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
able to offer 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 sort of close
to the oldest 2 knob TONE BENDER pedals (MK-I and MK-II).
All Peppermint fuzz pedals have always been hand made in the USA.
Dark Peppermint Fuzz
The DARK Peppermint fuzz is similar but uses some darker sounding transistors. They are
the same transistor model but a different brand. The basic sound is similar but not quite as bright.
There is more difference with the extreme sounds, the DARK version is not as sitar like,
it is fatter and can get a sort of trumpet sound when backing off the volume control.
We are about out of the Dark Peppermint transistors in early 2013 and I can't seem to
find more. We ran out in late January, 2013.
The Dark Peppermint fuzz has a light flourescent BLUE coating over the pedal. It glows
slightly under flourescent lights. Pricing and options are the same.
Features
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.
Samples
Here is a sample of playing a Strat into the Peppermint and Dark Peppermint through
a clean Fender Twin Reverb.
Pedals and Effects fuzz demo, Peppermint at 10:00 mark.
Rabea Massaad Peppermint Fuzz Demo
Here is a quick and dirty sample of the
sitar sound. This is an extreme setting, with the fuzz and buzz
knobs up about all the way and the guitar backed down.
Here is a sample of this old style pedal used to make MODERN MUSIC.
It's Alf T. Hana of
athana in Norway.
It's his singlecoil guitar.
The Peppermint Fuzz is used with a Boss DD3 delay, into a 1970 Marshall 20w amp with silverback
speaker, recorded with an SM57 mic through a Neve preamp.
The first part is the neck pickup, then the bridge.
NuPeppermintTune.mp3
Al Schnier from moe. got an early one and wrote me:
I love the peppermint fuzz. it is one of the most versatile fuzz
pedals I've come across. It does everything from a subtle overdrive
to full on buzzsaw meltdown. LOVE IT.
Adrian Belew, one of the kings of fuzz, wrote:
just a thank you note for the pedals.
I'm in love with the peppermint fuzz
which has become a permanent part of my guitar rig.
I wrote a new piece of music and gave the peppermint fuzz
a prominent place in it.
Gary Clark Jr.'s guitarist ZAPATA! got a Peppermint fuzz just before their tour
of Australia and New Zealand in early 2013. He wrote "The Peppermint Fuzz is Epic!!!".
Ordering
For easy ordering, check out our new website
buyanalogman.com .
The new website uses a shopping cart for everything so it's very easy
to buy multiple items or add in options. It allows using paypal in addition
to several other payment methods including credit cards. It also
keeps track of status, tracking numbers, etc and allow editing
orders after they are placed so it's best to use our new website.
Our peppermint fuzz is both REAL COOL and WAY-OUT!
Our peppermint fuzz is both REAL COOL and WAY-OUT!
