Benson Germanium Fuzz - Consistent Temperature Controlled Fuzz

[@chrisjs6123]

This is awesome. Love all the comments on the Gear Page- "no midi, that's a deal breaker for me", (buy an Automatone then), "well, if it warms the transistors what happens if I'm on a stage and it's 100 degrees, why doesn't it also do cooling?". Seriously, if you're on stage in direct sun at 100 degrees you've got bigger issues than your pedals. Truly a deep dive into the minds of the demented.

[@MarkWehrenberg]

Right? Unlike other Ge fuzz faces the way they chose to bias it, the ideal temp is 95ish degrees anyway so being too hot isn't as big of an issue. Also get the white version which does better in sunlight.

[@kevinseth]

Now waiting for temperature controlled Tone Bender Mk II and Treble Booster

[@manuelbastian]

This!!!!

[@adhaskym.a9536]

Why

[@samapple490]

Macaris do a really good MKII Hybrid that fixes all the problems by adding 2 silicone and 1 germanium transistor, it really is my favourite fuzz pedal, I would absolutely recommend it if you don’t mind waiting a couple months.

[@evang2916]

Andy gets this satisfied "basking in the tone" look from time to time where you can tell he's loving it. So awesome to see, and hear. Amazing playing and demoing, as always. Thanks Andy!

[@tonymoore78]

Wow, after all these years, finally the ultimate fuzz face has arrived. Unlimited compatibility, just amazing!

[@tonymoore78]

And some Cars to end the demo. Awesome! Gotta love Andy!

[@paulcowart3174]

Amen...knew there was a reason I haven't pulled the trigger on any high dollar fuzz This might be the top of the mountain

[@paulcowart3174]

And all the tone intact

[@siavashmassoudi]

I’m so glad pedal companies are FINALLY making fuzz pedals with impedance controls!!

[@siavashmassoudi]

@C J I wish they would with the fuzz factory because I LOVED that fuzz but it didn’t work with my rig

[@mattgilbert7347]

MI Audio Effects in my adopted home city of Sydney, Australia made a couple (germanium & silicon) of great fuzzes back in the mid '00s with "load" controls as well as controls for bias, "body" (mids!), "tame" (brightness) and the usual volume, Fuzz, tone. I think Andy demoed the germanium "Neo Fuzz" in his PGS debut. If it wasn't his first, it was damn close! The Neo and Boost and Buff will never leave my rig, and it's because of Andy's demos that I even heard of the company-even though Mike builds his pedals and amps around 20min drive from where I was living during the late 90s through to the late 00s!

[@mattgilbert7347]

Load is like impedance, no? I'm a little fuzzy on this... *save up the applause and give it all to me at the end of the show* #Punapologetic

[@RobertKeeleyTV]

That fuzz sounds and responds hella good. Wow.

[@slash196]

The perfect fuzz doesn't exi

[@Zwidawurzn]

Wow, seems like Germanium Fuzz just arrived in the 21st century.

[@Diax1324]

Fantastic for modern pedalboards - however, I really do prefer fuzz faces that can be viciously aggravated by being fed the wrong impedance.

[@brunovilhena9667]

@@Diax1324 It's a good thing that Chris added an impedance control then...

[@Diax1324]

@@brunovilhena9667 Well I like to kick on a compressor or overdrive in front of it to make it mad. So far as I can tell, this unit is buffered and won't work that way.

[@brunovilhena9667]

@@Diax1324 I could be wrong, but even if you have the buffer there, by lowering the impedance control are you not emulating the low impedance of those pedals you want to use before the fuzz anyways? I thought this was the idea, the ability of giving you the option.

[@johndogwater]

Andy is a finger monster, the one, the only.

[@TheoAndHisPedals]

Woah that temperature indicator and pickup simulator thing is really amazing. Looks and sounds classy as hell. I might have to get one to see how it sounds on bass

[@erniesfo]

It's Andy, being Andy. Sonic and pedal satisfaction guaranteed. Enough said...

[@vondre9124]

Lets try it through the Marshall with some single coils, just, you know, cause it sounds GREAT! You know Andy had fun with this one. Cheers bro 👍

[@HarshTonesInc]

Maximum rippage, my dude! Such a stellar fuzzzzzzzzzz

[@AndyDemos]

Thanks! I’m glad you fed some bass through it too🔥🔥

[@HarshTonesInc]

@@AndyDemos It's rocknroll AF on the low boy

[@joe153D]

They did a good job coming up with that type of technology! However, the erratic personality of a necessary impedance matched, temperature effected, picky signal chain location, fuzz face is what I love the most about it.

[@cd349er]

Love the opening jam! Cool fuzz tones.. Your demos are always thorough with great playing examples.

[@naispuma21]

Great demo! Tasty playing too. I ordered one of these today, can’t wait to play through it…

[@tooManywaystoFall]

Scene - Christopher Walken " I got a fuzz fever, and the only remedy is a temperature controlled germanium fuzz" ...segue into Andy r0ckin it!

[@mookmook5715]

10 out of ten for playing !

[@NoUploadJustComment]

Some great tones from the Marshall there. Also good call throwing it in a loop to see how it interacts with other pedals.

[@edadpops1709]

Portland strikes again👍

[@chrisandjessicalonn4351]

Another building torched?

[@alexfletcher9915]

Such an awesome representation of what make this fuzz a standout!

[@therewasascene]

Oh man I love those settings with high volume! You’ve shown the widest range of what this thing can do on the cleaned up impedance settings and they’re some of my favorites. Thanks so much.

[@gordoncole2242]

This is the first time I bought the pedal before I was done listening to the intro.

[@vladimirosalazar5289]

Now thats one tasty fuzz, ive been wanting a germanium fuzz for a long time, this is gonna be it for sure. Great playing as always Andy, love your demos since the PGS demos days, youve made me buy far too many pedals 😂🤟🏻

[@TVicc]

Amazing how far the fuzz has come in 60 years...

[@edadpops1709]

Marshall super lead. What a gem. 👏🤘

[@sassycat]

All right, this has my attention and is relative to my interests. I need to check one out ASAP.

[@danieltv123]

It's great to see a guitar pedal that's brings new things to the game!

[@andredegiant3876]

There are a ton of great fuzzes, but the best let your character and your guitar's character shine through. This one is unequivocally the latter, like Andy 🙌

[@alexatalentscout4979]

That was a tremendous performance!

[@alejandroantunezdelacruz5095]

Clever design, and great playing!

[@darwinsaye]

I’ll be honest; I think the Benson sounds fantastic and I think all it’s advances are great, but I listen to the demo with all the impedance “problems” of running a buffer in front of a Fuzz Face, and I couldn’t help but thinking I really liked the “problem” sounds. I dunno; I think of fuzz as something that I *want* to sound wild and messy, the messier the better. I really liked what the chorus pedal did to the tone of the Fuzz Face, both on and off.

[@AndyDemos]

That’s cool, there’s certainly room for messy tones in the guitar world! In my experience, once those types of tones get to stage level, it’s a whole other story. Whatever works for you 👍🏻

[@67er_matze97]

wow - perfect demo of this wonderful piece of gear !! 👍

[@AndyDemos]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!

[@lukewarm7744]

Awesome stuff Andy cheers

[@sj99ward]

great demo

[@JemMusic.]

Threw in a bit of Lenny/Slash there! Enjoyed that.

[@johnvcougar]

It just rings out in a way that digital wants emulate.

[@BeardTone]

solid Demo! sounds great

[@SeanKerns]

Dang ol' Andy makes everything he demos sound great, but that is a tasty sounding fuzz!

[@josefk5659]

Sounds good. I know everyone wants their face melted but all I want is to hear country fuzz like flying burrito brothers

[@PackinForSuperbowl]

HOLY CRAP. THIS IS BRILLIANT!

[@luisnunez5944]

Mister Andy THE BEST!!!!!

[@sonicacoustics9176]

Wow! Enjoyed listening to it.

[@GearSounds]

I just ask the bartender to put mine in the fridge until the gig but this is far better.

[@joybuzzer]

That sounds incredible. Excellent demo as always Andy.

[@AndyDemos]

Thank you very much! I had fun with this one👍🏻

[@xxgg909]

Good job!

[@erictouw4455]

This almost sounded like a parody when I saw the title but it's super cool!

[@glorideefaithperez2858]

A "why didn't someone think of this before" idea. I had an Analog Man Sun Lion (Germanium Fuzz/boost) that was sometimes the greatest dirt pedal ever, or a broken transistor radio modeller, depending on the day. Unusable in a live setting. Love to try one of these!

[@R.G.B-tv]

I'm a Strat kinda guy, but that's a fine looking and sounding Les Paul you have there Andy

[@BrandonMarsella]

I was shocked when I opened up my 2000s Dunlop fuzz face to mod it, it also has a thermo resistor in it to keep it biased properly. I promptly removed that part of the circuit hahahaha

[@alexmurphy5289]

Finally! The buffers are my true issue but awesome stuff

[@paulcowart3174]

Perfect finally ❤️ Thank you Benson Wonder where unity gain is on this wonder OK looks like about 10oclock

[@jeffroalson1915]

The temperature control isn’t anything particularly exciting for me but the sounds, on the other hand, have me very excited for this one. Good work Benson! (And Andy of course)

[@andy.pitcher]

temperature control is exciting because in guarantees those sounds!

[@jeffroalson1915]

@@andy.pitcher Yeah maybe you’re right. I guess that feature just isn’t quite as exciting to me as the buffer and simulated pickup signal that helps maintain tone consistency regardless of location in chain but I’m sure the temp control also helps keep that consistent tone. Love the white color as well!

[@andy.pitcher]

@@jeffroalson1915 benson did so great on this, it is easy to fall in love with different parts of it.

[@nickp440]

My god does that thing clean up nice. Take my money

[@hoboroadie]

Is it a Northwest thing? I thought I was the only one creating a working environment for my Germanium transistors. When it gets below forty Fahrenheit my fuzz stops passing signal. A couple of winters I just changed my tone for a while, then last year I finally thought to put a lightbulb on the floor next to the fuzz to keep it running. Optimal temperature would be nice, I reckon. Kudos to Benson for thinking of solutions where I thought there were just constraints.

[@revol40]

Supergrass? Awesome demo like always.

[@AndyDemos]

Maybe a little influence yeah!!!

[@memyself52]

Hi Andy. It's always a pleasure to just watch you testing all these pedals. As I said before, you're the closest thing to a live band we can have in these peculiar times. Though I asked before and you did not came up with an answer, Im trying again. What part of known songs or known bands are you playing in these evaluation videos and what part is ANDY'S OWN ???? 'Cause Andy's GREAT !!! Another comment, could you make a mention of the different guitars you're playing ? I'd say they make a difference on the pedals used ? No ? Anyway, keep on !

[@AndyDemos]

Hello, I'm not playing any known songs in this vid or most of them. I like to play whatever comes to mind and let the pedals write the music. You can see all the gear I'm using in the video description above. Thanks and glad you enjoy the vids!!!

[@juanamigo]

Gosh, that’s fantastic!

[@mattgilbert7347]

Goddam that sounds magic

[@bluesful]

That sounds great.

[@edadpops1709]

Your old thomas crybay wah still cooks

[@HSet77]

Humbuckers! Impressive.

[@willbohland3698]

Andy 4 life. Did i learn something? Yes.

[@daveclinton4945]

Sounds awesome through my Samsung! I'm sold! Wait... that's how I buy every pedal.

[@Thurston86]

Im excited for this one! Noice!!! 🤘👽

[@deankay800]

Finally! Now I can take my regular germanium fuzz out of my freezer:))

[@billydelacruz1500]

Awesome!! This pedal is gonna go places kid!!😂😂

[@markferguson3745]

The temp control was a great idea, but I think the buffer and sim lose some essential qualities of Ge at it's best.Those features are not new ideas, and I've preferred designs without that addition to the circuit. I think what it comes down to,- which is a common choice in life overall is,- " good" all of the time, or "great" sometimes. I'll take the latter, everytime. Their Pre remains the truly exceptional pedal which will stand the test of time.

[@andy.pitcher]

you two are going to put portland on the map

[@andy.pitcher]

that fuzz face buffer experiment is so excellent

[@AndyDemos]

@@andy.pitcher Thanks, it may have been more apparent with the fuzzes at about 75% but I think the point came across still 👊

[@erikthompson404]

Could anyone tell me what the loop switcher is? I don’t think it is in the list of gear. Thank you.

[@cameronchristie9472]

I would love to know that too!

[@benjaminfowler4513]

Wonder if tonebenders could be done this way or if they would even benefit from it? Looks great And sounds great. As always I'm gonna be here regardless to hear what Andy plays!

[@AndyDemos]

I don’t see why not, the 3 transistors in a ToneBender are certainly affected by temperature too! 👍🏻

[@benjaminfowler4513]

@@AndyDemos cool cool cool maybe we will see that next then for people who prefer that flavor over the fuzz face. Nice innovation.

[@ffeijoor_msc]

I understand the benson stonk box is based on a tone bender

[@benjaminfowler4513]

@@ffeijoor_msc thanks I'll check that one out

[@AndyDemos]

@benjaminfowler4513 Yes, two years after your comment but they did do a temp controlled Tonebender with the Stonkbox. Very fun Reverb demo of that one!

[@Toolleeow]

So they made a silicon fuzz with a germanium transistor? Fancy

[@filippredin2063]

Pumping on your stereo?? Sounds killer!

[@mrnelsonius5631]

Came in here to say the same. He was certainly evoking Super Grass if not playing it directly :)

[@heythatsprettynoice65]

opener track sounds kinda dinosaur jr ish

[@TisTheDamnStickSeason]

I really have been caught by this fuzz (still on the buzz)

[@gentlemandave1135]

What the Benson does is cool…but I thought that little red fuzzface sounded great. Which version is that?

[@hotram9850]

Any idea what kind of loop switcher Andy is using?

[@juliendammert7488]

Great demo as always. That amps switcher is definitly a great thing for your videos. Are you using the Ox as an attenuator for the Marshall ?

[@AndyDemos]

Thanks ! Yes, the switcher has a master loop for the attenuator so I get to use the OX on any head. I attenuate and mic but also mix with one of the Ox’s virtual 4x12 cabs to fill it out. 👍🏻

[@juliendammert7488]

@@AndyDemos You’re welcome. Thanks for your answer. Even greater. And so the Ox could handle the Marshall 100 watts which goes more than 100 watts. Thanks for your great videos.

[@AhrenField]

Good lord that Marshall sounds epic. Is it modded? What cab/speakers are you running that into or is it going into the ox? I ask because the description mentions the Royer 121. Not sure if you mean a real mic or the Ox‘s Royer emulation. Thanks!!!

[@AndyDemos]

Thanks, I love it! it’s a ‘72 and doesn’t have any mods that I’m aware of aside from some mustard caps replacing the chicklets it came with. I use both an attenuated 1x12 Creamback cab and the OX with a virtual 4x12. I like using both, they fill each other out nicely. Cab sims alone doesn’t do it for me.

[@AhrenField]

@@AndyDemos amazing. Thanks for everything you've done! I've bought so many pedals over the years because of you haha!

[@bastian6755]

a technical question. Do I get the same functions as the Benson Germanium Boost (green pedal) by setting the Benson germanium fuzz as a clean boost?

[@ChangKhun]

Luv it

[@MW47742]

That Marshall sounds epic…without Fuzz!

[@trevecho]

Dude, how’d they fit a thermostat in there?

[@matthewtop]

I know this is old news but Andys picking style rocks. How does he get such awesome string attack? I'd guess he was using a pick if I didn't know better

[@AndyDemos]

Thanks Matt! 👊

[@imnotvintageimgrumpy586]

I want a fuzz that's controlled by the player's mood. Or a fuxx controlled by the player's character.

[@jimmyhoffa2530]

The range while on a les paul was incredible. Sounded better with humbuckers imo.

[@Giuzepp8_5]

This pedal is very Pete Cornish : )

[@hershiekopper]

Andy do you usually use your Vox king wah before fuzzes? Or do you place it after for fuzzes without the buffer tech?

[@AndyDemos]

I almost always put wah before dirt👍🏻

[@patrickrosington1174]

My analog.man sunface is going to have some competition. Lmao. Jk. Its going to have a forever friend it seems. Along with my other fuzzes

[@WorldsOkayestGuitarDemos]

Take my money!!!!!!

[@jamespitoola1954]

tony fridge!!!

[@ndr475]

Wow

[@handyboy2000]

Andy demos Pedal. Mussssst. Buy.

[@afmartins666]

I would love to have one of these if only it didn't cost a right kidney and a left arm...

[@mcw1956]

dallass arbiter has left the chat(planet)

[@heythere6983]

The benson is just too light in fuzz it’s almost no fuzz, although I will say he got the best fuzz tone out of it from any review Iv seen . Every other review makes it sound very clean . I actually didn’t mind the other fuzz with it reacting to the other pedal, it thinned it out but it had fuzz character with more pronounced midrange focus , even in that situation with a buffer it sounded much better then the unchanged benson tone. The benson has more midrange and almost no fuzz character . The other with a buffer was still an upgrade from the benson tone .

[@mcw1956]

pity the poor patent office

[@TedSchoenling]

Don't like fuzz.. came anyway to hear Andy play.

[@rhesreeves5339]

Is this just the first or still the only fuzz with all of these features? Will others be able to incorporate them or... I've heard maybe others have impedance controls now but what about the heater?

[@AndyDemos]

I believe it’s the first of its kind! Sure fuzzes have had bias controls to adapt to the temp, but this actually moves the temp to match to a fixed bias (around 90-100deg). So it’s much more stable 👍🏻

[@MrFrenchHarp]

This a bit fizzy. A bit more bass in it than a fuzz face. I loved the idea of this pedal but… idk, maybe it’s the transistors?