But really - they're pretty great.
Short version: Three years ago I set out to have a favorite DIY fuzz pedal copied for me in case I lost or broke it. For whatever reason, this turned out to be a monumentally impossible task which eventually lead me to Joe Gagan, the guy who originated the circuit that this particular favorite fuzz was based on. One exact copy turned in to a run of 10 highly modified versions of the 'original.' Read the whole stupid saga here: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=16141
Tech Specs:
Two Transistor Fuzz / Hybrid Germ/Si
Two 'Channels', which are really just two 'presets' of the same circuit
Each channel has 'Pregain' and 'Bass Roll Off' controls (instead of traditional Tone control to roll off highs)
Gain is essentially set at Max, the Pregain simulates rolling your guitar volume back
Top In/Out and power jacks
9vDC or Battery
Channel LED always on so no surprises
1590BB size
$200 in the US
What does it sound like? Pretty simple and usable, really. This isn't a wild or crazy sounding fuzz. It's not particularly HEAVY or AGGRESSIVE either. It really nails all of the classic Hendrix-type tones, especially his rolled-back cleaner-than-clean tones, and does some excellent warm and full Fuzz Face sounds, but without all the flab. It's not that I want to undersell what this pedal can do - it is incredibly versatile - but the entire range of the pregain and bass controls are dialed in for most 'normal' gain needs. Dial the pregain way back and use it to add some sparkle to your tone. Dime the pregain AND bass controls and it gets super fat and squarewave-y.
This pedal sounds GREAT for bass (since it doesn't roll off any low end when opened up) and Rhodes/Wurli, as well as full drum buss mixes. We can also swap out the germanium for a higher gain transistor and maintain the same functionality but with a much gainier starting point. You might lose a little of the clean benefits and shine, but you can have a two channel fuzz with different low end settings which is killer for single pickup guitars. Just a thought ..
So here's 12 additional minutes of me talking about it. And a link to BUY it: http://protoguitars.com/product/proto-fuzz/
Or you can just PM me here.