HISTORY

INTRODUCING THE SM FUZZ PEDAL….

THE SM FUZZ PEDAL FIRST CAME ABOUT IN 2005 WHEN SCOTT, WHO IS NOT AN ELECTRONICS ENGINEER!,  DECIDED TO BUILD A SIMPLE GERMANIUM FUZZ PEDAL. JUST TO SEE IF HE COULD. BY PURE CHANCE WHEN HE PLUGGED IT IN, IT WORKED. SCOTT WAS AIMING TO MAKE A FUZZ PEDAL THAT SOUNDED LIKE CLAPTON IN CREAM, HENDRIX IN 1969, STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN ON AUSTIN CITY LIMITS IN 1989,

HERE’S WHAT SCOTT HAS TO SAY ABOUT THE PEDAL:

”IT REALLY WAS A BIT OF LUCK THAT THE PEDAL ACTUALLY WORKED. I’D NEVER BEEN ABLE TO FIND A FUZZ PEDAL, THAT WAS READILY AVAILABLE, THAT SOUNDED AUTHENTIC. SO I THOUGHT I’D HAVE A GO AT MAKING ONE MYSELF. MY SOLDERING SKILLS WEREN’T GREAT, AND AFTER A FEW SOLDER BURNS AND FRUSTRAING HOURS I PLUGGED IT IN. IT SOUNDED LIKE THE BEST FUZZ FACE I HAD EVER USED. WARM, FUZZY, SATURATED YET CLEANED UP WHEN THE GUITAR VOLUME IS TURNED DOWN A LITTLE. I STARTED USING IT AT GIGS AND ON RECORDINGS AND GOT QUITE A LOT OF INTEREST FROM DIFFERENT PLAYERS, WHO WANTED TO KNOW WHAT THAT PEDAL WAS. I WOULD ALWAYS SAY I MADE IT, AND I’D LOVE TO MAKE ANOTHER ONE, BUT DON’T KNOW HOW.”

IT WASN’T UNTIL JULY 2010 WHEN FELLOW GUITARIST AND FRIEND LUKE HIGGINS, ASKED SCOTT TO BUILD HIM A FUZZ PEDAL, THEY PUT THEIR HEADS TOGETHER AND CAME UP WITH THE IDEA OF MAKING A LIMITED NUMBER OF THEM TO SELL. SCOTT AND LUKE TEAMED UP WITH ELECTRONICS ENGINEER NEIL GARNER TO HELP RECREATE SCOTT’S ORIGINAL FUZZ PEDAL.

THEY TOOK READINGS OF EVERY COMPONENT IN SCOTT’S ORIGINAL FUZZ PEDAL CIRCUIT, NOTING IN PARTICULAR THE OUTPUT OF THE PEDAL AND THE GAINS OF THE ORIGINAL AC128 GERMANIUM TRANSISTORS IN THERE.

AFTER MANY MONTHS OF SOUND TESTS, CIRCUIT BOARD CHANGES TO MAKE THE NEW CIRCUIT MORE RELIABLE, YET FAITHFUL TO THE ORIGINAL. THE SM FUZZ WAS BORN.