Roland BeeGee AF-60 (1975)

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This is Roland BeeGee fuzz pedal from the mid 70s. It comes from the same Roland/Boss series as the BeeBaa (fuzz), BF-1 (flanger), Funny Cat (fuzz/filter/thing), AP-2 (phaser) and a slew of other goodies. I had been on the hunt for one of these for a while thinking it would be some kind of thick octave fuzz like so many of its Japanese counterparts. I was happily mistaken!

The BeeGee definitely has its own sound to it. There is this overall rubbery quality, not unlike the Ibanez Standard Fuzz (but without the upper octave and heavy low end). At the same time it has this raw and raunchy tone, almost like an Italian Vox Tonebender but with a soft organic edge. It is very reactive to changes in guitar volume, pick attack and tone adjustments. This pedal is really great for leads too. It almost plays for you! I was able to liven' it up a little bit by throwing a DOD 250 in front for a boost, which also pumped out quite a bit more gain and overall thickness.
There are actually a few demos on youtube:

Here

and Here

and finally Here

This pedal is configured interestingly with this cool looking Toshiba OpAmp plus two 2SC1000GR silicon transistors:








Overall it is a really sweet pedal, but if I had to pick some things that I didn't care for they would have to be:

1: The lack of big low end.
I can't help thinking how thick and just heavy this pedal would be if it had a little more bounce per ounce.

2: The really shitty tone control.
If there is one thing I have learned from vintage Japanese fuzz it's that they all have the worst tone stacks ever put into pedals. You basically get a small window of usable control and the rest is either ear piercing or like a heavy blanket being placed over your head.

3: The lack of MUCHO GAIN!
Although I am able to rip open the gain with a booster, I would love if the BeeGee could get really saturated with fuzz all on its own.

But even though I have some dislikes, they aren't enough to not love this little guy!

Now for the pedal porn___---




Thanks for reading!
-ed

Jordan Creator 6000 (1971)

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This is the mysterious Jordan Creator!!!
Lady Luck really smiled upon me when I found this little monster. She's in beautiful condition and sounds like a master at work.

So here is the story I have been able to gather about the creation of The Creator.
Apparently conceived in 1971 when Jordan Electronics employee/designer George Cole was given an Electro Harmonix v1 Big Muff. Everyone in the office was impressed with the sound of it so Cole decided to build a sort of "clone" with a few mods. He used a treadle type case, which they had been using for the Jordan Gig-Wah prototypes. He tweaked and perfected his Big Muff clone and called it "The Creator - Volume / Sustainer".
It was not as heavily saturated as the Electro Harmonix Big Muff and did not pump out the kind of harmonics the BM was capable of.


There is some debate as to when the pedal was actually out as a production model. Although the pot codes date it to 1971, there is a serial number that ends in "73" on the bottom plate of mine; so 1973 could be the actual year to place these as in-production models? Either way, I have only seen 2 other Jordan Creators in the wild and both had similar dates. So I would assume that Jordan did not make these for more than 2 years. But that is purely a guess?!?

The sound of The Creator is best described as a mix between an early ProCo Rat pedal and a v1 Big Muff. For anyone who has ever played a "White Face" Rat or earlier you know how warm and thick it is, but at the same time is still very articulate and great for leads. The Creator tone can be thought of as a "Buzz" and less of a "Fizz". Some people have said its closer to a distortion than a fuzz, but both of those descriptions can mean a whole huge range of tones, so I would rather not use either!

It's running on 4 Motorola SPS3353 Silicon Transistors. Which apparently were the same as the 2N5088 or FS36999 trannies used in the v1 Big Muffs (but don't quote me on that!).

Ok here is the pedal porno:
Thanks to Kit Rae for use of his photos for the box and paperwork!