Analog Man Vintage guitar effects
Samples | Artists and reviews | Power supply issues | Sunface ordering
See our FAQ for the history of the fuzz face.
Disclaimer: A fuzz face is not an easy pedal to get a great sound out of! If you have a Cort guitar and a Crate amp, don't expect to sound like Jimi with a fuzz face. You will have to have an excellent guitar and amp, have played for at least several years, and used some other fuzz pedals to appreciate the sound and feel of our Sun Face or modified Fuzz Faces. It may also take some time to figure out how to make it work well with your other equipment. Our Sunface and modified Fuzz Face pedals are made for the pros, but even a beginner should be able to get great tones if you work at it.
"When you think of it, a really good effect should not mean that your search is over;
it should mean that your journey is just getting started!"
Unlike a pedal like a Tube Screamer, which will always sound good if the right chip and other parts are installed correctly, a fuzzface is a very finicky circuit. The transistors used in a fuzzface make all the difference in tone, feel, and amount of fuzz/cleanliness. Germanium transistors were the first type of transistors generally available, starting in the early 1960s. They are not very stable or easy to manufacture consistently. Since silicon transistors took over from germanium in about 1970, almost nobody makes germaniums anymore, and the few that are made just don't do the trick in a fuzzface circuit. Each transistor used in a fuzzface needs to be tested for several parameters including gain, leakage, noise, and tone to make a great sounding fuzz. These transistors are just not available in any decent quantity. For these reasons, it's really tough for a large company to mass produce a classic germanium fuzzface that sounds good. It's too much of a hassle so most do not even try. We do carry the Dunlop Fuzz Face pedals, the blue BC108 Jimi Hendrix model is great and the others are fine too. Here are our Dunlop pedals.
We can build our SUNFACE pedal for you, or modify your existing Fuzz Face, either a Dunlop reissue or Arbiter UK reissues to make them sound GREAT, just like Clapton in Cream or early Hendrix. The sound is nice and smooth, singing bluesy tone, not harsh noisy fuzz.
These pedals are VERY SENSITIVE to your guitar volume : with germanium, if you turn down a Strat's volume to about 7, there is very little distortion. At 9, it is a nice smooth bluesy tone, like Clapton in Cream. At 10, it is quite fuzzy, especially if you have hot pickups or humbuckers. Also, if you use another effect before the fuzz face, it can make it get a nastier distortion. You may try running a Distortion or compressor into the fuzz face, or vice versa, with varying volume settings on the guitar and/or effects. But for the purest tone, there should be no effects between the guitar and the fuzz. However, effects with true bypass that are turned OFF are OK before the fuzz (for example, an RMC wah). Vintage style wah pedals have some issues when used with a vintage style fuzz face (though Jimi did not seem to mind!). To cure that, the Foxrox Wah Retrofit is available. The Z Vex Wah Probe seems to work fine with our sunface, for a cool alternative. Here is a video by That Pedal Show about using wahs and buffers with fuzz pedals including our Sun Faces.
All fuzz faces (and our sunface) have true bypass, so we don't need to modify them for true bypass.
We are now making these in our own cases, as the Analog Man Sun Face . They are hand-built in the USA in small gold boxes, with our own SUNFACE circuit board, which was made small enough to fit in almost any enclosure. As you can see in the picture down below a bit, this is a VERY high quality board of the same type used on our other pedals.
The Sun Face fuzz has an internal CLEAN trim pot (white knob). This trim pot acts like turning down the VOLUME knob on your guitar, to clean up the fuzz. It can be used to preset the sound as with the volume knob rolled back a bit. It also allows easier control of the volume knob on your guitar when the white CLEAN trim pot is turned a bit. It can also be used to kill Radio Frequency Interference, which may be a problem on high gain pedals in some areas, by turning it down a hair. The CLEAN trimpot will also allow the sunface to work better after a vintage style wah pedal, without having to use a foxrox wah retrofit. It does not reduce the amount of fuzz that much, with humbuckers it can actually seem to have MORE fuzz by turning it a bit. We have an optional CLEAN knob if you want to be able to change this setting on the fly.
like all our handmade pedals, the Sunface has true bypass, so when off they do not alter your sound at all.
On the left is some of our test equipment we use for testing out transistors for our Sun Face and Beano Boost pedals. These are ugly but perfect for testing the transistors for four parameters which are critical for the best sounding fuzz. We have since reboxed it into a steel cabinet so it's more rugged.
In 2018 we got some RCA germanium transistors in that sound great. Like the red dot NKT,
these are a "house number", they were made for a specific customer so they don't have a normal
2N part number on them. They are nice and bright for germanium, with normal gain, and
have excellent cleanup characteristics. The best feature of the RCA is that they are VERY
stable at temperatures, so can work in the heat of a gig when other germaniums tend to go flat.
We ran out for a while but got more in 2021. We can also use these for a HYBRID pedal, as the
first transistor to keep them stable at temperatures and give the other germanium some brightness.
NEW RCA In mid 2022, we got a batch of similar looking RCA transistors made in 1967. These sound like the other RCA, but are not good at extreme temperatures. They are pretty high gain for germanium but still clean up nicely as heard in the video demo vs the NPN CV.
Here is some random but hopefully interesting info:
By the mid 1950s, transistor technology had matured to the extent that the military was interested in
utilizing these unique devices in “mission-critical” defense programs. One of the first documented large
scale military uses of transistors was the Polaris missile program, which was initiated in 1956 when the
Navy began funding a program to develop a ballistic missile that could be launched from a submerged
submarine.
The inertial guidance computer carried onboard each Polaris missile was developed at the MIT Instrumentation
Laboratory, and these first versions used discrete transistor components, such as these, while later systems,
including the Apollo Guidance Computer, used integrated circuits (IC chips) as this technology became available.
Hundreds of Polaris missiles were produced until 1972, when the Poseidon missile was deployed as a replacement.
We also have some really cool 1960s Japanese 2SB transistors
that we are using for our germanium Sunfaces.
These are a little brighter and fuzzier than the NKTs. They are usually made by
Hitachi, Toshiba, or Matsushita. I remember buying dead Japanese Acetone organs back in the early
1990s to get 2SB175 transistors for making Fuzzfaces when a friend
told me how great they sounded. The 2SB is a little darker and woolier than the TI/UK.
Some of these that measure at low gain are great in our low gain germanium option,
to duplicate the sound and great cleanup of the white dot NKT275. We have two
models of the 2SB, the 2SB171 which is lower gain and the 2SB175 which is higher gain.
Both sound great, smoother than the other germaniums, not as much edge.
These 2SB transistors were often used in the Japanese CRAZY FACE fuzz pedals sold at Sears in the early 1970s, small black round Fuzz Face clones. They usually sounded bad because they were not biased correctly. By changing a few resistor values they can be tuned to sound excellent.
We also have some awesome 1960s General Electric USA made
germanium transistors, a 2N type, that
we often use. These were pulled out of 40-year old NOS Baldwin organ tone generator
boards. These types have been used in most of the good boutique fuzzface clones
over the years, you see them often in The Gear Page "pedal guts" thread.
These are similar or the same as the standard germanium USA transistors that we pulled
out of NOS 1960s Baldwin organ tone generator boards, but they have very high gain for germanium.
They are sometimes Texas Instument brand and made in 1974. These and the GE 2N type are the shorter,
fatter metal can style than the NKT and 2SB size.
In 2020 we got some Big Ass Russian Transistors in that work great in the Sun Face,
Sun Lion, and Beano Boost. They sound HUGE, too.
Easy to use, cut well, nice and fuzzy with cleanup all the way on the guitar pot.
Lots of low end but can tighten up with the optional CLEAN knob, clean trimpot,
or guitar volume knob. Run the FUZZ knob down a bit and the BIAS up a bit for
cleaner sounds like the white dot NKT275. These will use the slightly larger case
as they are too big for the small case. This case allows any options
(top jacks, on/off pot, top power jack if no CLEAN knob). These are sometimes
just a little noisy but we discard any that are too noisy.
Our BART transistors are inherently medium-high gain range -
add a note if you want medium-high or high gain.
We also offer the BART with the RCA transistor, as a hybrid germanium
which is very temperature stable:
We had some of these in our stash, and saw that a British pedal builder who's work I like was using them in a
popular fuzz, so we finally tried them. They are a military (CV) equivalent of a 2N type, made in 1976.
The main benefit they have is normal polarity, so you can use a power daisy chain, though I still recommend isolated power.
These sound similar to the RCA, nice brightness and decent cleanup, which gets bright and British sounding.
The gain is medium high, my favorite range.
You will read on some websites that some original fuzzface pedals used an AC128 transistor. However, I and all my fuzzface guru friends have never seen these in an original fuzzface from the 1960s, and we have seen hundreds of them. The AC128 WAS found in the grey reissues made in the 90s. The AC-128 transistors we pulled out of these reissues sound horrible. We also tried most of the AC-128 versions available on ebay and from suppliers all over the world but none sounded good enough for our pedals so we have piles of them that will sit unused. We do have some in square heat-sink cases that sound pretty good, a muffy-sort of compressed, saturated tone that some people like, but they don't have the clarity we strive for.
In July, 2002 we started offering
a NOS NKT-275 version of the Sun Face, using New Old Stock
British Newmarket 1960s NKT-275 transistors.
These were the actual transistors used in the original $expensive
germanium Fuzz Face, not the
skinny copies or the normal size US production "G"
logo used in more recent fuzzfaces
since the 1990s (which look and sound totally different).
You can take a peek into one of our NKT-loaded pedals on the left. It
also includes an additional BIAS trim pot inside to set the
exact bias on these transistors, for the ultimate sound.
The Blue trim pot is for Bias, which should not need adjustment
often, while the big White one is the CLEAN (input adjustment) knob.
The BIAS pot really helps if you play at different temperatures.
You can turn it down a bit at higher temperatures, and up
a bit at lower temperatures, to keep the transistors happy
and sounding best at their SWEET SPOT which is about 5 volts.
The Sunface manual has more information on adjusting this.
The bias control is often found on the outside of our Sunface
pedals as the SUN DIAL knob.
The sound of these original NKT275 transistors was quite similar to the other types of germanium transistors that we use. But the NKT275s have less fuzz, and less high end fizziness. They have a deeper tone and clean up better than most transistors. If you turn down the volume on your guitar, the NKT275 sound will be totally, sparkly clean without any fuzz remnants. Normally, NKT275 transistors are not high gain, that is why they clean up so well and are so smooth sounding. However we did have some high gain NKTs sorted out of the same batch.
We sold out our first batch of original NKT-275 transistors with red dots (totally authentic, came in little "cigarette packs" as seen above, and on top of this picture) in just a few months, but found another type. These early 1970s "white dot" NKT275s are the same size but don't look exactly the same. They have less (almost no!) leakage, and sound a little brighter, with better high end definition. They are from a military supplier in the UK and were tested to a NATO spec. These have white dots instead of red dots, signifying the military spec. They are not the skinny reproduction NKTs with the rim, or the "G" logo recent USA made transistors from Germanium Product Devices which used in new fuzzfaces and in some other fuzzface clones. When I retested them here, 95% of them worked perfectly unlike the last batch which was about 25% dead. The SUNFACE reviewed by Guitar Player magazine had the older red dot NKT275, while the one reviewed by TONEQUEST magazine had the white dots ones. We ran out of the white dot NKTs in 2011 and are saving some just for repairs. We doubt we will be able to get more in, as all the ones we have gotten in the last decade were fake parts that were relabeled, or that others had already tested and rejected, so we never used them.
In mid 2017 we got some red dot NKT transistors which are not the 275 model,
from a source in The Netherlands. These are definitely made at the Newmarket factory over 40 years ago, and
look and sound almost identical to the red dot NKT275 we used to have.
They test in the same range, medium low gain. I think they came from the same manufacturing
line as the NKT275, but were sorted for this narrower gain range.
They have a different part number on them after the "NKT", probably a house number for the specific customer
who requested these parts (maybe a radio company in the Netherlands). We ran out of these in 2020.
If you want the NKT sound, but with more fuzz, and a bit brighter, with a reasonable amount of cleanup like other fuzzface clones and our other germaniums (not 100% clean), we had some HIGH GAIN NKTs that we have saved over the years. They are the same parts as the white dot NKTs, they just tested out higher in gain than the ones we normally use. We ran out of these too.
These are military spec germaniums from 1973, medium to low gain. We found that almost all of the NKT-275 sold, especially in the last ten years, are actually re-labeled transistors. We were able to see a CV7005 mark faintly on some of them (they rub off the old markings before re-labeling them), so we bought a bunch of CV7005 in the UK over a decade ago. We started selling these when we were running out of the red dot nkt275 in late 2015. These transistors have "KBDA 7301" on them. 7301 means 1973, 1st week. The K means that it has been manufactured to specification, the B indicates that approval was given by UK military authorities (military spec), D is the factory identification code for Mullard Ltd, and A is the Mullard Blackburn factory. We we know EXACTLY when and where these were made, and by whom. They sound like the NKT275 because they are probably the same thing. They sound more like the white dot NKT than the red dot, they are a little brighter clearer and cut better than the red dot. These have very limited availability.
We have some BC108, BC109, and BC183 silicon transistors, and have been
making silicon Sunfaces for several years now.
The BC108 and BC109 are in small metal cans while the BC183 are plastic.
Silicon fuzzfaces came out in about 1969. Dallas Arbiter used
both of these types in their Fuzz Face pedals. The silicons are fuzzier
than the germaniums, and brighter. The silicon transistors
have much higher gain. They don't get totally
clean by turning the guitar down like the NKTs but they do clean up
quite a bit and are sensitive to your dynamics. Check out
the sound sample below to hear this.
We can make a SUNFACE with no extra charge for silicon. There is a small extra charge for modifying and converting an existing germanium fuzz pedal to silicon. The sundial is not really needed, as the silicon transistors are not temperature sensitive. But you can use the sundial knob to dial in different sounds if desired. We do put the BIAS trimpot on the inside of the two-knob sunfaces so you can still tweak it if desired. The Sundial knob may cause more noise on a silicon (high gain) sunface, due to the extra wires, so it may be best to not order the sundial if you want to keep the noise down.
Silicon fuzzfaces are negative ground, so you can use almost any power supply without fear of melting it down. But it still may sound better with an old style battery. The FUZZ knob on the silicon version usually sounds and works best if you turn it down a bit (on the germanium I usually like it up full).
Jon Carin (Floyd, The Who, Roger Waters, etc) contacted me in 2012, looking for a fuzz that sounds like the giant lap steel on One Of These Days by the Floyd. I recommended the BC183 Sun Face for him and I think he likes it! I got to hear it live in 2017 with Roger Waters and it was great. I also sent him one with BC109B as I think those have a little more cutting edge which might work well. Jon wrote:
This Sunface is tear-your-face-off unreal but warm. You are the Distortionist. Thanks SO much.
Jon also got one for James Guthrie, who has been Pink Floyd's sound engineer/producer since The Wall.
In spring of 2014 we found some Telefunken TFK BC109B and BC109C transistors. These are yet a little edgier sounding than our previous BC109 transistors. The C has higher gain than the B, but they sound very similar. They have a really nice attack with a fuzzy roundness in tone to help cut through better. We don't have many of the C type so they will have a surcharge. In late 2015, I brought one of these BC109 Sunfaces to London for David Gilmour's RATTLE THAT LOCK tour, and delivered it to his house boat/studio Astoria. He had our BC108 Sun Face but wanted something with a bit more edge. He had previously gotten some Sun Faces in 2006.
I got four old 1960s Fuzzfaces in for repairs and tweaking in early 2008 from a collector. Two were BC108 silicon so I compared them to a BC108 Sunface that I just finished. I was very happy when I found the sounds were almost identical except the sunface was a little clearer sounding. The other two old fuzzfaces were NKT275, one was decent but the other was really dull and woofy. Our NKT sunface was better than both but he wanted to keep them original so we left the original weak transistors in them.
We now put the SUN DIAL on the Sunface to make a 3 knob small gold pedal. The middle knob is on the center of the Sun Face Graphics. It is the exact same function and circuit as the internal BIAS trim pot on the 2 knob model. It is used for keeping the fuzz happy at different temperatures, and with different or worn batteries. We call it the SUN DIAL and the knob is painted to match the pedal. It is a $25 option. We factory set the SUNDIAL so the face is vertical at our shop temperature (70 degrees or so depending on if it's Winter or Summer!). You can set it by ear, just turn it up until the buzziness goes away as much as you like. Jim Weider has an NKT Sunface with the SUN DIAL and likes to run the sundial higher than our normal setting, he turns it almost all the way up for less fuzz and a purer tone. You can turn it down all the way for a buzzy sound like "spirit in the sky", where the fuzz fizzes out.
Up until mid 2007 we used our "small" size "125B" box
for most Sunfaces, as seen on the far left on the Sunface with Top Jacks.
These are 2.5" wide, 4.75" tall, and about 1.5" high.
It is the same box used for the Mini Chorus, Mini Bicomp, Beano, etc.
Starting in late August 2007 we are using our SMALLER MXR "B" box
for most Sunface pedals, as seen on the pedal with side jacks on the left.
These are 2.25" wide, 4.25" tall, and about 1.25" high, the
same size as a small MXR pedal. I like these MXR size boxes
better as they are lower profile, and leave more room on the pedalboards
for more pedals!!
Starting in 2018 Top Jacks without on/off option was available in the "smaller" box.
If a power jack is ordered, it is on the side and you can add a note if you have a preference
for left or right side. We still use the larger box for the large BART transistors.
We can add a power off switch on the FUZZ pot, when you turn it down all the way it disconnects the battery. This will only fit on the side jacks model. Instead of that, we can install a mini toggle switch to kill the battery on the top jacks model. If you can unplug the cable from the input jack, it will do the same thing. But for people with the pedal in the middle of their pedalboard, one of these options will make it easier if you want to use a battery. If you use a power supply (requires the power jack option) then these battery disconnect options are not needed.
Here is Jon Butcher playing his NKT sunface with a Nash Strat with .010 strings, into a Reinhardt 18 head with a THD 2x12" cabinet, recorded with a Shure 57 mic. Fuzz knob was about 3:00, sundial about 1:00 and volume about 12:00. Sea Of Blues Enjoy!
Here are some clips by Rogers Stevens of Blind Melon
from their 2007 album. He
is playing his Nash Strat with Rio Grande pickups
through our Sunface NKT into a Blockhead amp.
Sun Face alone
Solo With Sun Face into a wah
I saw them in June 2008 and they sounded awesome, Thanks Rogers!
Greg V. former Double Trouble, Buddy Miles guitarist got an NKT Sun Face
in Sept 04 and wrote
I love this pedal, VERY fat and feels good to play.
I love how dynamic this pedal responds to the changing attack of my fingers.
Greg made a clip of it, recorded at a medium-loud living room volume with
his Black Fender Tele with Nocaster pickup > No pick-fingers only >
Sun Face > '66 Ampeg Gemini 1 > SM57 > Akai DPS24 recorder.
No EQ and just a bit of reverb.
GregV_SunFace_Jam1.mp3
Check out his music at www.gregvorobiov.com
Emerson Swinford (Rod Stewart band) shows the
BART Sun Face!
AnalogMan SunFace BC109B demo by Gilmourish:
We can make a Sunface or Fuzzface mod have more low end if you are a bass player. I would choose a silicon, maybe BC183, and put a note on your order if you play bass and we will give it more low end.
Battery comparison: same NKT275 pedal. Starts with Alkaline Duracell (twice), Cheap General Purpose type (twice) then Duracell (twice again) on a Les Paul. Listen to the high end change. DURACELL2.MP3
Here are some samples of Jim Weider's fuzzface sound, from his 2002 CD "REMEDY". This is with our standard germanium Sun Face. The song is called Metal Jam. Note that you can still hear the guitar clearly, it's not a fuzzed-out sound. Of course you can get a much fuzzier sound by cranking the FUZZ knob and the volume knob on your guitar, and if your amp is distorting. But this is the basic tone I am striving for with my fuzzes, one that a pro player can use to tailor his sound without losing his signature tone. Jim used both Fender and Marshall amps mixed together for this tone. He has since upgraded his sunface with our NKT275 transistors which he likes even better.
Be sure to check out our Jim Weider Band page for more info and to order his new CD!!!!
Here is a video of Sid McGinnis at a studio playing his sunface through his new Tweed Twin amp. The sunface has the fuzz knob up all the way, he uses the guitar to change from SPARKLY clean to pure fuzz. The avi video is dark and audio is poor (built in mic in a canon camera, not even a real video camera) and it's huge, about 8MB. But if you want to check it out, here is sidsunface.avi .
Here are some clips from Doug Doppler
which will be on his GET KILLER TONE dvd series. First is a Strat into our BC108 Sunface
Through a Metro JTM-45 Marshall style amp into a Marshall cabinet.
SunfaceBC108bc
Here is another one with a nod to Clapton in Cream.
Sun Face EC108
BC108 silicon fuzz cleanup demo
BC108 sunface and a strat into a Fender Blues Junior
amp, from a customer William from the band Norman
This clip shows how the silicon option sounds when you turn the guitar
down, little by little. never sparkly clean like the NKT but
a cool sound.
BC1083.MP3
SLIDE GUITAR
Here is another clip he did with a highgain NKT (with the guitar's volume backed
off by using the CLEAN trimpot inside, to a more normal NKT sound)
FuzzyClip.mp3
BC108 Pink Floyd tone demo
Kit Rae recorded this clip, his Strat into our BC108 SunFace with the sundial and FUZZ knob all the way up,
into an MXR Carbon Carbon. He played into a Fender Twin Reverb with a bit of reverb from the amp plus
some ADT and plate reverb from garage Band.
Time Solo
Sunface germanium and Beano Boost demo
Here is fuzz master Marc Ford playing these
pedals live into some tweed Fender clones.
Here is another one of Marc at our shop checking out the Silicon BC108 Sunface for the first time. He usually leaves his fuzz on all the time so the 108 may not be best for him but he got some awesome tones! We have since warmed this pedal up a bit so it sounds even better. Youtube BC108 Video
Here is Derek Neece doing some Jimi sounds with the red dot NKT275.
Doug Blais at Juggling Reality Studios in Toronto, Canada got some super cool red dot tones with his Les Paul SG.
Some of the tones were very horn-like, like Jeff Beck gets. The Sundial was set to 12:00, fuzz up full, and volume at 3/4,
into a JTM45/100 (KT66's) full stack set to a volume of 1 to get a clean output and hear what the sunface could do on it's own.
Doug used a Beyer M500(C) ribbon mic 2 inches away and at 45 degree angle, with a Rode NT55 Omni about 5 feet back pointing
at the stack. He changed the tones exclusively with volume / tone pot control and pickup selections during the improv.
Dance Of The Sunface
Here are some clean Jimi tones with the red dot NKTs. Mark Jacobs playing his strat with vintage noiseless bridge pickup. Volume on guitar is set to about 7, tone at 10. Sunface red dot NKT-275 with fuzz all the way up, volume at 11:30, into a Fender Blues Jr. Bold as Love.
Here is a Silicon Sunface some Jimi Rave Up sounds! It's Kevin Bryant playing his Fender Strat into an Ultra vibe, Silicon Sunface, Ibanez analog delay and Marshall 2204.
Jimi-style Sample into a high gain amp
Here is our friend Paul Branin showing how he uses fuzz with the OD channel of his
Lee Jackson type high gain amp. He kicks it in about :045 and it's on whenever the highest gain, feedback stuff is happening.
You can also hear our chorus pedal in one section.
Jimi Jam
We don't have many Sunface clips with an AC30, so I was glad when I got these from Rich Jevons playing his Historic ES-335 into a Heritage AC30 amp. ( Sweet Little Lady ).
Alternative, heavy sample:
Check out grandfather for
some really cool sounds, totally unlike most on this page. It's recorded
by Steve Albini at his studio, a 62 Reissue Strat into an original 1965 Fender Deluxe Reverb (volume on 5).
Click on No One Knows No One to hear that song, the Sunface
is featured at the solo towards the end, about the 4:30 mark which you can jump
to if you are short on time. You can also hear it on "By Myself" Solo
and "In The Shadow of a Doubt" in the Ending.
SUNFACE AND BEANO BOOST
Here is a clip of the NKT sunface and Beano Boost together, like a SunLion with both
sides on, from Chris McKeon.
Soundclick Demo.
Standard Germanium demo with cleanup
Here is a nice demo by Mike from Louisville, KY showing his standard germanium 2N527 SunFace with
a Les Paul Jr.:
These pedals do not have a power jack as standard, as using a power supply can be tricky with a vintage fuzz. The germanium versions are reverse polarity, so sharing a non-isolated power source with a normal polarity pedal will blow out the power supply. It blows because the normal pedal's negative ground flows through the patch cord shield to the positive ground of the fuzz, shorting out the power supply. Here is an article about the problems of using power jacks on reverse polarity pedals from Andreas in Sweden. Using a single power cable from the Voodoo Lab or other isolated power supplies is safe though. If you get a power jack but use the internal battery, there are no problems or compromises at all. A Sun Face with a power jack will still come with a battery and work the same with a battery. If you might use a power supply or TheGigRig Virtual Battery, it's much better to get the power jack than to connect to the battery clip by filing a notch in the bottom plate. Just make sure to use ISOLATED POWER (which is what the Virtual battery does if you have a non-isolated power supply).
We do not require using a reverse polarity plug on any of our pedals. Use normal center negative boss type power supply wiring, even if it's a germanium sunface. This does NOT mean you can share power with another pedal though.
Sharing power on a silicon sunface is not a problem as it uses negative ground. But we still recommend isolated power on ALL pedals, especially digital ones.Using a power supply may add AC hum noise, and can affect the tone, as the best sound is obtained by using an old style non-alkaline battery. I get these two for a dollar at the DOLLAR STORES. I like the Eveready 1222 "black cat", Maxell, or Panasonics. An Alkaline battery will sound a bit dull in a germanium fuzzface, it can lose some character (you can hear the difference in a sound sample above). It's not just the voltage that makes batteries and power supplies sound different. It's the resistance, inductance, and capacitance in the battery, which is part of the circuit in a fuzzface.
A power supply can also cause oscillation (squealing) on some high gain sunfaces. TheGigRig virtual battery should solve oscillation problems, along with isolating the power so you can use any power supply with our positive ground pedals. The VBAT also solves ground loop problems which occur when you use a daisy chain or the same power with more than one pedal. We now offer the Virtual Battery as an accessory and sunface option on our shopping website. Here is more info on the GigRig Virtual Battery
When using batteries, you need to unplug the guitar cable from input jack when you are done playing for the day, to disconnect the battery. This can be a pain when using a pedalboard. Our optional ON/OFF FUZZ POT makes it easy to disconnect the battery. Just turn the fuzz knob all the way down and it will CLICK as it disconnects the battery. Then you can leave your pedal hooked up to other pedals all the time. Starting in 2018, the optional on/off fuzz pot has the same nice taper as the normal fuzz pot, as we had some custom made. It is a $15 option on the side jacks model. We offer a mini toggle switch to do the same thing on the top jacks model.
Some people want an LED added. An LED will not affect tone at all, but may cause a bit of a switch noise, and will drain the battery about four times faster. Without an LED, the battery will last at least a few hundred hours of use, so don't scrimp on the tone and you won't be wasting money on batteries anyway. The sunface uses under 1 milliamp (1mA) of current when you are playing, and even less current if you stop playing. So if you play with the fuzz on for 2 or 3 hours a night, a cheap battery will last at least 100 nights! The options we have now are transistor type, Sun Dial knob, jack placement, power jack, LED, on/off pot, graphics, and more added all the time.
We have found that the GREEN LED is very efficient, so it could be a good option on the Sunface as we hook it up to use very little power.
Here is a way to test the battery without having to open the pedal.
Here is a chart I made up that shows how the battery drains over time if the pedal is left plugged in. Battery Drain Chart The battery used was a cheap heavy-duty (non alkaline) battery from the dollar store. An alkaline would last MUCH longer. It looks like the battery is fine for about 8 days or so. After 16 days, it will still work but then goes downhill FAST!
David Gilmour got another pair of our Sunface Pedals for his ON AN ISLAND tour in 2006. The bass player, Guy Pratt, was using the BC108 silicon on his bass. Here is more info and pictures . I heard from an Italian customer that Gilmour had TWO (?!) Sun Face pedals on the side of his board at the Venice gig in 2006 and used one on Comfortably Numb.
Jon Butcher sent me such an amazing email about his sunface that I put it on it's own page. Also see his sound sample above.
Doyle Bramhall II used our Sunface NKT with sundial
on tour with Eric Clapton starting in 2004. He also had our Bicomp on his
pedalboard and had been using our TS9/808. On the left is a screen capture
from rehearsal.com where you can see some awesome video interviews
and hear him playing the Sunface. You can see the Sunface NKT with
sundial in the middle of the board. Here is another shot
of his
HUGE PEDALBOARD with the Sunface in the middle
and Bicomp a few pedals to it's left.
Michael Katon, from Hell, Michigan, is constantly touring
Europe playing Detroit blues/rock and boogie. He has been using
old fuzzfaces for years with his Marshall Plexis and old Fender Super
Reverbs. Michael loved his first Sun Face so much that
he ordered another one in case something happened to his first one.
Then he had one changed to the NKTs.
He wrote me in late 2002:
I had a chance to use the NKT the other Nite through two
100watt Marshall half stacks...I think I sterilized most men in
the club and ended up having to sign a few bare breasts (girls of
course)...so it's definately doing a good job for me!!!!!!!!
A few months later he wrote me :
After working with the Sunface for several gigs now I finally played a whole night with the Sunface only...I never kicked on the tubescreamer or Klon the whole night! (which was at least 30/35 tunes)...I stomped on the Sunface for the first song and never clicked it off the whole night! I just controlled the sounds with my volume and tone control on the Strats and Marshalls....I discovered on some tunes that if I kept the treble and presence on the Marshalls at a minimum I could get the guitar to sound almost like Jimi from the Isle Of White DVD...This is a great damn pedal man!...I'm glad I bought the extra 2 and will probably get one or two more before long...I wouldn't want to play a gig without a Sunface at this point!...............
On his next tour after more time with the sunface he wrote :
I click it on at the begining of a show and don't click it off 'till my roadie unplugs it to throw in the truck!....My sound man that works for me is English and ran a big tour company out of Birmingham England...He has seen and heard them all and say's he has never heard any other pedal retain the bottom end and clarity that the sunface does!...I've been doing gigs from Norway and sweden over to slovania and down into southern spain (12 countries in all)...and every night without fail some guitar players come up to ask me how I'm getting that tone and I point to the sunface!...
Here is a youtube video of him playing in Holland in the summer of '09 with the NKT sunface.
In 2009 Michael got another Sunface, this time he tried the TI/UK germanium transistors and used it on a European tour. When he got back he wrote me, I like it every bit as well as my one old NKT you made for me years ago...the TI/UK sounds much different than the old NKT but in the coolest way... Now my only problem is trying to decide which one to use on my new studio stuff I'm working on... 'cause they both sound so hip!.... Not a bad problem to have though!!
Here are some clips from Michael's TI/UK Sunface. He says,
"Both songs sound kinda ratty and ragged but I meant for them to sound like that,
especially 'Cowboy Boots From China'... The TI/UK can get nice and clean if you want,
or smooth, but you can also get these ratty sounds by cranking it up and turning down the Sun Dial.
Here is his Strat into the TI/UK Sunface (volume and fuzz both full up)
with the sundial all the way counter clockwise (for ragged sounds) into
a 100 Watt Marshall Plexi with a 4x12 Marshall cab loaded with GreenBacks :
Kick in the Nuts
Here is another one, same setup except a VOX AC30, running into same the Marshall cabinet -
Cowboy Boots from China
In 2011, Michael got yet ANOTHER version of the SunFace, one of my favorites, the Silicon
BC183/BC182. Michael wrote :
Hey Mike...got the silicon SunFace last week...this thing is killer Brutha!...
I wasn't sure if I'd like the silicon or not...but it turns out I like it alot!...
better than the germanium in some ways...this thing is very quiet too!....
and cleans up really wells..I'm glad I got the sundial added because I can crank down
the voltage/bias and make it sound very close to germanium if I want to...I'm going to
carve my name in it now like I do all your pedals becase I know I'm going to be keeping it
forever!....Thanks for your fine pedals Mike!..... Hope to get some sound clips soon!
Kenny Greenberg, one of the top Nashville aces, has a SunFace and says he uses it all the time, it's his favorite fuzz pedal.
Sid McGinnis got one in early 2005 and is having a blast with it. He used it at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction and you should have been able to hear it nearly every night when he played it on the David Letterman show. Sid wrote me: Sunface has been tremendous at the show. Level at 11:00, Drive full or just under, and Sunface at 3:00 or less if I really want FUZZ. Effect on all the time (even on Al Green tune). It's Jimi, Cream, and American Woman in a box!!
Corky James used one of our modified Dunlop Fuzzfaces on Avril Lavigne's hit album. He told me, "People are always surprised when I point out that all the guitars recorded on "complicated" were with the fuzz ON! even the clean tones in the intro." Jasin Todd of the heavy rock band Shinedown is using an NKT sunface live and will try it on their next Atlantic record. Andrew Carillo is using one with Joan Osborne on tour starting in 2005. Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys was using an NKT sunface among other AM fuzzes. Rontrose Heathman from the Supersuckers said he is a huge fan of his NKT-275 sunface and runs his comprossor and KoT Ver2 beside it.
Steve Mac from The Australian Pink Floyd Show got a BC108 silicon sunface in late 2006. If you ever get a chance to see these guys it's well worth it! He emailed me:
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
I just received the little gem and I can't stop playing! Gorgeous!! Beautiful feedback, I'm so glad I got the sundial mod, very useful to vary the tone and nail those classic sounds.
I'm very pleased indeed!
Thank you for your service, the whole purchasing experience has been a joy from beginning to end and then some.... what a tasty pedal!
Many many thanks, Steve Mac.
Doug Rappoport of the Edgar Winter Band got one in early 2006 and emailed me :
I got it today. Plugged it in... YEAHHHH BABY! WOOHOO! That's it my
brothu! That's what I've been looking for! You da man, Mike. Thank you so
much. And thanks for the shirt. Its great too!
All the best, Doug.
Vinnie Moore used his Sun Face on the 2012 UFO album Seven Deadly and also uses our Chorus and TS9/808 Silver.
Jackie Greene, who plays with Phil Lesh and Friends among others, got a Sunface from one of our dealers in 2009 then ordered another one.
Jorma Kaukonen got a red dot NKT275 Sun Face in the summer of 2014 and is using it with Hot Tuna and other electric projects. We also fixed up some of his old wah pedals, he likes the old Crybaby with brown stack of dimes inductor best.
A Japanese customer who owns 150 distortion pedals wrote back:
Mike sunfacefazz wa totemo yoi vintage amp no otoga suruyo
Here is a well written review from the Ultimate Guitar Gear website in Sweden, A lot of Fuzzy Magic
4/2001 Arbiter England Made in UK fuzz faces modified!
The new UK made Arbiter Fuzz face is in a nice case, looks great, and seems well made but they just don't sound right. Some seem to make almost no sound at all! Well We have modified dozens now and know just what needs to be done. We had a few dozen new grey Arbiter fuzz faces that we tuned with our transistors and parts to make them sound just like the late 60s Germanium fuzz faces. These get our entire classic germanium mod, we change all the transistors and resistors on the boards and caps if needed. Available for $215. 2/02 SORRY SOLD OUT but we can still mod yours!!!!!
We do not normally sell this custom pedal but this will give you an idea of what we can do if you are crazy enough...
This 4 knob sunface was made for Guns n' Roses. Curtis Laur, who was working with them, wanted extra knobs on the fuzz so he could document the settings, and the guitarists could leave the guitars' knobs up all the way. The two standard knobs are on the left - Volume and Fuzz. The third knob is the same as the standard internal trim pot on the sunface - the input CLEAN trimmer. It works the same as turning down the VOL knob on your guitar, to CLEAN up the sound. So we labelled it C for Clean. The forth knob is a TONE knob but with a twist. There is a mini-toggle switch below the TONE knob. In the UP position, it acts like the TONE knob on your guitar. But if the fuzz is up high, your TONE knob does not do much. So we added the DOWN position which puts the tone circuit AFTER the fuzz for a more pronounced roll off of high end. But since simple is better and sometimes you don't need to roll off the tone, we also have a MIDDLE position which totally bypasses the tone control. You may remember the old 1970s Big Muffs which had a TONE BYPASS switch on the back, a very good idea.
This pedal is not as good as the normal Sunface NKT with sundial for a player, as you should use the knobs on your guitars for more control. It was built so the guitar tech could do the adjustments. So we don't normally build these, also very expensive as each knob and switch is a $25 option.
I finally got Chinese Democracy in late 2008 and got to hear our pedals, and we were mentioned in the credits along with about 1000 others. Curtis contacted me in 2020 and said he still has the pedal, and doesn't like to play without it.
On the right is a custom-painted fuzzface I built for Tele-man Jim Weider of the Jim Weider Band (and The Band). It looks too cool if I do say so myself... Sorry I don't have any more like this, when I try to make another one the paint always comes out terrible. Kenny Wayne Shepherd now has this one, I made another one for Jim in an old 1970s red fuzzface housing. Jim has since had me re-box it in one of my grey COMPROSSOR boxes so it does not look like any other fuzzface. It was in effect the first SUN FACE pedal. I later put the NKT transistors and the SUN DIAL knob on it for Jim and put it in the small gold box.
Update 7/97 :
The Dunlop Fuzz Face (Dallas arbiter) reissue was not good sounding when it came out in '93. They used "Germanium Devices co." reproduction NKT-275 transistors with very thin, stuttery sound. But in '97 I saw fuzz faces with different transistors used in the High gain position and they sounded pretty good (still using the NKT in the other position). They were NTE 102A which I USED to use in my mods before I found some great NOS germaniums, but the recent 102A transistors I obtained in the last few years have been terrible. Maybe Dunlop was able to get some good ones made (actually only re-branded) by NTE again and test them. But still some are not very good as it costs too much to test each set of transistors by hand and ear like I do.
Update 7/98 :
Dunlop is back to using two "NKT-275" trans, but they sound pretty decent now. How did they do it? By adding an extra resistor on the back of the board to make the old circuit work well with the lousy new transistors. You can try it yourself if you have a fuzzface with those transistors and no resistor on the back. Solder a 22k resistor (1/2 watt should be fine) on the back of the board at the points where the 33K resistor is soldered in. The 33K is Orange Orange Orange (then silver or gold) and should be in the middle of the board. If you somehow have good transistors this mod will make if worse, but with lousy flatulent sounding transistors it should help a lot. If you dont like it simply cut out the added resistor. I have tried it on a few pedals but it did not help on some at all.
Update 6/00 : The current Dunlop Fuzz Face reissue has the switch mounted to the board, and several changes to the circuit. See below for a picture of the previous version from 1993 - mid 2000. There are two trim pots on the new model, but not in the same part of the circuit where Fulltone and most others put them. There is one in place of the 100K resistor that goes between transistor 1 input and transistor 2 (actually a 56K in series with a 100K trim pot, so if you set it half way you get the normal 100K). The other is in place of the 33K resistor going from transistor 1 to zero volts. Again they use a 100K trim pot, in series with a 10K resistor, so you can dial in 33K if desired. There is an added cap to ground on the input. There is an added cap and resistor on the 1st transistor which normally just goes to +9V. There is also an RT-1 (thermistor?) device to ground on the direct connection between the 2 transistors on the signal path. The Fuzz control capacitor on the wiper of the pot is now referenced to 0V instead of 9v. So it is no longer easy to make a new fuzzface into a classic one, but we can do it by replacing the whole board. See below for more info.
Update 7/00 : we can
do the classic germanium mod for you for $60 plus S & H.
Also the we will install all carbon comp
resistors exactly like the original 60s fuzz face.
The mod does not include the fancy paint job as that is nearly impossible to do. We
can do the standard mod only if your pedal does NOT have the switch
attached to the circuit board. This picture is the
pre-2000 version which we can easily modify :
Update 4/01 : We can also modify the Arbiter England grey reissues, and had them new in stock for $215 modified!
Update 4/02 : We can also modify the new dunlop pedals, the ones without the MOUTH on the face. These have the circuit board attached to the switch. We can modify these by removing the whole circuit board and installing one of our SUN FACE boards. We use your switch and pots and case. Basic price is $100, there is a choice for this version on the MOD FORM below. It will look like THIS after the mod.
Update 5/02 : We had some cool transistors pulled from Farfisa organs for the SUN FACE. We call this version the PATGOD (Piper at the Gates of Dawn) in reverence to Pink Floyd, on whose album you will hear tons of reverb-drenched Farfisa organs which have nothing at all to do with fuzzfaces...
Update 7/02 : We finally scored some original 1960s NKT-275 transistors from the UK, after a search which took over nine years! We will now be offering these optionally in our mods and Sun Face pedals for an additional charge.
Update 8/02 : We can now offer the mods on the "Jimi Hendrix" JH2 model black fuzz face style ROUND pedal. Not the little red square pedal. We will install our SUNFACE board as we do in the new Dunlop Fuzzfaces. We also disconnect the power jack as it has the wrong polarity for a germanium fuzz. Same price as the new style Dunlop Fuzzface mod.
Update 10/02 : We ran out of the NKT transistors, sorry! We have people all over Europe trying to scrounge up more... But we do have several other new old stock transistors available now in good quantities, so we can make a sunface to your tastes (smooth, warm, low gain, high gain, really fuzzy, etc).
Update 11/02 : We got some more NKT transistors that look slightly different, with white dots, and they sound awesome!
Update 1/03 : We can offer our mod on the ROGER MAYER blue rocket "The Fuzz Face" pedal, using the existing circuit board. We change all the components on the board but 2 capacitors. The FUZZ pot used is a little higher so it can get a little crunchier and more fuzz. We can change that to our standard FUZZ pot for an additional $10. The price for the RM mod is the same as the standard older fuzzface or arbiter fuzzface mods. We can also add our BIAS trim pot on the board of this pedal (standard with NKT option).
Update 10/05 : We have been making silicon sunfaces and mods for a few years, we finally got around to putting the info up on this website. We are using old BC108 or BC183 transistors which are the best of the old 1970 silicon type, as used in Eric Johnson's old red fuzzfaces.
Update 6/07 : We got in some really cool sounding NOS Japanese 2SB transistors, we will be using them in our standard (non NKT) Sunfaces and mods. Sold out in late '07 but got some more for '08.
Update 8/07 : We will use a smaller Gold box for the Sunfaces except for the ones with top jacks.
Update 4/08 : We are getting low on the normal white dot NKTs we have used for the past five years. So we will be offering the older style red dot NKTs optionally. See above for more info. We also got a bunch of Texas Instruments UK germaniums which we are now offering in our germanium fuzzes.
Update 9/10 : We are getting very low on the normal white dot NKTs so we had to raise the price. I think the TI/UK is the way to go unless you want a REALLY clean sounding fuzz.
Update 1/11 : We are out of the white dot NKTs now, all we can find are fakes or batches with all the good ones picked out.
Update 2011: We have some awesome NOS BC183 transistors for a great Silicon Fuzz.
Update 2012: We are using a brighter, shinier gold on the small SunFace boxes.
Update 2013: We have some "Telefunken" BC108C transistors we can use in the Sun Face.
Update 2015: We are out of all NKT275 transistors, we are saving some just for repairs.
Update 2016: We got some CV7005 which are very very similar to the NKT275.
Update 2017: We got the "Red Dot" NKT house numbered transistors. Pretty much the same as the
red dot NKT275 but tested to a narrower gain range.
We can use the smaller box with Top Jacks now except for with the on/off option.
Update 2018: We got the RCA germanium transistors in and have been making a lot of RCA Sun Face pedals. We also offered these as a HYBRID germanium set with an NKT red dot or BART high, for the best of both (less temperature sensative, warm but some brightness).
Update 2018: We retested a huge bag of red dot NKT275 from ten years ago, and found about 50 pairs of low gain and a few dozen medium and high gain pairs which we will offer as options.
Here is some excellent info by Dave Fox of FOX ROX Electronics. The FUZZ FACE REISSUE Story
We normally build these in the small gold box, the gold is professionally powder coated and baked on. These pedals take a while to build due to the hand tweaking, so they usually take a week or so to build. But we have some special QUICK DEAL versions ready to ship right away, and some other common versions too, email to check if you need one fast. Prices and options are on our ordering website.
Please use the new website for ordering these as it allows adding any options, accessories, and online status and tracking capabilities.
Use buyanalogman.com for ordering.
We can modify any of the round Fuzz Face pedals, including the Red Dunlop one, the Grey UK Arbiter one, and the Grey JHF1 Jimi reissue. These all have the basic fuzzface circuit of two transistors and no extra junk. We can also modify most hand made fuzzface clones. But we can't modify pedals like the MXR Classic 108 Fuzz. It's cheaper to modify an old style Fuzz Face (they have the switch hand-wired) as we can use the existing circuit board and wiring. The newer ones have the switch soldered onto the circuit board, so we remove the board and switch and hand-wire a new switch (better for repairs!) and install a Sun Face board with all new electronic components.
For the mod, you will need to choose what transistors you want. The prices for the transistor options are listed on the Sun Face ordering page on buyanalogman.com. We can add a third knob for the sundial, between the Volume and Fuzz knobs. We can also add a power jack but see the note above about why you can't share a power supply with germanium fuzz pedals.
Press Here for an order form to send in with your fuzzface for modification.We do a lot of repair work on old Fuzz Face pedals. Most of them are way out of spec on bias so they don't sound good. Many have a weak or dead transistor or capacitor, or a resistor that has drifted too far. No matter what, we can fix it and will keep it as original as possible. It gets expensive only if you need a NOS transistor as we don't have many of those left and are saving them only for repairs. Email for more info on repairs.
Click here to email me for more info:
(c) Dunlop Manufacturing, Inc. All rights reserved. FUZZ FACE is a trademark of Dunlop Manufacturing, Inc.
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