Analog Man Peppermint fuzz w On/Off Fuzz Pot

There were some nasty, buzzy fuzz pedals made in the mid 1960s. Some best examples are the Mosrite Fuzzrite, Maestro Fuzz Tone, Jordan Bosstone, Kay fuzz, etc. We found some super high gain germanium transistors in late 2006 that could be tuned to get those sounds so we are finally able to offer a few hundred of these pedals, which we named the PEPPERMINT FUZZ in tribute to the song INCENSE AND PEPPERMINTS which features this very sound.

It can also be used for some later punk rock sounds like the Stooges, etc. It can also do a decent late 60s Fuzzface sound if dialed in properly, and can get very close to the oldest 2 knob TONE BENDER pedals (MK-I and MK-II).

The PEPPERMINT FUZZ is similar to a fuzzface in architecture but has specific tweeks to make it more flexible and sound much crazier.

• True bypass on / off switch, no loss of tone when off.
• Battery disconnected when INPUT cord removed (input is on the right).
• No Power jack or LED as these are detrimental to the ultimate fuzz in sound and battery life (you will know when this pedal is on!!!!).
• Positive ground power. If you share a power supply with a normal pedal (negative ground), you will destroy the power supply. This means you can't use a daisy chain or a power supply with only one output. The PedalPower2 has all isolated outputs so that one would be safe.
• Battery should be a cheap non-alkaline general purpose battery, as found in dollar stores. These sound better than an alkaline in this pedal, and even a cheap battery will last years since there is no LED.
• For best sound, this effect should not have any buffers or non-true bypass effects between it and the guitar. But you can try other pedals before it for various effects.
• Volume Knob (on the left) needs no explanation. Should be able to get nice and loud to kick up your amp.
• Fuzz knob (on the right): Best to keep it up almost all the way up for craziest sounds. Turn it down for more normal fuzzface tones.
• BUZZ knob: the knob in the center of the pedal. This allows controlling the sound of the fuzz from weak to hard edged fuzz. You can turn it down to get a warmer looser fuzz sound which can sometimes be useful. Turning it up gets louder and harder, good for Neil Young sounds. You may find you need to turn it down a bit (CCW) at higher temperatures, and up (CW) at lower temperatures. For standard fuzzface tones turn the BUZZ knob down a bit along with the FUZZ knob.
• DOES NOT really clean up when you back down your guitar like our Sunface fuzz. But turning the guitar down some makes it cut better by removing some sustain and low end, makes it a little more jangly if that makes any sense. For example I will play some chords with the volume up high, then back it off a bit for some lead licks.
• There is a trimpot inside the pedal that allows it to work at various temperatures, and for different sounds. It is a blue square thing with a white center with a screwdriver slot. Use a tiny screwdriver to gently turn the white center part. Set it by plugging a guitar straight into the pedal, and turning fuzz and vol knobs up all the way. Then set the BUZZ knob depending on what sounds you want. For normal fuzz sounds, turn the BUZZ knob all the way down. For more buzzy, gated sounds, like a Sitar, turn the BUZZ knob to about 12:00. Turn the trimpot fully CCW (counter clockwise) and the sound should stop (gated). Then without playing the guitar, turn the trimpot clockwise to find the spot where the ambient noise from the guitar starts to come through. This setting changes depending on temperature and buzz knob setting. Try various trimpot settings to get different sounds.
• For Sitar like sounds, turn the fuzz knob up all the way then back the guitar down until the sustain dies (usually a few numbers on a standard strat type guitar). BUZZ knob setting will depend on trimpot setting.
• Optional ON/OFF fuzz pot: turning the FUZZ knob all the way down will click and disconnect the battery. This is useful if you run in a tight pedalboard where there is no room to pull out the input cable to disconnect the battery when you are done playing.