Special Cranker

The Special Cranker is a discrete analog overdrive that behaves like an extra preamp stage in front of an amp. It adds saturation and sustain with a tube-like sag, thickens power chords and keeps complex chords distinct without muddying the low end or smearing the mids. It follows the Speaker Cranker, with more gain, roughly double the output, a Level control, a Tone control and a diode selector.

Four controls shape the sound: Level, More (gain), Tone and a Diode Selector. Germanium gives a softer, rounder, more transparent response with tamed highs and lower output. Silicon, the original asymmetrical diodes, gives a brighter, more modern edge and higher output. More runs from nearly clean to medium-gain overdrive and changes the transistor bias, so some noise while turning it is normal.

The pedal uses Flexi-Switch relay-based true bypass, which supports both latching and momentary operation. It runs from a standard 9 V DC supply with a 2.1 mm negative-center barrel, and can be operated safely at 9-18 V. Because the switching is relay based, it needs power to pass signal.