SRS EQ Exciter fuzz (1977)

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I like a good mystery...

You may remember a while back when we posted a demo video of the rare (as in the only one ever seen) SRS EQ Exciter. This crazy and heavy fuzz from the late 70's was (and for the most part still is) a bit of a mystery. So I have been sitting on this post for a while not knowing if any other information would pop up about "SRS", and since none has I've decided "well, let's do this anyways!"

About 2 years ago now, there were a couple of random pedals on ebay that I had never heard of before; one was the SRS VCO Disco and the other was the EQ Exciter. They looked like early clones of DOD pedals, but I really had no idea what they sounded like. And the biggest problem was the seller's written descrptions, which were probably the worst and most ambiguous "details" for a pedal auction I had ever read. This left the possibilities wide open, so I really had no idea what they sounded like, but that "VCO Disco" name did have me intrigued. Also, the fact that I had never heard of them before is always a good way to hook me in...

So I bit on the VCO Disco pedal, leaving the EQ Exciter to whoever wanted to take that chance.

Well, after receiving the VCO Disco I found out that it was an envelope filter (apparently a copy of the ehx Doctor Q). To me, that made sense with the name it had; but then I found out about the EQ Exciter, and after realizing that it was definitely NOT an equalizer, NOT an exciter, NOR was it a booster of some kind, I knew I had to have it!

So long story short; I found myself in a trade with a friend, and here she is 2 years later in my little collection!!!
(thanks, you know who you are ;)

If you read the other post and listened to the demo, you will get a pretty good idea of what it sounds like, so I won't get too redundant here. But I will touch on the main points for you.

The tone itself is reeeeeaaaaaaal FAT! And anyone who has read this blog before knows that I love my fuzz with some big bottom to it; well the SRS EQ Exciter delivers that for days! It's one of the most punishing and loud pedals I have ever played through, and sounds even more killer on bass. If I could describe the overall tone, I would compare it to the squelch of a Shin Ei FY-2 mixed with the meat and balls of a silicon Fuzz Face.

The other thing that is really cool about this pedal is the tone control. It has this huge sweep to it that sounds more like a Moog synthesizer than a fuzz. It's really unique for a pedal, and I wonder why more builders don't employ that same technique in their stuff?

So that's it.

The mystery remains unsolved on this one, because we still do not know anything about this company, "SRS". Whether they made more pedals than these two, where they were located, if it was just one guy building effects for friends? I have no idea...

But if you do know any of these little details, please let us know. I would love to find out more.///

Thanks for reading!
-ed

Some (Univox) Squarewave Action!

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After a long, and much needed vacation out West, I'm back and ready to update Tone Machines on a more consistent basis again... So I apologize for the black out!

Ok so we return this week with a video by Jerms and the Seattle fuzz crew of two seemingly totally different sounding Univox Squarewave pedals.

The only thing I can attribute this to is there are supposedly two versions of the Squarewave's; where one was made with silicon clipping diodes while the other version was made with germanium.  But other than that, the circuits are supposed to be exactly the same?

That may not be it... but we can speculate...
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thanks for watching!
-Ed

GM Fuzz Up FD3-A (enclosure)

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This may the closest I ever get to one of these rare late 60's fuzzes.

Last week I was lucky enough to have one of the blog readers contact me and see if I wanted just the enclosure of a GM Fuzz Up FD3-A. The pedal nerd/collector in me obviously said "yes!".

So fast forward to today and here she is...
Something that is pretty cool I've never noticed before, is that there is a switch for Low and High Fuzz.

I wonder what was going on in there???

If you happen to be an owner of one of these little babies that actually has a working circuit in it, please email me!
ok Thanks for reading.

-ed

yes. this is getting posted.

I don't know?

Bad Mother

So this just popped up on ebay///

It's a reverse-graphic EHX Bad Stone from the late 70's.
I have never seen one like this before, but it's pretty damn cool looking!



thanks!
-ed

A Pair of Freshies //

Sometimes the world works in mysterious ways...
and in a random turn of events I went from searching for a Seamoon Fresh Fuzz for over 6 years, to finding both versions within 3 months of each other!

On the right is the 1st version (circuit-wise) of the Fresh Fuzz, and on the left is the 2nd version. My initial impression is that V2 is way fuzzier and has a lot more gain to it than V1. But V1 is a lot boomier and fatter in the low end.

I'll do a full post on these in the future. But for now, just know that they are pretty different from each other, and yet both sound great in totally different ways!




thanks for reading!
-ed