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THE BRITPOP PEDAL
New for 2025 - Scran 2
The Britpop Pedal just got even better
"A pedalboard essential for Oasis fans, but indeed much, much more."
Total Guitar - "Best Of 2022" Edition
We’ve got no business messing with this design, really. It’s a critically acclaimed product with a solid reputation among players — one that flies out the door as fast as we can build them. So why fix what isn’t broken?
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Because we knew we could do better.
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With Scran 2, we’ve preserved the same great tone of the original and added a new mode switch that transports you from the classic Britpop sounds that made the OG so beloved, to a fresh spin on the archetypal New York tones that defined the Indie Sleaze era that followed.
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With the toggle at "90" you get the classic Scran circuit, "The Oasis Pedal". Flick the toggle up to "00" and you’ll swap out the OG Scran’s mixing desk-style input for a discrete op-amp reimagining of the classic green screamer circuit — voiced for dirty dancefloors and dreams of noughtiness.
While we were at it, we made Scran a whole lot easier to use on a pedalboard. The original was a “first in the chain” drive that could behave unpredictably when stacking. Scran 2 fixes that with a tunable, transformer-isolated input (which you can bypass for that straight-in mojo) and a buffered output — so it drops seamlessly anywhere in your signal chain.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at what’s new, how it works, how to get the most out of it — plus magazine reviews and sound samples.
Players notes - An original inductor and transformer loaded discrete overdrive, designed from the Physics of loud, up. Incredibly versatile and dynamic with a unique voice that has an authentic "British" sensibility about it without utilising circuitry from traditional "Brit" gear. Scran sculpts tone from the extreme ends; sub to bass frequencies and "air band" treble frequencies, gently pushing and pulling the mids from either side. Because of this it is very effective at dropping into any mix and preserving the general placement of the instrument. Has been described as "like a separate channel for your amp rather than a pedal" and "a pedal you have to play in to, not one you stomp on that hijacks your sound". Particularly useful for Vox amplifiers, which can sound bad with harsh cuts or boosts to the midrange. We would go as far as to say this is a Vox specialist but sounds great on other amplifiers too. Currently on the V2 itteration, which features the same great sound of the original but with a new "mode switch", to go from Knebworth glory to a dingy, sticky floored basement in 2005 at the flick of a switch.
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[skran] Noun - dialect. Definition: Food
Scran: Widely debated etymology from possible origins in Dutch for “food” [– Sschranzen] to other plausible Germanic origins. In Old Norse “Skran”, meaning “rubbish”. In Scotland, the first recorded definition was in an 18th Century dictionary, referring to a bar tab.
In Liverpool, it means basic food done exceptionally well –“proper scran that lad”.
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Discreet Class A Gain Blocks
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Custom made inductors for reactive top end response
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UK designed transformers
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High Quality SMD and through hole components
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​Off board Input and Output Jacks & DC Jack
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Off board True Bypass Switching
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Fully RoHS compliant
Runs on 9v Center Negative (Boss style) power supply - Current Draw: 25mA
Thick
THICK affects the amount of bass going into the circuit. Right up it will give a rich, chewy fuzz sound that is quite Fuzz Face-y (think 60's style fuzz sounds) and when turned right down will give a "Treble Boost" response. This dial is very useful for removing the wool from a neck pickup for Stevie Ray Vaughan type sounds and tightening up the bottom end of high gain sounds on bridge pickups and down tunings. The fuzz sound drops off quickly, it's really just there for fun. THICK
SOFT uses an old technique called an inductive EQ, favoured by Rupert Neve on his original designs, to provide treble/presence filtering before the overdrive. This is a "mix placement" tool. It can seem very subtle in isolation but when used in a mix setting it becomes very apparent what it is doing. Right up will bring your settings forward and more "present" in the mix where right down will place the tone further back in the mix.
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At lower gain settings SOFT will also introduce phase distortion in the top end at about half way round, producing an authentic Fender/Dumble shimmer. We find around 1o'clock is the real trick.
TOAST is a gain dial, but it is not the only one. THICK, HP and Toast are all gain dials and each has been carefully tuned so the full range is useful. You may find with THICK or HP right up you might not want very much TOAST at all. Toast will make a rushing sound when you turn it, this is perfectly normal for this dial and is the sound of a transistor inside re-biasing.
HP provides a "thickening" to the the overall tone. HP can be used to add a bit of bottom end grit to a punchy rhythm, warm up a sharp Treble Boost setting, or used as a solid foundation for lower gain, earthy drive sounds.
CHEESE, in short, is for matching your pedal to your amp. It is a subtle effect that is best felt rather than heard. Strike a chord on your guitar, close your eyes, and turn the CHEESE dial. You will hear and feel it match up to your amplifier at a point on the dial. This point will be different for different settings on the other dials.
From the Scouse (Liverpool) term "give it beans". There's too much variability across all the settings but generally somewhere around 12oclock will do you well with a fairly hefty whallop after 3oclock for using SCRAN as a boost. We think it's best to just use your ears.
In 90's mode, THICK controls the amount of bass going into the circuit. Turn it all the way up for a rich, chewy fuzz with a Fuzz Face flavour — think ‘60s-style saturation. Turn it right down and you’ll get more of a treble boost response.
It’s a handy tool for stripping the wooliness out of neck pickups (great for Stevie Ray Vaughan-type tones) or tightening up the low end on bridge pickups and downtuned riffs. The fuzz character drops off quickly — it’s more of a bonus than a headline feature, but good fun all the same.
THICK is bypassed entirely when 00's mode is engaged.
Gain 1 (TOAST)
GAIN 1 is the first adjustable gain stage in Scran. It controls how hard the selected input preamp pushes the rest of the circuit.
In ‘90s mode, the preamp’s character is shaped by the THICK control — roll THICK back and GAIN 1 behaves more like a treble boost; crank it up and you’re into fuzz territory.
In ‘00s mode, GAIN 1 becomes a “trebly gain” control, setting how much the Green Screamer-style input drives the rest of the circuit. Think of it like the volume knob on a classic Screamer.
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Note: GAIN 1 will make a crushing/crunching sound when you turn it. This is 100% by design — and a huge part of the character of this pedal. We spent over six months trying to remove it from the OG Scran, but honestly, every version without it sounded like a wasp in a can by comparison.
Gain 2 (HP)
GAIN 2 is the second adjustable gain stage — though technically, it’s the final stage in the circuit. This is where you can reintroduce some of the bass you might’ve carved out earlier, adding a bit of hair and warmth to the low end without things getting flubby.
GAIN 2 is active in both ‘90s and ‘00s modes, and works beautifully in combination with GAIN 1 to shape the midrange character of your tone. More GAIN 1 and less GAIN 2 gives you a pronounced upper-mid sizzle. Dial back GAIN 1 and push GAIN 2 for a meatier, lower-mid response.
You are, of course, welcome to crank them both.
Treble/Tone (CHEESE)
TREBLE / TONE is an inductive filter designed to mimic the top-end roll-off, mild saturation, and hysteresis you’d get when recording to old ferric tape. The magnetic response adds subtle coil saturation and softens transients, giving the output a tunable vintage flavour.
Turn it fully left for a prominent Type I vibe — think warm, vintage textures. Turn it fully right for a brighter, more modern Type II-style tone.
In ‘90s mode, TREBLE / TONE acts subtly, more like a presence control. In ‘00s mode, it has a much stronger effect, thanks to the increased saturation and richer harmonic content.
Don't be shy about turning this to the extremes, we worked very hard to make sure all of the dial was useable and musical.
Volume (BEANS)
VOLUME controls the overall output of Scran. No tricks, no secret functions — just level.
What we can’t offer is a “unity gain is here” marker. Scran’s output is heavily influenced by the gain structure, so where “off equals same volume” will vary depending on how you’ve got the other controls set.
What we can say about Scran V2 is that the VOLUME control now runs through a buffered output. That means the quirky “handover/stacking” unpredictability and dial sensitivity of the original Scran are gone — replaced with a beautifully consistent output that doesn’t colour your tone as you adjust it.
90/00
TL;DR
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“90” = the original Scran - "The Oasis Pedal"
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“00” = a fixed discrete opamp take on the Jeckyll side of a Visual Sound J&H, tuned for the chiming, compressed jangle of Albert Hammond Jr. on Is This It. Engaging "00" mode bypasses the THICK control.
During the summer of 2024, we were chasing a very specific sound: Albert Hammond Jr.’s ostensibly clean-ish tone on Is This It. At first glance, it sounds like a jangly, slightly gritty clean tone — but listen closely to the decay after each note and you’ll hear what’s really going on: there’s way more gain in there than you'd first expect.
The key, it turns out, is in the gain staging. Hammond's setup cascades the Jeckyll side of a V1 Visual Sound Jeckyll & Hyde overdrive into the Hyde side — essentially pushing a TS-style circuit into a modified Marshall Shredmaster. The result? Chords that fuse into a single, unified jangle — almost clean-sounding — while single notes pop out with clear, distorted articulation. It’s a hell of a trick, and not easy to nail.
We hunted down an original J&H and quickly discovered an issue: there’s a serious bass “whomp” in the decay. The unit we found had even been modded to tame this, but it still wasn’t quite right. After a lot of experimenting, we realised two key things:
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Half of the tone is the amp — a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe with its speaker pushed to within an inch of its life.
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The other half is the gain structure — that unique, compressed jangle comes directly from how the overdrives stack.
We tried to replicate the entire signal path in pedal form, but the “whomp” and bass bloom in the decay were still there. So instead of chasing a full amp-in-a-box recreation, we shifted gears and focused on capturing the gain staging — a sort of “tribute” rather than a clone.
We already had a great amp-like overdrive in the lineup, so we turned our attention to Scran. With a few input stage tweaks, we found we could recreate the feel and character of that Is This It tone — minus the exaggerated low-end and without forcing a Fender-like colour into amps like a Vox (which really didn’t like it).
In the end, the changes were subtle — just enough to capture the vibe without reinventing the wheel. A new pedal? Maybe. But it made more sense to roll it into Scran itself.
And so Scran 2 was born — a continuation of the original Scran, now with an additional “00” mode inspired by that Albert Hammond tone, while preserving the classic “90” mode everyone knows as "The Oasis Pedal".
We were also experimenting with discrete opamp designs at the time, so the “00” mode uses a discrete opamp interpretation of the Jeckyll side — keeping things loose, open, and vibey.
What has all this got to do with British 2000's indie? Everything. Is This It was the blueprint for musicians and engineers at the time and for the next 10 years of music I would argue, as an engineer at the time. The Strokes were to Britpop what Nirvana was to hair metal. Everything changed in 2001, and now you can change it up too at the flick of a switch.
"I just wanted to be one of The Strokes" - Alex Turner
But wait...there's more!
Pickup Simulator
Scran 2 now features a pickup simulator — a tool designed to make pedalboard integration seamless for pedals that are sensitive to input impedance.
The original Scran had a “low Z” (microphone/desk-style) input, which could react unpredictably when placed after certain pedals — a bit like how a Fuzz Face behaves. The new pickup simulator helps mitigate those issues and lets you tune the response to your taste. There's a bit of tech involved, so let’s break it down:
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PUP SIM ON/OFF
Engaging the pickup simulator sets the input impedance to High Z (like a typical guitar input) and activates the simulation. Turning it off reverts to the original low Z Scran input — closest to the OG Scran experience.​
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SC / HB
When the simulator is on, you can choose between two voices:
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SC (Single Coil) – switch up
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HB (Humbucker) – switch down
This won’t magically turn a Strat into an SG, but it does present the electrical properties of a single coil or humbucker to the Scran circuit — affecting how controls like THICK and GAIN 1 behave.
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OHMS
Pickups have resistance, and cables have capacitance. The simulator’s internal coil has a resistance of ~68Ω, whereas typical guitar pickups range from several kΩ upwards. To accurately replicate that, we’ve added a variable resistor (ranging from 5.3kΩ to 25.3kΩ) along with some fixed cable capacitance, set to roughly match a standard 3m guitar cable.
Turning the OHMS dial left gives a more open top end; turning it right rolls off highs — just like different guitars and cables would.
Cool Brittania / Sleaze
*Does not take batteries... stop using batteries you pigs!*
As a tribute to the two modes, Scran now comes in two designs:
Cool Britannia – Do I even need to explain? One for the fans.
Sleaze – Our design take on the “grit with glam” aesthetic that defined the Indie Sleaze era.
Both are part of the core range, feature the exact same circuit, and cost the same — so yes, you can buy “the Oasis pedal” in black if you want. The only difference? Sleaze has a pink indicator LED, while Cool Britannia has a red one.
Business Title
To turn Scran V2 into an OG Scran, set the internal pickup sim to "OFF" and make sure the 90/00 switch is set to "90". The "Oasis in a box" video should track nicely for some presets! If you have buffers before it or a wah/fuzz face or something of the sort, try setting the pickup sim to "ON", and "The Ultimate Oasis Pedal" video will help with presets.
