Deep Sea Diver Fuzz-Echo

Benson Amps was founded in 2012 by Chris Benson in Portland, Oregon, after his years as a repair tech at Verellen Amps and Old Town Music. Known for handwired, roadworthy amplifiers, Benson expanded into pedals that capture the same ethos: player-friendly designs built for working musicians.

The Deep Sea Diver is a collaboration with Jessica Dobson (Shy Girls, The Shins) combining a 3-transistor silicon fuzz with PT2399-based echo. The fuzz section draws from Tone Bender topology for aggressive, cutting tones, while the echo adds dimension from subtle slapback to spacious repeats.

The key feature is swappable signal order—fuzz into echo or echo into fuzz yield dramatically different results. Fuzz-first gives classic fuzzy repeats; echo-first creates mangled, degraded textures as the fuzz amplifies and distorts the delay artifacts.

Hold the footswitch for self-oscillation feedback. A creative tool designed by a working touring musician for expressive, unconventional sounds.