Fuzz Face

The Fuzz Face is a fuzz pedal built around one of the simplest circuits in the effect world: two transistors, four resistors, three capacitors and two potentiometers¹. It was created in 1966 by Arbiter Electronics in London², and the Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face became one of the first fuzz pedals of the mid and late 1960s²³⁴. Animals Pedal describes it as one of the world's best known fuzz pedals, with a thick, fat fuzz sound and the expressive ability to change to sparkling clean using only the guitar's volume knob⁵.

Its influence runs far beyond the original units. FUZZ FACE is now a trademark of Dunlop Manufacturing, Inc.⁶, which has built the pedal since 1993, and dozens of other makers sell circuits based on it. For a player, the Fuzz Face matters for two reasons: the circuit is simple enough to understand and even build yourself, and its behavior depends heavily on the guitar plugged into it, which is why it rewards being placed first in the chain and played with the volume knob.

Where the Fuzz Face came from: Arbiter and the Tone Bender

The Fuzz Face was created in 1966 by Arbiter Electronics in London². JHS Pedals tells the origin story of the enclosure: a salesman named Ivor Arbiter saw the rising British rock scene demanding the effect of fuzz, and after seeing the circular base of a mic stand, he came up with the idea to put the effect in a similar round enclosure⁸. The result is the pedal's signature look: a face, with two knobs as eyes, a foot switch as the nose and a brand label as the mouth⁸.

The circuit did not appear from nowhere. British Pedal Company's history of the Tone Bender notes that the early British fuzz scene was already established when Arbiter's pedal arrived, and its effects featured a two-transistor circuit⁹. Bernd C. Meiser of BSM compares the two directly: the Arbiter Fuzz Face generated a similar distortion sound to the Tone Bender Mk1.5, but with more bass¹⁰. You can read more about that earlier circuit on the Tone Bender page.

The most famous player association is with Jimi Hendrix. Dunlop's Band of Gypsys reissue documents his 1969 to 1970 red Fuzz Face with white knobs, noting that the pedal itself has been lost to history, but its unmistakably unique sound lives on in recordings¹¹.

How the two-transistor circuit works

The Fuzz Face is an extremely simple circuit: two transistors, four resistors, three capacitors and two potentiometers¹. Premier Guitar's reviewer put it plainly when reviewing a modern mini version: "The Fuzz Face circuit requires only about a dozen simple components."¹²

A technical analysis by William E. Overton, hosted by GuitarPCB, breaks down how the signal is shaped¹:

• The two transistors form the gain structure that drives the signal into clipping, producing the fuzz.
• The capacitors form high-pass filters whose cutoffs, 0.72 Hz at the input and 31.8 Hz at the output, sit far below the guitar's lowest frequency of approximately 82.4 Hz, so their effect on the guitar's fundamental range was deemed negligible¹.
• The volume control is a 500KΩ audio taper potentiometer setting the output level⁷.

That simplicity is the circuit's legacy. Because the whole thing is a handful of parts, it has been copied, modified and studied more than almost any other fuzz, and it remains a standard first build for players getting into fuzz pedals¹.

The controls: Fuzz and Volume

The original layout is two knobs, and most derivatives keep that shape.

Some builders add a third control. GUP Tech's Lab Series #29 Sunface, for example, is a 3-knob design with Fuzz, Volume and a bias-style "sunface" control¹⁴, and Pause&Effects' Filos adds Volume, Fuzz and Tone to shape output gain and overall frequency balance¹⁵.

How you set the Fuzz knob matters as much as what it does. Analog Man's Sun Face manual advises keeping the Fuzz knob up all the way or close to it, and using the volume knob on the guitar or the pedal's CLEAN trimmer to control the fuzz amount³. Animals Pedal gives the same advice for its Fuzz Face based pedal: start the FUZZ control at maximum and adjust the distortion with the guitar's volume knob¹⁶.

Germanium and silicon versions

The Fuzz Face was originally available in two versions using germanium or silicon transistors¹⁷. The timeline:

• 1966 to about 1969: built with germanium transistors, common parts at the time⁸²
• About 1969 onward: silicon versions, with germanium fully giving way to silicon by 1969⁸⁶
• Silicon types used: BC183L, BC183KA, BC130C, BC108C, BC109C, BC209C and BC239C⁷

The two transistor types sound and behave differently. Tru-Fi's history article says the original circuit's germanium transistors contributed to its warm and smooth fuzz sound². Analog Man's Mike Piero describes the silicon versions as fuzzier and brighter than germaniums, with much higher gain, and notes Dallas Arbiter used BC108 and BC109 types⁶. On the practical side, the production switch to silicon happened because those transistors are modern, temperature independent, cheaper and stable⁷. Germanium's behavior shifts with temperature, which is one reason players who want that sound often look for a builder who measures and matches transistors.

The 1980s reissue story shows how the choice played out in practice. Dave Fox, quoted in Analog Man's fuzz history, chose the NPN silicon version for the reissue: "I figured I had to go with the NPN version because customers would probably be disappointed with the wimpy tone of the P"¹⁸.

Several modern builders offer both flavors in one box rather than making you choose¹⁹²⁰²¹:

Enclosures, knobs and dating the originals

The round face enclosure is inseparable from the pedal's identity, and it came from a mic stand base, as JHS recounts⁸. Dunlop's Jimi Hendrix Fuzz Face Distortion reissue is housed in what the maker calls a 100% accurate groovy circular chassis with tooled clones of the original knobs in turquoise hammertone finish²⁴, and the Band of Gypsys model reproduces Hendrix's red 1969 to 1970 unit with white knobs¹¹.

For dating originals, the transistor type is the main marker: germanium units are the earlier 1960s production, and silicon units, with types like the BC108C and BC109C, are the later production from about 1969⁷⁸⁶²⁵. The finish also dates units, with the red Hendrix-era pedal being the best documented example¹¹.

Why placement and guitar volume matter

The Fuzz Face is one of the pedals whose sound depends on what is plugged into it. Neural DSP, when adding a Fuzz Face based algorithm to the Quad Cortex, explained the problem it had to solve: "Pedals with low input impedance, like the Fuzz Face™, have a strong interaction with the guitar's pickups and volume con"²⁶. That interaction is the whole point for many players, but it also means anything placed before the pedal changes it. Neural DSP's Facial Fuzz algorithm was built specifically to address the interrupted interaction between digital pickup models and low input impedance fuzz pedals²⁶. On the hardware side, Behringer describes its 69 VIBE as working first in the chain going into a fuzz²⁷, the same placement logic: modulation after the fuzz, fuzz right after the guitar.

The other half of the equation is the guitar's volume knob. JHS calls cleanup one of the most revered characteristics of a good Fuzz Face: "One of the most revered characteristics of a good Fuzz Face* is its ability to clean up when the guitar's volume is roll"⁸. Animals Pedal echoes this, describing the pedal's expressive ability to move from thick fuzz to sparkling clean using only the guitar's volume⁵.

Analog Man builds this behavior into the Sun Face with an internal CLEAN trim pot. The maker describes it as acting like turning down the volume knob on your guitar to clean up the fuzz, adding that it can kill radio frequency interference and helps the pedal work after a vintage style wah pedal⁶. The Sun Face is otherwise the standard 1960s germanium circuit with a few tweaks to make it easier to use and sound better, per its manual²⁵.

Pedals based on the Fuzz Face

Dunlop took over Fuzz Face production in 1993 and today manufactures a number of different finishes and sizes using various transistor flavors⁷. Beyond Dunlop, the circuit is the base for a long list of pedals from other makers:

• Analog Man Sun Face: the standard 1960s germanium circuit with tweaks, plus the CLEAN trimmer and options like the $25 SUN DIAL⁶²⁵
• Hudson Electronics Soul Face: a vintage style silicon fuzz based on the classic Arbiter Fuzz Face²⁸
• JHS Smiley: a Fuzz Face style pedal noted for its volume knob cleanup⁸
• Fredric Effects DuoFace: both silicon and germanium versions in one pedal²⁰
• Tru-Fi Two Face Fuzz: a reinterpretation of the classic Fuzz Face style pedal with germanium and silicon circuits¹⁹
• Animals Pedal ANGEL BEAR FACE FUZZ: a silicon transistor Fuzz Face based fuzz developed with Skreddy Pedals¹⁶
• Emanating Fist Electronics Black Dust: built from modifications made to the Fuzz Face circuit circa 2004 to arrive at the Meathead²⁹

DIY builds and modified circuits

The Fuzz Face is a standard project for pedal builders because the parts count is so low. GuitarPCB sells the G.B.O.F., a build document described as designed to teach how a Fuzz Face works³⁰, and its P.U.F.F. (Pump'd Up Fuzz Face) is billed as "The Classic Fuzz Face with Modern Enhancements"³¹. Its NostalgiTone 60s Fuzz is reminiscent of the legendary vintage Fuzz Face³². Madbean's Woodshed is based on the Arbiter Fuzz Face³³, and PedalPCB's SiliSmile Fuzz invites comparison to the Arbiter Fuzz Face silicon version³⁴.

Modified circuits are just as common as straight clones. Emanating Fist's Black Dust comes from changes made to the circuit in 2004 while maintaining the classic design²⁹, and VFE's Fuzz Duo modifies the front end with switchable germanium and silicon transistors²².

Pedals on this page

Dallas-Arbiter Fuzz Face (pedal)

Dallas-Arbiter · Fuzz

Dunlop Fuzz Face

Dunlop · Distortion

$149 list price

Sola Sound Tone Bender MKI

Sola Sound · Fuzz

Pause&Effects Filos

Pause&Effects · Fuzz

Analog Man Sun Face

Analog Man · Fuzz

$25 list price

Dunlop Jimi Hendrix Fuzz Face

Dunlop · Distortion

$179.99 list price

Hudson Electronics Soul Face

Hudson Electronics · Fuzz

JHS Smiley

JHS Pedals · Fuzz

$89.5 list price

Emanating Fist Electronics Black Dust

Emanating Fist Electronics · Fuzz

Animals Pedal ANGEL BEAR FACE FUZZ

Animals · Fuzz

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