Audio Kitchen 'Fake Plastic Trees'

Audio Kitchen's Fake Plastic Trees (FPT) is a simple yet potent-sounding preamp pedal designed to elevate the sound of any guitar rig! In the boutique British brand's own words — FPT is a "scrupulously-engineered, solid-state homage to the array of euphonic joy available on the ‘line-out’ of the much-loved The Big Trees guitar amp."

Premium Components for Stellar Tone

Featuring hand-graded JFETs, a discreet stage modelling the distinctive EL84 grid-clipping profile, a custom Mumetal output transformer, TBT speaker load and a Class A line-driver — the combination of these components, plus the painstaking refinement of each element, have crystallised into a compact stompbox which has the ultra-dynamic feel and irresistible playability that have become Audio Kitchen hallmarks!

More Versatile Than It Looks!

The Audio Kitchen Fake Plastic Trees pedal can be employed in a few different ways. It's far from a one-trick pony! Run it into the front-end of your guitar/bass amplifier and make use of the FPT's "Root" (lows) and "Branch" (highs) controls to adjust your EQ — essentially adding another tone-shaping stage to your signal chain. You could even crank the FPT's 'Gain' knob to simulate a rich-sounding, British-voiced overdrive.

Alternatively, you could route the Fake Plastic Trees through your amplifier's effects loop and thus use the unit as your main preamp stage — giving your amplifier a completely new voice. And if you want to create a portable "amp-less" rig, just pair the FPT with a power amp pedal that can run into a speaker cab or directly into a PA system (if it has cab emulation). The possibilities are almost endless!

An Encouraging First Impression

"Loving it. So musical and flexible. Gives an otherwise flat amp some dimension. And can punch out some fat clean and super-squeeze small amp tones too, especially with the bass cranked. Very expressive. I think the key is a no master volume amp. It really shines there. I was gonna stop several times but I kept playing to see what else I could get from it. So many sounds — both modern and old.” - Joe Barresi (record engineer and producer).

Specifications

• Class A Guitar/Bass Preamp Pedal
• Nominal Output Impedance: <1KOhm
• Controls: Gain, Baxandall-based EQ — “Root” (Bottom), “Branch” (Top), “Volume” (Master Volume)
• Power Requirement: Standard 9VDC @ 100mA, 2.1mm, Centre-Negative
• Durable, Die-Cast Aluminium Enclosure
• Dimensions (W x D x H): 116 x 91 x 55mm (4.6 x 3.6 x 2.2")
• Weight: 500g (1.1lbs)