Fairfield The Unpleasant Surprise Data Sheet

THE

OVERVIEW

UNPLEASANT
SURPRISE

Experimental Fuzz/Gate

Reminisce about the time you got your shoulder
caught in the reciprocating saw while this unit de­stroys your slick jazz lines.

The fruit of an oddball circuit, hanging there awk­wardly by some parasitic effect. Tweaked, bended
and shoe-horned to optimize it’s stench, it’s un­pleasance. The time has come to turn all dynamics
to shit. Strangely, it feels very natural.

As The Unpleasant Surprise turns your playing style
upside down, you’ll be thankful for its ability to
push you outside the box, outside your comfort
zone, all the while retaining the essence of what
is played. The artifacts created by this pedal are
strange, harsh and unusual but never seem mis­placed or out of context.

EXTENDED WARRANTY

Fairfield Circuitry will repair or replace any mal­functioning product for a period of 2 years after
purchase date. Problems resulting from modifi­cations or misuse may cancel this warranty. All
shipping expenses will be covered by the owner.
This warranty applies only to original owner of the
product. Proof of purchase will be required. Best
thing to do is to contact us as soon as possible.

USING THE UNPLEASANT SURPRISE

The VOLUME control is self-explanatory. Unity gain is around
noon but who cares. Use it to slam your amp or the next
pedals in line. Turn it down if the anguish is overwhelming.

G for gain

C for crush

V O L U M E O N S E T

0

0

0

1

1

1

Plenty of output volumeT for treble

9 VDC

Gain/Gate threshold

The ONSET control affects interstage gain, which happens
to mimic an inverse gate threshold. Turn it up for more
saturation, longer sustain. Down for sputtery ad-lib farts.

T Simple output treble cut.

G Affects amplifier bias. Open or Saturated. Allows

variations in distortion grain. Note: the difference
becomes less noticeable as the ONSET is turned up.

Low impedance output

F A I R F I E L D

C I R C U I T R Y

F U 0 0 0

Instrument level input

C Feedforward. Crushes your signal to shit. ONSET
controls the amount of compression.

NOTES ON POWERING

The Unpleasant Surprise was designed to operate and
sound good using your typical center negative, regulated
9-9.6 VDC power supply. Running it at higher voltages is
not desirable nor recommended. There is no battery con­nection inside the pedal. Always check your power supply
for proper voltage and polarity before connecting.

TECHNICALS

- input impedance 1 MΩ

- output impedance 1 kΩ

- power supply 9 to 9.6 VDC

- current draw 15 mA

- inspiration ∞

PHYSICALS

- true true bypass

- 1/4” mono input/output jacks

- 2.1mm barrel DC connector

- 2.5” x 4.4” enclosure dimensions

UNIQUE & ROBUST

MADE IN HULL, QUÉBEC

FAIRFIELDCIRCUITRY.COM