Manny's Fuzz 1968 (Clark, Orpheum, et al.)

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A while back we posted a rather large article on the mystery of East Coast Fuzz (aka, Manny's Fuzz), and with everything we covered, and were able to uncover, one bit of evidence still managed to elude us; and that was WHEN the pedals were actually released...

In that article I guessed that they most likely came out between 1966-1968, based on pot code dates and the fact that they are modified copies of the germanium Mosrite Fuzzrite (which itself came out in 1966). But just a few days ago I did a bit more digging and came across three separate newspaper ads for different East Coast fuzzes!

Although a bit blurry, this first example comes in the form of a classified ad for various pieces of gear, but most importantly an Orpheum Fuzz. This was found in the September 13th edition of the St. Louis Post Dispatch newspaper, giving us a wider view of the distribution of the pedal. 

Another thing to consider is that this is a classified ad, meaning the seller had theoretically bought the Orpheum Fuzz brand new, used it, and is now putting it up for sale with the rest of the gear. So in terms of a timeline, I feel pretty confident that it was probably available well before September of 1968.

The next one here is another classified ad, but this time for the Clark Fuzz. Until finding this I had only ever seen the Clark printed in a magazine from 1970. And because the enclosure is a bit different, I had always assumed it came after than the Manny's and Orpheum. But here we are, October 5th 1968 (Syracuse Herald Journal) with a for-sale advertisement of a used Clark Fuzz.

To be honest, after going through the process of writing the last article, I was pretty happy to see this ad, as I believe Clark was at the epicenter of the East Coast fuzzes, potentially supplying the enclosures (if not even more involved). So seeing this 1968 evidence is a bit validating to my pedal nerd ego. ;) 

I saved my favorite one for last! First, this is just a cool advertisement on its own; with DiFiore's Music House highlighting their fuzz selection. Also from 1968, it's pretty amazing to see that you could walk into a local shop at the time and have your choice between a Maestro Fuzz Tone, a Kent Distorter, a Mosrite Fuzzrite, a Fuzz Face, (presumably an Ace Tone FM-1) Fuzz Master, and a Manny's Fuzz. 

What's cool about this ad, in terms of the Manny's Fuzz, is that it was published on Jan. 18th of 1968. Which leads me to believe that most likely it was available at least by the end of 1967. The other thing to consider is that unlike the last two clippings, this is a legitimate shop advertisement for new gear.  

And probably the most surprising thing I found about this is that it appears in The Plain Dealer, a newspaper based out of Cleveland! So not only do we have a store that is NOT the New York City-based Manny's Music clearly selling a Manny's Fuzz, but it's a store that's over 450 miles away! I think we can safely infer from this that the Manny's Fuzz (and probably other "Manny's" labeled gear) had real domestic distribution. 

Earlier this year I was lucky enough to be connected to a gentlemen who owned the above Manny's Fuzz. When I reached out to him he told me that he got it in either 1967 or 1968, from DiFiore's Music House in Cleveland!

I had actually forgotten that little factoid when I found the advertisement, but I remembered he did say he got it while living in Cleveland. So after rechecking our emails, sure enough! DiFiore's was the spot. *side note: I'll do a whole post just on this pedal in the future. It's a unique little oddity in the East Coast Fuzz lore.

A quick one today, but I felt like the main article needed this little add-on post for accuracy-sake. It feels like we're close to this one, so as always if you have any additional information (like, you bought a Manny's Fuzz in Nebraska or something) please feel free to reach out to me via Email or Instagram.

Thanks as always for reading,

-ed