Solar Flare

The Sarno Solar Flare represents Brad Sarno's interpretation of classic 1970s hard-clipping distortion circuits, fused with modern voicing that brings out richer, warmer tonal qualities. While inspired by legendary pedals like Jerry Garcia's script MXR Distortion+ and the ProCo RAT, the Solar Flare is not a clone but rather a thoughtful evolution of these classic designs. Electronically, it shares more circuit topology with the Earth Drive than with its 1970s predecessors, but the critical difference lies in its clipping method: the Solar Flare uses hard clipping that creates more abrupt, square waveforms, giving it a more aggressive, fuzzy character. The tonal profile of the Solar Flare embodies what Grateful Dead fans love about Jerry's old script MXR: a singing, harmonically rich dirt that blooms with sustain while maintaining excellent touch sensitivity. The pedal responds dramatically to picking dynamics—dig in hard for aggressive, saturated crunch, or play lightly for a more controlled, compressed overdrive character. This dynamic range makes it equally at home with single-note leads and complex chord voicings. The circuit's 100% analog signal path generates transparent sustain covering a wide spectrum from barely dirty to very dirty, never losing the fundamental voice of your instrument beneath the distortion. Like all Sarno pedals, the Solar Flare is handbuilt in St. Louis with meticulous attention to component quality and build integrity. The powder-coated steel chassis measures 5 inches x 2.5 inches with a depth of 2 inches at its deepest point, and weighs 1 pound. The hard mechanical bypass switching ensures reliable operation, while the 700k ohm input impedance properly loads guitar pickups for optimal tone. At only 9mA current draw, the Solar Flare is remarkably efficient for a distortion pedal. Users describe the Solar Flare as bridging the gap between overdrive and fuzz, offering more clipping and saturation than the Earth Drive but with a smoother, more musical character than typical RAT-style pedals. The three-knob layout (Gain, Tone, Level) keeps operation simple and intuitive, allowing players to quickly dial in everything from edge-of-breakup grit to full-on distorted sustain.