As the years went on, I attended engineering school and my understanding of electronics and the affiliated components became more clear to me as I began building little boxes that could do wonderful things. I worked part-time as a electronics tech at the Nuclear Power plant in San Diego while I attended college. I eventually formed another band and got signed to various labels and toured up and down the west coast. A month had gone by and a friend of mine had given me an MXR distortion+ pedal for repair. The music store turned him away and told him to buy a new one. I found the schematic and I eventually repaired it in a matter of minutes. He gave it back to me and asked for a hot-rodded version so I changed various components on the circuit board. The results were amazingly different and with a little bit of electrical engineering theory, a stock effect can be customized to a specific set-up. I knew the next logical step was to build my own effects so I decided to start my own company "PROTON VINTAGE EFFECT PEDALS" . This company is dedicated to those amazing rock tones of the 60's and 70's which in my opinion, is truly inspiring for the garage and professional musician alike.
PROTON EFFECT PEDALS are made in the USA all handbuilt and can be customized upon request. I use very high quality components and every pedal is true to its specification sheet. I believe in building and designing useful effects that range from mild to wild. Pedals that I currently offer are:
Atom Splitter:A boost/distortion for bass that can give you a Jack Bruce tone with very synth like decay when the gain is at maximum. Can be modified for expression pedal useage.
Atomic Fusion:This is the same pedal as the Atom Splitter but optimized for guitar. Gives a nice boost for distortion type tones with a +20db of boost/distortion. Can be modified for expression pedal usage.
Line Boost:A very clean boost pedal with mild distortion when turned all the way up. Integrated circuit uses FET's instead of silicon transistors to give a very warmlike tube tone. Can also be used as a volume pedal when modified for expression pedal usage. This pedal not only boosts the signal but attenuates it as well. This booster not only accentuates the highs but lows as well because of its wide frequency response. Works for bass and guitar. It blows the competition out of the water.
Optica Wah:This is an inductorless wah pedal that utilizes Optics and Infrared LEDs to vary the frequency so no mechanical moving parts can wear out as in typical wah pedals. The filtering can be modified to an amplfier/pick-up/guitar set up and parameters must be specified before purchasing.
Dynamic Wah:This utilizes the same technology as the Optica but filtering is tracked by the guitarist picking dynamics. Can also be modified for expression pedal usage.
Tuner/mute:This is a true bypass pedal that routes the guitar or bass signal into a tuner and mutes the amplifier so tuning can be done with complete silence.
Buffer/Blend/looper:This is a looper/blend pedal that has the ability to drive at least 10 effects in series. The active circuit buffers the bass/guitar signal and blends the two via the 100k ohm potentiometer. When the looper is de-activated it is true bypassed so no tone coloration is present. When rotated in either wet or dry mode, there is no evidence of bleed through. A low pass filter is also present to re-enhance any low end loss with vintage fuzz boxes.
"Having been part of the music scene for over 20 years, I want my boxes to enhance your playing and performance ability in the same way it has enchanced mine. I offer a plethora of tones that reach new sonic possibilities."
- NEAL GARGANTUA
All pedals are true by-pass and are guaranteed to "ROCK YOUR FUCKEN SOCKS OFF"
Love Always,
Neal
PROTON VINTAGE EFFECT PEDALS
Engineer/Musician