It should be quite obvious as you turn it up and down. Open the pedal up, leave it open while you play around with it to find a sound you like. Mine also has a mark where it came pre set from the factory so you can easily find the original setting.
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Official Wren And Cuff Club
- Thread starter J_Rock
- Start date
Got my Clean blend Tri-Pie yesterday. Didn't have a ton of time to play with it but sounded great from what I heard. I love the way the clean blend interacts with the volume knob...get get really subtle if you want. I haven't actually put it on my board yet so we'll see how it interacts with my other pedals. Love it so far though!
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Damn this looks cool, and possibly what a few of us have been after. A Phat Phuk, with the Bias knob on the outside!
Given that I already have my bias knob on the outside, I probably wouldn't need this...although I was wondering about the "Phatness" knob in this context. Would there be any reason why a bassist would want to do anything other than run that knob flat out?
Now, replace what that Phatness knob does in the description with a gain knob, and now we are talking...
Wouldn't the bias knob act like a gain knob? I can't wait to try it out, the wren and cuff Facebook page said that as you turn the phatness knob it changes to sound like the guitar phat silver, I wonder if it will act like a highs filter.
Wren and Cuff
Excited about the new guy. Bass and guitar. Turn the phat knob to max = phat B, 12 o'clock = phat silver, roll back even more, and you'll get in the range master zone. How dirty do you want the germanium tranny to get? Give the bias knob a tweak. #phatphuk #phatphukb #suppaphatphuk
Wren and Cuff
Excited about the new guy. Bass and guitar. Turn the phat knob to max = phat B, 12 o'clock = phat silver, roll back even more, and you'll get in the range master zone. How dirty do you want the germanium tranny to get? Give the bias knob a tweak. #phatphuk #phatphukb #suppaphatphuk
I think what the Phatness knob does is roll off lows, actually, so maybe its a HPF of some sort?
Bias is definitely not gain. On mine (and other pedals with bias knobs), you'll get an impact on the nature of the drive and signal, but I've not ever noticed any sort of gain like effect to it. IMO/IME.
Given that I already have my bias knob on the outside, I probably wouldn't need this...although I was wondering about the "Phatness" knob in this context. Would there be any reason why a bassist would want to do anything other than run that knob flat out?
Now, replace what that Phatness knob does in the description with a gain knob, and now we are talking...
The Bias knob is the gain.
No, not in the way we almost always conceptualize gain knobs on pedals as being. The knob is involved in the biasing of the germanium transistor in the pedal. Or, perhaps you know more here...please, do explain!
Hmm..well to me a gain knob usually increases/decreases the amount of voltage that the circuit/component receives. The more gain/voltage, the more the signal distorts....and that's exactly how the bias knob on my Phat Phuk B works.
Generally when pedals have a separate bias control such as this, it's the bias voltage of the transistor, which determines the headroom of the transistor. This in turn determines how much clipping and how symmetrical the clipping is. It is largely independent from the gain of the transistor.
My Phat Phuk B's bias knob does not at all function like a gain. Yes, it influences how the signal distorts and what it sounds like, but different than what the overall gain of the circuit is. I'd describe it more as the quality of the clipping as opposed to the amount of it, if that makes sense.
(credit to @Azure Skies for the technical consult)
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Further info from the W&C website about the bias knob (again reiterating that this is NOT a gain knob):
"First is the bias knob, a mega useful add-on allowing on the fly adjustments to the germanium transistor's voltage feed, giving more or less grit to the sound (this adjustment was formerly only able to be tweaked via an internal trim pot)."
"Controls:
"First is the bias knob, a mega useful add-on allowing on the fly adjustments to the germanium transistor's voltage feed, giving more or less grit to the sound (this adjustment was formerly only able to be tweaked via an internal trim pot)."
"Controls:
- Volume: Adjusts the output level
- Bias: Allows you to adjust the voltage feeding the germanium transistor. Lets you fine-tune a more clean sounding boost, or dial in the dirt for a more gritty overall tone.
- Phatness: This is a high-pass filter allowing you to boost or cut the lows."
when I think of a gain knob I think of the knob that causes more dirt to be in the sound. Really a gain knob is anything that causes an increase of something to occur, in the case of this pedal it is causing more or less voltage to be added to the circuit and could be considered a gain knob.
Think Wren & Cuff fuzzes are awesome, just need to make my mind up and what kind of sound I want haha 
Love the tfr when it's just the bass by itself, think it's a bit too muddy in a band from what I've heard though. I love the pickle pie b, the tri pie and the box of war. I play some muse stuff, also songs like 'song 2' by blur. Which do you think would best suit?
Love the tfr when it's just the bass by itself, think it's a bit too muddy in a band from what I've heard though. I love the pickle pie b, the tri pie and the box of war. I play some muse stuff, also songs like 'song 2' by blur. Which do you think would best suit?
Can't believe I didn't post in this thread earlier - I loooove W&C pedals, my Phat Phuk B is always on and my Tall Font Russian is on a lot of the time for a great old school sound. Nails those Robert Sledge/Ben Folds Five tones by itself. I may pick up one of the "Your Face" pedals to have some more fuzz options, but I'd love for Wren & Cuff to expand their fuzz selections beyond Muffs & Fuzz Faces , maybe reworking RATs/weird Companion Fuzz circuits - I trust their craftsmanship totally and I'd trust any pedal in their arsenal.
Yeah I'd definitely like to see them doing some more bass overdrives (apart from the Mercy Phuk, which I haven't tried but haven't heard the best things about). If you want a good bass friendly Rat though, maybe try Fuzzrocious? They're up there with W&C as my two favourite pedal builders.
Tri pi 70 w/ blend on its way to me. Pretty excited! I don't play in dense mixes, am looking forward to some huge scooped muff madness.
I just sold one of these. You're not in Australia are you? Great pedal, just didn't get the tone I wanted. I've replaced it with a Fuzzrocious Grey Stache, as I wanted to be able to control the mids to cut through when needed.
