The ICBM Fuzz NEW!
You may have heard that for a period of time in the 1970's, Electro-Harmonix changed the circuit of their legendary Big Muff Pi* from one based on discrete transistors to one based on integrated circuit operational amplifiers. This is true.

As a matter of fact, the opamp Big Muff Pi was the first fuzzbox I ever fell in love with, back in 1983. I didn't know that it was an opamp one until I bought my own Big Muff and thought it sounded different from my friend's. His later needed repair, and when I opened the case to check it out, I saw that the printed circuit board had a pair of integrated circuits on it, where mine had transistors.

Over the next 20 years, I never again encountered a Big Muff Pi made with opamps. Mike Matthews of E-H went out of business a couple of times, then got into the vacuum tube business, started making Big Muffs again, and then launched a new Electro-Harmonix with a mix of historical E-H effects and new ones. Still no opamp Big Muff Pi.

I myself started building and selling effects, helped greatly by the information available on the www, but when I tried building opamp Big Muffs from the schematics I found on the web, they didn't work. Finally, I got my hands on an actual unit, and sat down with it to see if I could learn its secrets and make my own.

Musictoyz.com Price $164.95

Crucible Fuzz
Erik Miller and Euthymia Electronics introduce the Crucible Fuzz, a high-gain fuzz pedal based on the classic Dallas-Arbiter Fuzz Face circuit, first in the Elements series of electronic musical effects from Euthymia Electronics.

Each unit is made by Erik Miller personally, including painting, silkscreening, etching the printed circuit board, and wiring. This is your chance to own an artisan-made guitar effect.

As you have no way to play it before you buy, it comes with a 5 day money-back guarantee. In the highly-unlikely event that you are not satisfied with the sound of your Crucible Fuzz, you may return the unit in original condition, for a refund of your original purchase price.

How does it sound? It's a fuzz box, designed to distort your signal. It's not supposed to provide “warm tube tone” or “subtle boost” or any of that. It's supposed to make your axe scream, crunch, crush, kill, and destroy. It can get those psychedelic garage tones, those wall-of-sound shoegazer tones and that singing lead Reelin' in the Years tone. It can create feedback at very low volumes.

When I started working on the design, I was shooting for early Stooges, late Hendrix, in that squalling neighborhood. My best description of what I finally achieved was that I overshot my targets. I've always been frustrated with distortion boxes that could just barely get the amount of fuzz I wanted. I wanted one that could get TOO MUCH fuzz. That's what the “Fuzz” control is there for. If there's more than you need, back it off a bit.

For those with a more technical bent, the design is closely based on the original silicon Arbiter 'Faces as resurrected by Dave Fox and marketed by Crest Audio in the late '80's. A pair of HIGH gain-selected BC109's and a tweaked bias are my “secrets.” Pots are Alpha, jacks are Switchcraft and/or Neutrik. True bypass via DPDT footswitch. True to its FF roots, the Crucible has no indicator LED (you will have no difficulty knowing when it is in your signal path). The circuit is optimized for operation with a 9V alkaline battery, so I do not include a power jack. If you know what you are doing, and can supply it with a clean 9V, I can be talked into installing a power jack for another $10. The finish is baked-on bluish-grey hammerite, similar to the original '60's Fuzz Faces. Logo and control markings are hand silkscreened. The knobs are bakelite Daka-Ware "stove" knobs, great for making your settings by feel on dark stages. And they look cool on lighted stages.

Sound File #1 - P90
Sound File #2 - Tele
Sound File #3 - Paul

Musictoyz.com Price $124.95

Crucible Fuzz GE
Euthymia Electronics introduces the Crucible Fuzz GE

After the wonderful success of the original Crucible Fuzz, Erik Miller decided to expand the line to include a model based on germanium transistors. As with the original, He wasn't as interested in exactly duplicating the sound of vintage devices as he was in coming up with something that would go beyond the old stuff.

Erik Miller wasn't trying to come up with “my take on a germanium Fuzz Face,” He was set on building a germanium version of the Crucible Fuzz. The very high gain of the NPN transistors in the Crucible Fuzz is a big part of its magic, so he went in search of some more good-sounding high gain transistors. Did some research, and the AC187 seemed to have what he was looking for: germanium, NPN, and HIGH GAIN. he took a leap and acquired a lot of 600 NOS AC187/01's. When these are used up, there will be no more Crucible GE's unless he find another good batch of transistors!

After weeks of gain testing, listening, resistor value adjusting, and more listening, he came up with a recipe that sounded incredible.

The Crucible Fuzz GE has a germanium sound to it, but it is not designed to give you the sound of those who have gone before. It is designed to lay waste to the sonic landscape with gobs of gain and fuzz. As with its older sibling, you may use it to produce controlled feedback at conversational volume levels.

For the techies, it uses a pair of hand-selected NOS AC187/01 high gain NPN transistors. The bias and volume resistors are tuned (by selection, not trimpots) for optimum performance in each unit. I set them up at 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and like all germanium devices, their gain will increase with warmer temperatures and decrease with lower ones. This is an inherent behavior of germanium-based fuzzes, and all he has done to accommodate it is make sure that all units are set up at a uniform ambient temperature. If you want a great sounding fuzz that is also temperature solid, the original Crucible Fuzz is for you.

Musictoyz.com Price $144.95