Roger Mayer Fuzz Face?

[Dr. Zontar]

Over the weekend, I traded some stuff for what I first thought was a
Roger Mayer Classic Fuzz. It has the familiar rocket-shaped enclosure
and blue paintjob. But when I looked at the bottom, I noticed it says
"Roger Mayer Fuzz Face" on it.

Does anyone know anything about these pedals? Was this one made before
Dunlop bought the rights to the name "Fuzz Face"? Is this a collectors
item?

BTW, It sounds pretty nice - at least as good as any Fuzz Face clone
I've tried. I'm not a big fan of germanium transistors (I like the
more aggressive snarl of silicon), but with the gain maxed, this one
has a decent grind and excellent sustain. The lack of an AC adapter
jack will probably keep it off my pedalboard, but I'll definitely try
recording with it.

- Rich

[LULU]

Post by Dr. Zontar
Over the weekend, I traded some stuff for what I first thought was a
Roger Mayer Classic Fuzz. It has the familiar rocket-shaped enclosure
and blue paintjob. But when I looked at the bottom, I noticed it says
"Roger Mayer Fuzz Face" on it.
Does anyone know anything about these pedals? Was this one made before
Dunlop bought the rights to the name "Fuzz Face"? Is this a collectors
item?
BTW, It sounds pretty nice - at least as good as any Fuzz Face clone
I've tried. I'm not a big fan of germanium transistors (I like the
more aggressive snarl of silicon), but with the gain maxed, this one
has a decent grind and excellent sustain. The lack of an AC adapter
jack will probably keep it off my pedalboard, but I'll definitely try
recording with it.
- Rich

Maybe it's a reissue. The sound of the original Fuzz Faces varied
quite a bit from one production run to the next. Hell . . . they even
varied considerably within any given production run. The reissues are
pretty consistent "sound-wise." The originals were also prone to
picking up stray signals and interference.

Good Luck,
Lulu : )

http://www.roger-mayer.co.uk/classic.htm

[Dr. Zontar]

Maybe it's a reissue.  

That's the weird part. All the Fuzz Face reissues I've seen have been
in the round case, with either the Dallas Artbiter or Dunlop logo on
them. I've seen red, gray, light blue and black. But I've never seen
the words "Fuzz Face" on a spaceship shaped pedal with the Roger Mayer
logo.

http://www.roger-mayer.co.uk/classic.htm

Mine looks almost exactly like that, except the knobs are gray with
black tops, instead of all black. There is a silver label on the
bottom with blue printing on it. It says "Roger Mayer Fuzz Face" (plus
labels for "In", "Out", "Volume" and "Sustain")

- Rich.

[LULU]

Post by Dr. Zontar

Maybe it's a reissue.  

That's the weird part. All the Fuzz Face reissues I've seen have been
in the round case, with either the Dallas Artbiter or Dunlop logo on
them. I've seen red, gray, light blue and black. But I've never seen
the words "Fuzz Face" on a spaceship shaped pedal with the Roger Mayer
logo.

http://www.roger-mayer.co.uk/classic.htm

Mine looks almost exactly like that, except the knobs are gray with
black tops, instead of all black. There is a silver label on the
bottom with blue printing on it. It says "Roger Mayer Fuzz Face" (plus
labels for "In", "Out", "Volume" and "Sustain")
- Rich.

The gray knobs with black tops is a new one on me. I've seen and
played quite a few of the Mayer "rocket ship" pedals over the last 25
years or so, and I've seen several slight, mainly aesthetic
variations. I've never ran across one with that particular type of
knobs. Some of the pedals were small runs, or prototypes, and
sometimes they were the end product of various "rocket ship" pedals
that had been modded, or reassembled, to achieve a certain sound, or
to suit an individual's preferences. With the earlier ones, the sound
is all over the place.

Here's an excerpt from a 2003, Roger Mayer interview -

"You were probably the first to propose the idea that all the
components needed to work together in this particular circuit for it
to sound good.

Well, Jimi would buy half a dozen of these pedals, find one that
sounded great, and then we’d mark it, right? One day it would work and
another day it wouldn’t work so well in a different environment. Jimi
would say, "What’s going on?" and I’d say, "Well, it’s got to be
temperature, Jimi. That’s the only thing that’s changing." So that’s
what got me to look inside the box. We got a good sounding one at a
certain temperature, but as the temperature changed you could see the
biasing completely shift. I started analyzing them a bit more
carefully to find the combinations that work well. You might buy 20
pedals to find a really good one, but then it wasn’t stable at all
temperatures. If you took it out of the trunk of a freezing car in the
winter and brought it into the club, it wouldn’t sound too clever
until it warmed up a bit."

Here's a video clip of all the current Mayer "rocket ship" pedals -

Enjoy,
Lulu : )

[Squier]

Post by LULU

Post by Dr. Zontar
Over the weekend, I traded some stuff for what I first thought was a
Roger Mayer Classic Fuzz. It has the familiar rocket-shaped enclosure
and blue paintjob. But when I looked at the bottom, I noticed it says
"Roger Mayer Fuzz Face" on it.
Does anyone know anything about these pedals? Was this one made before
Dunlop bought the rights to the name "Fuzz Face"? Is this a collectors
item?
BTW, It sounds pretty nice - at least as good as any Fuzz Face clone
I've tried. I'm not a big fan of germanium transistors (I like the
more aggressive snarl of silicon), but with the gain maxed, this one
has a decent grind and excellent sustain. The lack of an AC adapter
jack will probably keep it off my pedalboard, but I'll definitely try
recording with it.
- Rich

Maybe it's a reissue. The sound of the original Fuzz Faces varied
quite a bit from one production run to the next. Hell . . . they even
varied considerably within any given production run. The reissues are
pretty consistent "sound-wise." The originals were also prone to
picking up stray signals and interference.
Good Luck,
Lulu : )

Lulu - there are lots of people that say the originals also tended
to sonically 'stray' after a while. Had something to do with heat (I think)
so if you played the pedal for a while then it would start to sound
different the longer you used it. After an hour it could wind up
fizzing out or 'wandering' into something it didn't sound like when you started.
So it seems that the originals had some sort of germanium drift and
some people say that they would record their playing (if they used a fuzz face)
depending on whenever the fuzz face sounded its best.
Could be on for 15 mins or maybe an hour or more until it reached the
sonic output you wanted. Not sure if all this is really true though.
They also seem
to like old carbon-zinc batteries better than alkaline ones
(or so I'm told)

I have a tone-bender clone (triple germaniums) and it doesn't 'fade or drift'
even when I use it on for a long time. I also have Analogman Sun Face
and it has dual germaniums and it also doesn't seem to drift or fade.
So I am not sure if what I've been told is myth or not about the
old original germanium fuzz face's.

[Jim]

Post by Squier

Post by LULU

Post by Dr. Zontar
Over the weekend, I traded some stuff for what I first thought was a
Roger Mayer Classic Fuzz. It has the familiar rocket-shaped enclosure
and blue paintjob. But when I looked at the bottom, I noticed it says
"Roger Mayer Fuzz Face" on it.
Does anyone know anything about these pedals? Was this one made before
Dunlop bought the rights to the name "Fuzz Face"? Is this a collectors
item?
BTW, It sounds pretty nice - at least as good as any Fuzz Face clone
I've tried. I'm not a big fan of germanium transistors (I like the
more aggressive snarl of silicon), but with the gain maxed, this one
has a decent grind and excellent sustain. The lack of an AC adapter
jack will probably keep it off my pedalboard, but I'll definitely try
recording with it.
- Rich

Maybe it's a reissue. The sound of the original Fuzz Faces varied
quite a bit from one production run to the next. Hell . . . they even
varied considerably within any given production run. The reissues are
pretty consistent "sound-wise." The originals were also prone to
picking up stray signals and interference.
Good Luck,
Lulu : )

Lulu - there are lots of people that say the originals also tended
to sonically 'stray' after a while. Had something to do with heat (I think)
so if you played the pedal for a while then it would start to sound
different the longer you used it. After an hour it could wind up
fizzing out or 'wandering' into something it didn't sound like when you started.
So it seems that the originals had some sort of germanium drift

I've read that bias and gain in germanium transistors drift with heat.

I also seem to remember reading about changes from moisture with age.
Maybe that's why the old Mullards are encased in glass?



and

Post by Squier
some people say that they would record their playing (if they used a fuzz face)
depending on whenever the fuzz face sounded its best.
Could be on for 15 mins or maybe an hour or more until it reached the
sonic output you wanted. Not sure if all this is really true though.
They also seem
to like old carbon-zinc batteries better than alkaline ones
(or so I'm told)
I have a tone-bender clone (triple germaniums) and it doesn't 'fade or drift'
even when I use it on for a long time. I also have Analogman Sun Face
and it has dual germaniums and it also doesn't seem to drift or fade.
So I am not sure if what I've been told is myth or not about the
old original germanium fuzz face's.

[unknown]

Post by Jim

Post by Squier
Lulu - there are lots of people that say the originals also tended
to sonically 'stray' after a while. Had something to do with heat (I think)
so if you played the pedal for a while then it would start to sound
different the longer you used it. After an hour it could wind up
fizzing out or 'wandering' into something it didn't sound like when you started.
So it seems that the originals had some sort of germanium drift

I've read that bias and gain in germanium transistors drift with heat.

True. But not only that, the actual gain measurements will vary from
one transistor to the next, even if they're from the same 'batch'.
Ditto that for leakage characteristics.

Some players refer to it as 'mojo', others know it as '1960s
manufacturing processes'. Either way, it's probably the reason they all
sound different.

I'm not sure how you'd be getting so much heat into the innards of a
fuzzbox short of playing outdoors in hot, bright sunlight though. I
suppose the relative temperature shift from a freezing cold tour van
onto the hot stage of a club would do it, too - in which case you'd be
too distracted by the finish of your guitar checking in front of your
eyes to notice the sonic shift!

Post by Jim
I also seem to remember reading about changes from moisture with age.
Maybe that's why the old Mullards are encased in glass?

Wouldn't they need to be (or are they?) vacuum sealed like a valve to
prevent moisture getting in anyway?

[LULU]

Post by Squier

Post by Dr. Zontar
Over the weekend, I traded some stuff for what I first thought was a
Roger Mayer Classic Fuzz. It has the familiar rocket-shaped enclosure
and blue paintjob. But when I looked at the bottom, I noticed it says
"Roger Mayer Fuzz Face" on it.
Does anyone know anything about these pedals? Was this one made before
Dunlop bought the rights to the name "Fuzz Face"? Is this a collectors
item?
BTW, It sounds pretty nice - at least as good as any Fuzz Face clone
I've tried. I'm not a big fan of germanium transistors (I like the
more aggressive snarl of silicon), but with the gain maxed, this one
has a decent grind and excellent sustain. The lack of an AC adapter
jack will probably keep it off my pedalboard, but I'll definitely try
recording with it.
- Rich

Maybe it's a reissue.  The sound of the original Fuzz Faces varied
quite a bit from one production run to the next.  Hell . . . they even
varied considerably within any given production run.  The reissues are
pretty consistent "sound-wise."  The originals were also prone to
picking up stray signals and interference.
Good Luck,
Lulu : )

Lulu - there are lots of people that say the originals also tended
to sonically 'stray' after a while.  Had something to do with heat (I think)
so if you played the pedal for a while then it would start to sound
different the longer you used it.  After an hour it could wind up
fizzing out or 'wandering' into something it didn't sound like when you started.
So it seems that the originals had some sort of germanium drift and
some people say that they would record their playing (if they used a fuzz face)
depending on whenever the fuzz face sounded its best.
Could be on for 15 mins or maybe an hour or more until it reached the
sonic output you wanted.  Not sure if all this is really true though.
They also seem
to like old carbon-zinc batteries better than alkaline ones
(or so I'm told)
I have a tone-bender clone (triple germaniums) and it doesn't 'fade or drift'
even when I use it on for a long time.  I also have Analogman Sun Face
and it has dual germaniums and it also doesn't seem to drift or fade.
So I am not sure if what I've been told is myth or not about the
old original germanium fuzz face's.- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -

Here's a couple good websites if you're interested in learning about
what makes most fuzz pedals tick. The R.G. Keen site is an overview
of basic fuzz design that was written about 20 years ago. Most of
it's still good stuff. Hey, the technology seems to always be retro
when people are talking about fuzz pedals anyway. The Steve Daniels
article is more recent and explains things like specs, matching and
testing various fuzz components. FAQ #24 is very interesting. The
info presented is a good place to start.

Enjoy,
Lulu : )

The Technology of the Fuzz Face - R.G. Keen
http://www.geofex.com/Article_Folders/fuzzface/fffram.htm

The FAQ For Fuzz Face Fanatics - Steve Daniels
http://www.smallbearelec.com/HowTos/FuzzFaceFAQ/FFFAQ.htm

[Dr. Zontar]

Post by LULU
Hey, the technology seems to always be retro
when people are talking about fuzz pedals anyway.

Yeah. Amazing how many pedals (even $300 boutique jobs) are just
clones of the original Fuzz Face with maybe a small tweak or two.
Oddly, my 2 favorite fuzzes both use silicon transistors and more
modern circuits. The Boss FZ-2 (my favorite pedal of all time) has a
pretty advanced circuit (how many fuzzes have both bass and treble
controls?). And the Zoom UF-01 has a circuit board that looks like it
came out of a PC.

- Rich

[Squier]

Post by LULU

Post by Squier

Post by Dr. Zontar
Over the weekend, I traded some stuff for what I first thought was a
Roger Mayer Classic Fuzz. It has the familiar rocket-shaped enclosure
and blue paintjob. But when I looked at the bottom, I noticed it says
"Roger Mayer Fuzz Face" on it.
Does anyone know anything about these pedals? Was this one made before
Dunlop bought the rights to the name "Fuzz Face"? Is this a collectors
item?
BTW, It sounds pretty nice - at least as good as any Fuzz Face clone
I've tried. I'm not a big fan of germanium transistors (I like the
more aggressive snarl of silicon), but with the gain maxed, this one
has a decent grind and excellent sustain. The lack of an AC adapter
jack will probably keep it off my pedalboard, but I'll definitely try
recording with it.
- Rich

Maybe it's a reissue.  The sound of the original Fuzz Faces varied
quite a bit from one production run to the next.  Hell . . . they even
varied considerably within any given production run.  The reissues are
pretty consistent "sound-wise."  The originals were also prone to
picking up stray signals and interference.
Good Luck,
Lulu : )

Lulu - there are lots of people that say the originals also tended
to sonically 'stray' after a while.  Had something to do with heat (I think)
so if you played the pedal for a while then it would start to sound
different the longer you used it.  After an hour it could wind up
fizzing out or 'wandering' into something it didn't sound like when you started.
So it seems that the originals had some sort of germanium drift and
some people say that they would record their playing (if they used a fuzz face)
depending on whenever the fuzz face sounded its best.
Could be on for 15 mins or maybe an hour or more until it reached the
sonic output you wanted.  Not sure if all this is really true though.
They also seem
to like old carbon-zinc batteries better than alkaline ones
(or so I'm told)
I have a tone-bender clone (triple germaniums) and it doesn't 'fade or drift'
even when I use it on for a long time.  I also have Analogman Sun Face
and it has dual germaniums and it also doesn't seem to drift or fade.
So I am not sure if what I've been told is myth or not about the
old original germanium fuzz face's.- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -

Here's a couple good websites if you're interested in learning about
what makes most fuzz pedals tick. The R.G. Keen site is an overview
of basic fuzz design that was written about 20 years ago. Most of
it's still good stuff. Hey, the technology seems to always be retro
when people are talking about fuzz pedals anyway. The Steve Daniels
article is more recent and explains things like specs, matching and
testing various fuzz components. FAQ #24 is very interesting. The
info presented is a good place to start.
Enjoy,
Lulu : )
The Technology of the Fuzz Face - R.G. Keen
http://www.geofex.com/Article_Folders/fuzzface/fffram.htm
The FAQ For Fuzz Face Fanatics - Steve Daniels
http://www.smallbearelec.com/HowTos/FuzzFaceFAQ/FFFAQ.htm

thanks LULU - will check this out more.

[Jim]

Post by Dr. Zontar
Over the weekend, I traded some stuff for what I first thought was a
Roger Mayer Classic Fuzz. It has the familiar rocket-shaped enclosure
and blue paintjob. But when I looked at the bottom, I noticed it says
"Roger Mayer Fuzz Face" on it.
Does anyone know anything about these pedals? Was this one made before
Dunlop bought the rights to the name "Fuzz Face"? Is this a collectors
item?
BTW, It sounds pretty nice - at least as good as any Fuzz Face clone
I've tried. I'm not a big fan of germanium transistors (I like the
more aggressive snarl of silicon), but with the gain maxed, this one
has a decent grind and excellent sustain. The lack of an AC adapter
jack will probably keep it off my pedalboard, but I'll definitely try
recording with it.
- Rich

Do the pots have date codes?

[Dr. Zontar]

Post by Jim
Do the pots have date codes?

I was going to check last night, but my daughter came over and I got
distracted. I'll check tonight.

- Rich

[Dr. Zontar]

Post by Jim
Do the pots have date codes?

No, but the bottom does say "Made in USA". So maybe it was made before
Mayer went back to England in 1989.

- Rich

[LULU]

Post by Dr. Zontar

Post by Jim
Do the pots have date codes?

No, but the bottom does say "Made in USA". So maybe it was made before
Mayer went back to England in 1989.
- Rich

Is it possibly a "Mongoose" fuzz?
http://www.roger-mayer.co.uk/mongoose.htm

Lulu : )