The N.G. Fuzz is a fuzz pedal from Pete Cornish, the English effects builder. It is an early and comparatively obscure entry in the Cornish line: the first unit to carry the name was made in 1998 as a one-off for Yukihiro Hayashi, according to the circuit-analysis site Aion FX1.
What it does
As a fuzz, it sits in the same family as Cornish's later, better-documented fuzz and distortion designs, such as the NG-2, NG-3 and Deluxe NG-3, and the Precision Fuzz P-1 and P-2. What sets Cornish units apart, including this one, is their construction: the circuitry is built by hand and then sealed1.
Construction
Aion FX, which has traced several Cornish circuits, describes the N.G. Fuzz's main board as painted over with what it calls Pete's "light goop" method, as opposed to the "heavy goop" epoxy block used on the CC-1 and other units. An op-amp is clearly visible in photographs of Lou Reed's black N.G. Fuzz units from 2003, posted to The Gear Page in 20211.
"The main board is painted over (Pete's "light goop" method, as opposed to the "heavy goop" epoxy block of the CC-1 and O"
That goop coating is a signature of Cornish builds: it protects the hand-wired board but makes circuit analysis difficult, which is why independent traces of Cornish pedals are rare1.
Sources (1)
- Tracing Journal: Cornish NG-3, Aion FX, 2023-10-06
