$249.99

Ol' Ephraim is a germanium powered fuzz that’s easy to handle but roars like a grizzly.

It’s labeled a ‘sustainer’ because it’s not exactly a fuzz and not exactly a distortion. In short, its sound character is like a germanium fuzz, but it’s consistent, reliable, easy to use and has the dirt level of a distortion pedal.

If you love the sound of a small tube amp wound up to 10, you’re gonna dig Ol’ Ephraim. It uses four hand-tested, low-leakage germanium diodes to get those iconic sounds while keeping it as simple and easy to use as possible to call them up on command.

Note: All pedals are made to order and there might be a short lead time between your order and when your pedal is shipped.

Germanium sustainer

Ol’ Ephraim

Technical specifications

    • Volume: Overall output level

    • Sustain: Level of saturation

    • Tone: Level of higher frequencies

    • 9 to 18 volts DC

    • Center-negative 2.1mm plug

    • 17 mA current draw

    • Protected against reverse polarity, over-voltage and over-current conditions

    • True bypass

    • Mechanical relay rated for minimum 2 million cycles

    • Industrial momentary footswitch rated for minimum 1 million cycles

    • Built-in memory restores pedal to it’s previous state when powered on

    • 100% analog signal path

    • Hand-selected germanium diodes

    • Studio-grade, Mosfet opamps

    • Metal-film resistors

    • Audio-quality film capacitors

    • Noise-filtering choke

    • Hand-wired

All pedals come with a lifetime warranty and a 30-day return policy. If you need a return, contact Bolt & Forge within 30 days of receiving your pedal. Customers are responsible for return shipping.

  • Germanium diodes

    Germanium in easy mode

    It’s pretty simple why guitar players seek out fuzz pedals with germanium semiconductors — they can sound amazing. That typically comes with a price, though.

    They can be noisy, unstable amid temperature changes and have low input impedances that make them temperamental about where you put them in your signal chain.

    With careful design and diode selection, Ol’ Ephraim gives you all the germanium goodness without any of those drawbacks. Just plug in, play and skip all the complicated headaches.

  • Roaring grizzly

    One job: Roar

    Ol’ Ephraim got its name from America’s most famous grizzly bear.

    I chose it because this pedal isn’t subtle. It isn’t versatile. It doesn’t “do everything.” When you stomp that switch it has one job: Roar.

    With its iconic germanium sound, Ephraim is perfect for fuzzed-out blues, stoner rock or searing lead lines.

  • Germanium diodes

    An endangered species

    We’re more than 50 years past the golden age of Germanium semiconductors and the supply of any of these devices is scarce. Even more scarce are germanium parts with low current leakage.

    Ol’ Ephraim requires four low-leakage germanium diodes, which are exceedingly rare. I’ve been testing diodes and setting these aside for more than 10 years. Since they’re so rare, I always felt they deserved a special pedal design that would bring out the absolute best they had to offer.

    Ol’ Ephraim was developed over a decade of trying different circuits until every design goal was met.

    Unfortunately, this all means Ephraim’s days are numbered and it will go extinct once all the low-leakage diodes are gone.