Dunlop Authentic Hendrix '68 Shrine Series Band of Gypsys Fuzz

The Authentic Hendrix '68 Shrine Series Band of Gypsys Fuzz is a mini fuzz pedal from Dunlop, built to recreate a specific piece of Hendrix history: a mysterious Fuzz Face Distortion that Jimi Hendrix used at several iconic shows between 1969 and 1970, most notably the Band of Gypsys performance¹. Dunlop describes the resulting tone as snarling, with an aggressive, biting character that set it apart from the other Fuzz Face pedals in his arsenal¹.

The Band of Gypsys Fuzz delivers what Dunlop describes as a notably aggressive, biting tone². It belongs to the Authentic Hendrix line of pedals, some of which, like the '69 Psych Series, are now discontinued².

What it is and where it came from

Dunlop's engineers studied the original pedal's sound and narrowed it down to a version of the Octavio circuit that did not have that pedal's famous octave-up effect, with some tweaks¹. That lineage is worth knowing: the Shrine Series Octavio in the same line updates the original cheese wedge Octavio Fuzz circuit that Hendrix himself used⁴, while the Band of Gypsys Fuzz takes a related circuit and strips out the octave-up, leaving the aggressive fuzz character on its own.

The Band of Gypsys Fuzz is part of Dunlop's Authentic Hendrix line, which reproduces effects associated with Jimi Hendrix's sound. Dunlop describes this fuzz as providing a notably aggressive, biting tone². Not every pedal in the Authentic Hendrix family remains available: the '69 Psych Series pedals are now discontinued².

The series has a direct predecessor. In 2019 Dunlop released the Authentic Hendrix '69 Psych Series, four mini pedals including a Band Of Gypsys Fuzz (JHW4) that Guitar World said delivered "the unique and bitingly aggressive Band of Gypsys fuzz sound in an MXR mini housing"⁵⁶. That series is now discontinued², and the '68 Shrine Series pedals followed it into legacy status.

The controls

The control set is simple. Guitar World noted that the Band of Gypsys Fuzz has no mode-selecting switches, just parameters for Tone, Output and Fuzz².

That three-knob layout matches the earlier '69 Psych Series Band Of Gypsys Fuzz, whose controls were listed as Tone, output and fuzz by Guitar.com's reviewer⁵. By contrast, the Shrine Series Fuzz Face Distortion in the same line offers Volume and Fuzz knobs plus a Buffer switch, and the Shrine Series Octavio carries Output and Fuzz knobs². The Band of Gypsys version is the only one of the three with a dedicated Tone control for fine-tuning the voicing, an approach Dunlop also used on the 2019 JHW4⁵⁶.

Jimi Hendrix and the original pedal

The pedal's whole reason for existing is a specific historical unit. Dunlop says the Shrine Series Band of Gypsys Fuzz is based on a mysterious Fuzz Face Distortion that Hendrix used at several iconic shows between 1969 and 1970, most notably the Band of Gypsys performance¹. Guitar World echoed the story, describing the pedal as inspired by "a mysterious Fuzz Face that Hendrix used at numerous shows between '69 and '70"².

According to Dunlop, this particular fuzz sounded like a completely different animal from any of the other Fuzz Face pedals in Hendrix's arsenal, snarling with an aggressive, biting tone¹. Guitar.com's review of the earlier '69 Psych Series version made a similar point about the sound's character, calling it a variant replicating the feistier sound of the red and white unit Hendrix used in the Band Of Gypsys era of 1969 to 1970⁵¹.

The Band of Gypsys Fuzz, part of the Dunlop Authentic Hendrix '69 Psych Series, delivered a notably aggressive, biting tone⁶². The '69 Psych Series pedals were full-size variants of the four Authentic Hendrix mini pedals, and the series is now discontinued⁵.

That verdict applies to the earlier Psych Series pedal rather than the Shrine Series version, but the two share the same circuit inspiration and control layout, so it gives a sense of how the Band of Gypsys sound is generally received⁵².

How it differs from other Dunlop Hendrix fuzzes

Dunlop's Hendrix fuzz family is large, and the Band of Gypsys Fuzz sits in a specific corner of it:

• The Shrine Series Fuzz Face Distortion captures two Hendrix fuzz flavors in one mini housing, an aggressive silicon crunch and a warm germanium saturation, selectable by a switch³.
• The Band of Gypsys Fuzz has no such switch. It is a single-voiced pedal built around the Octavio-derived circuit without the octave-up¹².
• The Shrine Series Octavio keeps the octave-up effect, being an octave fuzz⁴.
• Earlier mini versions include the '69 Psych Series Band Of Gypsys Fuzz (JHW4) and the FFM6 Band of Gypsys Fuzz Face Mini Distortion, which cover the same historical ground in different casings.

For a player choosing among these, the practical differences come down to the Tone control, which the Band of Gypsys versions have and the standard Fuzz Face minis lack, and the octave-up, which only the Octavio provides²⁵⁶.

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