Benson Amps Germanium Fuzz

The Benson Amps Germanium Fuzz is an analog fuzz pedal built around two germanium transistors, announced in February 2021 with a list price of $299¹. What sets it apart from vintage-style germanium fuzzes is a temperature-regulation circuit, patent applied for, that heats and biases the transistors so the pedal sounds the same regardless of the weather or the stage¹².

The circuit has been tuned to cover a wide range: Delicious Audio describes it as usable as "a rich sounding clean boost, an overdrive, all the way up to an aggressive fuzz with some octave overtones"³. MusicRadar's Rob Laing made the same point at launch: "It's not a gnarly gain station; It can be used as a premium clean boost, overdrive and aggressive fuzz" depending on the impedance and gain settings⁴.

Clean boost, overdrive and fuzz in one pedal

The Germanium Fuzz is not only a fuzz. Because the Gain and Impedance controls are highly interactive, the pedal sweeps from a clean boost through overdrive into full fuzz. Pedal of the Day noted that "the fuzz tone is not spitty or harsh, and more often sounds like an overdrive or distortion until the gain is turned all the way up"⁷.

A Class A buffer sits at the very input of the pedal, feeding a passive guitar pickup simulator⁷⁸. Guitar.com's reviewer, Michael Watts, highlighted this in his 2021 review: the buffer means the pedal behaves consistently wherever it sits on your board, rather than reacting unpredictably to what comes before it, which is the classic problem with vintage germanium fuzzes⁹.

The controls are simple:

Germanium transistors and the thermal bias circuit

The pedal is designed around two germanium transistors, 2N527 or 2N404 types, set up in what RockBoard's product page calls "the ubiquitous 60's circular fuzz topology"⁵. Benson grades the transistors for gain and leakage and matches them so they sound their best⁵. Premier Guitar's press release noted at launch that "the correct germanium transistors are difficult to source," which is part of why matched, stable germanium fuzzes are rare².

The innovation is the heater. When the LED is orange, the transistors are warming up to increase their hFE (transistor gain) and shift the bias point to the correct voltage; when the LED is green, the correct bias and gain are set and the warmer is off, toggling back and forth as needed while the pedal runs³⁷. Gearnews described this as "patent-applied-for tech" that could make a real difference for players seeking vintage germanium fuzz tone without the usual inconsistency¹.

On That Pedal Show, Chris Benson explained the practical side: "it takes three three or four minutes for it to fully heat up depending on the ambient temperature," and "when heater's on it's Amber and when it's off it's green"¹⁰. Delicious Audio and MusicRadar both put the average wait at 2 to 3 minutes after plugging in before the pedal sounds correct³⁴.

The thermal-bias idea came first in this pedal, and Premier Guitar reported that "the Germanium Fuzz is just the first in line," with more applications planned². An error-correction circuit tried during the Fuzz's development did not work for the fuzz itself, but it became the basis of the companion one-knob Benson Germanium Boost, a clean boost pedal that also plays well in front of Fuzz Face style fuzzes¹¹.

Colors and related pedals

The Germanium Fuzz shipped in two finishes, Studio Black and Solar White⁶. It sits in a small family of Benson germanium gain pedals:

What reviewers said

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In the JHS video, Josh runs the pedal with Chris Benson of Benson Amps on hand, walking through the thermal bias behavior and where the circuit sits between a Fuzz Face and a Tone Bender Mark 1.5¹².

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On That Pedal Show, Chris Benson talked through the heater circuit, the warm-up time, and the LED colors, along with the wider Benson pedal lineup¹⁰.

Videos

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Questions