Danelectro releases Nichols 66 fuzz pedal based on Steve Ridinger's 1966 design

February 7, 2024 · 2 sources

Danelectro has unveiled the Nichols 66, a fuzz pedal based on the first effects pedal Steve Ridinger designed, in 1966, when he called it the Liverpool Fuzz Tone¹. The pedal is priced $199 and was available at retailers such as Sweetwater for pre-order¹.

Ridinger, the founder of Foxx Pedals and the owner of Danelectro, was 14 and living with his parents when he designed the original, hand-wiring each pedal and selling them to kids at his school; a year later he had a company make them for him and sold hundreds¹. The Nichols 66 is named after the Nichols Canyon residence where he grew up¹. The original circuit used a trio of transistors¹. Gearnews describes the circuit as a modern recreation of the three-transistor design and says the original was built from the components Ridinger could get as a teenager, giving it a voice of its own rather than a take on another classic fuzz².

The control setup has been modernised with Fuzz, Drive, Tone and Volume knobs plus a Stock/Mid Cut toggle switch¹². MusicRadar writes that, depending on where the interactive Fuzz and Drive knobs are set, the pedal can cover distortion and fuzz detail, and that it straddles fuzz and distortion¹². As with Danelectro's current pedal lineup, such as the 3699 fuzz/octaver and the Breakdown distortion pedal, the jacks are mounted on top of the unit¹.

The two outlets give different prices: MusicRadar lists $199¹, while Gearnews lists $136.00 alongside prices in pounds and euros and says the pedal could be preordered at Thomann². Gearnews's reviewer, who says he has never seen or heard Ridinger's original pedals from the late '60s and so cannot compare the new one to them, called the demo videos he heard "pretty good"².