I am a huge fan of the Crazy Tube Circuits Constellation Series - where I own each of those 3 rare Germanium Editions - OC45, OC41, and CV7003 (Milspec OC44). Those were relatively simple devices with just a variable Volume and Gain Control, and then a 6-way Rotary that took you though the different modes :

The Bolster Dual Fuzz consists of a 3 x 2N5088 Transistor Tone Bender MKII adjacent High Gain Fuzz on one side, and a single knob OpAmp Speaker-destroying Fuzz on the other side. The 5-knob Transistor Fuzz has an enormous gain range from drive and fuzzy-drive through to fairly searing high gain fuzz - and then when you add the More Fuzz in - you kind of blow the doors off - in the best possible sense.

All the finesse is on the first channel, while the More Channel - comes in somewhat high-...

Back in 2003, Dan Coggin’s Dinosaural created a silicon transistor circuit which sort of combined elements of a Tube Sceamer and a Tone Bender - and hence the ’Tube Bender’ moniker. I believe the earliest models were in Silver sort of 1590BB style enclosures, and the later ones were in Black.

From 2003-2007 a total of around 150 were made. And in the intervening years several takes on that circuit emerged - including the Aion FX Wyvern in 2020, and the Drunk Beaver T-Rex a year later - ...

For me - these Dealer special White Light editions - are some of the prettiest varieties Spaceman has released to-date - with the white-out / snow-blind livery and striking cyan / teal LED’s - just gorgeous. I was missing the Atlas IV and Apollo VIIb - and Cream City Music and Axe and You Shall Receive were enormously helpful in getting those shipped to me in short order. I then spotted that my friend Scott at Axe and You Shall Receive also had a White Light Rumblefuzz II remaining - and I just...

I thought I should focus on my large format heavy-hitters for a change - where these 8 are some of my largest, most potent, and best favoured gain pedals. They are arranged here in alphabetical order, while they were released in the below chronological order. All 8 have featured heavily in my rig at different times - and all 8 are still very valid award winners and still in rotation. While the enormous girth of the Elektron Analog Drive means that is gets somewhat less of a rotation nowadays - ...

This latest of Björn Juhl’s Fuzz creations is supposedly his favourite to date. A new circuit making use of 3 x TO-39 Metal Can 2N3439 Silicon Transistors.

It’s superb versatile - with the most texture with Fuzz around 9 / 10 o’c, and then full-on sear at Max.

The two settings I landed on immediately were :

• Max Harmonics : Volume @ 3 o’c, Fuzz @ 9-10 o’c, Treble @ 3 o’c
• Max Sear : Volume @ 3 o’c, Fuzz @ Max, Treble @ Max

Controls - Volume, Fuzz, Treble.

One of the killer ...

Props to Thorn Soundlabs for a fantastically versatile circuit that easily takes you into Fuzz Face, Tone Bender, and Big Muff territory - depending on how you dial it in.

It has a really potent tone-shaping ability - combining 3-Band EQ with semi-parametric mids and a Damping control. And 2 toggle switches to deliver different characters and timbres.

Controls - Gain, Damping (Tighness), Mid Frequency : 300Hz > 2kHz, Volume, Character : Smooth, Natural, Hot!, Hard Clip : Off / On, Bass,...

My pal Scott Hager of Axe and You Shall Receive first brought this pedal to my attention when I wrote up the history of his dealership back in 2021. Scott had a connection to Glenn, and stocked the Moonrock Fuzz in the early days of his dealership. Alas Glenn passed away in 2014 - and this is the first major revival / tribute we have seen since then.

The Moonrock circuit is a unique Multi-Voice - which starts off with a gated Swelling / Blooming output - which when you crank the Fuzz knob ...

After the quiet comfort of February, March unleashed an avalanched of work - both in terms of new releases and acquisitions, but especial in the field of Guitar and Pedal expos - where I attended 3 within a month - first The Birmingham Guitar Show at Cranmore Park, then the London Synth and Pedal Expo at Studio 9294, Hackney Wick - and then back to Birmingham for the Noise Maker Market at Centrala, Digbeth - all grand events.

I burned myself out a little this month, and came back willingly empty...