Hope you got your reading glasses on
What’s in a name?
So what’s the story with this bulbous blue brick? First up let me clarify the whole “MKIII” moniker. It is not a direct replica of a Sola Sound MKIII, in fact if anything, its closer to a MKIV. Wooah! Wait a minute!! Ain’t the MKIII and the MKIV the same circuit but in different enclosures? Well, er…yes and no. They do both use the same circuit blue print if you will but there are subtle and noticeable differences to each pedal in the tone department. Without over complicating matters, as I do what to get to the point, the Sola Sound made MKIII and the MKIV basically sound of their time. The early MKIII’s sound fuzzy and choppy, later MKIV’s sound smooth and distorted. Then there’s a blurry line in the middle. Basically the biasing evolved to the point that the pedal became more overdriven than fuzzy. Ya know, I guess, to suit the needs of Musicnauts of the day.
So why call the D*A*M Fuzz Sound MKIII a MKIII at all? Well because it would be dumb to jump straight to MKIV, right? Ha! It is a combination of both the MKIII and the MKIV so there is some real reason for the madness. It’s not a direct replica of either but the flavour I have gone for is an all out balls to the wall, big hair, big boobs, fat cars, fast food, dirty denim, dirty hippies, 8-track stereo cranking, 3-D glasses rocking fuzz tone. To quote, its: “1970 rollin' in sight”
My freaking ears
So the tone is fat and fruity. Smooth fuzz tones boardering on the sound of a quality distortion box that I grew in a pot on the window sill. Yes, I am going to use that word…organic. It’s organic. It’s a pedal packing three germanium Mullard transistors and lays down a tone as greasy an as fat as a pound of butter, so I think I’m allowed.
If you want a comparison, say a pedal for pedal idea of what I was aiming at here it’s kinda like this. It’s a nice tasty vegan sour mash style soup made from a few sliced & diced Sola Sound MKIII & MKIV Tone Benders, a few grated Buzzarounds (remember the that one, that’s related here too) all simmered on a medium heat and served up with a nice slice of Big Muff Pie. In other words. Mojo of the MKIII, the base tone and clarity of a MKIV and a Buzzaround and the go fuck yourself volume of a Big Muff.
You have unity with an original MKIV at 10 O’ Clock on the Volume control, after that you have boost! Up to around 2 O‘clock you have a good deal of boost with the same flavour, after that who knows. It’s kinda in the ball park of the Meathead's Dirt control as it will start boosting highs and the saturation levels. Mr.Bass player stealing your frequency? Not anymore. Chop that sucker in half with your formidable clarity.
The flavour of both the original MKIII and the MKIV’s with the tone control set for full treble is kinda like chewing on glass. It’s fun an all but pretty useless. The treble side of the D*A*M MKIII’s tone control is a little more healthy shall we say. You can still get that swarm of killer bees type tone but minus the tinnitus. The bass side of this control has a little more kick also giving four string folk and lower tunings a helping hand. Past 2 O’clock on the rotation you have a little more muscle to play with over a stock MKIV.
The sustain is as you expect. Turn it up and your thang gets longer. One of my main hang ups with sound is clarity. It’s easy to distort the shit out of something and get mad crazy fuzz but there is a boarder line between the two. I guess this is it. I really wanted this pedal to gel with other things so it’s not totally ape shit crazy. It is a high gain fuzz, don’t get me wrong. It basically stops short of that last fraction of a turn on a Buzzarounds sustain control where all the stars in space fall to earth. The D*A*M MKIII will basically stand aside a Pro MKII or say a Triangle Big Muff in the sustain department, its sings it don’t scream.
Though due to the fierce some volume boosting capabilities you still have the means to further push it over the edge it your really wish too.
Professional, what?
No it ain’t anything to do this the Pro MKII. I just liked the little tag above the word “Fuzz Sound” and wanted to just make a nod to how I approached the construction idea of this pedal. So professional as in for professional use should you so desire. As in:
- The controls are all as far from the switch as possible.
The LED is positioned for maximum visibility.
End mounted jacks so all cables trail away from unit giving it a tight packing space even though its large pedal. Gold plated contacts too!
Cream coloured chicken heads again for the best visibility; I know it’s a very petty thing to mention but could be important for someone.
Large screw on rubber feet for much staying put-ness for us non pedal board users and the ability to un-screw em for you pedal board fanciers.
The base plate is sealed shut with a rubber gasket, Ha! I laugh at beer spills. 6 screw fixing too. The sockets and the battery drawer are also elevated with this in mind.
Brass tacks
Let’s have em then. I was gonna do a long bit of blurb justifying the price. I’ve decided against that. It’s priced as such because it is what it is. I never hide my work. You can see exactly what you pay for and the simple fact is if you don’t like it or “get” the price you don’t buy one.
The price for one of these Fuzz Sounds be £350.00 plus delivery costs.
For those pennies you get a pedal build to the highest specification and to the best of my abilities in 2009. I still await my second Alien implant to improve to the next level.
I will always use Mullard transistors in these pedals and that is included in the price. Though they will vary and are selected on the specs needed not because they look cool or have “thee” magic number. They will all be Mullard and the best shit money can buy.
How Many
I will open the list for the Fuzz Sound on the May 1st but…I will only be producing 2 of these a month. I have a hell of a lot of MKII’s to build and I cannot commit to more than this at this time so 2 a month it is.
The first 2 units will be complete at the end of June, gives me a month to prepare, and then 2 each and every month there after.
This doesn’t include the lot going in the store on Monday.
Once I have fulfilled all my orders for the D*A*M MKII’s I may consider upping this monthly figure but this will depend on my other commitments. But right now and for the foreseeable future I am only making two a month…no exceptions. Orders are strictly limited to one unit per customer. You really have no need for a back-up so unless you can convince me other wise one per head is all I will allow.
The stock colour for this pedal will be the electric blue with the black screening with the cream chicken heads. I dig the black ‘n’ gold but the blue really has the vibe I am aiming for on the creation. I'm saving the grey for the new 1966.
In a nutshell, this is a highly custom made pedal and the turnaround and price reflect this.
I’ll start constructing a website page for this soon and add some less random info.
I did some video shit today, could be a load of crap, I still have to check through it. If there is anything of use I'll post this also.
Listing info for Monday coming tomorrow.
I think I earned myself a coffee nah 
Questions?
this is one awesome piece of machinery!!! 
hope i gets my hands on one! 
