BSM J-Fuzz

The BSM J-Fuzz Fuzz Machine is a stompbox fuzz pedal from BSM. BSM describes it as "a faithful recreation of the old original Jennings Fuzz from the late 60´s."¹ The pedal was introduced as a new release from the maker, shown alongside the RPA Major as one of "two new pedals from BSM; the RPA Major and the J-Fuzz."²

For a player, the pitch is simple: a Jennings-style fuzz with very high gain and long sustain. BSM's own description of the pedal promises "Gain till the sun rises, violin sustain and really sick tones with the guitar volume turned down."³ With the volume control fully opened, the maker describes the sound as "warm, full and incredibly fat," and notes it is "milder and rounder than other silicone fuzzes, reminiscent of old germanium" fuzzes.⁴

What it does to your sound

The J-Fuzz is built for sustain and fatness rather than aggressive gating or splutter. BSM describes the tone with the volume wide open as warm, full and incredibly fat, and closer to old germanium fuzzes than to harder-edged silicon designs, even though the pedal uses silicon transistors.⁴ The maker also highlights the pedal's response at lower guitar volumes, describing violin sustain and usable tones with the guitar volume turned down.³

On the component side, BSM states the pedal uses:

• NOS transistors from the Japanese company "Micro Electronics," a batch the maker secured and is "using them exclusively for the BSM J-Fuzz"⁵
• polysterol caps among the parts³⁵

Controls and power

The J-Fuzz runs on a 9V battery or an external 9V power supply, with a current consumption of approximately 2mA.⁴ That draw is low enough that the pedal sits easily on any board without stressing a supply.

Two output figures are worth knowing for gain-staging: BSM gives the average output level as -5dBm, and the maximum output voltage as 0.4V, reached when the strings are struck really hard.⁵ Those are modest levels, so the J-Fuzz is unlikely to slam a following pedal's input the way a hot overdrive can.

Where it came from

The circuit behind the J-Fuzz is the Jennings Fuzz. BSM calls the recreation faithful, describing it as "a faithful recreation of the old original Jennings Fuzz from the late 60´s."¹ The maker also credits the pedal's sound to a batch of NOS transistors from the Japanese company Micro Electronics, which BSM says it uses exclusively in the J-Fuzz.¹

Where it sits in a signal chain

BSM is explicit about placement: "the J-Fuzz should be connected in the signal path directly after the guitar."⁴ The maker's reasoning is that the pedal's characteristic tone is best achieved that way, which fits with the volume-knob response described above. Players who use fuzz pedals of this type typically put them ahead of overdrive pedals, distortion pedals, wahs and time-based effects for the same reason.

What reviewers said

The J-Fuzz was introduced as one of "two new pedals from BSM; the RPA Major and the J-Fuzz."²

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