4 of a Kind One Knob Colorsound Fuzz Box Style Fuzzes

So we have 3 direct Colorsound One Knob Fuzz Box derivatives, and one sort of somewhat adjacent one in the guise of the Weird Noise Fuzz It. These are all essentially mostly 2-stage kind of high gain Silicon Fuzz Faces of a sort  - but very much in the low-end accentuated Doom category (more of the low-end frequencies get passed through eh circuits rather than being fitlered out).

The original One Knob Colorsound Fuzz had 1 x BC109 and 1 x BC108 Silicon High Gain Transistors - ’C’ types, while the more typically Meathead derivative type - which includes 3 representatives in this selection - tended to have a mix of 1 x BC182L, and 1 x BC239C or 2N3904 Transistors, where the ’L’ denotes ECB pinout arrangement, and the ’C’ denotes High Gain Output (A>B>C).

My own main D*A*M Meathead M-13 is a rare Hybrid type with BC109 Silicon and OC141 Germanium Transistors - which has a very unique gritty timbre, but is not quite as aggressive as the core default all-Silicon Meathead. Where my most wanted target is still one of the super rare Slomatics Editions - the finest purveyors of that ’Meathead’ sound. I even got into some correspondence with the lead guitarist from the Slomatics one David Majury - but that was many years ago alas - and that edition still remains very elusive - I think the only way one of those can be had is if you get one from the band’s allocation of just 13! The last time this one came up for sale it was $350 and several years ago - so undoubtedly probably twice that nowadays. The Slomatics Meathead edition had 2N3904 and BC107 Silicon Transistors onboard. 

The Frost Giant Massif typically has 1 x BC548 + 1 x 2N5089 onboard  (2 x BC109C’s in the Four Horsemen Version) - where the D*A*M ones always tend to be mis-matched, and where the Nine of Swords Tyrant typically has 2N3904 + BC182L which is very ’period correct’ and classic. The Weird Noise ’Fuzz It’ does not seem to have specified its transistors beyond saying that the first Fuzz type on the toggle is Dual NOS Soviet Germanium Transistors - which then when you flip the toggle to the right - cascades into high gain Silicon Transistors for a sort of extreme broken-up raspy output! I would assume that the Soviet ones are most likely similar to the saucer types used on the Spaceman Effects pedals (circa Π308 and equivalent!)

Here follows my selection of 4 :

• D*A*M Meathead Slomatics Belfast Fuzz Machine - $350+
• Frost Giant Massif Savage Wave Destroyer - $159
• Nine of Swords Tyrant Fuzz - £65 ($85)
• Weird Noise Fuzz It - $160

As mentioned, I have a rare hybrid variant of the D*A*M Meathead, and I own the Tyrant Fuzz. There have been so many versions of the Massif - I just need to decide which edition and colourway best meets my preferences - I don’t think it’s the current one with the Violet / Magenta accents! But I remain open to persuasion.

And the Weird Noise Fuzz has been on my wishlist for a while actually - I just did no yet hit the trigger for one of those - and they’ve been out of stock on Break The Machine for ages! Will likely have to go direct!

I will look to pick up the latter two here at the earliest opportunity - while I’m highly unlikely to ever possess one of the 13 limited Slomatics Edition Meathead - that one should have been in my recent Unobtanium feature too!

Here follow the further details :