Pedalboard Pictures!

Wahaha dudelove my man, now u can make ur guitar really weep real hard lol!

yeah he took damn long to do it cos it was a very tedious job according to him. i stayed at his shop at coronation for hours and i tried nearly every pedal there. ahah anyway the new leds are pretty cool too!

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FUZZ FUZZ FUZZ


I am a happy man.. Very very happy indeed! This baby came recently:
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Ok, what you see here is a mega pimped fuzz face, built with NOS parts that are hand matched 100% biased voltage.. These are my first impressions only, will do a more comprehensive review in the future.

Firstly, the signal goes through the Germanium portion; a 1969 4-knob fuzz face that was extremely rare (hand-made in small batches at England at that point of time). So you get: Volume, Contour, Fuzz, Bias. Being a fuzz face, it is extremely sensitive to your guitar's volume, so I pretty much max out the fuzz and bias, and the contour serves more as a tone control (kinda how "open" it sounds like). This section absolutely nails Jimi Hendrix's tone, and I use it for Cream as well. Plus, humbuckers do not sound too muddy, or single coils too bright. I wouldn't mind if the pedal came with only THIS portion, but it has much more to offer as well!

Then we shall move to the toggle switch at the top. This adds a medium-gain silicon transistor after the germanium. Volume doesn't change, and the gain increases by a tad bit. The most important difference is that your tone becomes more woofy, almost almost gated due to the doubling effect of the transistors. I like using this for Smashing Pumpkins (although I'm contemplating a Blackout Effectors Musket for this).

Then, we have the Jimi switch, the first footswitch on the left. Stepping on this footswitch technically modifies the Ge fuzz face according to Jimi Hendrix's specifications, via adding/removing components (not sure which). You get more saturated notes, and the sustain improves. There is more grit, but a noticeable volume drop is seen (it is by no means a boost). However, I have not pursued this matter just yet; the unit came with 2 9V batteries inside, and I specifically asked for a DC jack. Upon engaging the Jimi modification, the LED of the Ge reduces in intensity, indicating a strain in powering the unit maybe? I am not sure, will use batteries next time (still having way too much fun with the Ge mode alone). With the Jimi mode on, you can nail most of the tones in Are You Experienced?

Lastly, we have the Silicon portion, based on the early 70's fuzz face (1973 I think). The two blue controls at the back are for this, and they are Volume and Fuzz. In the Silicon portion, the tone is more woofy than it's Germanium counterpart, and does much better at lower gain to fatten up tone, but both can stand their ground with the Fuzz maxed out. I prefer setting this at lower gain and the Ge at high gain, since I can flick the hybrid switch anytime to give Silicon characteristics to my Ge fuzz face anyways.

Now, we go to STACKING. The guitar signal enters the GERMANIUM portion first, then the Silicon. Stacking this two produces a violin like sustain (Led Zep!), and the most interesting phenomenon is the subtle octave hints when you play short, abrupt, single notes. Also, the effects seems almost gated, something I truly enjoy as it slightly fades in and out.

All in all, this is one hell of a swiss army knife for fuzz pedals! I've tried the Analogman sunfaces which I deemed lack something (however, fuzzes are notorious for quality, and for climate affecting them, which could be a factor indeed). This pedal is truly one hell of a fuzz face, one of my best buys. If I need another fuzz pedal, it would be a Musket to deal with very high gain tones ala Siamese Dream era for the Smashing Pumpkins.

Those intending to purchase, do so quickly as prices are rising. I got it at it's promotional price and the prices will steadily rise to reach $300USD in the future.

Test Equipment were:
Fender CIJ ST-62TX (Rumple handwound pickups)
Fender John Mayer Signature Stratocaster
Gibson SG Standard
Fender Pro Jr
Randall RG100SC
 
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Nice nice new board u got there jms, btw is that small little red one knob pedal a booster of some sort? Looks real cool my man! Btw just some queries about the visual volume, how do u find it in terms of build quality, functionality and sound? Cause i am abt to get one myself after selling my ernie ball vp jr.
 
@ MrBukka, thanks! Yes its a booster. replaced my EHX LPB1.

the VV is great, the LEDs are wayyyyy cool. Build quality, its if im not wrong going to be 2 years old soon. No issues. VisualSound has great customer support, previously my JNH footswitches spoiled, and they sent me two switches to do the replacement on my own. Great service.

The sweep is generally smooth as well. one con tho, its HEAVY.

@ Crozzfire, thanks Eugene. 3 drives la, booster doesnt count. Only the CB and TZ add noise dammit. Im trying to see how to reduce it.. heh.
 
LOL. fair enough.. MrBukka, hows the fuel tnk jr? Did it help with noise? I only get noise when my stupid drives are on. LOL.

Power sehhh. LOL. talk about being lucky.
 
My board is now complete (havent fully wired up yet) .. or so i think.

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Nova Mod courtesy of Matt1506, great dude to deal with.
 
Well well well what do we have here jms......keke i have been keeping track of this thread for quite some time now and damn it is such a different finally setup from ur previous haha, cheers to u!! As for the fuel tank jr, it has reduced the noise level of my setup and of course a peace of mind haha, but then again the noise issue maybe due to the pedals as well so perhaps u need to do some experimenting bro. Just went to goose's place and he accused me of driving the sales of the fuel tank jr in a gd way hahaha, (disclaimer) hey damn i think i should get davis to pay me some advertising fee!!! *jokes*. Oh and btw, got my hands on the VS volume.....haha christmas has come early for me lol!

Now santa pls send me an akai headrush hahaha!
 
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Ahhhhh.. i cant wait to complete my board and post pics! ( waiting for 3 more pedals to reach ) :mrgreen:
 
Hahaha dudelove actually it's already posted just that, i dun have enough money and space in my board for it....wat a spoiler, haiz now santa i want the headrush for my present!!! Just tried it a goose's place and man i am soooo hooked up on it.......
 
Hahaha dudelove actually it's already posted just that, i dun have enough money and space in my board for it....wat a spoiler, haiz now santa i want the headrush for my present!!! Just tried it a goose's place and man i am soooo hooked up on it.......

hahahahah. actually its just really really fun to play with only. my friend has one. and he cant stop using it till its super irritating. when i play with him i'm like. wah lao u keep looping i might as well dont play. ahhaha

the one i want to try is the damage control timeline
 
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