NEWS

The humble fuzz pedal is one of
the oldest varieties of stompbox
and perhaps the most misunderstood.
It may have the ability to turn your
lovely guitar tone into a noise akin to a
biscuit tin full of wasps, but a good
example has the potential to add
warmth and expression as well.
A worthwhile fuzz box is the product of a designer who really knows their way around a wideband opamp and also how the unit should sound and respond.
Thankfully then, we have the likes of Cat's-Eye Electronic Specialty Products; a USA-based company who can draw upon years of experience in the Aerospace electronics industry, as well as an impressive musical resume.
Here then, are two of their variations on the theme of fuzz.

Just like the Chicago Iron pedals
featured elsewhere in this issue, the
Cat's-Eye Mista' Fuzz is based on a
classic stompbox. In this case it's the
legendary Fuzz Face, but the Mista' Fuzz doesn't follow the reproduction route. Designer Dean Solorzano has used the Hendrix-favoured pedal's circuit as a starting point, and then addressed some of its 'shortcomings' while retaining the all-important vibe.
So what can you do to improve a classic? Well you may have heard the tales of how Jimi Hendrix would audition a whole pile of Fuzz Faces until he found one that worked for him. The main reason for this was probably that transistors- in this case a germanium AC128- are like valves in that production methods often produce samples that

have very different characteristics
from each other. Careful selection is
needed to acheive a consistent and
desirable result, as does proper biasing
of the final circuit. Dean has also added features like a high-impedance input, true bypass switching and increased gain.
Of course it doesn't look at all like a Fuzz Face. The Mista' does have a vintage appearance though, with a boutique feel and a simple Hammerite-style finish to the welded sheet steel chassis. It's been kept basic as far as operating the pedal is concerned too, with just volume and tone, single in and output sockets and a foolproof footswitch that has a fetching blue status LED.