Fuzzrite: Buyer beware

[dubtrub]

I've often seen Mosrite Fuzzrite pedals listed on eBay for an exuberant prices and have wandered about their authenticity. What I mean is, they look like a Fuzzrite until they flip them over or open them up. Then I start seeing different internals. I've never owned one of these, nor have I examined an original one from the sixties, so I'm not real sure what to be looking for. I just like to follow the Mosrite auctions.

Well, just for something to do, I built one of these units using schematics from the internet and they are fun to play with. Although, I would not be the least bit interested for one at the collectors prices of $250 to $350. I built one for less than $25. However, I've alway's wondered about the authenticity of those that appear slightly different on eBay.

In today's mail I received a catalog that I purchased of the Fillmore Co. Ltd. catalogs of made in Japan Mosrites and what do I find listed but Mosrite Fuzzrites. Now I'm wondering how many of those high dollar collectibles that are 'like new' being sold on eBay, are scammers selling these replicas as the real deal?

I'll try to find a photo and post it.

[Dennisthe Menace]

I've often seen Mosrite Fuzzrite pedals listed on eBay for an exuberant prices and have wandered about their authenticity. What I mean is, they look like a Fuzzrite until they flip them over or open them up. Then I start seeing different internals. I've never owned one of these, nor have I examined an original one from the sixties, so I'm not real sure what to be looking for. I just like to follow the Mosrite auctions.

Well, just for something to do, I built one of these units using schematics from the internet and they are fun to play with. Although, I would not be the least bit interested for one at the collectors prices of $250 to $350. I built one for less than $25. However, I've alway's wondered about the authenticity of those that appear slightly different on eBay.

In today's mail I received a catalog that I purchased of the Fillmore Co. Ltd. catalogs of made in Japan Mosrites and what do I find listed but Mosrite Fuzzrites. Now I'm wondering how many of those high dollar collectibles that are 'like new' being sold on eBay, are scammers selling these replicas as the real deal?

I'll try to find a photo and post it.

Your first set of dead giv-a-ways are gonna be the "where the pot came from" (potentiometers), and also the metric size nuts, etc. Of course you won't be able to tell that until it arrives, but that's OK. There is usually a certain amount of "Trial Time" whether you are going to keep it or not, but that DOES ALLOW you to look it over.

[brutus]

Hey
have you (dubtrub) ever thought of making and selling your version of the fuzzrite?
i am in the market for new one, my fuzzrite is very beat up and is hit or miss in the live setting. i would love to retire it to rehearsal and rec. only. i don't care about the way it looks so much, i just need the sound. as we all know no other fuzz pedal comes close. but i think if you follow the specs it would be as close as one could get. i bought mine in the 80's for 60 bucs! they are way to pricey now, plus as you said i worry about the authenticity. hey i could be your first customer! thanks brutus

[dubtrub]

Brutus,

Artie at Front Porch Music has the real deal. At least it as close as you could ever get. He has a few NOS Fuzzrite's built by Ed Sanner (the original builder for Mosrite). I think they are priced at $159. He only has a few left and when they are gone there won't be any more. Artie recently registered here on our forum but hasn't posted. If you are interested I could call him and have him respond on the forum here. Or, I'll sell you one later when I get another one made up. Right now I'm back logged building guitars.

[brutus]

that would be great if you could contact him for me. that seems like a real good price! thanks alot. and if it doesn't work out i would be willing to wait till you have time there is no rush, as i have one that works 90% of the time ha ha..thanks again

[zak]

I built one of these units using schematics from the internet

None of the "Fuzzrite" schematics I've seen online were accurate. There was also three variants of Fuzzrite, the first 200 or 250 were germanium, they proved to be unstable so they were replaced with a silicon version that used discrete parts, but the biggest production run used an integrated circuit made by Sprague, the one you see encapsulated in "putty" - all three versions are slightly different and none resemble the widely circulated "Fuzzrite" schematics you find online.

[ElTwang]

Hmmmmm

http://cgi.ebay.com/Mosrite-Fuzzrite-Ha ... dZViewItem

[zak]

It lacks the harsh shrillness associated with other fuzz pedals of the era

Hahah then it's probably not a very accurate Fuzzrite clone.

[dubtrub]

I have never looked inside an original Fuzzrite other than a few photo's on eBay. So, the schematic's that I used to build a Fuzz unit was taken from those displayed on the internet. Since I've never played through an original Fuzzrite, I'm not qualified to compare the one that I built to the original.

For that slight breakup musical distorted sound for playing blues, I have an older Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer with the 808 modification that everyone raves about. Personally I feel that it changes the sound of the guitar into an artificial sound. When I built the Fuzz pedal I found that the 'distortion' or fuzz sound doesn't change the sound of the guitar when played with just a minimal amount of 'fuzz' added to the sound. What I found is my 'cheapo homemade unit using the internet Fuzzrite schematics to sound (to my ears) better than the TS9. It definitely has the capability to over drive the distortion into an absolute intolerable fuzz.

I don't know what the internet schematics are suppose to be copied from, they say Mosrite Schematics. Possibly it's from some other version, maybe even the current Japanese reissue Fuzzrite. Recently there have been some good internal photo's of original Mosrite Fuzzrite's on eBay. I haven't compared the layout depicted in the eBay photo's to the layout drawing that I used to build my unit, but doing a cursory review it appears close but maybe not exact. Possibly some values of the components are different. In the future I will do a layout drawing of the circuit part for part as it appears to be a real simple design.

Click on the image for a larger view. They load a little slow.



This is the layout that I used for my home brew.

[zak]

What I found is my 'cheapo homemade unit using the internet Fuzzrite schematics to sound (to my ears) better than the TS9.

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


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.