Poly Effects Kanso

Kanso is a collaboration between Josh Smith and Poly Effects. With a simple and expressive method of control... One giant Fknob.

The Fknob is a foot switch, LEDs and a knob in one mechanism to allow clear feedback and intuitive, indestructible control.

Each of the 4 circuits will go from clean boost to a spitty fuzz by just turning the fknob.

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Tap the fknob to toggle bypass / enable.

Double tap to switch between controlling bias and character.

Hold the fknob down to switch between diodes. Each diode is a preset, and it’ll remember where you set the bias and character to. To save, just go to another diode.

BIAS

This control is essentially the first gain of the circuit. It sets the level of the signal before it hits the distortion stage. Increasing bias can push the signal into saturation or overdrive. It’s crucial for shaping the character of the sound — clean vs. dirty. Push it very hard and it’ll get spitty and fuzzy with some of the diodes. You can tell you’re controlling bias because the fknob LEDs show the spectrum and are not animating. 

CHARACTER

This adjusts the overall level amount on the output signal (post-gain). Think of it more or less like a master volume. You can turn down bias and up character to get a cleaner boost, or turn up the bias and down the character to have a lot of distortion at a lower signal level. The signal level can get very loud if you push this up all the way with bias cracked. When you’re controlling character the fknob LEDs are animated and get faster and brighter as you increase the value.

DIODES

Schottky diodes come on fast and switch quick. If you need snappy tone that cuts through in a band mix, this is the way! Josh’s signature tone.

Vintage Germanium diodes add a smooth, creamy, and classic character. They distort early so push the character up to balance these. Can get spitty if you hit them hard.

LED clipping produces a bold, cutting, and loud distortion with high headroom and sharp attack. It’s ideal for modern, articulate tones but can be too harsh for vintage or bluesy styles.

Silicon diodes provide a crisp, punchy, and controlled distortion with tight low-end and biting mids. They strike a balance between the warmth of germanium and the boldness of LEDs, making them incredibly versatile in tone shaping

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