How did you first get into building pedals?
“Since I was a child, I’ve been tinkering with
electric circuits, doing things by hand and
learning electronics as a hobby. It wasn’t
until I was around 15 that I developed a
passion for music and then I started to dive
into the world of music gear.
“It all came naturally, I think. Playing
music and chasing the tone were related
- and so six or seven years ago, I started
designing my own things, out of necessity.
The BecosFX product we debuted
with was the Micro Booster onboard
guitar preamp and soon after, I created
my first pedal, the TS8-MS MIDI
Overdrive/Switcher.”
What made you want to create the Stella?
“Most of the compression pedals on the
market today are based on fairly simple (yet
effective) circuits, but have too little control
over the audio processing. The higher-class
compressor pedals are either optical or
FET-based circuits and they usually add
colour to the sound which is not always
desirable. Although they are sometimes
preferred for exactly that...
“I wanted to come up with something
completely different in terms of control
and using a Blackmer VCA as the active
element was the only way to achieve that,
while having the sound quality necessary
to match a studio-like compressor.
“Then I realised that I might have a
competitive edge if I managed to pack
more features in a smaller footprint, give
full control over compression dynamics
and make it as transparent-sounding as
possible. Adding the tape saturation was
the last-minute idea – a nice-to-have
complementary feature, which gives the
option of adding a sensitive colour-touch
to the pristine, high-performance processing
of the THAT Corp’s Analog Engine usedJUST BECOS
INTERVIEW JOSH GARDNER
We meet Costel Burlan, the Romanian pedal guru behind BecosFX,
to find out how he got into the pedal-building game, how he came
up with the Stella and what makes his compressor so special...
in this pedal. I believe the CompIQ Stella
has its own place in the higher-end class of
compressor pedals.”The Stella really packs a great deal of
functionality into a small stompbox –
what are the challenges in designing a
circuit such as that?
“It was really difficult to jam this many
functions into a little enclosure, but
that was the thing: I wanted to have a
professional, rack-like compressor, packed
into the smallest enclosure possible; and still
have room for a 9V battery inside. I don’t
think it can be shrunk any more than that!
“I also wanted the audio path to
pass through bigger audio-grade Wima
and Kemet capacitors. A lot of tech
requirements! The circuit is pretty hefty
and the board could only be done in multi-
layers – something uncommon in most
pedals, which aim for simplicity instead.
Finding the high-quality mechanical parts
that are tiny enough to fit all in a regular
pedal size was an even bigger challenge.
Sourcing parts from multiple countries is
rather inconvenient, but necessary for a
complex product. However, that was not all.
“Fabrication is a thing in itself and since
the pedal is hand-built, it takes a lot of
effort. It is the only way to be done, because
big components have to be assembled into
a specific order, some parts need to be
trimmed and adjusted by hand and the final
assembly is time-and-energy consuming.
Without using SMD [surface-mount
device] technology, this would have been
impossible to make.”What’s next for Becos?
“In terms of product development, I have
a road map for diversification. The MINI
ONE which was just launched a couple
of months ago, was the third in the
CompIQ series of VCA-based compressors.
A dual-band compressor is in the making
and is planned to be released by the end
of this year.
“Two other pedals are in the final design
stage, one of which is a full-analogue
tape-saturation effect. As for the other,
I think it will be a nice surprise for many,
so I won’t disclose what it is, yet. In terms
of business, I need to make the products
be more visible and put them on music
shop’s shelves!”Find out more about BecosFX at becosfx.comBECOSFX
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