Basic Audio Face

The Basic Audio Face is a germanium Fuzz Face built by Basic Audio. It takes the classic two-transistor germanium fuzz circuit and adds three controls the original never had: a Bias control, a Starve control, and a bass cut at the output. Basic Audio describes it as a germanium Fuzz Face "with control over Bias ans Starve as well as bass cut at the output"¹.

Where the original Fuzz Face gave you two knobs and left the transistors' operating point to chance, the Face puts that in the player's hands. Basic Audio says it "cleans up well with the guitar" and is "a bit rougher and more cuting that typical vintage fuzz face circuits"¹.

A germanium Fuzz Face from Basic Audio

The Fuzz Face circuit Basic Audio builds on goes back to the original Dallas Arbiter pedal. The first Arbiter Fuzz Face model used PNP germanium transistors, the AC128, and the original circuit's germanium transistors are what gave it its warm and smooth fuzz sound²³. Early germanium Fuzz Faces tend to use NKT275 transistors and are biased cold, with the voltage between three and four volts⁴.

Germanium is the side of the Fuzz Face family players choose for its responsiveness. Premier Guitar's reviewer noted that "compared to the dynamic germanium Fuzz Face, silicon versions sometimes come off as brutish," and that germanium is the pick if a dirty-to-clean range and sensitivity to guitar volume attenuation are the priorities⁵. That cleanup with the guitar's volume knob is the behavior Basic Audio points to on the Face as well¹.

The Face sits in a crowded field of modern Fuzz Face interpretations. The Analog Man Sun Face keeps "the standard 1960's germanium circuit with a few tweaks to make it easier to use and sound better"⁶. The Talisman Audio Deluxe Face Blender packs germanium, silicon and hybrid Fuzz Face variants into one box⁷. The Face's own angle is the Bias, Starve and bass cut controls on a straight germanium circuit¹.

The controls

Basic Audio lists three controls beyond the basic Fuzz Face format¹:

On a germanium fuzz, bias is the control that matters most. The original Fuzz Face "is already somewhat self-biasing, but not nearly enough to make a difference and avoid trimming," as one circuit analysis puts it, which is why vintage units vary so much from pedal to pedal⁸. A Bias knob externalizes that trimming. The bass cut addresses a known trait of the circuit: letting lower bass through makes the fuzz more woolly, while reducing bass makes it more focused and sharp, to the point that low input capacitor values can make a Fuzz Face sound almost like an overdrive pedal⁹.

The original Fuzz Face's two knobs, volume and fuzz, sat as the eyeballs of its grinning face enclosure. Modern takes have carried the circuit forward with different control sets: the Coriolis Effects Face Deluxe adds input capacitor switching, and the Acorn Amplifiers F#%k Face keeps Fuzz and Level controls with an added gain stage¹⁰¹¹.

Power and battery

The Face runs on a 9V DC center negative jack and also has a battery snap, which Basic Audio fits to all its pedals¹. Center negative is the standard modern pedal polarity, so it works with ordinary pedalboard supplies. The battery option is worth having on a fuzz: among Fuzz Face players, "many fanatics apparently prefer the sound of a battery-fed fuzz anyway," as MusicRadar noted of the Dunlop reissue¹².

How it differs from a vintage Fuzz Face

Three things separate the Face from a 1960s Arbiter unit. First, the sound: Basic Audio calls it rougher and more cutting than typical vintage Fuzz Face circuits, while still cleaning up well with the guitar¹. Second, the controls: Bias, Starve and the output bass cut replace the original's fixed internal bias and full-range output¹. Third, the parts: the original models use 1/2W carbon film resistors, considered noisy compared to modern metal-film resistors¹³, so a modern build with contemporary parts is quieter at the same circuit.

For players comparing germanium Fuzz Face options, the ThorpyFX Tacit Blue Germanium Fuzz Face and the Dunlop Fuzz Face Mini Germanium, based on '66-'68 era pre-silicon Fuzz Faces, take the same circuit in compact directions¹⁴¹⁵, while the Hudson Electronics Soul Face is a silicon take on the Arbiter design¹⁴¹⁵¹⁶.

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