![Fuzz Fuzz](https://i.pinimg.com/236x/12/c0/57/12c057a373a47c51022774e88f268509--pedal-numbers.jpg)
The FuzzFoot is just a Fuzz Face with a couple tweaks, so you're basically getting a custom built Fuzz Face. Instead of giving them serial numbers, I gave them names. Lou is a blue PNP Silicon/Germanium Hybrid, just like the default fuzz in Captain Coconut. This baby has four knobs: Vol, Grit, Fuzz, and Trim. For sale is this used 1990s Dunlop Fuzz Face JHF2 electric guitar distortion pedal. This particular early example, serial number AA33N932, is in excellent all original condition and works perfectly! These early reissues are true to the original design of the Dallas-Arbiter Fuzz Faces and feature hand-picked (2) NKT-275 transistors.
What is it?
Dunlop JDF2 Fuzz Face. No idea where Dunlop currently makes these. If pot date codes are correct, this unit may have been rolled out in 2010.
Dunlop JDF2 Fuzz Face. No idea where Dunlop currently makes these. If pot date codes are correct, this unit may have been rolled out in 2010.
I’ve already written about the blue Jimi Hendrix model, which seemed like a decent silicon transistor remake of the unit Jimi used back in the day. That unit did look like a vintage board. But it turned out to be a borg with its surface mount components and trimmers hidden on the solder side. I was quite reluctant to open this up due to the experience provided by the Hendrix model. Somehow i’m glad i eventually did.
For these later units, the board doesn’t even try to look like vintage units. It’s your standard modern Dunlop board with ground fills and lead-free solder. On top of that, we have trimmers for bias, which are hot glued to their places.
Jacks and pots are connected with a clip on terminal and to minimize the amount of labour, the tiny board is mounted to the stomp switch terminals. This makes me wonder if those mini Fuzz Faces introduced in early 10’s have the same board inside. Keepassxc backup. It would make sense. The transistors are AC218s, or at least they try to be. Those look a lot like restamped germaniums to me. If i try really hard to find something good to say, the pots, jacks and the battery snap are quality items that should be able to take a hit or two on the road.
Dunlop Fuzz Face Serial Numbers Online
No DC jack, nor any other good things we usually find in modern effects. Expect for the board, obviously. In all rather disappointing use for this enclosure. One should be able to score a period correct reproduction PCB through internet and use the enclosure with that. But then again. This is a piece of evidence how big brand and volumes can shift the idea in a design to something completely different. This will also be a part of Fuzz Face history, there’s no disputing that. In all. Decent unit. Nothing great and definitely nothing even close to the units sold as Fuzz Faces just a decade or two ago.
How does it sound?
Like every other Fuzz Face and its straight-on derivative. Sluggish output level, all or nothing -type of controls, decent behaviour with guitar controls and well. Most of that original Fuzz Face magic in sound is present. I’d say this is very nice entry level fuzz for the youngster who want to get their hands dirty with their very first germanium fuzz. Some might consider this a keeper due to it’s tone. I find it as a keeper only because it resembles the golden oldie visually. Tone is rather close and visual aesthetics are in place. That’s about it. Very cheap to manufacture and due to its reputation, the price is also easy to keep high. Still. Recommended for a first fuzz device (never mind the Big Muff Pi for this urpose), but that’s pretty much it. Get one if you can, but don’t pay too much for this Dunlop model. Expandrive 5 4 5.
Like every other Fuzz Face and its straight-on derivative. Sluggish output level, all or nothing -type of controls, decent behaviour with guitar controls and well. Most of that original Fuzz Face magic in sound is present. I’d say this is very nice entry level fuzz for the youngster who want to get their hands dirty with their very first germanium fuzz. Some might consider this a keeper due to it’s tone. I find it as a keeper only because it resembles the golden oldie visually. Tone is rather close and visual aesthetics are in place. That’s about it. Very cheap to manufacture and due to its reputation, the price is also easy to keep high. Still. Recommended for a first fuzz device (never mind the Big Muff Pi for this urpose), but that’s pretty much it. Get one if you can, but don’t pay too much for this Dunlop model. Expandrive 5 4 5.
Arbiter Fuzz Face, ca. 1967
The Fuzz Face is an effects pedal for electric guitar, used also by some electric bass players. It is designed to produce a distorted sound referred to as 'fuzz,' originally achieved through accident such as broken electrical components or damaged speakers.
Silicon Fuzz Face clone into a clean Fender amp simulation. Silicon Fuzz Face clone into a crunchy Vox amp simulation. Notice the dynamics in the gain when volume knob is rolled back. Silicon Fuzz Face clone into a Crybaby wah into tube distortion (velcro fuzz tone) Silicon Fuzz Face clone into a Blackstar HT Dual. When the volume pot is on 10, the fuzz 'overloads' the overdrive (velcro fuzz tone). | |
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History[edit]
Arbiter Electronics Ltd. first issued the Fuzz Face in 1966. Later units bear the 'Dallas Arbiter', 'Dallas Music Industries Ltd.', 'CBS/Arbiter Ltd.' or 'Dunlop Manufacturing Inc.' name.
The earliest units used germaniumtransistors. Silicon transistors were used in later editions of the pedal. Silicon transistors provided for a more stable operation, but have a different, harsher sound.
The electronics are contained in a circular-shaped metal housing. Ivor Arbiter 'got the idea for the round shape when he one day saw a microphone stand with a cast iron base'.[1] The design was originally intended to be used as a microphone base for guitarists who sang.[citation needed] The pedal uses two knobs, one for volume, and one for the amount of distortion the pedal produces. The arrangement of controls and logo on the box suggests a face.
The circuit is based on the shunt-series-feedback amplifiertopology - a standard in engineering textbooks. Sola Sound and Vox had been using the same circuit topology for their Tone Bender pedals earlier in 1966.[2] The Fuzz Face is particularly similar to the Sola Sound unit known today as the 'Mk1.5' Tone Bender. The main difference is that the Fuzz Face is biased slightly colder, making it more usable in warm environments.[clarification needed] The original instructions even described the Fuzz Face as a 'Tone-Bending' unit.
Dallas Music Industries made a final batch of Fuzz Face units in 1976 or 1977, shortly after moving to the United States. The company bought Crest Audio in the 1980s and although it was operating under that name when it reissued the Fuzz Face in 1986, the units still bore the Dallas-Arbiter name. They made about 2000 Fuzz Faces until 1990.[3][4] In 1993 Dunlop Manufacturing took over production, making a variety of Fuzz Face units until this day. Several germanium and silicon models are available. In 2013 smaller versions with status LEDs and AC power jacks were introduced.[5]
In the late 1990s Arbiter reissued the pedal as well.[6]
Components[edit]
Inside view of a Fuzz Face pedal showing its comparatively simple two-transistor circuit board, in this model a pair of germanium NKT275
The circuit uses only a small number of components, plus a battery. Its sound is mostly dependent on the selection of transistors (type, hfe and leakage in case of germanium transistors). As germanium transistors are sensitive to temperature, the amount of leakage is variable. Thus the bias voltages will shift up and down, so the sound produced by a germanium Fuzz Face may change as the equipment heats up or cools down. Also, the battery is part of the circuit. Variances in voltage and internal resistance can make an audible difference.
According to Jimi Hendrix’s guitar tech:Roger Mayer, Jimi would buy half a dozen Fuzz Faces and mark the one he liked best only to find out that he didn't like it in a different environment.[7]
Despite popular belief that Arbiter used randomly selected pairs of transistors, Dennis Cornell, one of the engineers who worked for Arbiter in the 1960s,[8] described in a 2016 Guitarist magazine article how he auditioned them for their sonic properties.[9]
Early units used NKT275 germanium transistors. Later on, BC183L, BC183KA, BC130C, BC108C, BC209C and BC239C silicon transistors were used. The American made versions used BC109C transistors.[1][10] Arbiter reissues used AC128s.[10] Hendrix also switched to the silicon transistors, but they created additional difficulties on stage, since they are much more susceptible to receiving AM radio signals, which were then audible through the guitar amplifier.[11]
Use[edit]
Dunlop Fuzz Face Serial Numbers 3
A guitar riff played on the brige humbucker (full volume) with a Fuzz Face clone into tube distortion. Sound example of a Fuzz Face clone played into a tube distortion (humbucker - volume at 4, then increased to the maximum then decreased again). Fuzz Face clone into tube distortion, volume rolled off then increased to the maximum, neck pickup. | |
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Dunlop Fuzz Face Serial Numbers 1
The Fuzz Face's continuing popularity and status as a classic may be explained by its many famous users, which include Jimi Hendrix,[12]David Gilmour,[13]Duane Allman,[14]Stevie Ray Vaughan[15]Pete Townshend,[16]Eric Johnson[17] and George Harrison.[18][19]
The Fuzz Face has a low input impedance and thus is very sensitive to the guitar pickup[20]. By rolling the volume knob, the guitar player can decrease the gain of the pedal and get a clean or crunch sound, while still having all the gain when the volume knob is on maximum.[clarification needed] For the same reason, Fuzz Face pedals react differently when placed directly after the guitar than when after other pedals or after a buffer amplifier.
While some claim Wah-wah pedals are known to be troublesome with Fuzz Faces,[21] artists such as Hendrix were known to use them together to spectacular effect. His signal flow for live performance involved first plugging his guitar into a wah-wah pedal, then connecting the wah-wah pedal to a Fuzz Face, which was then linked to a Uni-Vibe, before connecting to a Marshall amplifier.[22]
References[edit]
Dunlop Fuzz Face Serial Numbers List
- ^ ab[1]Archived 2011-07-08 at the Wayback Machine'Fuzz Face' by David Morin
- ^[2]'Pedal Porn - A Little History' by David Main
- ^[3]Archived 2009-10-01 at the Wayback Machine 1980's Crest Audio FuzzFace reissue story
- ^[4]Archived 2009-11-26 at the Wayback Machine Foxrox electronics scrapbook
- ^Music Radar - Namm 2013: Dunlop launches Fuzz Face Mini and MXR Talk Box
- ^[5][permanent dead link] Vintage Guitar: Arbiter Fuzz Face reissue
- ^[6] Premier Guitar: Roger Mayer Talks Fuzz
- ^[7] Vintage Guitar: Arbiter Fuzz Face Reissue
- ^Brakes, Rod (Nov 2016). 'Smiling Through'. Guitarist. Bath, UK: Future Publishing Limited.
- ^ abAnalog Man Sun Face and Fuzz Face Page
- ^Dregni, Michael (August 2012). 'The Arbiter Fuzz Face'. Vintage Guitar. pp. 62–64.
- ^[8] Dunlop - Jimi Hendrix Fuzzface
- ^[9] Gilmourish - Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face
- ^[10]
- ^Hopkins, Craig. Stevie Ray Vaughan – Day by Day, Night After Night: His Early Years, 1954–1982. Backbeat Books; September 15, 2010. p. 327. ISBN978-1-4234-8598-8
- ^[11] Who Tabs - Pete's Gear - Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face
- ^'Archived copy'. Archived from the original on 2007-10-22. Retrieved 2007-10-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Modern Guitars - Eric Johnson Interview
- ^'Get Back' by the Beatles; Apple, London, 1969
- ^'Beatles Gear' by Andy Babiuk and Tony Bacon; Backbeat, 2002
- ^'ElectroSmash - Fuzz Face Analysis'. www.electrosmash.com. Retrieved 2019-02-09.
- ^'Wah Before or After Fuzz Pedal'. screaminfx.com. Retrieved 2019-02-09.
- ^Shapiro, Harry; Glebbeek, Caesar (1995) [1990]. Jimi Hendrix: Electric Gypsy (New and Improved ed.). St. Martin's Press. ISBN978-0-312-13062-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link) p. 689.
External links[edit]
Dunlop Fuzz Face Pedal
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fuzz_Face&oldid=963751885'