Earlier this month, BOSS' beloved Metal Zone MT-2 guitar effects pedal was at the centre of a COVID-19 conspiracy theory, and the mind behind the heavy, humorous bit of misinformation has now come forward.
Guitar World has published an interview with the person responsible for marking up a diagram of the Metal Zone's insides, which led online viewers to believe it was a "confidential" blueprint for a coronavirus vaccine chip.
The individual, who GW calls Alexander, claims to be "part of a small group of doctors, immunologists, scientists, designers and others who came together in a Facebook educational group to produce and provide the public with credible and fact-checked content and info on vaccines, genetics and COVID-19," in an effort to "fight the rumours, anti-vaxxer bullshit, etc."
Alexander told the publication that after sharing "funny explanations of complicated subjects" in attempt to educate those in the Facebook group, he became frustrated and sought to "[ruin] the anti-vaxxer gurus' credibility among their own following."
Described as a "keen electronics hobbyist" based in Croatia, Alexander deemed the Metal Zone "maybe the least known pedal among the people who weren't into guitars and gear," and found a schematic that was "science-y" enough.
Alexander's alterations included a label for a "5G frequency" transmitter, while intentionally leaving more guitar-centric markings for bass, treble, gain and a footswitch attachment. Guitar World writes that they have seen his initial post, made December 21 of last year, that was soon shared widely by conspiracists.
"It was all ramped up to the extreme and every sane person in the world would get it's a joke, but, well, there ain't a lot of sane people in the world," Alexander told GW, adding that he soon added a satire disclaimer as messages began to pile up in his inbox.
Among the messages he received were claims that others were "stealing the text and the schematic and presenting them as their own 'discovery'." Of the conspiracists, he added, "Their followers 'jizzed' in the comments. finally having the Holy Grail of proof against the evil vaccine and the ruling lizard Gates elite!"
After wading back into the comments section to let everyone know they'd been had, Alexander explained, "The 'gurus' didn't have time to react 'cause they were sleeping, and in the morning... well, there was a lot of deleting of posts, a lot of 'never gonna trust you again!' comments. If one person ended up not believing some idiot's bullshit, that makes me happy."
Guitar World has published an interview with the person responsible for marking up a diagram of the Metal Zone's insides, which led online viewers to believe it was a "confidential" blueprint for a coronavirus vaccine chip.
The individual, who GW calls Alexander, claims to be "part of a small group of doctors, immunologists, scientists, designers and others who came together in a Facebook educational group to produce and provide the public with credible and fact-checked content and info on vaccines, genetics and COVID-19," in an effort to "fight the rumours, anti-vaxxer bullshit, etc."
Alexander told the publication that after sharing "funny explanations of complicated subjects" in attempt to educate those in the Facebook group, he became frustrated and sought to "[ruin] the anti-vaxxer gurus' credibility among their own following."
Described as a "keen electronics hobbyist" based in Croatia, Alexander deemed the Metal Zone "maybe the least known pedal among the people who weren't into guitars and gear," and found a schematic that was "science-y" enough.
Alexander's alterations included a label for a "5G frequency" transmitter, while intentionally leaving more guitar-centric markings for bass, treble, gain and a footswitch attachment. Guitar World writes that they have seen his initial post, made December 21 of last year, that was soon shared widely by conspiracists.
"It was all ramped up to the extreme and every sane person in the world would get it's a joke, but, well, there ain't a lot of sane people in the world," Alexander told GW, adding that he soon added a satire disclaimer as messages began to pile up in his inbox.
Among the messages he received were claims that others were "stealing the text and the schematic and presenting them as their own 'discovery'." Of the conspiracists, he added, "Their followers 'jizzed' in the comments. finally having the Holy Grail of proof against the evil vaccine and the ruling lizard Gates elite!"
After wading back into the comments section to let everyone know they'd been had, Alexander explained, "The 'gurus' didn't have time to react 'cause they were sleeping, and in the morning... well, there was a lot of deleting of posts, a lot of 'never gonna trust you again!' comments. If one person ended up not believing some idiot's bullshit, that makes me happy."
