KINBAKU | Optical Glitch Fuzz & Octave
The Art of Restriction. The Sound of Failure.
Kinbaku—the art of tight binding—is a study in control and release. This pedal is its sonic equivalent.
At its core, Kinbaku begins as a massive, single-knob high-gain fuzz circuit. But we didn't let it breathe. We modified the circuit with an unstable, flickering LED optical gate that literally starves the audio signal of light and voltage based on your playing dynamics.
The result is not a polite digital stutter. It is an organic, violent, analog failure. The fuzz sputters, chokes, cuts out randomly, and fights to sustain, creating unpredictable textures perfect for industrial noise, crushed doom, and experimental shoegaze. You don't just play this pedal; you struggle against it.
The Interface: A Power Dynamic
We stripped away standard controls, leaving only the essential tools for dominance and submission.
THE KNOB:
-
MASTER (Volume): There is only one knob. It controls the output level. It is deafeningly loud. Use it to punish the front end of your amplifier.
THE TOGGLES:
-
CHOKE / GASP (Gate Intensity):
-
CHOKE Mode: An aggressive, hard gate. The signal is strangled violently between notes for razor-sharp staccato riffs and complete silence when you stop playing.
-
GASP Mode: The ropes loosen slightly. More sustain is allowed through, letting the notes bloom and decay into a dying, sputtering crackle.
-
-
OBEY / ERROR (Glitch Mode):
-
OBEY Mode: The circuit functions as a massive, gated wall of fuzz. It does what it is told.
-
ERROR Mode: Engages the flickering LED instability circuit. The fuzz becomes unpredictable, randomly dropping out, stuttering, and glitching based on the incoming signal strength.
-
THE FOOTSWITCHES:
-
SUBMIT (Bypass): Engage the effect and surrender your clean tone to the dirt.
-
PUNISH (Octave): A footswitch that introduces a nasty, aggressive analog upper octave. It adds a piercing, metallic edge to the fuzz that cuts through the heaviest mix.
THE VERDICT: A fuzz pedal that refuses to cooperate. Tighten the binds, engage the error, and embrace the noise. Submit to sound.