The 1948 Fuzz ™ Germanium Fuzz

Extremely Pick Sensitive, Hand Made Germanium Fuzz with Matched Transistors. Big time Vintage Tones.

Handpicked germanium transistors for solid fuzz tone: Germanium fuzz pedals are highly sought after because they sound better if the transistors which cause the fuzz effect have very specific properties. For the 1948, each germanium transistor is measured one at a time and the best ones are used in a fuzz face style circuit. After transistors are matched, a custom power supply circuit for each pedal sis designed so that it performs with a sound and tone that you can't find anywhere else.

These are the techniques that guitar techs used to find the best sounding fuzz pedals for famous musicians such as Hendrix and others. Now you can own a fuzz hand picked with the same care.

Pedal Board Friendly and Wah wah pedal friendly fuzz.

An optional buffer stage at the input can be switched on so that it works well with a wah or other pedals in front of it. This means it also works well with active pickups too. With a wah, you can get those huge Hendrix sweeps. The buffer matches your guitar better and you’ll hear some of the treble you often lose with fuzz pedals.

Maintain Stage Volume or Boost / Overdrive your Guitar.

The output is actually a built in booster stage which will make sure that when you turn it on, it is never quieter than you clean sound. You can dial the fuzz back, turn the boost up and end up with some really nice overdriven sounds.

The tone control keeps it warm.

To keep that vintage warm tone, you can roll the tone control back and cut out some of the higher end treble. This works great to keep it warm when you have the buffer on.

Proper EMI Grounding helps reduce noise.

Lower noise fuzz because the 1948 has isolated ground planes designed in. Fuzz pedals all have a ton of gain to get them to fuzz, which means they will pick up radio stations and other noise easily if you angle them right. Many of them don’t have correct grounding which helps reduce these problems. A lot of this stems from germanium transistors, which need opposite polarity and makes it harder to ground.

Power jack for Boss Style connectors

A power jack with a battery simulator circuit is included as a standard feature at no extra charge unlike some other manufacturers. You can connect the 1948 up to any regulated power 9V power supply and it will retain that vintage tone on your pedalboard. A circuit that looks like a battery is designed in which is critical for good fuzz tone when running off a supply. Germanium fuzz pedals tend to sound better with specific batteries because of their non ideal properties and the 1948 sounds great with either power supply or battery power.

1948 Germanium Fuzz Pedal Specifications:

• Get authentic vintage tone with hand selected germanium fuzz transistors. Sweet tone.
• Keep your treble with the WahSAFE FuzzSAFE guitar buffer with true bypass on/off
• Buffer is the same as the individual Clarionix Buffer that I also make and sell
• Be Expressive - Extremely responsive to both pick attack and guitar volume
• Completely analog design. Germanium transistor based fuzz circuit. I hand measure and match each one.
• No tone sucking. High input impedance and low output impedance
• LED indicator when pedal is on
• True Bypass input and output (Will not load other pedals when off)
• Powder coated enclosure with handmade screen printed graphics
• Handcrafted in USA
• Comes with ScreaminFX return policy - full refund if you email me and then return like new within 60 days. I think it is really important to try it with your own rig.

Story behind the design of the 1948 fuzz

The Name? If you are wonder where 1948 Fuzz came from, germanium transistors were invented in 1948!

I wanted to design a pedal that would have that true vintage fuzz sound but at the same time fix some of the things I don’t like about Fuzz pedals. I start by hand selecting old germanium transistors and measure each one individually. Then, I select ones with the correct gain and frequency response to make the best fuzz possible. I then put together the main Fuzz circuit which is based on the original Fuzz Face, but I hand tune the resistors in each guitar pedal so that the sound for every one is exactly how I want it. This is why they cost more; I have to individually hand tune each pedal. However, they can be custom tailored as well for a specific sound (more or less gain etc etc).

Additionally, it uses very few transistors (one for the fuzz face style circuit, one for the boost which matches output impedance and one for the buffer) which means that your subtle inflections and guitar playing style will come through. You will love it.

Then, I fix the main two problems in Fuzz Pedals. This is what makes my pedals stand out, especially to people who are fuzz fanatics:

First Problem Fixed: Fuzz Pedals don't sound great with other pedals in front of them, especially a Wah Wah. Solution: I made a custom buffer called FuzzSAFE™ and WahSAFE™ that works extremely well with my 1948 Fuzz Pedal. It adds a little more treble that you were losing. Additionally, you can put other pedals in front and you don't have to worry about the Fuzz sound going south and sounding terrible. It sounds awesome, especially with a Wah Wah because you can get a full Wah range that you normally miss out on. This buffer is attached with a true bypass switch, so when its off, its off and not in your guitar path.

Second Problem: When you turn on a Fuzz, it is often not as loud as your stage volume. Solution: I hate pedals that aren't loud enough, so with my Fuzz pedals I added a clean gain stage that doesn't alter the fuzz sound over most of the range unless if is used as an overdriver. It is designed for a 6dB boost, which is a lot of clean boost. You can make the 1948 Fuzz as loud as you want and never loose your stage level. Additionally, because you can make it so loud, you can turn down the actual fuzz circuit and get new overdrive sounds that were unachievable at stage volume levels before. This clean boost is directly in the volume control of the pedal.

A note about the power supply: The way the guitar signal of a Fuzz pedal sees ground is through both the ground and the power supply. For these old vintage pedals, I just don't think they sound right if you use a power supply to power them. Instead, I highly recommend just running it off of a battery. However, many people have asked so now I add in a DC power jack that is Boss style which runs through a special circuit that looks like a battery to maintain good tone. This pedal consumes very little power (less than 4mA!) and will last for many hours (>100 hours) on a single battery. My personal preference is to use a cheap battery from the dollar store. I use Sunbeam brand and they are normally two for a dollar at the dollar store(It will ship with one).

60 Day No Hassle Money Back!

You need to try the pedals on your rig at home or on stage. If you buy one and it is not for you, please send it back unharmed and I will refund the purchase price no problem.

USPS Shipping (US Mail) to USA

The pedals ship using USPS Priority Mail. It usually takes 2-3 business days to get there and I will email you about the shipment

International Shipping

I ship internationally all the time and am becoming somewhat expert at it now. I have sent pedals everywhere! However, it costs more to ship internationally. The added cost for shipping this pedal internationally USPS first class is added in when you check out and is based on weight. This first class shipping takes about 3-4 weeks and depends on customs in your country. There is also a priority option, please email me but this is usually at least $40 and the pedal will arrive in 6-10 business days. If you have any questions or concerns please email me using the contact form.

Watch your Email

Please check to make sure the confirmation emails don't go to your spam. This seems to happen on occasion. The email will come from Seth at ScreaminFX

Delay Due to Backorder

I will let you know immediately if the pedal you order is not in stock. I usually try to have several ready to go, but please remember that I build each one by hand which can take me a while if I have a long list or if my kid is extra fussy. Then I test them to make sure they are exactly how I want. The hardest part is not rocking out for a long time when I test them!

Warranty

All pedals have a 3 year warranty from date of purchase and transfer to whoever owns the pedal at the time. If you sell it sometime in those first 3 years (hopefully never!), you can tell them it is still under warranty.

"I have to tell you the 1948 is amazing. The boost and buffer takes it to a level I have not found. And I have owned countless brands from the oldest vintage to the newest and most costly. It has bumped my recent favorite off the board and secured a spot as my main screamin lady!
- Nick D from PapaNut Blues Band

I really dig your fuzz pedals too!! That germanium matched transistors!! Sick!!
- Eric from Suenalo

Videos Artists Made - Let me know if you make one and I can post it!

Here is the link to the user manaul:

The 1948 Fuzz ™ Germanium Fuzz User Manual