The Nu-Fuzz holds a special place in pedal history for being the true successor of the legendary Fuzzrite. As the story goes, it was designed by Ed Sanner and originally intended for Mosrite as an updated version of their best/only stompbox. But when things began to get a little rocky in the Fall of 1968, Sanner decided to look for opportunities elsewhere.
Oddly enough a connection to the Sierra Bag Co. through Semie Moseley would be the perfect platform for Sanner to spread his perfectly soldered wings. Together with trumpet player Ralph Scaffidi, Sierra Electronics was born. Their first product was the Nu-Fuzz and it was released in the beginning of 1969.
And even though that narrative has been consistent throughout the years, it's still a bit unclear exactly how and when it all happened. But with the help of some equally nerdy pedal friends, and after doing some heavy research of my own, I think we could potentially get a little closer to the full truth, and clear up (at least some of) the story of the Rosac Nu-Fuzz...
The first slice of new/concrete info I was able to find on the Nu-Fuzz is what appears to be its earliest mention in print, from February 26th 1969! But instead of being an ad for the Sierra Nu-Fuzz, it's actually an ad for what we believe to be an OEM partnership with Don Wehr's Music City in San Francisco.
The Wehr Fuzz-Tone was something of a modified version of the Sierra Nu-Fuzz (which you'll see in a minute). But otherwise, it was the same pedal but with the "Wehr" logo and branding.
But the "Sierra Electronics" labeled Nu-Fuzz, which has always been thought of as the initial Rosac product, most likely did come first. And in fact, I have found at least two examples of Sierra Nu-Fuzzes with a different style of knobs that are not found on any other Sierra/Rosac product. Also, if we take into account the circle graphic around the pots, it would seem very likely that the design was done specifically for these smaller knobs, as opposed to the typical skirted style you find on the vast majority of Nu-Fuzzes. This could possibly suggest that the pedals with these particular knobs were the very first units to roll off the production line (a theory I quite like); but it could also mean nothing. lol
The full history of Sierra/Rosac has been well documented in the past, due in large part to Bart from FXDB (check it out). But as we stated above there are some updated and completely new pieces of the puzzle that have surfaced since 2009.
So here's the quick abridged version before we really get in the weeds; in 1947 Ben Sacco and Morris Rosenberg started the Sierra Bag Company in Bakersfield, CA. With a few additional ventures already under the "Sierra" umbrella, they decided that they wanted to enter into the burgeoning electric guitar market (this was either in 1965 or 1968). It was then that "Sierra Electronics" was born; and while the details aren't quite clear, it's possible that there was even an early connection to fellow Bakersfield, CA instrument company, Mosrite; either through the fact that both companies were located only 3 miles from each other and their owners became friends, or deeper (yet unknown) business dealings.
New information from a former Rosac shop manager has revealed the possibilty that BEFORE making effects Sierra Electronics had originally focused on small solid state amps and guitars (but that has yet to be verified). And toward the end of 1968 Ed Sanner, designer of the Fuzzrite, was connected to Sierra owners Sacco and Rosenberg by a mutual friend, Ralph Scaffidi. Scaffidi and wife/legendary guitarist Mary Osborne had recently moved to Bakersfield from the East Coast and through a friendship with Semie Moseley became friends with Sacco.
Sacco, who was head of the Bakersfield Italian Heritage Association, took a quick liking to Scaffidi. So when he and Sanner proposed adding effects pedals to Sierra's output and starting a new brand, Sacco was all in. The idea was to essentially fill the void that would be left in the wake of Mosrite's departure. This venture would take on the Sierra Electronics name, and as we noted earlier, their first product would be the Nu-Fuzz.
Well let's get back to the pedals themselves! One thing is for sure, since the very beginning they came in a variety of colors (Red, Gold, Green, and later, Silver), with the Sierra version coming in at least two different paint finishes, shiny and matte (although it's looking like only the very first Nu-Fuzzes produced used the matte paint).
The other thing we can say as fact, is the circuits in the first Nu-Fuzzes used silicon transistors and were constructed on eyelet boards covered in orange "goop". The Wehr Fuzz-Tone and the Sierra Nu-Fuzzes both featured this build-style.
*this is also a very similar construction to a pedal we highlighted on the blog a while back, the mysterious Pro Suzzzz Fuzzzz.
Another part of the Nu-Fuzz lore that you're most likely familiar with is that, according to Ed Sanner, some time in early 1969 Sierra Electronics was hit with a 'cease and desist' from fellow California-based Sierra Electronic Corp, out of Menlo Park.
The resulting name-change is what you're probably most familiar with, "Rosac Electronics & MFG. Co.", taken from the combination of Rosenberg and Sacco, the owners of the company. (not unlike "Mosrite" that came from combining the names, Semie Moseley and Ray Boatright)
Sanner has stated that it was only for a single month, but it is unclear precisely how long they were operating as Sierra Electronics. And of their full pedal lineup, only Nu-Fuzzes under that "Sierra" branding have ever surfaced (so far). This suggests that it was still fairly early on in 1969, as is evident from a newspaper ad I found from May of that year for a Nu-Wa, which potentially confirms that the Sierra name only lasted one or two months. And this could also be the reason we can't find anything in print regarding the name "Sierra Electronics".
Toward the middle of 1968 Mosrite decided to contract out the manufacturing of the Fuzzrite circuit to Massachusetts-based Sprague Electric. This was an agreement that seems to have been picked up by Sierra/Rosac and was used for their fuzz, wah, and even amp circuits. But in a funny turn of events, it would appear as though the first order for the circuit modules was made while the company was still called "Sierra Electronics" and unfortunately wasn't fulfilled until well after the name-change to Rosac, and even more unfortunate, it must have been a MASSIVE order.
So the first version of the "Rosac" branded Nu-Fuzz featured the "Sierra Electronics" Sprague modules, as did the Nu-Wa Fuzz and the Distortion Blender. All three were available by November of 1969, as is evident by this newspaper ad from the Santa Fe New Mexican:
I can only imagine that when it came to the Sprague modules they had bins of them at the manufacturing facility, all mixed together with both "Sierra" and "Rosac" labeled circuits. I say this because they appear almost at random throughout the rest of the Nu-Fuzz run (and inside the Distortion Blenders and Nu-Wa Fuzzes).
So from here on out things get weird, and the timeline just seems to dissolve into space dust...
With that in mind, the main point to focus on will be the graphics. For this version of the Nu-Fuzz they decided to slightly tweak the Sierra layout, keeping the knobs on the front with the jacks on the sides, and also continuing with the "smile" Nu-Fuzz logo.
And at first glance it looks like they literally just switched out the branding from "Sierra" to "Rosac". But if you look a bit closer there are three other differences; 1, is the font on both the control labels and the logo itself changed, 2, is the small lines above the words "Tone" and "Level" in the Sierra version have been moved to above the knob, and the circle around the pot is completely gone, and 3, is the word "Off" and the little arrow next to it are different! In the Sierra version there is a line at a sharp angle coming from the bottom of the word "Off", and in the Rosac version both the arrow and the word "Off" are curved (this is also seen on Distortion Blenders).
For what is possibly the next version of the Nu-Fuzz, Rosac moved to a straight-line logo and a layout that seems to be adapted from the Wehr Fuzz-Tone. With the knobs located on the top of the pedal, it's much more reminiscent of a Fuzzrite (the point maybe?).
The biggest difference to the Wehr Fuzz is the pot and jack labeling; going from "Volume" to "Level", "Input" to "Instrument", and "Output" to "Amplifier".
This tends to be the most prevalent version of the Nu-Fuzz you'll come across. And I have gone back and forth about where it appears in the timeline. It's confusing enough that the possibility they were being made simultaneously with the Smile logo version is strong. Did these only exist because of a canceled contract with Don Wehr's Music City? I honestly have no clue, but it's definitely a question I have considered.
The straight-line logo Nu-Fuzzes also featured both "Sierra" and "Rosac" labeled Sprague modules. And even the pot dates are of little help, as they range from 1968-1969, just like the other versions.
And to make things even more convoluted, Rosac, the sadists they were, threw in a couple more curveballs, most likely just to mess with nerds in the future who try to do what we're doing right now.
First is the example below. It's clearly a Sierra Nu-Fuzz enclosure, as it has the right graphics and layout. But it's completely missing the branding and it uses a Sprague module instead of an eyelet board circuit (I've actually found two units exactly like this).
There's probably a few reasons why these exist, but one could be that it was either used for a local OEM deal, or it was intended to be used for an OEM deal that fell through. Another reason, that comes from seeing an example of an unbranded one that does have the eyelet board construction, is that these were a short run of transitional units that came between the "Sierra" branded pedals and the "Rosac" branded ones. Either way, they're a cool oddity.
Next, and going in the complete opposite direction, is the Nu-Fuzz below, that has the straight-line logo but features a Sierra style eyelet board circuit!
This one is super perplexing because all of the early Rosac dealer ads I have found show the smile logo version. Additionally in those ads is the earliest version of the Nu-Wa, the Nu-Wa-Fuzz, and the Distortion Blender. Suggesting the straight-line logo came last. So what the hell is up with this???
It's a total head scratcher, and I could only come with two possible reasons for its existence; 1, is that maybe it was originally built to be a Wehr Fuzz but something happened to cause it to be put aside until later? or 2, and this could explain all of the exceptions, is that many of the pedals came back in for repairs or were returned completely because of malfunctioning components. And as an ex-employee has stated, they had bins of returned pedals and parts at the factory. So maybe instead of wasting a good circuit, they simply installed it into a later-run pedal?
Now the logical conclusion is that they made the Wehr Fuzz longer than we originally thought. But when I look back through my favorite internet databases, the last ad for them I've been able to find is just from March of 1969. So from February to the end of March they advertised their new Fuzz-Tone loud and prominently. And they continued advertising in the local San Fran papers for the next two years but would never again mentioned the fuzz, at all...
And while these inconsistencies with the Wehr Fuzz most likely have a simple reason behind them, I'd like to postulate an option that could tie this all together with a nice little bow:
It's late 1968 and Ed Sanner sees the writing on the wall with the coming bankruptcy of Mosrite. So he contacts a couple of like-minded acquaintances (Ralph Scaffidi & Mary Osborne) with success in the music industry and ties to potential corporate backers. After some discussion with Sacco and Rosenberg they all decide to go in together and start Sierra Electronics, wasting no time building their first product, the "Nu-Fuzz" (most Sierra Nu-Fuzzes have pot date codes of November 1968).
During this time they acquire their first OEM deal with Bob Wehr's Music City, and start creating Nu-Fuzzes specifically for them as the Wehr Fuzz-Tone (I've even thought about the possibility that the Wehr contract was originally made with Mosrite but never had a chance to be fulfilled).
Mosrite officially goes bankrupt in February of 1969 and Sierra Electronics releases the Nu-Fuzz and the Wehr Fuzz-Tone immediately afterwards, using the stock they had been building the previous few months. And because Wehr's Music City's original deal is for X amount of fuzzes, by the time the 2nd part of the order is ready, Sierra has turned into "Rosac" and they begin using the Sprague modules that have finally arrived. Unfortunately sales are poor and the Wehr Fuzz-Tone is a bust, causing the Music City to quickly abandoned the pedal upon receiving this (final) order.
This is all just pure speculation, so please don't quote the above musings as fact. But I do like to throw my best guesses up on here to get the conversation going, if nothing else :)
Some time in 1971/72 Ed Sanner decided to start his own business with Rosac plant manager, Ken Gilstrap, both leaving the company as a result. This was also after Rosac decided to abandon the standalone Nu-Fuzz pedals, as they saw them to be inferior and a costly redundancy of the popular Nu-Wa Fuzz.
This was a decision that would mark the beginning of the end for the Rosac effects line, as they were plagued with customer complaints about the quality of the wah pedals and inundated with returns. This ultimately pushed them to focus solely on amplifiers through to their end, around 1979.
I have tried to find more information to confirm exactly how long they made the pedals, but nothing solid has come up. So as of now, the true end-date of the Nu-Fuzz will remain unknown.
So! If you happen to have any version of the Nu-Fuzz and would like to do me a huge favor :) :) :) All I am looking for are potcode dates and any photos of other weird/inconsistent ones hiding out there.
And obviously if you have any additional info on Rosac please, shoot me a message via Email or Instagram.
Thanks for reading,And obviously if you have any additional info on Rosac please, shoot me a message via Email or Instagram.
-ed
*Big thank you to Nick from Fuzzboxes.org, Bart from Effects Database, Jerms, and Chris Martin for your photos and your help in doing much of the research legwork long before I got anywhere close to writing this!
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