Burns Baldwin Buzzaround

The Burns Baldwin Buzzaround is a British fuzz pedal built by hand on tag board from 1966 to 1968 in England by Baldwin-Burns Ltd.¹ It is a three-transistor germanium fuzz in the Tone Bender family, and it is renowned for a gritty, aggressive tone that Delicious Audio describes as "not too dissimilar from the Tone Bender (but heavier-sounding)"². Only a small number were ever made, which has made the original one of the most sought-after vintage fuzz pedals, and most players today encounter it through reissues and clones.

A vintage fuzz built on the Tone Bender

The Buzzaround was designed in 1966 for the Baldwin-Burns Company, and British Pedal Company's history says it was very different from its competitors⁶. Its roots run through the Tone Bender line: the early Sola Sound Tone Bender MKI was itself a three-transistor fuzz circuit based on Gibson's 1962 Maestro Fuzz-Tone, and the Buzzaround's circuit is extremely close to the three-knob Tone Bender circuit¹⁰.

The question of who actually designed it has two answers. The long-standing attribution is to Gary Hurst, the Tone Bender designer, and British Pedal Company's history still credits him⁶. But BLAMMO! Electronics, whose pedal is built from the original circuit, states that conventional wisdom had it wrong:

BLAMMO! Electronics¹

The circuit it copies is the Harmonic Generator by Gerry Pope of G.P. Electronics, a discovery dated to 2021 by the fuzz history site fuzzboxes.org, and Guitar Pedal X likewise reports that "Baldwin Burns then somewhat copied the circuit for their own Buzzaround Fuzz"¹¹⁹. Eddie Cross designed the pedal's front panel⁷.

Production was brief. British Pedal Company says only a handful of units were produced between 1966 and 1968, making them almost mythical to some collectors⁵. Delicious Audio gives a figure of about 100 original units, which explains the exorbitant prices originals command⁸. Surviving examples carry serial numbers spanning 6134 to 7993⁷. The pedal appeared by name in a Burns price list dated April 1966, and the November 1966 issue of Beat Instrumental reported it redesigned with a "special sustain effect"⁷. A single "Baldwin" fuzz box found in the United States, believed to be a prototype for an American version, runs from a lower supply voltage but follows the British schematic⁷.

The controls and circuit

The Buzzaround kept the Tone Bender's three-transistor, all-germanium approach but changed the details. It was constructed on tag board and used a new configuration of transistors, with Hurst deploying NKT213 units, which British Pedal Company credits with rich, smooth sustain⁶. The controls were updated from the Tone Bender to give the user a larger sonic scope than its predecessors⁶.

The pedal was housed in a wedge-shaped casing with a sliding tray, similar to the Dallas Rangemaster⁶. That bulky wedge is distinctive enough that modern replicas have kept it⁸.

The circuit's influence ran forward as well as backward. TONEHOME's analysis of the vintage units finds that the Sola Sound Tone Bender MKIII is basically the Buzzaround circuit with the addition of a tone control, and fuzzboxes.org concludes the MKIII circuit was very likely based on the earlier Buzzaround design⁴⁷.

Robert Fripp and the Buzzaround

The player most associated with the Buzzaround is Robert Fripp. Fuzzboxes.org records that Fripp confirms it was the Buzzaround he used on the earlier Giles, Giles and Fripp recordings, and tru-fi notes he used it in the early days of King Crimson⁷¹³. In a 1974 Guitar Player interview quoted by British Pedal Company, Fripp was direct about his preference:

Robert Fripp, Guitar Player, 1974⁶

In the same interview Fripp described his stage setup at the time: three pedals on a pedalboard, a volume pedal, fuzz-tone and wah-wah⁶. One myth gets corrected along the way: Fripp refutes the claim that the Buzzaround was used for his guitar parts on David Bowie's "Heroes"⁷. Other groups photographed using the Buzzaround include the Troggs and the Soft Machine⁷.

Reissues and clones

Because originals are scarce, the Buzzaround lives on mainly through modern versions. The original was discontinued in England around 1968, about six years before a 1974 account noted it had gone out of production⁶.

The JMI reissue was commissioned by British JMI Amplification and built to provide "look, sound and tone almost identical to the original unit"⁴. The BLAMMO! version stays true to the original by using NOS transistors and keeping all the component values the same, while the added master volume improves usability¹. Delicious Audio's 2023 guide to Buzzaround clones and evolutions lists ten modern pedals inspired by the circuit¹².

What it sounds like

Descriptions of the Buzzaround's character come from makers and press rather than the site's own ears. Tru-fi calls it renowned for its gritty, aggressive tone³. Delicious Audio's buying guide is more specific:

Delicious Audio²¹⁵³

The same guide notes it cuts through the mids better than others like the Big Muff, which is part of why the design keeps inspiring boutique builders⁸.

Videos

Click to load

Click to load

Click to load

Questions