The Midium

READ THE OFFICIAL OWNERS' MANUAL HERE.

Collision Devices' description of the Collision Devices TARS fuzz and analog MS-20 style filter.

 

FUZZ WITH ANALOG FILTER.

TARS is a fuzz/analog filter pedal. It means "This Audio Reached Singularity."  It’s a robot looking for life in space, too. But that’s a long story we’ll tell you in the user manual. 

TARS’ fuzz part comes from the Black Hole Symmetry "Singularity" section. 

Run your signal through its analog "MS-20 style" filter to create fuzzy-noisy textures. 

Cut through the mix with the different filter and EQ possibilites or sweep between the frequencies to create huge waves of noise.


This unit comes in white finish with Silver custom made knobs and faders.

 

CRAFTSMANSHIP: HANDMADE IN FRANCE.

When we (Baptiste & Denis) decided to create Collision Devices in 2018 we choosed to build from scratch each pedal. Then you were more and more each month to order our pedals and we did not have enough time to build pedals and develop new stuff.

That is the moment where Nicolas did his first appearance.

Then in 2020, the covid thing happened.

Our suppliers could not provide the materials and components in time.  It has been a huge change in Collision Devices short story.

We decided to work with local suppliers and outsource with local factories and persons to match our values.

Now we can proudly say, thanks to many efforts, that each pedal is fully built in the west of France, from the box to the circuit.

 

KNOBS: TARS.

Are you wondering how are made our custom knobs and faders on TARS?

Let's have a quick look at the manufacturing process with Yohann from Anjou Méca. 


STOMPBOX.

With Sylvain from “Em’inox."

We met Sylvain with the idea to create our own enclosure’s design inspired from the classical 1590DD size. He worked with us to find the right type of aluminium to be easily manufactured. Each enclosure is laser cut & drilled and folded by hand with the help of a folding press. “Em’Inox” sources manufactures and provides us “ready to paint” enclosures. They are 30 min away from our workshop.

 

POWDER COATING.

Then the enclosures leave the manufacturer for “Concept Color” - a few kms away.

They do the powder coating. They use a paint sprayer to powder coat each enclosure in a special booth. Then it passes in an oven to dry and maximize adhesion. 

 

SILKSCREEN PRINTING.

We receive the painted enclosures to separate the bottom and top faces. 


Then drive them to Hervé and his team at RDI. They are the best to print a top quality silkscreen. They use a silkscreen press and print the writings and design on each top face. One by one. Then they apply a protecting coat.

 

SOURCING.

As it is well known, electronic components are no longer manufactured in France.  

We work with different suppliers but most of the electro-mechanical parts come from “Atlantique Composants”. Only 10kms far from our workshop. Guillaume is always there when we need to find parts to create a new design.

 

SMD COMPONENTS ASSEMBLY.

Our pedal circuits require to place and solder between 180 and 200 SMD components per circuit. Depending on the pedal.

It is very helpful, faster and more accurate to work with a SMD assembly line. “Seico” does the assembly in their factory near Nantes. Each circuit (PCB) is silkscreened with tin. Then the components are placed by a robot and once they are all at their respective places with their right angle and position, the board goes into an oven to solder all of the components pins.

 

FINAL ASSEMBLY AND TEST.

If you own a Collision Devices pedal, you can be sure it has been soldered by the hands of Nicolas. He places and solders all of the TH components.

Wires the different circuits from the pedal and makes the final assembly. Then we test each pedal on an amplifier at a non reasonable volume. 

 

PACKAGING & SHIPPING.

Antoine from “Cartonnage Huteau” (20’ from our shop) helped us creating a beautiful and solid packaging as well ! That’s a great result isn’t it?



SPECS.

  • Maximum current draw: 150 mA

  • Imput Impedance: 1 MOhm

  • Size: 120 x 90 x 55mm

  • Voltage: +9V DC (negative center)

  • Output Impedance: 1K Ohms

  • Weight: 150g

  • The use of an isolated power supply is recommended for powering all Collision devices Pedals.

  • Power supply not included.

  • The pedal is true bypass

  • Lifetime warranty