The Harmonic Percolator
Considered the rarest guitar pedal in the world, and made famous most notably by world renowned producer and guitarist Steve Albini, The Harmonic Percolator was originally created in 1979 by my grandpa Ed Giese.
Until now, the true origins of the HP-1 and its creator have been somewhat of a mystery. So I am setting the record straight by filling in the details about the man Steve Albini referred to as “The Crazy Guy” with a repair shop.
The Creator
(Ed Giese in his shop)
Ed Giese was both a musician, and a genius electrical engineer. Ed designed and constructed the first solid-state professional recording console in the U.S.A. for the first commercially available 8 track tape machine, the Ampex MR-70 serial number 001. Ed also designed and built at least 7 recording studios in the 1950s, 60s and 70s including a commercial movie studio. Ed, along with his friend and business associate Dave Kennedy, were pioneers in multi-track recording, and helped develop ideas that revolutionized the recording industry.
Ed was also a top tier live sound engineer and in the 1970s he was the chief sound engineer for Milwaukee Summerfest, which is today one of the largest music festivals in the world. Ed created several inventions to assist with live sound engineering as well.
These are just a few of Ed's accomplishments. If you'd like to know more, I've created a 33 page PDF where I go into detail about Ed's background in music, electronics, recording, InterFax, The Harmonic Percolator, as well as my own story using the Harmonic Percolator growing up. I've included over 30 photos, some dating as far back as the 1940s. I've also included several scans of newspaper clippings and articles featuring Ed Giese, and scans of some original InterFax memorabilia. A lot of time and effort went into researching and creating this document and you won't find this information anywhere else. If you'd like to purchase a copy, see below.