The InterFax Harmonic Percolator has a weird story. A distortion/fuzz pedal made in the fabulous city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the 70’s, it has become a mystical unit of legend. Probably made most famous by Steve Albini of Big Black and Shellac, these rather bland-looking boxes have a wide range of tones to investigate. Since originals are relatively scarce and spendy, it’s nice when a re-creation comes our way, and today is one of those days, thanks to the Bowman Audio Endeavors Harmonic Percolator.
Based specifically off of the original, the BAE HP uses the same NOS NPN and PNP transistors as the vintage models, along with a pair of NOS germanium diodes, for that specific and remarkable distorted/fuzzy tone. Balance and Harmonics are the only controls, but there’s a wide sonic spectrum just waiting to be explored. This Harmonic Percolator keeps that simple enclosure attitude, but makes it smaller and upgrades it a little, for modern aesthetics along with a classic sound.
Now for the bad news: our friend James Bowman, the lead guitarist from Against Me!, is the owner and creator of Bowman Audio Endeavors…and he made only 4 of these. We got one and he has one, leaving just two out in the wild, and who knows if their owners will ever part with them. Ours certainly isn’t going anywhere, but to get a feel for what it can do, and some of the sounds it produces, you’re gonna have to watch our demo video below, because, well, why not? We’re excited to have teamed up with James on this and a couple of other BAE releases, so be sure to keep an eye out for more pedals from him in the near future. Don’t forget to visit the BAE website, too, cheers!
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