What? Martin effect pedals? Yes, that's right. In 1989, Martin (as in C.F. Martin & Co. from Nazareth, PA) offered a line of effect pedals under the name "Stinger"—each with the Martin name proudly stamped on the underside. 

These Martin-branded pedals were made in Japan by Aria, and although they actually sound pretty good, they were a tremendous flop. Martin's dealers were acoustic-oriented shops, and they simply didn't know how to sell them. After about 6 months, the project folded, and very few Martin Stingers actually made it out into the public.

The TS-5 Tube Stack is exactly what it sounds like—it's a pedal designed to reproduce the overdriven sound of a crank tube amp. Despite what that name implies, it gives you more harmonics and distortion than a TS-based circuit. Three controls to dial in the right sound: "Level" sets the output volume, "Tone" adds more treble content, and "Dist" sets the level of gain/distortion. 

This 1989 Martin Stinger TS-5 Tube Stack shows some nicks, scratches, and signs of use, but it functions 100% as it should and it sounds fantastic. It stays smooth and fattens your tone at lower settings, but as you push the "Dist" and "Tone" knobs, it gets fizzy and saturated. It's a great pedal and a very cool piece of Martin history.