Great Eastern FX OC201 Preamp

Great Eastern FX OC201 Preamp is a limited edition with two OC201 transistors and a nice raw and very organic fuzz sound.

Limited to just 50 pedals worldwide, this preamp puts a new spin on the familiar two-transistor fuzz design, coaxing everything from lean boost tones and rootsy drives to raw, organic fuzz from this rudimentary circuit.

It’s all thanks to a pair of unusual NOS (new-old-stock) transistors. The OC201 was the first silicon transistor developed by Mullard, manufactured using the same method as their germanium devices. Though the OC201 was quickly superseded by higher-performance designs and newer construction methods, its limitations – relatively low gain and limited bandwidth – make it ideal for our purposes.

The result is a raw, articulate and richly textured fuzz that sits somewhere between the germanium and silicon archetypes. It’s extremely dynamic and expressive, with fantastic volume-knob clean-up.

In building this limited run of pedals, NOS OC201 transistors are combined with high-quality modern components including WIMA capacitors and Dale metal-film resistors. This hybrid approach – using vintage components where it really counts, alongside low-noise modern parts – delivers the best combination of tone and reliability.

The transistors for this limited run range across several different case styles and case markings. Some transistors are marked ‘OC201’ while others are marked ‘CV5884’ (the military spec. variant) or CV7004 (GPO spec.). All transistors are individually tested and selected according to gain and other characteristics, and each pedal comes with a hand-written card listing the parts used in that particular pedal. Each pedal also has a hand-stamped serial number faceplate. There are a select number of pedals, zo be quick they are available while supplies last.

The pedal is powered by a standard 9 volts power supply (sold separately) and has a current draw of 10mA.

Great Eastern FX OC201 Preamp demo video