EarthQuaker Devices Chelsea Low End Fuzz Driver Sometimes pedals can change. Parts drift, pots break, transistors go bad. They go to new homes; they get neglected and resold. Sometimes people get in there and try to revive them to their original state and sometimes they just throw whatever is laying around inside and hope it does the trick.

In this case, EQD are pretty sure all the above happened to the fuzz pedal that made its way to James Murphy and ended up finding a forever home with LCD Soundsystem. Chelsea really does have something special. It’s heavy without being too heavy, clean but not too clean. A simple set of controls yet it has an expansive array of tones that makes it very versatile on a wide variety of instruments, has clarity when you need it and can blur all discernable lines when you don’t. It still retains the familiar foundation of the classic fuzz it was intended to be, but something special happened to it over the years and it has very much grown into its own thing.

Key Features

• Fuzz pedal, developed with James Murphy from the band LCD Soundsystem
• A painstaking recreation of the pedal used on several of their recordings
• Tone On/Off switch removes tone control from the circuit
• “Sustain” adjusts the amount of distortion and sustain
• “Tone” boosts treble by turning clockwise, boosts bass, and tame the top end by turning counterclockwise
• “Tone Bypass” This switch bypasses the tone control and delivers a more mid-focused response
• All-analog signal path
• True Bypass
• Silent relay-based switching with Flexi-Switch Technology
• Powered by 9-18 V DC PSU (not supplied - requires centre - 2.1 mm, ~10 mA current draw)

“I’m going to guess that you have heard this pedal. It has been the chosen bass fuzz for several LCD recordings and has traveled around the world with them. I’d say that it is a prized possession, a real one-of-a-kind pedal. It has been beat up and taped back together. It looks like it shouldn’t work but it always delivers. It is old, it is fragile, and it sounds massive. Too good to retire yet too tired to keep going. That is where we come in. We were tasked with replicating the exact sound of this pedal but in a reliable format that can withstand the stresses of this modern world. No easy feat, for sure, but we persevered and have brought you the Chelsea.” 

Named after the guitar shop in which it was purchased back in 1989, the Chelsea recreates all the idiosyncrasies of the original, but without the threat of total collapse. With only three controls, this deceptively powerful pedal offers you everything from light overdrive to full on distortion with all the clarity and blissful grinding that make the original so special.

Just like the original, a Tone On/Off switch allows you remove the tone control from the circuit, opening up a whole new world of midrange grind. Switch it off for a simplified and straightforward attack or leave it on for a full-bodied distortion with loads of low end with a slight natural scoop. Roll up the Sustain for wall-shaking bass notes or sustaining lead and adjust the Tone for a wild and wide frequency response from aggressive top end to low-end rumble. This thing is deep and will cover pretty much anything you can throw at it. Trust us, we are all professionals here.