Gibson relaunches Maestro with Original Collection pedals

July 7, 2022 · 4 sources

Gibson announced on January 18, 2022 that it had revived Maestro, the name under which it released the Fuzz-Tone FZ-1 pedal in 1962, with a five-pedal line called the Original Collection¹². The collection comprises the Fuzz-Tone FZ-M, Invader Distortion, Ranger Overdrive, Comet Chorus and Discoverer Delay¹³².

All five pedals share a wedge-shaped, angled enclosure that Guitar.com described as a nod to the sloped original Fuzz-Tone, with the angle made less severe and the controls placed on the pedals' faces rather than the top¹. Gearnews reported top-mounted jacks and said the pedals run from either a 9V battery or a regulated 9V DC power supply². All are true bypass¹². Status LEDs use acrylic inserts that illuminate the red, yellow and blue trumpets of the original Maestro logo¹. Performer Mag, reviewing the line in July 2022, described a common layout of three knobs, a toggle switch for a secondary mode and a true bypass footswitch, with the three colored "horns" lighting when the effect is engaged⁴.

The Fuzz-Tone FZ-M is an update on the FZ-1, with a central toggle choosing between a Classic mode inspired by the original and a thicker Modern mode, and controls for attack, tone and level¹². The Ranger Overdrive is a dual-mode overdrive voiced after a vintage tube amplifier, with gain, level and tone controls; its second mode blends in clean signal¹². The Invader Distortion is a modern-voiced, high-gain pedal with gain, tone and level controls and an onboard noise gate engaged by a toggle, with an internal trim-pot for the gate threshold¹². The Comet Chorus is an analog bucket-brigade chorus with Earth and Orbit modes, the latter adding amplitude modulation adjustable with an internal trimpot, plus wet/dry mix, depth and speed controls¹². The Discoverer Delay is an all-analog bucket-brigade delay with delay times from 20ms to 600ms, sustain for feedback, a mix control and a modulation toggle adjusted with two internal trimpots¹².

Prices were given as $149 for all but the Discoverer Delay, at $159¹². Premier Guitar listed the Ranger Overdrive at $135.00 alongside $149.00 for the Fuzz-Tone, Invader and Comet Chorus and $159.00 for the Discoverer Delay³. Maestro is available worldwide at authorized Gibson dealers³.