (among others), in addition to making equipment under their own brand. The Jumbo Fuzz was their spin on the venerable EHX Big Muff® that swapped the knobs out for sliders and added a nifty germanium noise gate. In terms of sound, the tuning of the Jumbo Fuzz lies somewhere in the Ram’s Head camp - not overly scooped or woofy, with a nice gain range - just a great sounding pedal!

While the Jumbo’s noise gate is a great feature and gives this BMP variant a unique attack with practically zero noise, vintage units vary greatly from one unit to another, with some gating too much and others not at all. Capturing the Jumbo Fuzz’s vibe and redesigning the gate was essential to our Imperial redesign. Let’s dive in…

JFET Pre-amp

True to the original SGFX Imperial, the MKII retains our high impedance JFET preamp, giving the low noise floor detail and definition you would expect from any SolidGoldFX pedal. Bass, guitar or synth, stick it anywhere in your effects chain and feel free to ride your volume knob for clean-up - the Imperial’s preamp will respond.

Noise Gate

This is where the Imperial MKII really shines. We’ve swapped out the Jumbo Fuzz’s germanium transistor design with silicon devices and gave it an improved envelope generator, to ensure consistency and response throughout. Having fine-tuned the attack and release, the noise gate allows for virtually zero noise, and gives the pedal a unique attack with no loss of sustain at higher fuzz settings.

Golden-Era Styling

You know, as much as pedals should sound good, we think they need to look good too. Paying homage to the JEN Jumbo Fuzz, the Imperial MKII swaps out knobs for sliders and is completed with dual LED indicators (one for bypass and the other indicating the gate status), top jacks, and true bypass switching.