Xploration • Curation • Recommendation
JSA Effects' Fuzztronought is a blisteringly great searing 6-knob evolution of the late '69 EHX One-knob Plug-in Muff Fuzz
This was the second pedal I picked up from JSA Effects at the recent Leeds Pedal Show - and it’s even better for me than the already exceptional LNS Overdrive Modded OD-1 that I rushed to the stand to secure!
On the day of the show I came away with just those two JSA pedals. I later secured one of Blue FX’s oddly shaped Pillux Fuzzes, and should really have picked up a Holy Island Spectral Fire at the same time - which I also sorted out post-haste - shortly after the show! Those two pedals were the very first I acquired from JSA Effects - and they were truly the making of that Leeds Show for me.
The Fuzztronought was a pedal specifically created for that show - Simon only made 5 of them - obviously they’re all gone now - they pretty much sold out at the show. I feel he needs to make them a permanent fixture in his catalogue - said fuzz really blew me away - which is some feat considering I picked up that exceptional LNS Overdrive at the same time!
The source EHX Muff Fuzz was made in that sort of Dan Armstrong plug-in style, I guess designed to be mounted / clipped to your guitar strap or belt or similar. Said Muff Fuzz had just a single Master Volume knob, and an Off/Boost slider-switch. It was actually a 2-transistor circuit topology, so with some parallels to the fuzz face I guess - it sounded pretty excellent though - and was available well into the 70's I recall.
My first encounter with this circuit was Fredric Effects' heavily modded Demon Fuzz - which adds a couple of Mod switches to the original circuit - the first of which allows you to flip the Clipping profile between Germanium and Silicon, and the second of which delivers a Thick Scoop to the output. That is a fantastic sounding variant for sure - but quite different, and not nearly so expansive as Simon's 6-knob version!
This is a really strong day for fuzzes - as the Phuzzmaphobia that I featured earlier is also exceptional - and with some really interesting modulated fuzz textures and flavours. Both of the fuzzes I featured today are for those who love that fuller flavour.
For the Fuzztronought we have 6 expansive controls - that massively beef up the core fuzz profile - allowing you to take it into all manner of different territories, and several that sound quite different and distnct, but all have that fantastic sustain!
Controls - Level, Tone, Gain, Bias, Thick, Sag.
Current favourite settings are - Level @ 2 o'c, Tone @ 4 o'c, Gain @ 3 o'c, Bias @ 9 o'c, Thick @ Noon, Sag @ Noon!
Both the Bias and Sag controls behave a little oddly - and they sound at their best in the left hemisphere of those controls - if you go much past noon, you can somewhat choke out the signal - which lessens the impact of this magnificent fuzz.
As far as I'm concerned this fuzz sounds absolutely killer in so many different ways.
There's 3 Silicon Transistors onboard - 2 x BC549C + 1 x 2N3904 - and 1 MOSFET - a 2N7000 which is the Boost at the start of the circuit and a significant part why this fuzz is so vibrant!
The Fuzztronought was priced at £150 at the show as far as I recall - obviously there are none listed on the JSA Effects Reverb.com store any more (all sold!) - you will undoubtedly need to pester Simon to make some more!
For me the Fuzztronought is an instant satisfaction fuzz - relatively easy to dial in - and so wonderfully full-on in use - where there is plenty of range in reserve too - a really cool and unique fuzz for me - where all 6 of those controls totally matter!
Obviously there is no demo yet of this particular fuzz - Simon will need to arrange one of those if and when he makes some more. Perhaps these will just be 'Show Editions' and he will take a handful with him whenever he exhibits! In any case they're well worth getting your hands on! For the LNS Overdrive - I said that I could have done with a little more volume even though it's pretty much there or thereabouts - for the Fuzztronought there's plenty of range on all those dials - it's pretty much a perfect circuit as far as I'm concerned - it sounds superb every which way!
Oh yes - the pedal has a flip-flop paint-job too which looks either Blue or Purple depending on how the light hits it. It also has that marbled effect - here in streaks of gold, where the knobs are a cool bronze colourway variant - it all comes together rather nicely!
As I said before - this pedal is every way great!
Sound Sample the from Original Source Circuit!
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