Fuzz Face - THE, vintage fuzz. 1966 soul.

the fuzz face is one of the most spiritual harmonic saturation units that exists. Why?

It's usage to create some of the most iconic and generational art inspiring music to ever exit a humans mind.

As most are aware, this circuit here is most famously associated with Hendrix.

Others, such as Mr. Gilmour, (David) and sir SRV also used this effect to pour their souls out.

what category of effect does this fit into?

vintage fuzz. full of unique character and tending to sound different unit to unit. 

fuzz is more textured, and non-linear than other types of drive. out of all the drive categories, fuzz has the most obvious differences from circuit to circuit. a very wide range of textures and feels here.

generally good for emphasizing lead melodies in a song, and providing a layer/background of grain. it is like adding a blanket of unique timbre.

how would I describe the feel, texture, and sound?

This circuit feels raw. It is very unrefined in its nature and feel, yet seems to do something no other fuzz quite can. It feels like something so imperfect just manages to always find itself in contexts where it becomes perfect.

It is like a velvet trumpet when used with passionate energy, or a smooth groove machine when used with soul feel and positive vibes.

One thing this circuit does amazing and is very well known for- its crystal cleans when rolling back the guitar volume. It actually becomes an amazing chimey wonder when the guitar volume is dialed back to relieve the fuzz texture. The guitars volume knob becomes the ultimate clean to slight overdrive to full on fuzz control- better than the fuzz knob on the pedal itself.

what kind of player would like this stompbox?

first off, this circuit is definitely better with single coils but with the bias knob it works far better than many other fuzz faces would with humbuckers.

Definitely this is one that can be used across so many ranges of music. 

Blues- of course. this is like the ultimate blues fuzz, such a rich tone that will have people feeling the blues.

Rock- can get very aggressive and crunchy when desired.

Funk- super smooth and again can get spanky when the guitar volume is rolled back.

Doom/Stoner can you believe it? The very smooth nature makes for rounded and thick lows. Countless one knob fuzz pedals are actually based off the fuzz face.

Shoegaze- because of how smooth the texture is, it just flows like butter when paired with the jazzmaster tremolo.

Point being, this is a very all arounder style fuzz. It is not uniquely textured in a way that makes it fit only in certain contexts. Honestly, this is THE iconic fuzz. If you have not experienced a fuzz face yet, you are missing a very important reference point for what fuzz should/can be.

features/mods

Bias- I configure my bias knobs to have the widest range of textures. This one can go all the way from trumpet fuzz, to brighter, better clean up fuzz, all the way to dying battery sounding broken, sputtery decay.

9v, center negative operation. around 10ma current draw.

VARIANTS NOTES

ge (trapezoid)

this unit is all germanium and feature a reproduction circuit board that emulates the exact layout of the original, vintage fuzz face units . The germanium unit has a "gooey" like feel that is a perfect counter to the abrasive edged silicon units. The germanium units feel more sponge like and vary in tone much greater, on a day to day, gear to gear basis. Feature a bias knob that ranges from bright, clearer, more pronounced and almost overdrive like, all the way to trumpet crumbling, slightly dead battery decaying fuzz.

p2p silicon (slight b stock)

please note the backplate is ever so slightly larger than the enclosure so it mildly protrudes. It still is able to screw on tight. every manufacturer makes enclosures of the same model very slightly different. the backplate must have come from another manufacturer of the same enclosure type, but I can not locate which.

It is discounted for this minor issue.

this build uses circuitboard-less construction, which eliminates any influence on tone due to impedances of copper traces. built with silicon transistors, this unit has a wide range of gain and can blow an amplifier into endless sustain with its higher output, and greater high end content. This unit feature a 3 way transistor 1 bias toggle, and a transistor 2 bias knob for full control over the textural and dynamic/feel in the hands aspects of this fuzz.