T.X Pedals - Hello from Portugal!

tone.electronix · February 13

Hello, everyone!

My name is Ricardo (Rikk) and I'm the founder, circuit designer, mechanical and electronic technician, accountant, marketing director, social media manager and above all workshop mop-and-bucket cleaner at Tone.electroniX (T.X Pedals). Yes, it’s a one man “show”.

And I'd like to introduce you to the T.X Pedals brand and its pedal offerings.

The NEBULAE… My newest baby. It is based on the Sam Ash/Astrotone fuzz box, a 60’s circuit that I surely think is very, even too much, underrated. Because it sounds great! It ‘feels' great!

It’s got a flat frequency response. The tone section was redesigned and fine-tuned for a broader range , and it’s got a “presence” control (toggle) that bumps the 1kHz mid-frequencies if you need it to boost your amp into space.

What can it do? Well, you can use it as a boost on the verge of “clean” but with a hint of dirt mixed in as well as a treble boost - just crank that treble - as an overdrive, and of course, as a fuzz (its heart is a 60’s fuzz after all).

What I find especially interesting is that, even with the fuzz maxed out, it cleans superbly well with the guitar's volume knob. Well… not so surprised because it’s based on a 60’s era fuzz box after all, right?

The ANIMALIZZER… is my interpretation of a muff-based pedal (because muff is my favorite fuzz/distortion sound!) with all the features I felt essential for versatility and tone I was hoping to get out of it. My inspiration were the Grunge-era tones, but I quickly realized it could do much, much more. It has a pre-boost circuit with bass control before the main clipping muff-style circuit, clipping selectors for each clipping stage and a 3-band equalizer to shape the final sound.

The result is a fuzz/distortion pedal that can get such a wide-range of tones with all these options that my brain can’t even cope with - let alone decide my favorite combination. It can go from subtle to full-on-face-melting wall of fuzz. Dial the right settings and it can sound like a RAT, a DS-1, even a low-gain overdrive. And, of course, lots and lots of muff variants! But it has its OWN voice. A beautiful one, if I may say so.
There are about +100 units alone, all over the world and the feedback I receive from my clients is just awesome! I would love to see it in more pedalboards, I am sure that it is an awesome muff-style pedal - and if you are searching for this style of tone, please give the ANIMALIZZER a check.

It is my “baby”, my first born. And I am super proud of it.

I don't know what the next pedal will be (I do have lots of ideas), but I am sure that somewhere down the path I will be inspired by other less-known circuits, underrated gems.

I take this opportunity to share on this post a couple of video demos of both pedals. Please take a look.

Animalizzer: Skip the rest, THIS is your first BIG MUFF | Animalizzer Fuzz Pedal Review

Nebulae: Your Complete Alt-Rock Drive, Distortion & Fuzz In One Pedal

About TX Pedals and me (why am I here).

T.X Pedals (for short) is a Portuguese effects pedal brand created in 2020 - practically at the start of the pandemic. Its primary aim was to launch the “Animalizzer” Fuzz (more on the effect in a moment), which for the next few years was the only effect marketed by the brand.

Interestingly, the following years the pandemic hitted, and during that time I managed to sell a few Animalizzer - when I say a few, I mean a couple of units a month .

I think the limitations imposed by the pandemic caused a "jump" in sales of musical instruments and related equipment worldwide during that time.

Fortunately, the pandemic has passed.

Unfortunately, the brand has been "lost" in the complex and competitive world of this market although at the time Animalizzer was very well received and highly rated by customers.

And, to be honest, I have a lot to blame because when it comes to marketing and promotion (especially on social media), I'm a complete zero. Well…almost zero.

This last year of 2023 was very, very difficult for the brand, as expected. Even with all the effort and struggles, sales were practically non-existent. I honestly thought I'd give up. But it's impossible to give up when you're doing what you love, when you know you have a good product that you're proud of, and especially when your customers and friends love and praise it.

Those same customers and friends, with whom I've got things off my chest, advised me to promote the brand more, to promote my pedals more (yes, plural, because T.X Pedals now have a second model launched last December - the “Nebulae”) in social media and I realized that’s the main path I should walk at this very moment. It will be another struggle because I am somewhat shy, I don’t post much - like there is a voice in my head that asks me “who the hell would want to see your posts? Will they favor anyones happiness by looking at them? It’s just a swipe!” - now I believe maybe… yes. Maybe one of my creations could bring a happy devilish grin on just ONE face when a chord is hit, and that’s enough reason.

So here I am…and I am sorry and grateful that you are still reading this too.

And, of course, a selfie my 11yo daughter took of us a few days ago (she helps me a lot!), because I will never forget how important this is to me and also to you, my clients/friends, to understand that T.X Pedals is not just a “logo”, it has human faces, persons behind it.

I’d love you to follow my Social Media, if you are so inclined.