Anasounds Feed Me

The Anasounds Feed Me is a fuzz pedal inspired by the Fuzz Face of the late 1960s, built around two BC108 silicon transistors. It was the first fuzz pedal released by Anasounds, a French company that handmakes its pedals in France¹². Anasounds describes the sound as massive, thick and fat, with high frequencies that in some cases sit at the limit of an octave up, letting a player cut through a mix¹.

The circuit is not a straight copy. Anasounds says it is a revised version of the model modded by Roger Mayer for the needs of a famous left-handed guitarist, updated with BC108 silicon transistors for more stability³. In its mk3 form the pedal moved into Anasounds' FX Teacher range, a line built around customization and DIY assembly²⁴.

What the Feed Me does: a Fuzz Face-style fuzz

The Feed Me is a Fuzz Face-style fuzz, meaning it follows the topology of the famous circular 1960s pedal: two transistor gain stages with a feedback network, where the first stage saturates hard and the guitar's volume control cleans the whole thing up. Anasounds' manual explains that the first stage is a common emitter configuration, with the emitter of Q1 connected directly to ground without a resistor, giving huge gain that saturates the signal⁵. The FUZZ control varies the gain of the second stage, producing hard clipping⁵.

The FEED control is the input level of the circuit. Lowering it optimizes the clean-up with the guitar's volume control; raising it brings more saturation and sustain, and at maximum it lets the circuit go into self-oscillation for feedback effects you can then control from the guitar⁵². Anasounds says that used alone with a clean amp and the bass switch off, the Feed Me provides a massive, wide-spectrum fuzz for solo use that will cover all the frequencies usually covered by other musicians².

The Mk3 controls

The Feed Me went through three versions. The mk1 had three pots on the side of the pedal: FEED for input level, FUZZ for gain and OUT for output volume²³. The mk2 dropped external controls entirely for a plug-and-play approach, moving the feed, fuzz, out, bias and treble adjustments to internal trimpots³. The mk3, part of the FX Teacher range, adds customization features²⁴.

The mk3 is delivered assembled and tuned, with a bag of components to mount on the terminal blocks using only a screwdriver, no soldering needed³. It runs on 100% analog processing in a Hammond 1590N1 enclosure with a Lumberg DC jack³.

Inside the circuit: Feed, Crack and the bass capacitor

The CRACK switch is the heart of the pedal's two personalities. With CRACK disabled, the circuit is supplied with 9V, producing a rich, wide-open fuzz, and resistor R4 attenuates the signal to balance the volume difference⁵. With CRACK activated, the circuit is underpowered: with a soft attack the signal does not have enough amplitude to pass through, causing a gate effect with limited sustain and a typical velcro fuzz sound from very asymmetric clipping⁵. Turning SMASH down reduces the supply voltage even more, accentuating the gated effect⁵. Anasounds cites a Jack White-like gated fuzz as one of the sounds the pedal can produce, using the Crack and Smash controls for a velcro texture³.

The BASS switch works through a capacitor. With the switch down, a 220nF capacitor soldered on the PCB lets all the bass pass through, for a massive and modern fuzz⁵³. With the switch up, the terminal block takes over and the capacitor you screw in sets the cut-off frequency⁵. Anasounds gives three reference values:

• 220nF: all the bass passes, massive and modern fuzz³
• 6.8nF (original upper-position value): the typical bass cut of a vintage fuzz³
• 4.7nF: an aggressive and percussive fuzz³

Kits and versions

The Feed Me is available in several forms within the FX Teacher range⁴²⁶:

• Full kit: the complete DIY build, including one Feed Me PCB⁴
• Electronic kit: the electronics; you supply an enclosure kit or blank enclosure, a true bypass kit with 3PDT or relay, a tester and soldering tools⁶
• Enclosure kit: a ready-to-use enclosure with the Anasounds design and all holes drilled, for assembly with 3PDT or relay true bypass⁷
• PCB only: the bare circuit board, "for the most courageous"⁸

The original assembled pedal sold for 119,00 € (as listed, in euros), weighed 0,45 kg and measured 14 × 7 × 5 cm¹. A B-stock version was offered at 99,00 €, down from an original 185,00 €, with the same audio guarantee but some aesthetic defects from manufacturing⁹; it is out of stock. An earlier "origins" version of the pedal also appears in Anasounds' catalog¹⁰.

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