The Top Gear Fuzz is a fuzz pedal whose circuit is a Fuzz Face design, according to the independent technical analysis published on Guitar FX Layouts. The same analysis states that the Top Gear Fuzz and the Guild Grizzly use the same circuit, writing simply "Top Gear Fuzz = Guild Grizzly". For a player, that places it in the two-transistor fuzz family covered on the site's Fuzz Pedals page, the design behind the classic touch-sensitive, clean-up-with-the-guitar-volume style of fuzz.1
What it does
As a Fuzz Face type circuit, the pedal produces a compressed, gated fuzz character. The documented account comes from a builder who assembled the circuit from the published layout and reported: "it does produce nice compressed and a bit gated fuzz, but the volume levels are very low." That low output level is worth knowing before building or buying into this circuit, since it may need help from a boost or another gain stage downstream to level-match a board.1
The circuit's original values include a 220R linear pot, which drew surprise in the layout's comments ("220R Lin?!"), and a 22k resistor. The layout's contributors confirmed these as "the values of the original."1
DIY layout and build status
The circuit is known to home builders through Guitar FX Layouts, a collection of vero (stripboard) and tagboard layouts for guitar and bass effects. The layout for the Top Gear Fuzz, which doubles as the Guild Grizzly layout, was posted by mirosol in April 2013.1
"I just built this one, and it seems to be working just fine for me. I'd say tag it."
That comment matters for anyone considering the build: the layout has been built successfully by someone other than its author, and the community suggested marking it as verified.1
The sound report and the verified build both come from the DIY layout community, not from the original maker. The low output volume noted by the builder is specific to that report of this circuit.
Questions
What circuit is the Top Gear Fuzz based on?
The Guitar FX Layouts technical analysis identifies the Top Gear Fuzz as a Fuzz Face design. The same source states that the Top Gear Fuzz and the Guild Grizzly share the same circuit, so a player looking at either box is looking at the same fuzz topology with the original values, including a 220R pot and a 22k resistor.
How does the Top Gear Fuzz sound?
A builder who put the circuit together on the published layout reported that it produces a nice compressed and a bit gated fuzz, but that the volume levels are very low. That is a builder's report from the layout community rather than a maker's description, and it is the main documented account of the pedal's sound.
Can I build the Top Gear Fuzz myself?
Yes. Guitar FX Layouts published a vero (stripboard) and tagboard layout for the circuit in April 2013, drawn by mirosol. A later comment from February 2014 reports a successful build that was working fine and suggested tagging the layout as verified, so the layout has at least one documented working build behind it.
Sources (1)
- Guitar FX Layouts: Top Gear Fuzz = Guild Grizzly, Guitar FX Layouts (tagboardeffects.blogspot.com), 2013-04-28
