Burns Buzzaround Fuzz - best current production?

lespaulcustom68

Any recommendations? Critical overdrive - lenny? Genevieve? JMI ? British Pedal Company? Skinpimp? Creepy Fingers?
Does Fredric do a version? DAM Fuzzaround - should they ever be available? Are the particular germaniums used in this one super critical?

Forge

The germanium transistors specs at each position are critical or it won't fuzz right.

Klanger, DAM, Skinpimp are all great but can be costly, it all depend on your budget.

randomhandclaps

It's not so much to do with the critical gains so much as the rarity of germaniums with HFEs high enough for position 3 that makes them costly.  You are obviously going to pay a premium on the DAM models etc because they set themselves up, like Colorsound et al as if they are giving you a vintage mojo cool.

The Buzzaround is at it's core a two stage Tonebender with more gain.  It has three germaniums but the first two (which are relatively low gain) are wired as a darlington pair, giving you a cumulative gain of the two.  The relation between the first and second transistor in a Fuzz Face or Tonebender circuit affect the asymmetric clipping you hear.  To keep this balance right or atypical of a the 'perceived' Buzzaround sound the third transistor needs a gain over 130 and approaching 140.  I say 'perceived' Buzzaround sound as the irony in a lot on vintage recreations is that builders pay far more attention than the original makers did.  Buying an original Fuzz Face, Tonebender, Buzzaround etc was far more hit and miss than current production, just unfortunately the parts are becoming rarer and because decent builders are more select it cuts these number down further still. This however can end up slightly detrimental as people become obsessed with meter readings as opposed to tuning by ear.

benecol

Amazed no-one's mentioned Ghost Effects yet: does two versions (with or without the hen's teeth transistors - I went 'without' and it was the business) plus the Dizzy Tone, which is very similar. Beautiful builds, real craftsmanship, and sound the absolute business. Plus Iain is a super nice chap.

If I wasn't so skint, I'd give you a Victor Kiam moneyback guarantee.

http://www.ghosteffects.co.uk/buzzaround.html

Forge

Entirely agree on tuning by ear. A good Atlas is handy but it does not guarantee a good result whereas the ear...

You can find lots of AC122/125/128 with the required gain and they do not cost a fortune.

lespaulcustom68

Listened to the ghost effects on youtube not really impressed - but allways allowing for crap recording quality etc does anybody else have recommendations or support the Ghost Effects products? They are at least a reasonable price. Not bothered about the look ala JMi
:-?

Forge

Check the Klanger on youtube

lespaulcustom68

Do you mean the Klinger buzzfuzz2 ?

Forge

I don't think it is, it should be the pedal in the demo below demo, apologies for the typo.

Forge

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ux6B7rda1wQ

lespaulcustom68

Yep! thats the Klinger buzzfuzz - he's stopped making that version and puts out a version with a master volume on now (buzzfuzz2).
Both are great sounding - i'll contact him to see what he can do. Cheers

allicio

Ive got one coming from arcane Analog in canada. Actually has the correct nkt213s inside which is rare these days. Highly recommend getting in touch he's a great bloke to deal with

lespaulcustom68

Many thanks.
How much do you reckon with duty ontop. I figure £195 then duty. It'd be good to have one with the origional transistors.
:-?

allicio

Get in touch with joe of joespedals he's just become a stockist he Maybe able to bring it in cheaper for you.
Ive got 6 arcane Analog pedals currently on order! One custom build kinda got carried away!