Metropoulos Forum

Stu is amazing...as has been said, a true gentleman and dedicated to incredibly accurate reproductions and incredible twists on classic tone machines. I have what I believe to be his second or third SupaFuzz Mk 1 that I had him build into a reissue Solasound Professional Mk 1.5 Tonebender housing and I have his grey prototype Vox wah circuit inside an original grey Vox wah enclosure. Both amazing pedals that he built for me over 5 years ago that have become some of my most cherished pedals-and I have a lot of vintage pedals so this is a big statement from me.

I'm going forward with a few new projects with Stu and I'll post some clips featuring the resulting pedals further on up the road...

Glad to hear that Stu is gaining fans...his pedals are excellent and I know everyone will love whatever they get from him full stop!

shakti wrote:

Awesome !!!! I badly want that fuzz now !!

matriarch wrote:

shakti wrote:Nice! Do you know which fuzz he uses for that one?

http://chasetone.com/red-stardust-germanium-fuzz/

Sounds interesting. He describes it as a fuzz that sounds like an "exploding sun", and that's not a bad description of the Olympic fuzz. His clips is great, much better than mine, and it does sound quite similar to the Olympic, although it's hard to say without having them side by side.

Although it appears from what he writes here, that the Red Stardust is a tweaked classic fuzzface circuit (two transistor), so doesn't seem to be the same circuit at all?

http://chasetone.com/dallas-arbiter-ger ... e-replica/

Another tell-tale sign that the Olympic Fuzz is the same fuzz that Hendrix used on those BBC recordings, is how it reacts with a wah. It sounds exactly the same, IMHO. Listen to the BBC Hear My Train A Comin solo or Little Miss Lover, or the ending of Day Tripper... I've never heard a wah and fuzz combination that sounds quite like that, and this Olympic Fuzz sounds just like that with a wah (again IMO).

Edit: at least with a non-buffered wah, that is. But Hendrix, AFAIK, never had any buffers in his wahs. Roger Mayer has said he never modded his wahs, and this was only shortly after he started using a wah anyway.

Mayer have said he added buffers in the studio though

neikeel wrote:That sounds like fun! Very nice early Hendrix vibe, my favourite tones (personally prefer over later BOG era).

Stu is a whizz at these things and a gentleman too!

I have recently built a Mk II clone with his help and guidance (he sent me a nice set of OC75s) so I must post some pics (I started thread on Marstran so I guess there).
http://forum.marstran.com/viewtopic.php ... 3968#p3968


Wonder how to build one of these

How does the Mk II sound compared to a Fuzz Face ? Also what is the main differences between a Mk I an Mk II I am thinking of buyiny or building one ? Also how does it sound with a wah ?

yladrd61 wrote:

neikeel wrote:That sounds like fun! Very nice early Hendrix vibe, my favourite tones (personally prefer over later BOG era).

Stu is a whizz at these things and a gentleman too!

I have recently built a Mk II clone with his help and guidance (he sent me a nice set of OC75s) so I must post some pics (I started thread on Marstran so I guess there).
http://forum.marstran.com/viewtopic.php ... 3968#p3968


Wonder how to build one of these

How does the Mk II sound compared to a Fuzz Face ? Also what is the main differences between a Mk I an Mk II I am thinking of buyiny or building one ? Also how does it sound with a wah ?

I would recommend joining the D*A*M forum...it is a great place to learn about the various incarnations of virtually every fuzz ever made. That was how I hooked up with Stu and David Main who have built the best fuzzes I've ever owned to my exact needs and wants.

yladrd61 wrote:

neikeel wrote:That sounds like fun! Very nice early Hendrix vibe, my favourite tones (personally prefer over later BOG era).

Stu is a whizz at these things and a gentleman too!

I have recently built a Mk II clone with his help and guidance (he sent me a nice set of OC75s) so I must post some pics (I started thread on Marstran so I guess there).
http://forum.marstran.com/viewtopic.php ... 3968#p3968


Wonder how to build one of these

How does the Mk II sound compared to a Fuzz Face ? Also what is the main differences between a Mk I an Mk II I am thinking of buyiny or building one ? Also how does it sound with a wah ?

This one is early Page in a box. Not really had chance to try it with a 45/100 and strat at volume, although did use it at at gig in front of my Cry Baby and it worked pretty well. My Crybaby is one that Stu converted to true bypass over 10 years ago tho'.

neikeel wrote:This one is early Page in a box. Not really had chance to try it with a 45/100 and strat at volume, although did use it at at gig in front of my Cry Baby and it worked pretty well. My Crybaby is one that Stu converted to true bypass over 10 years ago tho'.

I wouldn't say any of the standard MKII circuits currently being produced are anything close to Page's circa 1966 Solasound Professional MKII Tonebender...I've tried all permutations of the Tonebender circuits (Mk I, Mk 1.5, Mk II, MK III and with different parts including NOS OC75s) and none sound like Page's Yardbirds/Led Zeppelin I Tonebender. The closest I've heard is Stu's SupaFuzz Mk I clone...different circuit from the other Tonebender circuits. Mine has OC75s and sounds amazing...the closest modern approximation of the Tonebender that Page used in The Yardbirds/Led Zeppelin I and that Alan Parker used in the "Hurdy Gurdy Man" session. Both Page and Parker bought their units in 1966 at Macari's.

garbeaj wrote:

neikeel wrote:This one is early Page in a box. Not really had chance to try it with a 45/100 and strat at volume, although did use it at at gig in front of my Cry Baby and it worked pretty well. My Crybaby is one that Stu converted to true bypass over 10 years ago tho'.

I wouldn't say any of the standard MKII circuits currently being produced are anything close to Page's circa 1966 Solasound Professional MKII Tonebender...I've tried all permutations of the Tonebender circuits (Mk I, Mk 1.5, Mk II, MK III and with different parts including NOS OC75s) and none sound like Page's Yardbirds/Led Zeppelin I Tonebender. The closest I've heard is Stu's SupaFuzz Mk I clone...different circuit from the other Tonebender circuits. Mine has OC75s and sounds amazing...the closest modern approxiamation of the Tonebender that Page used in The Yardbirds/Led Zeppelin I and that Alan Parker used in the "Hurdy Gurdy Man" session. Both Page and Parker bought their units in 1966 at Macari's.

Well for me through a JTM50 set to just clean side of crunch with my tele or split coils on my R0 it does the job, I have not tried playing all teh options as you have, just listened to the clips and Stu's advice as to which circuit and parts to go for to get the sounds I was after!

Wow that fuzz sounds awesome!

RE: the Axis fuzz. I have one, and I do think its a great pedal, however it is very dependent on the amp being set perfectly to the pedal. Yes it can sound shrill and thin, but if the amp is set right and the tubes are pushed, it can sound quite good. The only thing I really dislike about it is using it with a wah pedal.. when you roll back your guitar volume to clean up the fuzz and kick on the wah pedal, you get a ton of noise and hiss, which is not apparent with other fuzz pedals.

neikeel wrote:

garbeaj wrote:

neikeel wrote:This one is early Page in a box. Not really had chance to try it with a 45/100 and strat at volume, although did use it at at gig in front of my Cry Baby and it worked pretty well. My Crybaby is one that Stu converted to true bypass over 10 years ago tho'.

I wouldn't say any of the standard MKII circuits currently being produced are anything close to Page's circa 1966 Solasound Professional MKII Tonebender...I've tried all permutations of the Tonebender circuits (Mk I, Mk 1.5, Mk II, MK III and with different parts including NOS OC75s) and none sound like Page's Yardbirds/Led Zeppelin I Tonebender. The closest I've heard is Stu's SupaFuzz Mk I clone...different circuit from the other Tonebender circuits. Mine has OC75s and sounds amazing...the closest modern approxiamation of the Tonebender that Page used in The Yardbirds/Led Zeppelin I and that Alan Parker used in the "Hurdy Gurdy Man" session. Both Page and Parker bought their units in 1966 at Macari's.

Well for me through a JTM50 set to just clean side of crunch with my tele or split coils on my R0 it does the job, I have not tried playing all teh options as you have, just listened to the clips and Stu's advice as to which circuit and parts to go for to get the sounds I was after!

If the sound you were going after was the Page Tonebender sound and you feel that confident you have it nailed, I would love to hear a clip?

shakti wrote:Managed to upload the video now:

Really cool tone, nailed it! Great stuff! Axis: Bold As Love, beautiful as always...

is there a way for us to get our hands on this pedal as well?