GEAR SPOTLIGHT
EARTHQUAKER
DEVICES
ERUPTER
REVIEW BY JAMIE WOLFERT
STREET PRICE $145.00
Simplicity and perfection
often go hand-in-hand.
When one thinks about
the very few things in this
world that have attained
a state of true perfection,
things like Telecasters,
Funhouse-era Stooges,
and pizza, for example,
those things often have an
elegant simplicity to them
that is part and parcel
of their rarefied natures.
This kind of natural
simplicity can be deceiving,
appearing easy and
obvious to the uninformed
outside observer, when in
fact it was arrived at only
through careful planning
and years of trial and error.
Such is the case with the
46
GEAR SPOTLIGHT //
newest fuzz pedal from
Akron, Ohio’s EarthQuaker
Devices, the aptly named
Erupter.
The Erupter began several
years ago as EQD head
honcho Jamie Stillman’s
personal quest for the
ultimate classic fuzz
tone. The catch was that
this ultimate fuzz tone
had to be accessible via
a stripped down, no-
nonsense interface, and it
had to work anywhere in
the signal chain without
complaint. It had to be
both fat on the bottom
and clear and cutting on
the top, without getting
flabby or harsh. This would
EarthQuaker Devices Erupter
seem to be a tall order, but
after a couple of years of
swapping components and
experimenting with various
topologies, the magic
formula revealed itself.
At its core, the Erupter
is based on a silicon Fuzz
Face circuit, but it is like
no Fuzz Face you have
seen or heard. For one,
EarthQuaker outfitted it
with just a single control:
one big knob for setting
the bias. Volume and gain
have been permanently
fixed at maximum, a
choice which some might
question, but which makes
perfect sense if you’ve
ever played through a