Fuzzrite

[mark1]

Hello all. Can someone help ID this for me? I have a Fuzzrite pedal that I bought from Andy Moseley.Is there a way other than sound to tell if it is Germanium or not ? He said the case is from the 70's and the electronics are 60's.It is the type that the electronice are wrapped in what looks like masking tape.If at all possable I would rather not cut the tape! It does sound like what a fuzz should sound like.And to top it off he autographed it for me

Thanks

[Mr. Bill]

If you carefully look under the tape can you see the parts on the circuit board?

The silicon transistors have small molded black plastic cases, while the germanium transistors have spun aluminum shells, about the size of a pencil eraser.

If you search the forum, there was a post here with photos showing the different styles of Fuzzrite boards.

Sound wise, both versions sound very similar.

[mark1]

Mr.Bill, thankyou. Looks like it has silicon.It does sound great . It's one of those things where I just had to know I guess Andy bought up all the parts left at the last auction and put these togeather.The only diff that I see is that he used Alpha pots not Central Lab. As far as sound goes I don't think that means anything

[devnulljp]

Hello all. Can someone help ID this for me? I have a Fuzzrite pedal that I bought from Andy Moseley.Is there a way other than sound to tell if it is Germanium or not ? He said the case is from the 70's and the electronics are 60's.It is the type that the electronice are wrapped in what looks like masking tape.If at all possable I would rather not cut the tape! It does sound like what a fuzz should sound like.And to top it off he autographed it for me
Thanks

Pics would be good, but...
Only the first few hundred Fuzzrites had Ge trannies; loads of the second version were made with the paper phenolic circuit board like yours -- these had Si trannies. Only 20,000 or so of the last version were made -- these had the little sealed Sprague module.

This one is a 66 Ge model (not mine, sadly). You can see the board is different to what you describe. The components are on the far side, and the switch connects directly to and through the board:





Here's some pics of my 68 v2 w/ phenolic board:




This is a 1968 Si Fuzzrite with the Sprague module (again not mine, but Ihave a Guild Foxey Lady that's identical)

[Mr. Bill]

Very good photo resource. Thanks for posting them.

[devnulljp]

Glad to be of use.
Those are the three major species of Fuzzrite as far as I can tell, but there are also a few oddities flying round too.
Untangling the actual history of these things -- like the Nu-Fuzz (some of which have turret board and the Sprague module), Foxey Lady, Big Muff and all the Tonebender variations -- is all but impossible. I've seen one Ge Fuzzrite on perf board and a few other variants.

This one belongs to Andy Moseley*



and this one's on perf board*



*From the effects database

[Veenture]

Gee, when I look at the Fuzzrite at 'face value' like that, it seems such a 'simple' thing...and yet to think it's been SO influential in the guitar community...

[mark1]

Thanks for the great pics and info. Mine looks like the 68 v2.The soldering on this one is very good and neat. I mention this because a few years ago I got a fuzz from ebay( they are still being sold on ebay) that many seem to like ....sorry, no brand names will be mentioned It is suppose to sound like a Fuzz rite and be the same circut but I didn't think so and the soldering was the worst job I've ever seen.I had to redo all the soldering over myself Once again thanks for your help.