A quick update!

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I just wanted to stop in and say Hello! to the readers of the blog. I realized recently that I haven't posted here in a while. I am still collecting and finding cool stuff! *see below But I haven't been able to carve out the time for my usual obsessive digging and pedal research....

Above you'll see my most recent finds; a super rare Nomad Rogue Fuzz, an almost as rare late 60's YACK Fuzz Box from Japan, a rare Nu-Fuzz variant from their initial run under the Sierra Electronics brand, and finally an early 70s Exel Shatterbox made by B&M.

I have been stockpiling photos of awesome pedal related stuff since the Spring, so expect some deep dive posts in the near future!

Thanks as always for reading,

-ed

Super Identity Crisis...

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Most pedal nerds know some history about the legendary Super Fuzz and that it got its humble start in 1967 as a stand-alone unit called the "Baby Crying" Fuzz, made by the Japanese brand Honey. 

What is a bit less known is that, 

A: the original designer of the Super Fuzz is still a mystery! (yes, Fumio Mieda, designer of the Univibe, did NOT also design the Super Fuzz) 

B: production of the Super Fuzz circuit ran for 10 years in total! And, 

C: in that time they were licensed to an almost endless list of brands, small shops, importers, and distribution companies.

So part of my ongoing (and super nerdy) research into the true history of this pedal is this little photo list of some of my favorite (and lesser known) variants, in a somewhat chronological order of Super Fuzzdom throughout the years. I hope you enjoy! 🙏

Honey Baby Crying Fuzz (The original, made from 1967-1969. The earliest documentation I have been able to find of the Honey is from October of 1967)

LRE Super-Fuzz (It's starting to look like the LRE might be the first OEM, made by Honey, Super Fuzz. But I have some pieces of evidence I still need to find to confirm that)

Univox Super Fuzz (the Univox version either came right after or right before the LRE. Also note that these are the only two with that oval-shaped logo plate, and the only two made in a gray enclosure. As of now it looks like the Univox was built for a single year, from 1968-1969)

Tempo Fuzz (This is the first version/logo of the Tempo, that features the earliest iteration of the circuit [that you can also find on the previous 3 examples]. Not only was it renamed the TR-6 Fuzz in 1970, but the logo changed at least two more times during its run. *also please disregard the weird mod someone clearly did to this one)

Crown Super Fuzz (I recently discovered advertisements for the Crown Fuzz going back to October of 1968! And while they continued to make these into the early 70s, they are at least one of the earliest OEM brandings of the circuit)

Shaftesbury Duo Fuzz (The only version with a left-leaning badge! And the longest running. These arrived some time in 1969 and were made well into the mid 70s)

Apollo Deluxe Fuzz Tone Expander (The Apollo is another odd one. It appears to have been initially made in 1969, and possibly during the transition between Honey and Companion. They continued to make these until sometime in 1971)

JH Experience Fuzz (This is the first version of the JH Experience. They were made for the Canadian market and began to appear in local ads as early as November of 1969)

Factone - Fuzz Machine (One of the rarer examples, and seem to be a Japan-only affair. These have an odd mixture of parts and construction, that leads me to believe they possibly bought remaining deadstock from Honey after the bankruptcy in 1969) 

Companion FY-6 Fuzz Master (While the details are still unclear, it appears as though Shin-ei decided to create their own house brand and launch it in early 1970. This brand was called "Companion" and they re-introduced, and renamed the Super Fuzz circuit as the "FY-6 Fuzz Master". The earliest units date to March of 1970)

Mica-Tone Super Fuzz (the Musical Instrument Corp of America, aka MICA, imported and sold three different fuzzes in the mid 60s through the early 70s. The MICA Wailer [same as the LRE Fuzz Sound] the MICA-Tone Fuzz [which was a rebranded Manny's Fuzz] and this. The earliest units date to March 1970)

JH Experience Fuzz (The 2nd version of the JH Experience arrived toward the end of 1970, and apparently caught the "brand" off guard, as it features this hilariously janky sticker instead of a metal logo plate.) 

May Fair Model No. 9540 Super Fuzz (Another branding, from the end of 1970. At this point, Shin-ei seemed to be on a roll with their OEM deals)

JAX Fuzz Master Unit (Jax was one of the longer runs you will find in the FY-6 world. With the earliest units dating to 1971 and the latest to 1976. They also seemed to go through at least 3 logo changes in that time)

Mana FY-6 Fuzz (I know little to nothing about this brand, but this particular unit is dated to August of 1972)

Shin-Ei Companion FY-6 Fuzz Master (In January of 1973 Companion was rebranded as "Shin-ei Companion" and with it came the most ubiquitous FY-6 variant you can find today. These were made roughly until 1978)

Hohner MF-50 Master Fuzz Control (The Hohner version was either released in late 1973 or early 1974, as I found an announcement for it in the March 1974 edition of Music Trades magazinie. Hohner would become known for contracting out their effects, going from a full lineup of Shin-ei pedals to a completely different lineup of Applied Audio made pedals just a few year later)

Rands FY-6 Fuzz (Another version I know very little about. This particular unit was dated to October of 1976, putting it towards the end of the FY-6 lifespan.)

In addition to the handful of brandings I have posted here, there are plenty more I have been documenting, and even a couple that I didn't know existed until this past year! But my main goal for putting this article together was not a comprehensive OEM list, but to help begin to change the narrative that the vast majority of Shin-ei fuzzes were made in the 60s. Not only is this incorrect, it's actually quite the opposite.

So far the oldest date I have found on any Shin-ei fuzz is from 1978, but they do appear in catalogs until the end of 1979 when Shin-ei seemed to go out of business. Additionally I hope that we can begin to refer to the circuit as the "Baby Crying Fuzz" or the "Super Fuzz", as opposed to the "FY-6" which was a designation that didn't begin until 3 years later.

I have been working on tons of Super Fuzz related history and content that I hope to get out over the next couple of years, so hopefully this was a nice teaser and somewhat informative for you all. And definitely let me know what your favorite version of the Super Fuzz is or what crazy obscure branding I may have missed. 

*and if you would like a quick reference to figure out the production date of your Shin-ei pedal, I wrote an article here that can help with that.

Thanks for reading,

-ed 

Bakelite Fresh Fuzz

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For nearly 20 years there has been a mysterious photo of a plastic Seamoon Fresh Fuzz floating around the internet. The image was originally posted on a long-defunct Japanese website and had no context or clues as to who owned it or where it came from... 

At the time I had some thoughts on what it could be, but for years it was the only one I had ever seen. That is until 2011 when I came across a random posting on a guitar forum where the author was showing off his modest fuzz collection; among them a second plastic Seamoon Fresh Fuzz! I immediately joined the forum and reached out to the owner. He was very reluctant to sell, and after a few back and forths, things sadly went south.

It would be 9 long years before I had another sighting. This time a badass reader of the blog reached out to me and sent photos of his pedal (I featured one of them on the big Fresh Fuzz article a few months back). Unfortunately though, I somehow missed that email and didn't see it until 2 years later! And by the time I responded he was no where to be found.

I was starting to give up all hope when, fast forward to a couple of months ago, a friend/fellow pedal collector gave me the contact info for a potential owner, complete with a photo! This would be only the 4th plastic Fresh Fuzz to ever come across my screen and I knew I couldn't let it slip away. So I got to work crafting the perfect email, hoping for a huge score but expecting not even a reply.

Well, as you can probably guess, things went well. Because here she is! The very first, very fragile, and very very rare V1 Seamoon Fresh Fuzz from 1973. The enclosure was made by Daka-ware (aka Davies Molding) using Bakelite plastic. Very few of these were made and even fewer survived: 

So if you happen to also have one of these I would love to hear from you! Send me an email or reach out through instagram.

Thanks for reading!

-ed

MKI Tone Benders, full on!

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In case you haven't come across any of these demos before, here are a few examples of one of the best sounding fuzzes of all time!!!

These are all original MKI Tone Benders, from 1965:

*Big thanks to Philip, Graham, and Jerms for making these demos of this impossibly rare pedal!

some day....some day. 🙏

thanks for watching!

-ed

SOUND Pedals, Brazil.

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SOUND Pedals was a brand out of Brazil that began in the late 60s and went all the way through the mid 80s. Their first efforts were combination pedals, typically featuring a wah and any insane mix of additional effects they could think of...

I originally found out about them through the amazingly named Devils' Fuzz; which is purported to be a Big Muff circuit. I was lucky enough to come across Fernando L'amounier recently, who happens to own an original, and he sent over this demo for us (also comparing it to the ES-4, Fuzz Wah):

After a bit more digging I came across this demo for the SOUND ES-3, which employs the mix of Fuzz, Wah, Repeat, and Siren effects! This thing is completely ridiculous. Check it out///

And finally, here's our friend Fernando back again, this time with most of the SOUND lineup///

For more info on SOUND Pedals and some background history, check out this site:

SOUND Pedals Info

thanks for reading!

-ed

LRE Super Fuzz and Super Drive?

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Starting in 1968 LRE (or Lafayette Radio Electronics) began selling their branded version of the Honey Baby Crying Fuzz, or as we now know it, the Super Fuzz. Along with Univox, they were not only the first OEM versions of this pedal, but also the only two in a gray enclosure with an oval-shaped logo plate. 

In 1970 Univox began selling their version of the circuit in a Red (Orange?) and Blue enclosure. It's currently not clear if Univox began producing the pedal themselves or if Shin Ei continued the production, but what is clear is that the circuit layout and board changed with the aesthetic makeover, and a sticker proclaiming "Made in Japan by Univox Corp of Japan Ltd. under license of Unicord Inc. Westbury, N.Y." was affixed to each pedal.

More interestingly perhaps, is that in 1971 LRE began placing a section in their monthly catalogs showing an orange Super Fuzz and their version of the Uni-Drive, called the Super Drive! 

While it is possible that we have seen an orange LRE Super Fuzz, because none of the pedals have brandings directly on them, we can say for certain that at least in the 20 years I have been collecting, not a single LRE Super Drive has ever popped up. 

But I am very hopeful that some have survived! 

LRE then has 3 versions of the Super Fuzz, and in my opinion here is the probable timeline:

1968 - Gray LRE Super Fuzz

1970 - Black LRE Super Fuzz

1971 - Orange/Blue LRE Super Fuzz

1970 LRE Catalog:

1971 LRE Catalog:

With the help of a few equally nerdy friends, I am currently working on a more comprehensive history of this classic fuzz.

So if you happen to have any info, personal stories, or anything that could help date these pedals, please hit me up via email or instagram message!

Thanks for reading,

-ed