We’re living in interesting times - where the more classic Germanium Transistors have almost all been used up already. JAM Pedals’ Fuzz Phrase used to be a purple suede-wrapped Custom Shop Edition loaded with Germanium CV7003 variants - which are military spec equivalents to OC44. While those were always is short supply and stocks eventually ran out!
It turns out that Jimi Hendrix favoured the Silicon variety of Fuzz Face - which for many is just as good as or even preferable to the ...
I have quite a number of Super Fuzzes in the collection by now - and this Lastgasp Art Laboratories variant is another wonderful take on that format - with some quite distinct circuit differences - but most importantly it has all the flavour - and those fantastic blooming and percolating waves of harmonic fuzz.
The circuit topology is somewhat different to the norm - being composed of a mix of C1815 Transistors and JRC4558DD opamp. I’m not particularly familiar with the C1815’s, but ...
Joe Halliday’s latest ShipWreck FuzzStortion has been through quite the development journey. Initially based on the request of a friend to make a Higher Gain HSE pedal. It combines a JFET preamp section with some beautifully amp- and fuzz-like dynamics and characteristics - and produces rather exceptional long singing sustain.
It’s basically a discrete transistor style distortion - with an initial JFET preamp section to deliver more organic feel under the fingers. Then it hits something ...
This article was actually inspired by the recent Fjord Fuzz SOL Fuzz-Vibe feature - where I got to thinking about extended range Fuzz Face style pedals. To my memory there is only the Carl Martin Purple Moon and Fjord Fuzz SOL in that compact Fuzz-Vibe format. I then recalled the Keeley Electronics Monterey - but realised there weren’t a whole lot of pedals in the extended format category - for Fuzz-Vibes - so I expanded the remit to cover ’Fuzz Face+’ pedals - essentially expanded feature set ...
The SOL Fuzz-Vibe is a very personal pedal - both for Daniel himself, and all Fjord-dwelling Scandinavians in particular. In those jagged fjords the sun never manages to rise far enough above those craggy peaks through the depths of winter (which in some parts can be almost half the year!) - the first hint of spring is the sun finally cresting those fjord peaks and releasing the land from darkness. We Icelanders call this fabulous natural phenomenon ’Sólarkaffi’ - when the first appearance of ...
February can often seem a rather odd month after the hustle and bustle of NAMM Show January - where a lot of new stuff always gets announced - while increasingly outside the NAMM schedule - but certainly in and around it! Projects delayed from the previous year often get released in January, but this year those kind of seem to be more spaced out - with some not feted to happen until March / April. February always seems slow compared to January, and that sometimes extends into March too before ...
For me Markus and Izzy have left the best to last for Facet February - as we get a second chance to order this fantastic ballsy modern leaning take on the Fuzz Face. As always Markus has selected a superb pair of NOS Silicon Transistors for the job - 2 x MicroElectronics C1016Y Yellow Dots - these are essentially the higher gain grade of the red dot ME-C1016’s used in the RedDotSound.
Markus describes this unique Fuzz Face take as :
"This fuzz F@ce has a greasy mid range and a very ...
The first batch of the BHS-D had uniformly white insides, while batch 2 had mostly gold interiors, my copper one, and one in Zonk blue! I would have doubly lucked out if the circuit anchor posts had remained brass as in the first batch, but they were switched to steel in this new batch. I still feel that my copper insides provide the best complementary colour scheme to the components - really sets off the greens and yellows of the resistors and capacitors, as well as the footswitch ...
This new hybrid fuzz pedal is in a similar format to Subdecay’s recent PixelWave Phase Distortion Synth. It has the same 11 Mode (0-10) Mode Selector and overall 5 knobs + 3-way Toggle Edit Mode switch. Obviously quite different parameters and output - but same in layout and similar in function.
Controls - GAIN / Pre-Comp, TONE / Pre-HPF, OFFSET (Bias)| MIX / Pre-LPF, VOLUME, EDIT MODE : PRE / ANALOG / Shaper, FUZZ TYPE : 1-11 / Chorus & Flange, Hold Footswith to Save Preset.
This ...
The 4th and final variant of the Facet family. This is based on the 2-transistor Tone Bender variety made by the Italian Jen Factory - for Vox - in 1966.
It has the least amount of low-end of any of the Tone Benders / Fuzz Faces - and can be considered to have a somewhat Treble Booster like profile - with enhanced highs. Lots of players love it because its somewhat brighter profile tends to cut through more in the mix.
Markus has unearthed some really special vintage Philips silver-face...