Super Fuzz Guts: The First Year (and a half)

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Continuing on with our bigger mission here of uncovering the true history of the Super Fuzz, I wanted to throw together a post highlighting the (oddly) many variations the early gray units went through in a relatively short period of time. From all available physical records, the Univox Super Fuzz model 108-5 was introduced in the Spring of 1968 and was gone by the end of 1969. Honey, the Japanese brand who sold their version roughly six months-to a year prior, the Baby Crying Fuzz, was bankrupt by Spring of 1969. (Which is just one of many factors that make me think Honey was not the original manufacturer, but we can get into that later...)

Today our main focus is on the Univox-branded Super Fuzzes, seemingly made by the thousands in at most, a year and a half time period. Alright! Let's go:

We'll start with the most common, by a huge margin, version you see above. The mixture of components; grey or blue capacitors, 2SC828 transistors, green or brown caps, etc. are all pretty consistent between these units. Not pictured here is another very notable but hidden part, which is a small ceramic capacitor that's typically soldered to the trace side of the board.

And from examining a lot of Honey units as well, it's my belief that this is most likely the original version of the circuit. But with how common it is there's also a great possibility that they were being made concurrently with the variations below.

The circuit above almost certainly came next. The combination of parts matches perfectly, and other than a single new addition, it IS the same. But that one little update would go on to alter the Super Fuzz circuit for the next decade...

Removing the hidden capacitor from the backside of the board and adding a trimpot to the front, this V2 Super Fuzz PCB would have a short life, and as of now,has only been found in Honey and Univox branded units. There is a good chance that this alteration was made some time after the release of the Honey Psychedelic Machine in 1968, as it too features essentially the same fuzz circuit with the added trimpot (albeit, in a different layout).

The next iteration is essentially the same, but for some reason the trimpot has been removed completely. Now I haven't seen the trace side of this board so I don't know if the hidden cap is there, nor do I know if all of the part values are the same. But we can probably assume that the manufacturer felt like this particular unit didn't need any additional tuning.

Is it possible that this is essentially the same as the V1 but using a V2 PCB? Until we see more of these I can't say for certain.

Our next two examples, "V3", ends up being the PCB that will be used to the end of the run. Shin-ei will even go on to copy this exact layout for their "FY-6 Fuzz Master" in 1970, until a final revision (V4) is introduced in 1975.

This version features the same missing trimpot and holes where it should be. You may also notice at the bottom (left of the blue wire) is a green or tan capacitor that was not present in previous versions. From what I understand this was done to reduce noise coming from the battery (but I could definitely be wrong here). And they seemed to really like the idea because this is the next most common board you'll find after the V1.

Now that we've gone through each version I wanted to show a couple oddities that you may come across. The first is this V1 Super Fuzz that uses a combination of 2SC828 transistors and metal can 2SC539's. This is another combination I have only found in Univox and Honey branded units.

There are two other places where you will find this though; the Honey Psychedelic Machines and Univox Uni-Fuzz. Honey appears to have started using the 2SC539 transistors with the creation of the Vibra Chorus / Psychedelic Machine. And as a result, some of them also found their way into Baby Crying Fuzzes, Super Fuzzes, and Uni-Fuzzes.

For our final example we have a V3 board but with a unique combination of parts not often seen in Super Fuzzes. The resistors were commonly used in mid-late 60s Japanese amplifiers and also found in a few early fuzz pedals, like the Guyatone FS-1 and the Voice Differential Box. Another place you can find them is in some Uni-Fuzzes, which helps confirm that this pedal wasn't just repaired at some point.

This was most likely built in 1969, as it matches the parts and layout of both the early Crown Super Fuzzes and the earliest Apollo Super Fuzzes. This was really an interesting and mysterious time period in the pedal's history because by all accounts Honey had gone out of business and Shin-ei had yet to take over...

So the question remains; who was making these pedals? All the examples above, while appearing to be sequential, I believe at least, were made simultaneously. Yes, the V1 was almost certainly first, and the V3 was last, but for the amount of V1's out there it really would stand to reason that all three were being made at the same time. There were also two different enclosures and paint colors used! (two different manufacturers???)

To make things even more maddening, I just looked back at this original factory schematic drawn out by Univox in June of 1968. This would have been roughly one month after receiving the pedals from Japan, and it not only shows the use of two different transistors, but also a TRIMPOT! 

So now I don't know what to think. 😂

My current conclusion hasn't really changed though, because I still believe that within the history of the circuit (1967-1969) it was originally designed without a trimpot, and then in early 1968 (probably with the creation of the Psychedelic Machine and addition of different components) they redesigned the PCB to have space for a trimpot in order to bias the transistors regardless of the components being used? What we do know for sure is that A. the Psychedelic Machine utilizes the 2SC828 and 2SC539 transistor combo, and the board has a trimpot to bias the transistors. And B. that the Honey Baby Crying Fuzz pre-dates the Psychedelic Machine, with the two effects being invented by different people (the former of whom is still a mystery).

This is all to say that I still think while there is a logical order in which these PCB variations were designed, most likely they were all being made at the same time, and possibly by more than one manufacturer in Japan. And it's just by pure chance that the unit Univox dissected for their factory schematic happened to be a somewhat obscure example.

That mess aside, what I am most interested in, and think is the key to solving a large chunk of this riddle, is finding out what exactly happened in the nine months following February 1969. This is like a no-man's-land vortex between the end of Honey and the beginning of the Shin-ei era, yet we have hard evidence showing OEM Super Fuzzes arriving at stores within that period (Crown, Apollo, JH Experience). So who was making them? Who was distributing them? 

What's even weirder is that we've also seen pedals such as the Guyatone FS-3 from 1972 that appear to use old Honey parts, most likely auctioned off after the Shin-ei buyout. So what did that situation look like?

In 1970 Univox would go on to use a different manufacturer for the new Super Fuzz model U-1095, continuing with the same factory that was responsible for their Uni-Wah. (This is almost certainly who, in 1967, Unicord hired to build the LRE Fuzz Sound as well). Unfortunately we do not know the name of this manufacturer, but it appears as though "Melos" could possibly have been their house brand.

Either way, I hope this was a bit interesting to you! I try to keep it fairly surface-level when it comes to the circuit analysis stuff (mostly because "surface level" is personally the amount of knowledge I possess on the subject :) but also because I think we can garner a lot from simply noticing the little similarities and differences between pedals, outside and in.

Thanks for reading!
And make sure to check out this classic blog post from Cult pedals that introduced me to many of these circuit variations years ago. It's a fantastic read, as is the entire site!
-ed

Bowman Electronics Fuzz Box

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A couple of years ago during another late-night deep dive for the old and stompy, I came across a pretty crude and low-fi scan of the 1970 edition of Burnstein-Applebee electronics catalog. Among the thousands of components and DIY gear was a photo and description for the "Fuzz Maker Sound Kit". It looked cool, but unfortunately with the scan being as bad as it was there was no way I could figure out if it had a brand name, who made it, or really any of the integral details I typically hope for. So I saved the image and filed it away with dozens of other fuzz kits from that time period, and honestly, just kind of continued on without a second thought.

Fast forward to last month where I was talking with my good friend Bart from Effects Database and he pointed me to an ebay listing for a stack of Burnstein-Applebee catalogs, ranging from 1967-1971. And while I've tried to cut back gambling on old print media lately, the price was low enough that it was worth a shot! So the wait began, and with it, the speculation of what hidden fuzzy gems could be lurking in the dusty pages of those long forgotten catalogs.

Well a week later my curiosity was quelled; the packaged arrived safely and I began going through of every page, line by line and olde timey wholesome illustration by olde timey wholesome illustration. But would all of this waiting and work pay off?

Kind of...

The image above is the only page from any of the catalogs with something pedal-related. It also happens to be the same exact page I found two years prior. womp womp.

But maybe if I could make a new hi-res scan we could glean some NEW information from it and crack the code!

So I went to work (aka, drove to my mom's house and used her scanner) and began to decode the image below.

There it is! 

Ok, so this image is significantly better than the older one but still leaves some important details to be imagined. Like, what is that brand logo on the top left? Is that a model number (72-Z)? What are the two controls (Volume, Tang WIANAV//)?

And as I sat there staring at this picture, it hit me: I may not be able to answer the questions above, BUT! I definitely recognized that pedal and had seen it before.

Those knobs, that enclosure, the upper-right portion... This fuzz is definitely related to APPLIED AUDIO!!!

A couple months back I posted a long and (what I thought was) comprehensive history of Applied Audio Products. Based directly in the heart of the late '60s East Coast audio gear mecca, this NJ-based company was responsible for thousands of fuzz boxes for the better part of a decade.

But while I knew they were knee-deep in the OEM manufacturing world, I was unaware until now that they may have also had a hand in the wild world of electronics project kits.

The enclosure, that ridiculous battery tester, those odd knobs, everything we can see here points to Applied Audio. But until we get a glimpse of the inside, this theory may need to remain in land of speculation. And in addition to the unknown circuit, we still have the question of what brand was this being sold under?

To find the answer I had to go back and slowly comb through every page of the Burnstein catalog, because for some reason they really tried to hide the branding on these kits. But my persistence paid off, and I finally was rewarded with a name: Bowman Electronics.

After more internet sleuthing I was able to discover that Bowman had been around at least as early as 1966, they also went by the name "Bowman Leisure Industries" and were based out of both Roselle, NJ and Garwood, NJ. Mostly known for project kits, the fuzz was part of a series of personal electronics called, "Mod-U-Kits", which included everything from spy gear to handheld amplifiers.

Unfortunately there weren't a ton of mentions online of Bowman, and absolutely zero of the fuzz, but the handful of kits we did find gave us a few more clues as to how it would look when you ordered one of these.

Each kit was ready for in-store displays at your local Lafayette Radio Electronics or Radio Shack stores back in the day. They also had what I assume is the paper instruction sheet with an image of the finished product staring at you from behind a thin layer of ancient plastic. 

Upon opening it the enthusiastic builder would have been met with an enclosure, PCB, wires and components in a small baggy. All fairly standard for electronics project kits, and it's probably safe to assume that opening the fuzz box was a near identical experience. Basically you pop the transistors, caps, and resistors in, pull out your trusty solder iron and a few moments later you had "built" yourself a cool new noisy gadget.

As I sat there trying to connect the dots I remembered something about Applied Audio's history; they had a partner/parent company called Trans-Tek who they shared a South Plainfield, NJ warehouse space with.

Well prior to moving to that warehouse, Trans-Tek (known for selling surplus/bulk electronic components and PROJECT KITS) was located in Garwood, NJ.

And when I checked both addresses, Bowman and Trans-Tek were located down the block from each other! As in, you could probably take a leisurely stroll from one building to the other in under 10 minutes. (see the green flags in the map below)

This is where my information ends though, as I have been unable to find a concrete link between the two companies. So from here on out I'm just going to present a couple of best guesses as to what may have been going on here.

One option is that the two companies had been working together since the mid 60s, with Trans-Tek supplying Bowman Electronics with the necessary components for their kits. So when it came time for Bowman to get into the fuzz game, they had an easy call to make.

Another option takes into account that the fuzz kits don't appear until 1970 (or at the very least, I haven't seen anything prior to this date). That being said, if you read the Applied Audio article you may remember that only the earliest units (1967/68) appear to use those tophat knobs and larger battery tester lamps. The fuzz in the Bowman Electronics photo clearly has both of those features, so is it possible that they simply purchased dead/old stock parts from Trans-Tek (Applied Audio) and then sold them as a kit? If this is the case, it's also possible that the circuit inside is completely different from a typical Applied Audio pedal.

The last detail to mention here would be that the enclosure of the Bowman Fuzz Box appears to be wider than the Applied Audio "Big Fuzz" but not as wide as the "Fuzz and Treble Booster". 

And you may be thinking that they just stretched the image to fit the ad, but the labeling is different as well. On the typical Applied units the knobs are "Attack" and "Intensity" with the word "Fuzz" just above the two, creating the shape of a triangle. But on the Bowman you can see that the labeling on the right knob is perfectly centered and stacked. Which leads me to believe that this is not only a unique enclosure, but potentially one made specifically FOR this Bowman Electronics kit.

That is all to say, I honestly don't know what happened here. lol

But that's why we do these types of articles because maybe YOU DO? And if that is the case, please feel free to shoot me an Email or find me on Instagram.

Thanks for reading,

-ed