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MICROPHONES
OUTBOARD
SOFTWARE
MONITORS
INSTRUMENTS
Out of stock
Back in the 1970s, Interfax, a small effect company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, created the Harmonic Percolator. It was a weird distortion pedal whose enclosure had all the visual charm of a 1987 PC (think: beige) No one cared, and the Percolator soon vanished. That is, until Chicago guitarist/engineer Steve Albini rediscovered it years later. It became his secret weapon. Eventually the Percolator became a popular DIY project, and several manufacturers have created near-exact clones. But Porkolator isn’t one of those. Yeah, it swipes some ideas from the original circuit, but it sharpens the core tone and vastly expands the range.
The Percolator’s distortion was edgy and aggressive. Some describe it tone as “tube-like,” but they must be deaf — it sounds nothing like tube distortion. When tubes get hot, note attacks get softer and high frequencies get rounded off. But on the Percolator, note attack remains crisp and defined, even at high gain. It sounds more like overdriving the input of a funky tape recorder. The tones also have sharp resonant peaks, perfect for cutting through onstage or in a mix. Because the pedal emphasizes a guitar’s particular resonant peaks, the Porkolator’s color varies from instrument to instrument.
The two-transistor circuit is bizarre: It’s got one negative-ground silicon transistor and one positive-ground germanium transistor. Joe Gore kept that basic architecture, but took it in new directions. (even after auditioning the rare transistors used in the originals, these alternatives sound way better.)
The original had a single gain control and a passive master volume. It wasn’t particularly loud. Here, though, there are two gain stages, one at the input and one mid-circuit. They’re highly interactive, and they’re fastidiously scaled to yield great tones throughout the entire ranges of their knobs. The IN knob sets your input capacitance — think of it as a “fat vs. crisp control.” GAIN slathers on the distortion. OUT is a master volume control.
Instead of a passive volume control, there’s a JFET-driven gain stage. At low settings, you get something like the original output, but with airier highs and clearer low-mids. When you crank it, you get Götterdammerung. But you can also get tough tones at modest levels.
Despite all its gain, Porkolator has extraordinary dynamic response. If you’re the sort of guitarist who uses your volume control to get varying shades of distortion, you’ll be in hog heaven.
Porkolator runs on standard 9-volt batteries or power supplies. It was created in San Francisco by Joe Gore and is built in Michigan by skilled craftspeople paid a fair wage. It comes with a lifetime warranty.
Think of IN and GAIN as separate but interactive distortion controls. With IN set high and GAIN set low, you get fat, bottom-heavy sounds. With IN low and GAIN high, there’s crisper attack and leaner lows. Explore — there are many cool combinations. You can get many more shades by adjusting your guitar’s volume control. Set your final level with OUT.
"Few Harmonic Percolator-inspired pedals have felt as full of possibilities as Joe Gore’s Porkolator. It lives in gaps that many distortions leave empty, adding dynamic range, character by the baleful, and a colorful, detailed overtone signature that makes guitars sound alive and thrilling, even when you’re not running the pedal wide open. It makes even simple chords more than a sum of their parts. Porkolator’s bark sounds absolutely awesome when you strum with ferocity. You can play first-position folk chords at screaming gain levels without losing a trace of overtone detail. And when you attenuate your guitar volume, the same chords take on a brash, ringing quality perfect for particularly potent power pop, and melodic lines have peaky excitement that makes leads leap from a mix. Its dynamic range is a delight to work with. If you’ve grown weary of the overdrive, fuzz, and distortion flavors offered via most classic dirt circuits, you might end up re-energized by the many unexpected textures Porkolator puts at your fingertips."
- Premier Guitar Editors Pick Award (read full review here)
"Devastatingly magnificent. My reaction upon plugging it in was, 'Oh! That's what it's supposed to sound like."
- Eric McFadden (George Clinton, Eric Burdon, T.E.N., solo artist and session player)
“Loosely based on the Harmonic Percolator of the ’70s, it’s a weird distortion/fuzz with tons of attitude. It’s awesomely inspirational. All of Joe’s pedals are.”
- Richard Fortus (Guns N’ Roses, Crystal Method, Pink, BT, Dead Daisies)
this is a very compelling instrument. character from the softest of plucks to the hardest of bangs. loving its voice
I'd been familiar with Joe Gore's writing output for years from his columns/articles in Guitar Player and Premier Guitar magazine. However, when I saw a video a few years ago of him playing a multi-guitar version of Brian Wilson's "Surf Up" I realized he was (not only) a musician/guitarist of extraordinary ability but also an "original" type of thinker. I was impressed by the positive review of this pedal in Premier Guitar and as a Milwaukean, also felt an affinity to it based on it's Milwaukee connection: The Porkolator is based on a pedal produced in the city in the 70s called the Harmonic Perkolator. I guess you'd categorize this as a "fuzz pedal"...but it does a lot more: It's ability to clean up...dramatically...with the volume knob on the guitar is simply astounding to me compared to other pedals. And it truly does cut through in a live mix on stage...and I just enjoy every sound I get out of this. I purchased this pedal based on my perception of Mr. Gore as an individual of extreme creativity...and impressive work ethic! (I also purchased his great book "The Subversive Guitarist"...which is a darn useful for any guitarist wanting to get out of any kind of musical rut they're in.) My feeling was that a person with this creator's talent and ability would never waste time designing a pedal of this type if they didn't feel it was worthwhile...and The Porkolator truly is! The pedal is very well-built and may be the most powerful pedal I own based on everything that it can do sonically...I couldn't be happier with my purchase! (Dan Hanson)
A great piece of gear! I've had it for about a month now, and am still tweaking it across a couple of different setups, but it is without doubt the best distortion for what I do that I have come across. I tune mostly to open tunings and like things big, bassy, uncompressed and loud. This does that extremely well. Depending on your gain settings it provides a lot of definition between strings as well. It rewards you most if you use it with the volume on your instrument, going from a dry, always-on clean boost that thickens up your sound beautifully to stoner-adjacent depending on where you set the volume on the guitar. On top of this it also rewards dynamic playing. Hit the guitar hard and it'll leap out of your amp, play it gently at a higher volume for some awesome breakup and overtones. It's been brilliant for improvisation in a band setting. One thing - experiment with where you put this on your pedalboard if you have one. Don't just throw it in the spot on the board where your old distortion was. It doesn't get on well with buffered pedals before it and I found some so called true-bypass pedals audibly neutered the bass if placed before it. In the end I found it worked best at the start of my board, where it will stay for a long time to come. I don't know how this pedal/Joe Gore's entire line isn't more well known than it is. At some point I'll definitely invest in another Joe Gore pedal.
I love the responsiveness of this thing to my volume knob. It opens up or compresses depending on the signal strength. I was treated well by my Vintage King salesman as well. Look forward to doing more business with him. Overall good experience, thank you.
Bought the Porkolator from Romania, Vintage King shipped immediately with FedEx, took roughly a week for the package to arrive at my door (customs fees payable to the courier on delivery), so a fast, easy and pleasant shipping experience. Will definitely use Vintage King again for future applicable purchases! The pedal itself is unique - as another reviewer has pointed out, it definitely has a sound of its own. It pairs up well with boosts and overdrive pedals (but be careful, just like a Fuzz Face, the pedal doesn't take kindly to buffers before it, it works best seeing your guitar signal directly, so place it as close to the beginning of the chain as possible). That said, I really prefer it on it's own, or followed by just some reverb, maybe a delay, and possibly some tremolo or subtle chorus. I like it's unadulterated character (though I do indulge in sometimes - OK, quite often - turning all the knobs all the way up and mix in a bit of preamp tube distortion from the amp). The "In" pot is especially genius. It allows you to control the flubby bass of the original with no sacrifice whatsoever in tone - because, as Joe has pointed out in a YouTube comment for his Porkolator demo, "instead of populating a rotary switch with different-sized input caps, the "In" control fades between a small cap and a large one, which basically does the same thing. [...] It's a great way to get a tone control while avoiding the tone-suck of a passive filter downstream from the transistors." Wish I could afford all of Joe Gore's pedals, love the philosophy (dynamic pedals that work with your guitar / touch, and a welcome steer away from the standard blues-lick inviting "classics" - not to knock those, they can be great fun too, in the right context), quality and passion that goes into them. Not to mention the no-nonsense approach to "magic" parts and the gleeful playfulness with which Joe tweaks these oddball circuits. The pedal really stands on its own, but I'm also a big fan of Joe's as a musician, writer, and person. Vonnegut once wrote that "a saint is a person who behaves decently in a shockingly indecent society", and though I'm pretty sure Joe'd cringe reading this, I suspect he might be one of those. Thanks Joe!
I’ve had a few Harmonic Percolator-inspired pedals. The Porkolator takes the HP a few steps further with more available gain, more available volume, and a surprisingly low noise floor. Joe’s video demo is very accurate, check it out. This pedal is so unique and fun to play. It’s a great fuzzy distortion on its own, or you can run into a cooking amp or dirt pedal and use it like a treble booster. Clean-up with the guitar volume is amazing and I love the vocal, cocked wah sound. Killer, unique, high quality pedal!
Great pedal & super fast shipping .... !
Just WONDERFUL ! A new ‘flavor’ in ‘ fuzz/distortion’. A flavor you can ‘tune’ ! VERY useful and unique sound. HIGHLY recommend to all players. btw: I thought my pedal had an issue so I wrote Joe. He answered right away. He helped me discover faulty wiring in my house ! This pedal is dead quiet and does everything you want!
weird distortion my a** this things great. It’s a bit dirty / noisy when enabled but otherwise it’s amazing and I have nothing else that sounds like it.
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