Dunlop fuzz face mini

[AJW]

I just got the dark blue/silicone transistor version of the Dunlop fuzz face mini. It is a great fuzz, but I still like the larger Hendrix fuzz sound slightly better. If the Hendrix mini FF (when available) really sounds like it's big brother I will probably be using that one. This one's just slightly brighter than the Hendrix as advertised. It might be perfect with a dual humbucker guitar.

I love the enclosure. That was genious. It is so small! It fits easily within in the palm of my hand. Smaller than most pedals. You can definitely put all three within the same space the old FF enclosure took up. The only thing I don't like is that the blue LED is too bright.

[AJW]

I now have the germainium transistor red fuzz face mini. It sounds great. Rich harmonic content. It seems to have less gain than the silicon version, but not to a fault. The full scale mothership Jimi Hendrix fuzz is getting kicked off my pedal board. That dinky fuzz face mini rocks!

[Lefty Lou]

AJW, I don't know if you remember this product but I believe it was an (Electro Harmonix) product by it's construction. It was a small inline fuzz unit that was the shape off a matchbox but a slightly larger that had one switch(on/off) and a gain knob. I remember it as being a rather innocuous little tiny fuzz unit that was available in the 70's. As I recall, it was around $20 which was too cool, and the classic fuzz tone was there as well.

[AJW]

I don't remember that, but I wasn't playing guitar until the early eighties!

What kills me is the small size of the board in the original large housing Fuzz Face. They must have been trying to make it seem more substantial by making the enclosure three times the size it needed to be.

[Lefty Lou]

Yeah, that was very typical of that era and at the same time there may have been some method to the pedal maker's madness. Since the germanium fuzz pedals were so problematic when they heated up, possibly larger pedal housings may have allowed the GE transistors to heat up a little more before going south BUT, whatever happened to transistor heat sinks?

[Doug H]

I've had the dark blue mini for a while, it's awesome, but it's not a one size fits all kind of fuzz face. It's over the top and a little gated, great for old Floyd leads and really heavy stuff. Not the best "jamming" fuzz. The light blue one should be easier to get along with if it isn't too mid rangy. I'll be snatching one up at some point to find out.

[Stratabuse]

Hey Lefty Lou, are you thinking of the Electro Harmonix Muff Fuzz? They were similiar to what you're describing. I had one,it was my first pedal I ever got when I was like 8 years old, and I remember how bad ass it sounded and how bad ass I felt playing through it, as it was the first time I ever experienced playing with any kinda distorted sound.

[Lefty Lou]

Hey Lefty Lou, are you thinking of the Electro Harmonix Muff Fuzz? They were similiar to what you're describing. I had one,it was my first pedal I ever got when I was like 8 years old, and I remember how bad ass it sounded and how bad ass I felt playing through it, as it was the first time I ever experienced playing with any kinda distorted sound.

No, what I speak of here was an effects unit that was just large enough to hold a 9 volt battery, with an on/off switch, and a gain knob, meant for inline usage. Imagine a small matchbox with 1/4" jacks installed on either side of the sliding match box drawer end, that's the visual that I'm trying to project. It had to have been made by Electro Harmonix due to its construction. In fact it "screamed" I'm an Electro Harmonix product, and the cost was $20 to $25/per unit.

[AJW]

OK I looked it up. It is a Electro Harmonix Muff Fuzz. Here is one on ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1970s-E ... _286wt_885

Doug H: I have the dark blue mini. I like it, but it is a little bright. The red germanium one is great in my opinion.

[Lefty Lou]

OK I looked it up. It is a Electro Harmonix Muff Fuzz. Here is one on ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1970s-E ... _286wt_885

Doug H: I have the dark blue mini. I like it, but it is a little bright. The red germanium one is great in my opinion.

Wow, at least 5 x the original cost. The one I had was fairly plain graphics wise (possibly an earlier version?). Now with Xotic and some other pedal manufacturers we have "nano" pedals.