Great Eastern FX launches Silicon version of Focus Fuzz

July 1, 2023 · 3 sources

Great Eastern FX launched the Focus Fuzz Silicon in July 2023, an all-silicon version of its limited edition Fuzz Pedals circuit¹. The original Focus Fuzz arrived in March 2023 and was limited to 250 units, which sold out¹². MusicRadar reported the launch on July 25, 2023¹; Delicious Audio dates the unveiling to July 2023 and describes the Silicon version as "remarkably similar in tone to its older sibling"³.

The original combined a pair of silicon transistors with a super-rare NOS germanium transistor, which is why the run was limited¹. The Silicon version uses three low-gain silicon transistors in what MusicRadar describes as an all-original circuit design¹. It keeps the three-knob layout of Fuzz, Level and Focus, with top-mounted jacks and an anodized aluminum faceplate¹. According to MusicRadar, the Focus control adds gain while gradually taking some low frequencies, the Fuzz control adjusts bias and gain together, and Level has enough output to push an amp into overdrive¹. A review lists the power requirement as a 9V DC pedalboard supply².

MusicRadar reported the pedal as handmade in the UK and out now, priced at $239¹. Delicious Audio attributes the Silicon version to the availability of germanium transistors³; MusicRadar ties the original's 250-unit limit to its NOS germanium transistor and says the new pedal is more affordable¹.

Company owner and engineer David Greeves described the difference between the two voicings:

MusicRadar's review called the pedal "thick and spiky on a humbucker, anarchic on a single-coil," said it can act as a boost with Focus and Fuzz turned fully counterclockwise and the level raised, and noted that "some fuzz extremists might want a more chaotic voicing"².