Mojo Hand FX

The story: from Tone Factor in Louisiana to Michigan

Mojo Hand FX's origins begin in 2004 as the pedal custom shop of Tone Factor in Evans, Louisiana¹. Brad Fee evolved the custom shop into Mojo Hand FX around 2008, and operations then moved to Texas, where the company continued to grow and create a variety of well-loved pedals focused on improvements of classic pedals¹. In 2015, Brad sold Mojo Hand to Cusack Music, and the company is now based in Holland, Michigan¹.

The name comes from an old timey good luck wish and from the Lightnin' Hopkins lyric "I'm going to Louisiana to get me a Mojo Hand," from his song "Goin' to Louisiana"¹. The Louisiana reference points back to the company's roots in Evans, Louisiana.

The logo and the move to Michigan

To represent the 2015 transition to Cusack Music, the Mojo Hand "palm" logo flipped to a right hand palm, which the maker says affectionately resembles the shape of Michigan¹. That is why the logo looks like a map of the state the company now calls home.

Known for reworked classic circuits

Mojo Hand FX's product focus is improvements of classic pedals to better suit the evolving stage of the electric guitarist¹. Several current products show that approach:

The Mr O is a good example of the house style. It was created to reproduce the sound of the original phase shifter pedal, released in the early 1970s intending to replicate the sound of a Leslie rotary speaker, and it stays true to the original's six phase stages while adding a switchable four-stage mode, all in a smaller, pedalboard-friendly footprint³⁷. Like all Mojo Hand FX products, pedals are housed in a sturdy, die-cast aluminum enclosure with professional powder coating and printing⁶.

The line also reaches beyond guitar: the Stylus adds vinyl and tape style warmth, warble, and anomalies to any instrument, and was conceived by and developed with Detroit area keyboardist Galen Bundy⁸⁹. The SMPLoFi is a lofi bit reduction pedal that pays homage to the S-SMP audio system of the Super Nintendo¹⁰.

The Mister-O and the dispute with Gibson

The Mister-O phase shifter was first launched in March 2021. In August 2021, Gibson sent Mojo Hand FX a cease and desist letter regarding the branding and marketing of the pedal, with Gibson's intellectual property counsel demanding the company stop using the MAESTRO mark and the Mister-O mark¹¹. The issue was a mention of the Gibson trademark Maestro, in reference to the pedal's tonal inspiration, in the marketing of the product¹¹.

Mojo Hand FX responded with an apology:

The pedal now appears as the Mr O, and the maker states plainly that "The Mr O and MojoHandFX is in NO way sponsored, endorsed, or affiliated with Gibson or Maestro"⁷.

The people behind Mojo Hand FX

Brad Fee founded the company and ran it until the 2015 sale to Cusack Music¹. On the product side, the Stylus was conceived by and developed with Detroit area keyboardist Galen Bundy⁸, and the Kensrue Rook is Dustin Kensrue's signature overdrive¹². The GRRRocker overdrive was made with the Girls Rock organization, with proceeds going to Girls Rock! Grand Rapids¹³.

Discontinued and B stock pedals

The maker marks the Wonder Filter envelope filter and the Rounder fuzz as discontinued²¹⁴, and the 1978 fuzz is described as now discontinued⁶. B stock versions of several pedals, including the Mr O, RVT, Sacred Cow and DMBL, have been sold at a discount; the Mr O B stock batch had graphic printing errors on the face, such as overspray, halos and lines, with no major defects⁷.

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