History of the Fuzz Face

[@HardToBeSomeone]

Brilliant as always. I bought a Dave Fox Fuzz Face right from him personally at a Guitar Show. He told me they were ready to throw out boxes full of Fuzz Face housings when Crest decided they wanted out of Fuzz Face production. He asked if he could have the housings and they told him to have a ball. He said he took them all. He made Custom Fuzzes out of them that he was selling at shows. I still have mine.

[@TheGuitarShow]

Graat comment many thanks for this

[@edbenson98]

Jimi Hendrix was light years ahead of the competition! R.I.P.

[@TheGuitarShow]

I agree Eddie

[@utubehound69]

Yes Jimi was a gift .

[@Shred_The_Weapon]

Just take a moment to take stock that Jimi Hendrix’ Woodstock tone came from him plugging into the Fuzz Face, the Crybaby and the UniVibe, running into those stacks of his. Blows my mind to think of that.

[@doitnowvideosyeah5841]

@@Shred_The_Weapon Why? I do not understand. Is it because he lacked today's boutique pedals yet still sounded good?

[@Atomic1710]

ShreadTheWeapon vox wah

[@bustedflatpickr]

I found an old one in the dusty junk box in the back room of an old mom and pop music store in 1980. I’ve always wondered about it’s place in the lineage of FFs, and now from what I heard here I believe it to be of the Band of Gypsies vintage, halting production in 1970.

[@greatwhite3676]

If I had to use just one pedal it would be a good fuzz face. I recorded a record in fact with just a Strat, BC108 fuzz face, and a 71 JMP. All the tones are in the volume knob its truly a brilliant design.

[@TheRhino2719]

Its one of the biggest secrets I've stumbled upon. You honestly dont need an overdrive if you back the guitar volume down and the amp volume up and you have an OD. It goes from fuzz to crunch. Back the volume off more and you get a treble booster. They're unbelievably versatile

[@CorbCorbin]

Very informative. I will listen to the history of these effects over and over, and you held my interest with ease. Well done! I’ve went down a rabbit hole with Fuzz Faces, both vintage 60s-early 70s built ones and many recent vintage clones. Even Analogman’s NKT275 WhiteDot or Red Dot Germanium fuzzes are just such a headache at times it just wasn’t worth using much for me. Someone offered me $500 once they was a wait of you to a year for one. And he was running out of those transistors. I wish I’d kept it now, just for my collection. I found the 2008 Dunlop JHF1 BC108 Silicon Fuzz Face, around 2012, and still have it on my board today. It has the best clean up, while still getting all the gain one could want, and never has the problems of Ge ones. It will still give one issues with occasional radio signals coming through(it’s very rare for me), and with a Wah in front, but there are ways around that problem too. Which I will never understand why a simple buffer isn’t put in Fuzz Faces so the Wah problem is gone. Dunlop/MXR just recently mad a mini Fuzz Face with both Si and Ge options, and the buffer for using a Wah before it. What took so long? That 80s Dunlop is just a bad circuit, as I’ve played at least ten of them, and each seemed like a different Fuzz pedal, no consistency. There wasn’t any testing done on the transistors, which is what Analogman takes pride in doing, so each Fuzz can be extremely different from the others. All but one I have owned or demoed just plain sucked. Sucked tone, and sucked in general. The 90s ones were even worse as far as any I’ve played. The 2008 Dunlop has everything one would want in a vintage two knob Fuzz Face, and modding it to get more Germanium-esque tone can be done as well. They did signature ones for Eric Johnson like Bonamassa, and a few others, but they have the same issues. Hendrix used tweaked Silicon fuzzes from just before the Band of Gypsys show, and from then on. Analogman is a wealth of knowledge and wisdom on all these circuits, but Hendrix probably went through hundreds just by himself, because of germanium problems. His meticulous way of choosing the transistors, and adding of a bias is why everyone believed the NKT275 White Dot to be a holy grail. Except, once one has one the same problems will occur, and the bias knob isn’t always the fix. At least he was honest about how many of the transistors he had, which is what made them the Klon Centaur of Fuzz Faces. Now his King of Tone has such a long wait time(I think up to 2 years still), folks will pay ridiculous prices for one not to have to. My current favorite is the Deep Trip BOG, which is based on that BC108 circuit and has modern option that almost no one does. They put a bias, like Analogman does for some of his, while also adding High and Low pots, to shape the time to more warm Germanium, to glassiest Silicon High Gain. Most players just don’t like the low end that a Si Fuzz Face has, so the ability to cut that makes it very versatile. They also changed the input impedance, so the problems of a Wah in front, or the radio signals issue, aren’t there. I still can’t quite get it to clean up like the 2008 JHF1, so I run both. The Dunlop before my Wah, and the BOG after.

[@TheGuitarShow]

An amazing post many thanks 🙏

[@krismarsel]

“Making is slightly colder, making it more usable in warmer environments “

[@skeletonpete]

Thank you for your in-depth research of the Fuzz Face's lineage. Enjoyable, informative and a perfect compliment to That Pedal Show's recent visit to Macaris for a Tone Bender history lesson and shootout.

[@TheGuitarShow]

Thanks I'll have to check out that video you mention!

[@CorbCorbin]

That was an excellent episode, and very informative. So funny the look on Josh Scott’s face when he pulls those out one at a time.

[@shaunw9270]

Really enjoyed that Ramon, thanks . Aside from Jimi , when I think of silicon diode Fuzz Face , I hear Strawberry Alarm clock records with never ending sustain 😊👌

[@paulcowart3174]

Yeah that was Ed King who was later in Skynyrd

[@areamusicale]

An interesting fact about Ivor Arbiter is that he designed the famous Beatles logo ..... for free !!!

[@Atomic1710]

That’s cool

[@BigFuzzyLHG]

Sick!

[@TheRhino2719]

The man was a genius

[@michaelmorales3384]

Thanks .Those years while you and Company were so busy .I was twirling a Phillips screwdriver handle on my first electric guitar purchased complete with an original aquamarine tolex 15" Speaker Cabinet and 1st Fender Twin Reverb .Then ( look out!) Fuzz and sustain pedal sound crazy in the back garage Electro-Harmonixs.it was great fun and rattled my senses hearing these .Thanks this is tops 5 Stars !

[@TheGuitarShow]

Pleasure Michael and a great comment

[@robinmorris5416]

I'd really like to have an original. The guitarist in my band bought one of those "special run" of Dunlop, Joe bonamossa shiny gold fuzz faces and it sounded great at rehearsal. The 1st festival gig in June, the stage felt like it was 120 degrees F. The pedal worked for maybe 30sec then completely crapped out. He sent it back and they told him it was because the heat from the stage, and it being a germanium transistor, they were notorious for crapping out when they get to hot. Needless to say, it never went back on his pedalboard. He went back to a ts808 tubescreamer.

[@TheGuitarShow]

Thanks Robin yes they are definitely sensitive to heat but there's a few mods you can do... Anologman is a master at tweaking the Fuzz Face pedal

[@CorbCorbin]

Robin Morris If he loved that sound, I recommend him try the 2008 Dunlop JHF1 Fuzz Face. It’s a Silicon transistor, so known of the temperature issues, and has the best volume knob clean up I’ve ever heard in my over 20 years of owning and searching different Fuzz Faces. I also have a Tube Screamer, but I mostly use it as a boost for solos when playing in a bigger band, or just another guitarist who is pushing more mid frequency to cut through. The Bonamassa one was basically just something to promote Dunlop and Bonamassa. It’s a business, and those weren’t made with the best quality in mind when it comes to the transistors. Eric Johnson has a signature one as well, and he actually used his in performances for years(think he still does). But, he also keeps a few backups with him, because of the same problems with climate on those Ge transistors. Deep Trip makes some of the best Fuzzes I’ve ever used, and their BOG has options that others just don’t. It can sound like that Bonamassa did when the temp was just right, but also has the ability to get a far wider range of tones. It feels like I’ve played a thousand different ones of them by now, and those two are what I recommend to anyone who asks how I’m getting that tone. Because most player’s second question is almost always, “how do I deal with it crapping out with a change of the weather?” Another affordable option is the latest Dunlop Jimi Hendrix Fuzz Face mini, which has both Si and Ge options, and a buffer so one doesn’t have issues with a Wah in front of it.

[@doitnowvideosyeah5841]

I used to swear by slightly worn batteries for my MXR dist +. Made it less spikey

[@paulcowart3174]

My very first pedal back in the 70s

[@CaptainCraigKWMRZ]

Great! Now I need a Variac for my FF🥴

[@cobowe]

Battery attenuators are available

[@graxjpg]

5:50 High frequency loss would be the result of a low pass filter.

[@hypnagogia]

Excellent info as always, I appreciate the huge amount of research and detail you put into all of your videos. Thanks!

[@TheGuitarShow]

Thank you very much

[@jonnybeck6723]

Thanx Ramon... that wuz a trip... Money money money and coming up behind tone quality etc. Looking forward to your demo... Methinx you should've played us out... cheers mate and hope you're well

[@TheGuitarShow]

Yes I'll put some music in my next history video

[@_RLP]

Good stuff, mate! As always, a great upload. Thanks for this and stay safe. Cheers

[@TheGuitarShow]

Thanks bro you too

[@GSC333]

Excellent doc!

[@grundid44]

My Fuzz Face around 1968 was labeled: Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face. It was a dark greenish gray. It was very accurate, as to high and low tonality.

[@TheGuitarShow]

Nice do you still have it?

[@nicksternberg579]

few corrections: 1) 2:43 The Tone Bender was already true bypass in 1965. 2) 5:19 The 470k volume pot on the Fuzz Face is not necessarily a modification that Arbiter came up with. It seems more likely that they used an early example of the MK1.5 for reference, which featured 500k level pots. Some of the early Fuzz Faces even came with 500k level pots. 3) 6:12 The FZ-1 was advertised for sale at $39.95. It's rather pointless to use 2020 currency exchange rates to compare the cost of that model in the USA, with the cost of a Fuzz Face in the UK. I have a catalogue scan from 1969, which lists the American price of the Fuzz Face at - exactly the same - $39.95. 4) 9:00 BC183L Fuzz Faces predate BC108C Fuzz Faces. They often come in 2nd style enclosures, with 1968 date codes. I stopped watching at around 13mins in because 1970s Fuzz Faces don't even remotely interest me. Maybe Dustin Francis can pick up where I left off. Kindly add these correction in the description field for the video, and as annotations at the relevant points of the video? I appreciate that it's all rather murky stuff, but it's important to get these facts right.

[@daveplays7507]

I think also worth mentioning was that the fuzz Jimi was using for the Band of Gypsys concerts (and mostly since the Axis Bold as Love album in various iterations) was not a two transistor Fuzz Face circuit at all, it was Roger Mayer’s interpretation of the Helios mic pre-amp console - it did use silicon transistors but three of them rather than two. This fuzz was named the Axis Fuzz and it seemed likely that the early versions of it featured germanium transistors, notably the Axis Fuzz used for BOG has an almost distortion sound at times and these units could be placed after a wah pedal without I’ll effect. An example of Jimi using a silicon fuzz would be at the Isle of Wight performance, with the Axis Fuzz seemingly not on hand Jimi would use a standard issue silicon Fuzz Face which can be heard picking up radio interference throughout the earlier stages of the show.

[@nicksternberg579]

@@daveplays7507 I don't think we can accurately determine whether a pedal used on a specific live recording might have been one of Mayer's, or whether it was just a stock Fuzz Face. My vintage BC183L Fuzz Face doesn't pick up radio interference either, and I'm reasonably certain that it's never been within 100 miles of Roger Mayer! :)

[@daveplays7507]

@@nicksternberg579 Hey Nick, I can agree with your speculation, but in the case of the BOG Fuzz it’s been pretty well documented, re-produced by RM, and somewhat faithfully recreated by Dunlop and other boutique pedal builders. The Axis/BOG fuzz doesn’t suffer from RF interference whereas it is known that a silicon transistor FF without the right smoothing caps or dodgy trannies can pick up some funny noises in specific contexts. I have read that Jimi was using a BC108C at Isle of Wight and to be honest that thing sounded very unruly!!

[@CorbCorbin]

I hope you do videos on the Wahs Jimi used, and the actual biggest change to his sound by 69’, which is the Shin Ei Uni-Vibe. A pedal made to emulate a Leslie, which they thought was a failure, until Hendrix realized how unique and original it sounded. He was experimenting with it for awhile, and at Woodstock it gave his old songs new life, as well as inspiring him toward new sounds. I recommend Hey Baby from First Rays of the New Rising Sun(originally on the Rainbow Bridge Soundtrack vynil), for a live in studio taste of how even subtle use was transforming his sound.

[@stephenvignovich8654]

I love how Fox says he gets a decent sound out of a 76 by changing resistor. I've got one. I've had it for about 15 years now. I got it at a guitar show for a steel. And I'll tell you what, it's one of my favorite fuzz faces. I've had the analog man. I've had full tone. I've never done the Dunlop reissues And personally, this is the one I like the best. It has a fairly decent cleanup. And if you crank it and crank the amp, it's definitely Got that JH at Woodstock feel. I'm sure someone will tell me I have no idea what I'm talking about. But who knows, after 50 years, the values drift, and maybe it's stumbled into. the proper space needs to be, but it sure sounds good. Its flaw it needs to be turned up really loud. Unless you want Dark fuzz sound.

[@strat0871]

Thanks for that complete story, didn't know Sound City amps came from there.

[@TheGuitarShow]

Pleasure!

[@shaunw9270]

Later renamed Hi-Watt .

[@doitnowvideosyeah5841]

I knew an American who had a Sound City. It sounded great. Later I played with a guy who had HiWatt. Never made connection

[@cobowe]

I have a late 90’s Cornell fuzz face with the internal bias pot. It’s awesome

[@TheGuitarShow]

They are really cool - did the internal bias pot come as standard?

[@elvis_cehany8887]

Thank you for the great in depth info and Mr Cornell brilliant English amps maker and full of knowledge 👌

[@TheGuitarShow]

Pleasure bro stay well

[@jamescarter4175]

Very interesting. Thanks! I have the Dunlop JH-F1 Jimi Hendrix Fuzz Face and the Dunlop JD-F2 Distortion Fuzz Face. The former has the BC108 Silicon transistor and the latter has a germanium transistor. I prefer the sound and feel of the latter.

[@TheGuitarShow]

Nice i think those Hendrix black ones are getting rare now

[@jamescarter4175]

@@TheGuitarShow Mine is that greenish-blue color. It's a reissue.

[@CorbCorbin]

I’ve used the JHF1 for 8 years now after over a decade of different Fuzz Faces, from vintage 60s ones, both Ge and Si, to Analogman’s NKT275 White Dot/Red Dot and many others. I love the JHF1 because it cleans up so beautifully, and still gets s much Fuzz as I need. A mid boost after it makes it just cut through any thick mix. No temperature problems, but still picks up radio signals from time to time. I like the JD-F2 a lot, with its warmth and feel when attacking harder or softer, but gigging regularly the Ge transistors became an issue, and it would sound like it was spitting at me some nights. Nearly all Ge Fuzz Faces have this problem. And, if one bought ten of them, they will range from nearly useless, to that beautiful warmth that players love in Ge Fuzz Faces. They still have the temperature problem, and some have the high quality transistors, some don’t. If you found one that isn’t too fickle, especially if touring, I’d hold onto it, because I’ve never known anyone who kept one for long on a tour. They will crap out eventually because of a temp change, or too much humidity. Modding it with a pot for bias control can help, but not always. I still have a JD-F2 in my collection that was a really sweet sounding one, and I may make a project out of modding it with a Bias pot, a buffer, and a Mid Boost, which I think all modern Fuzz Faces should have. At least a buffer so a Wah placed in front doesn’t have any issues. I’ve owned so many, and demoed too many to even remember, so I had a Fuzz journal for awhile.🤣 What I I learned is that it all starts with the Transistors, and testing each and every one of them for quality. If the tranny is bad, it doesn’t matter if it’s the NKT275 or a cheap Russian one that no ones heard of. That’s the difference builders like Analogman have done, and then the market just exploded for them.

[@CorbCorbin]

The Guitar Show If you are referring to a Black Fuzz Face not made by Dunlop, I’d love to know who did make them. The Dunlop black ones, rare or not, can still be found used for under $100. Some folks will try to sell them for much more staying different reasons why they are valuable, but from what I’ve learned that is usually a misunderstanding, or just a jerk salesman at a shop. They are the early 90s ones, made with Silicon transistors, and there was just no quality control on the transistors being used. I’ve played a few that were decent and usable, but most of them sound thin, or it’s far too much bass, or just no cleanup, etc.

[@CorbCorbin]

The Guitar Show Ever play a Hendrix Fuzz Wah? It’s a Dunlop product as well. Also there are many Hendrix effect collectors who swear by the Digitech Jimi Hendrix Experience Pedal, which is a Wah enclosure, that has 7 different tone models, each based on a song. From Purple Haze to Star Spangled Banner, it emulates the effect of the song. It even has stereo capability, but the two I’ve owned broke down after regular use and it was hard to have fixed. I‘ve been debating getting one again after nearly ten years since I had one. Sorry I’ve spammed your comment section. I was just inspired by the video, and the comments about what others like about Fuzz Faces or Fuzz in general. And I have a load of useless information about them. 🤣

[@RedArrow73]

6:20 - Notice Jimi's mate has a gun in hand, right next toJH's Head!

[@shaunw9270]

That's Cat Stevens . He had a hit at the time with "I'm gonna get me a gun" , so don't worry ,he just used to tote it onstage during the song !

[@graxjpg]

I recognized cat Stevens, but that picture was very strange.

[@Atomic1710]

Interesting stuff, thank you!

[@TheGuitarShow]

Pleasure

[@capitanvonchickenpants8492]

I've got an early 70s sllver case and put a clone kit in it

[@jeffallen3382]

I think it's safe to say that lawyers have ruined this world...

[@geoffpedder]

great information! thanks

[@TheGuitarShow]

Pleasure Geoff

[@weavdogg]

My wife can not believe Im watching this...but I love it

[@TheGuitarShow]

Thank you bro 🙏

[@Iggytommy]

I have a crest audio dave fox late 1980s one, blue colour. .

[@TheGuitarShow]

Nice what does it sound like?

[@Tone.Corner]

Thank you for your interesting video…it’s my pedal!😎🎼🎸💥

[@tonylittle2744]

I had one and a Watkins Dominator amp in the mid 60s. Didn't like the sound so I took the internals out and made it into a switch for a signal booster. I also cut up the Dominator because I didn't like the shape. Oh , the ignorance of youth. Ive still got the shell of the Fuzz Face somewhere.

[@TheGuitarShow]

Nice info Tony, please sell me the case of the Fuzz Face 🙏🙏

[@tonylittle2744]

@@TheGuitarShow I've had a good look and sadly, during the last sixty years or so it has disappeared.

[@doitnowvideosyeah5841]

When I was a kid Rogers drums were the shizzwiz. What happened to them?

[@utubehound69]

Can you do one on the Super Fuzz Big Orange Petals W/Giant Treadle Blue w/SUPER-FUZZ molded in the Tred/switch. Amazing sounding Fuzz the Beringers "SuperFuzz" is the closest Fuzz that cops that sound.

[@utubehound69]

Thank you the half dead 9v is key to prime sound in a Vox Fuzz petal. So many scoff at this fact , that I have stated before in threads but it really makes all the difference the cheapo batteries that were half dead were best I traded out many new 9v for pp's old 9v's in their smoke detectors when I started playing & got that petal about a two yrs after learning to play. I heard it w/my ears there was no internet back then if it sounded good it was good..

[@TheGuitarShow]

Taken I will definitely do more fuzz history videos... Watch this space!

[@maconins123]

do you still sell some of your reissues? great touching and also aggravating video

[@taku319able]

BC109 were never used at 60-70's ff. also I don't think bc108 is the first silicon transistors for ff but 183l or 183ka.

[@Shred_The_Weapon]

Is there a statistic of early purchasers that confused the term “tone bender” with “pitch bender” and thought that the earliest fuzz boxes changed the pitch of the sounds passing through them?

[@paulcowart3174]

Just picked up a FF mini silicon and it was awful I don't think they QC the transistors Tried battery and PS and it was picking up radio signals and noisy as hell Brilliant video

[@TheGuitarShow]

Thanks Paul those FF minis look brilliant would like to know how they sound

[@trevorgwelch7412]

I bought an old fuzz face from a garage sell , " JHE " was stencilled on the side . ? ⚡️🎸⚡️

[@TheGuitarShow]

You are lucky!

[@trevorgwelch7412]

@@TheGuitarShow However I believe its from 1974 .... not Jimi Hendrix's

[@noel3422]

Pretty sure jimi was buying the fuzzface from Manny's in new York in the 70's and the ac128 was not prouduced in the 90's so jimi would demo several untill he found one that sparked his interest untill jimi's tech figured out why, so that first transitor is the original for the fuzzface but maybe not what hendrix recorded with.

[@michaelmorales3384]

I did see the Fuzz Face many times just couldn't reach that point of purchase but I can look into it Right?

[@TheGuitarShow]

Yes! Lol thanks

[@sakitakungtyan]

There are no AC128's in the original Fuzz Faces.

[@pomod]

Still the greatest fuzz ever made

[@TheGuitarShow]

I agree!

[@PTguitars]

I doubt that is 22 Rupert street 0:24

[@jltrem]

One of the consequences of the coronavirus is all my favorite KZbinrs are posting videos like mad and I can't stay off of KZbin for fear of missing something. Hi Ramon! Don't forget to Purell your Fuzz Face. (Ramon, when describing the hammered paint, you pronounce it "hammer-red", not "ham-erd". Is that a British thing or a Sussex thing? Just teasing) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammer_paint

[@TheGuitarShow]

I promise thanks!!

[@derosabike]

British - In the UK the brand is called Hammerite Paint. Most people know hammered paint by this generic trademark name - bit like calling a vacuum cleaner a Hoover I suppose. I love my Fuzzface btw :) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammerite

[@javialonso78]

Hi!! I have a no smile dunlop fuzz face. Which period?

[@javialonso78]

@@rebeccabailey527 thank you!!

[@mikekorzek9056]

I wish I had my Cry Baby Wah...

[@TheGuitarShow]

me too