Ideal Fuzz Master - A Mystery Solved!

☟

In 2023, after rediscovering some old photos buried deep in the recesses of an ancient portable hard drive, I decided to feature one of those photos right here on the blog. Pictured was a mysterious wedge-shaped pedal simply called the "Fuzz Master". I didn't have much to go off of because the image was insanely small and pixelated, but what I could see was that it had labels for "Attack" and "Volume" on the front, probably had knobs on either side, and that those knobs were very similar to ones used on other Japanese wedge fuzzes built in the late 60s.

Unfortunately there was no brand label (that I could see at least), and while it did share many characteristics of those classic Japanese wedge fuzzes, it was different enough that I couldn't confirm exactly what it was. So I made the post and waited, hoping someone who knew something would eventually come across it and message me...

Well two years later, and sadly, not one email. 

But! Just a few minutes ago, while looking for photos of a completely different pedal, I came across a long-finished auction on a Japanese site for an Ace Tone FM-1, and in the background was my mystery Fuzz Master! The photo was very blurry, but luckily, right there in the description was the name of the hidden gem: the IDEAL "Fuzz Master".

So obviously my very next step was to search online to see if I could find anything else about this pedal, and sitting right there for over a decade was an entry for the Ideal Fuzz Master in Effects Database!

I reached out to Bart, who runs the site, and he was able to track down the origin of the photos to an ebay auction from all the way back in 2012. But other than that, it doesn't look like any other Fuzz Masters have popped up since.

Something of note to point out, is if you compare the images above, three differences emerge from the pixelation; the bottom pedal has no brand label on it (which we even see in many of the classic Sekova wedge fuzzes), the Ideal pedal has two hardwired cables for both input and output, while the other pedal seems to have been modded at some point with jacks on the sides (I say this because it still has the graphics at the top for "Guitar" and "Amplifier"), and one pedal seems to have a rivet on the front plate, most likely for the battery holder (but again this could easily be a modification done some time after it was built). 

Well upon further inspection of all the Ideal photos I discovered that the build did indeed match what was inside the FZ-1A version of the Sekova Fuzz. Same PCB, same components, same bottom plate and more. 

So there's a pretty good chance these were made by the same people. One thing I still haven't been able to determine is if the FZ-1A style of Sekova fuzz was built by the same manufacturer who built the more Fuzzrite(ish) 9v version. Regardless, there's enough similarities between these two, and the odd one we highlighted in this article a couple of months ago, to say they all (probably) came from the same factory.

No doubt this "Fuzz Master" was another OEM situation, and probably exists under a few different brandings (hence the unbranded version I found photos of back in 2003). But to get a little closer to its history we still have to answer the question; who was Ideal? 

After a tiny bit of research it looks like they were manufacturing guitars as early as the 1930s and based in New York City. Not only that, but by the mid 30s they were either a division of, or distributed by Epiphone. (there was also a completely different "Ideal" guitar manufacturer from Chicago, but I have ruled them out)

At some point in the 50s it looks like they existed in name only, and instead had begun importing guitars from Japan. Some online sites state that they were made by Guyatone while others have stated it was Matsumoku. It's very possible both of these are true, but after looking over photos of more Ideal guitars, from what I believe to be the mid-late 60s, it seems very likely that this era at least was made by Matsumoku, as they appear to be identical in style to some others they were known to have manufactured at the time.

Now while I was able to find a lot of examples of Ideal branded guitars, there was little to no information beyond those photos. But what we do have is a thread that seems to run through many of the Sekova fuzzes and guitars, including the other brandings (Apollo, Greco, Tele-Star, etc.), and that connection is the infamous see-through knobs!

I do have a bit more research to do before I can confirm this, but as of now it does seem like three important details were true when it comes to unraveling this story; 

1. A lot of Matsumoku guitars from 1967-1969 seem to use these knobs.

2. Matsumoku also used Nisshin Onpa (Maxon) pickups in many (if not all) of those same guitars.

3. Of those guitars, a certain number of these brands also had Sekova style wedge fuzzes in their catalogs.

My working theory, and I know it's a bit flimsy, is that either Matsumoku, or Teisco, or Fujigen (or one of the other big Japanese guitar factories of the 60s)  had clients reaching out to them, most likely though a distributor, wanting a fuzz box for their brand (because it was 1967 and fuzz was HOT!). So the distributor asked these manufacturers to build fuzz boxes for the clients, and in turn they contacted a third-party (possibly a company like Maxon/Nisshin Onpa) who were adept at electronics and circuit design, to see if they would be up to the task. And the rest, is history! :) 

Again, totally and completely a guess, based on the info I currently have. But it's also totally plausible that it could have happened like this. So as of now, who knows?

At least we do know one thing, whoever built these pedals made multiple variations and they were built specifically for OEM contracts with mostly foreign distribution. Almost all of the brand logos you find on these wedge style pedals can be traced to an imported Japanese guitar made under the same branding. So if it didn't happen exactly like how I have speculated above, then I feel like it was some sort of package deal; 

"Buy a guitar from us, and for an extra $3 we will make you a fuzz pedal with your logo on it!" 

or something like that...

It's possible these companies, like Sekova, Greco, and Apollo, didn't even know who was involved in building their pedals. Apollo is actually a great example because by 1970 they had sold effects made by Honey, Shin-ei, Maxon, and (possibly) Melos. 

So there's a good chance that their Japan distributor simply handed them an order form full of effects to choose from, they checked some boxes, paid their dealer, and couple months later an order of guitars, accessories, and effects arrived via cargo ship?

 

However this all went down, finding the Ideal Fuzz Master does show how prevalent the mystery wedge fuzz maker really was. I do find it interesting that the odd variations we've found over the last year have all been different takes on the eyelet board/FZ-1A version of the pedal, as opposed to the 9v version.

So are we seeing an evolution of the pedal in chronological order, or were these all being made at the same time in a purely chaotic fashion? Whatever the answer, hopefully as we continue to go deeper we'll get closer to the truth. 

And with that, we'll end as we usually do... If you happen to own one of these "Fuzz Masters" please feel free to reach out via Email or Instagram. Additionally, if you know how these brands made their orders back in the 60s, I would love to hear all about it! 

Thanks for reading,

-ed