Neptunium

Neptunium was a limited run pedal and will no longer be offered as a Sushi Box FX product.

Neptunium is, as its name implies, based on the Nobelium preamp, which is in turn based on a high-end studio tube preamp. The key feature of Nobelium is the XLR D.I. output, which only uses one tube, so I was asked if it would be possible to squeeze just that part into a much smaller enclosure. The result is Neptunium.

Neptunium is a great-sounding, simple to use tube preamp with a D.I. output for going straight to front of house or a recording interface. It features a two-band tonestack based on the classic Fender/Marshall/Vox tonestack. Both controls are boost-only, so a “flat” response is achieved with both controls all the way off.

One way in which Neptunium differs from similar units is in volume controls; the volume control on the face affects the 1/4″ output, but rather than make the XLR output a fixed level, a separate volume control affecting the XLR output was added to the side of the pedal next to the XLR jack above the ground lift switch.

Neptunium also features a switchable high-pass filter, which rolls off the lows at a rate of -6dB per octave below 90Hz, to tame the ultra low rumbles to prevent muddiness in a mix.

Neptunium takes a standard 9-12VDC center-negative power supply and steps up the voltage internally to run the 12AU7 tube at over 300V.

As a tube pedal, Neptunium requires a high amount of current to operate correctly. I recommend a 9-12VDC power supply capable of delivering at least 400mA. Using less than this can damage the power supply and/or the pedal.

Enclosure size: 4.8 in x 2.64 in x 1.58 in (122 mm x 67 mm x 39.6 mm)