D*A*M Forum

Hey peoples, as an extremely happy owner of an FS-77 version of the Fuzz Sound I just wanted to throw it out there to see if anyone else had any similar feelings and wanted to obsess about it along with me. If you one of the lucky few who's potentially had the chance to compare it with the earlier Fuzz Sound versions feel free to chime in as I'd imagine it be an interesting comparison. Also I've mentioned it in a few other comments (because naturally someone making this topic is gonna be the kind of person who wont shut up about it ) but in case the transistors vary between batches for reference mine's one of the ones with 2 green jacket OC82Ds and one blue jacket OC45.

For me what separates the FS-77 out from most of the other fuzz pedals I've had come my way has to be the interaction between the balance and tone knobs and the way it seems to allow both the sonic shape I'm hearing and the dynamics I'm feeling be changed dramatically. As someone who uses a Les Paul the openness and space which the balance knob in particular seems to create is an absolute treasure that is invaluable. Normally I'm constantly on the edge of over-compressing my sound into a farting mess, whereas a turn of the balance seems to free up that space and give me an entirely new bunch of settings on almost all the other knobs which I can then enjoy. That it does this and has all the range and interplay with the sustain and level knobs that you'd expect from a kick-ass fuzz, not to mention the resonance and harmonics this thing can bring, is the cherry on top of my sundae after that balance knob. Oh and I almost forgot about how great it can keep it's definition when thrown chords.

Anyway enough prattling of my prattling I just thought that this hadn't been said and needed saying because it's a pedal that's up there with my Steve Williams/Sola Sound MK1 and my Pigdog Fuzzbound as my favorites and it does so in a completely different way than either of them.

Cheers

Definitely need to try one now

Sooo... I finally got my act together and took some photos. Also I couldn't stop grinning when I saw the quote in mine because the Hitchhikers Guide is one of my absolute favorite books

I had both for a time and wrote a little about them here..

https://www.stompboxes.co.uk/forum/view ... nd#p307524

Damn that must've been amazing

Do you still have either of them?

Space_Case wrote: ↑Fri Sep 25, 2020 11:41 am Damn that must've been amazing

Do you still have either of them?

Yeah, I still have the 77.

pothole wrote: ↑Fri Sep 25, 2020 2:56 pm

Space_Case wrote: ↑Fri Sep 25, 2020 11:41 am Damn that must've been amazing

Do you still have either of them?

Yeah, I still have the 77.

Whew I was worried you might be missing that in your life and wouldn't want to wish that on anyone

Also what transistors is yours rocking and do you tend to use yours by itself or use other pedals with it?

For example I find it gets along well with my wah (which I like to use before my fuzz) and also occasionally use the pre-amp of my ultra vibe 2 to give it a bit of a twist. When I'm feeling like really mixing it up I'll chuck a diamond comp after it with the comp at just above noon, the tilt eq to 9, and vol to taste depending on the vol setting on my ac30. Also been meaning to do another test of the battery vs power supply because from memory I've never noticed any big change using the power supply like you'd normally see with a vintage style fuzz and I'd definitely give kudos to The Captain for that. Also plan to mess around with running a treble booster after it to see how they get along together. I often find that I get so engrossed in playing each fuzz by itself that I often forget to try pairing them other effects

On top of that I've found one of the gifts of the balance knob has been it's ability to seemingly cancel out or rather allow you to pleasingly adjust the pedal to any temp changes while also delivering a wide range of tone shaping capabilities (it seems to be really effective in the mids and low end). As someone living in Melbourne I can tell you dealing with temp change in fuzz is a quite a big deal. Not only do we get a pretty wide swing in temp throughout the year, we will often get days where it'll go from 40c to the mid 20's within the space of an hour. It's so common they named it 'the cool change" as if that's a thing which normally happens anywhere else

Ha! Yeah, I was digging it big time with the setup I was using. I'm not using it as much at the moment, being going down the Jerm Ratscreamer hole and now paired up with the Buzzotron, which is a pretty ridiculous combination, but the FS-77 is waiting in the wings for sure. It's a cleaner type of fuzz with so much control, like a swiss army knife of fuzz. And it plays nice with pretty much everything...boosters, overdrives, other fuzz, etc. Great fuzz box.

Hi Space Case, I recently acquired FS-77 #42, and agree with your observations regarding this fine device. It’s definitely a keeper, and one of the most versatile fuzz pedals in my arsenal. I play mostly through a CS Nocaster and CS ‘55 Strat, and the ‘77 sounds amazing with single-coils as well. Like yours, #42 also boasts a Douglas Adams quote!

Almost forgot the top shot of #42: