Fuzzrite: Buyer beware

[Dennisthe Menace]

Zak wrote:

Also, germanium Fuzzrites account for less the 5% of the Fuzzrites built. Only the 200 or 250 earliest ones were germanium, they were quickly replaced by silicon versions which sound noticeably different.

And that my friends, is the reason why a lot of FUZZrite Collectors are getting this mixed up.
Like Zak mentioned, about 200-250 units made were Germanium. BUT, the MAJORITY of the
FUZZrites that were sold were the SILICON Version. THESE are the FUZZrites that we hear
on recordings, or live music, when we were growing up with the early stomp boxes.
p.s. I wish I could get back my Jazzmaster, Harmony Rocket, my 67-68? FUZZrite, and my
Blue Ventures II Mark (II!).....

p.s.Zak ALSO wrote:

Comparing a Fuzzrite to a Tube Screamer is like comparing apples to a motorcycle helmet.

Zak, you're killing me, STOP THAT!!! (LOL)

[zak]

THESE are the FUZZrites that we hear
on recordings

I've often wondered if the Fuzzrites you hear on Ventures recordings weren't early germanium versions. I imagine as Mosrite endorsers the Ventrures would have had first crack at trying out the new goods.
If you listen closely to Swingin Creeper, you'll notice that for the guitar solo Nokie turns his guitar volume DOWN, resulting in a slightly cleaner sound for that solo than for the rest of the song.
The "cleaning up" effect is a lot more prominent in the germanium Fuzzrites than the more common silicon versions.
Compare Nokie's fuzz tone with Davie Allan's Cycle-delic era recordings. At the time Davie was playing Mosrites and using a brownface Concert to record with. The stylistic differences between the two as well as their right hand technique was different enough to make 'em sound unlike each other, but the character of their fuzz sounds is also surprisingly different.

[Dennisthe Menace]

Zak, good point. However, the Ventures (well, at least Nokie) were experimenting with a
Fuzz/Distortion around '62, even before they were using Mosrites. Some people have said that the guy that made these for Nokie, as well as a compressor, was a guy by the name of
Redd Rhodes. Supposedly, they were a small box that actually plugged into the jack on the guitar (long B4 Dan Armstrong's little boxes or even the LPB-1 from E.H.). I'm not sure if this is the same Redd Rhodes that worked with G.T. Tubes and came with an Amp for them in the late 80s/early 90s. But that's another long story. And somewhere in guitar history, I've read where Jimmy Page credits the Ventures to be the first Rock Combo to use a Fuzz/Distortion Type Unit.
Of course, Link Wray was one of the first to use distortion, but kicking a hole in the speaker
doesn't count.....

[zak]

the Ventures (well, at least Nokie) were experimenting with a
Fuzz/Distortion around '62, even before they were using Mosrites.

Yep, but the Ventures fuzz sound changed quite drastically around '66/'67, it's nothing like their earlier sounds. Could be the fuzz, could be how it was recorded...but the Swingin' Creeper tone is VERY "germanium Fuzzrite" sounding. I tried to get that sound for a long time until I figured out he was turning his guitar volume DOWN for the lead - kinda counter-intuitive, but it nails the sound.

[Dennisthe Menace]

I'd like to know which/what Fuzz/Distortion Unit Nokie was using on the
WDR '64 Vol II Album......???

[ElTwang]

Ahhh, Swingin' Creeper. That's such a cool song! Still Nokie's guitarsound on 'out of limits' from 'In Space' is probably the coolest tone ever. I'm very much into that record these days as I found it on vinyl recently, mono and all. But, man, what a record.

[zak]

I'd like to know which/what Fuzz/Distortion Unit Nokie was using on the
WDR '64 Vol II Album......???

Most likely the Redd Rhodes box.

I guess the Maestro fuzz was commercially available by then, but it's a completely different sound.
Davie Allan used a Maesto on his earliest fuzz instrumentals ("Skaterdater Rock" from the Skaterdater soundtrack, and the handful of fuzz tracks on the "Apache 65" LP). A much tamer sound than the Fuzzrite.

[Dennisthe Menace]

I'd like to know which/what Fuzz/Distortion Unit Nokie was using on the
WDR '64 Vol II Album......???

The only reason I'm asking, if anybody listens to those songs again VERY CLOSELY on
WDR '64 Vol II, the ones that Nokie uses the Fuzz, there are times where it sounds
almost like he's playing a Saxaphone, and I'm referring to the tone of the Fuzz.....
e.g. the song-"Peach Fuzz." Listen to Nokie's Mosrite on Distortion while playing a
background "fill-in." This takes place while the Farfisa Organ is playing the Bridge(?) Solo.....
As a matter of fact, even when Nokie comes in with the melody, it even sounds close to a Sax.

[zak]

it sounds
almost like he's playing a Saxaphone, and I'm referring to the tone of the Fuzz.....

Uh...that's what fuzz was originally designed to do. Look at the early Maestro sales literature, it incessantly makes references to their Fuzz-tone making your guitar sound like a "brass section" (their bass fuzz was even called the "Bass Brassmaster") though few players seemed to mine this territory.

[Dennisthe Menace]

it sounds
almost like he's playing a Saxaphone, and I'm referring to the tone of the Fuzz.....

Uh...that's what fuzz was originally designed to do. Look at the early Maestro sales literature, it incessantly makes references to their Fuzz-tone making your guitar sound like a "brass section" (their bass fuzz was even called the "Bass Brassmaster") though few players seemed to mine this territory.

Yes, I know that. There are fuzz units, and then there are FUZZ units. BUT, Nokie NAILED
a certain "TONE" out of that fuzz that was even CLOSER to a Sax Sound (or at least on
the song "Peach Fuzz").....
I don't know, whether it was the way they mixed it, or EQ'd it, or whatever it was.....