DAM Fuzz Sound MkIV

Submitted on February 1, 2011

Information

David Main (DAM)

Fuzz Sounds numbers #040 onwards have...

The FS-75 model number. Which means? Nothing. Just looks cool.
Altered font type for the 'INST' and 'AMP' labelling to match the font type used on the other D*A*M noise breakers.
No 'professional' tag line above the Fuzz Sound print and now features the MK at IV not III. The professional thing, well its obviously professional so need to state the obvious, ha! MKIV? Why not. I made some changes so hey, its now MKIV....it actually makes more sense in regards to the circuit type, to be exact.
Same low profile LED lens as seen on t'other D*A*M's. The LED be blue. Sexy.
Mullard OC76, OC45 and OC71 combo. This is likely to change on each batch but the first 15 have this set-up.... except the couple that have OC44's that squeezed through the testing procedure.

DAM

Bad scene

To present a sonic anchor, or an ambiguous tonal guide, I shall quote myself, which I find kinda odd. I describe the ‘stock’ Fuzz Sound MKIV as...

"...an all out balls to the wall, big hair, big boobs, fat cars, fast food, dirty denim, dirty hippies, 8-track stereo cranking, 3-D glasses rocking fuzz tone. To quote, its: "1970 rollin' in sight"

And to be further bizarre by quoting myself again, I set the theme for our Grease Box, which is a derivative of the Fuzz Sound (Tone Bender MKIV circuit), as...

"Its 1981. MTV, The Space Shuttle, The Fall Guy, Roland Reagan...Peter Sutcliffe, Britney Spears is born. Satan rules supreme. Awesome times are awesome. The beast awakens. Marshall amps, long hair, cool moustache, humbuckers in yer Strat, can I palm mute on every song? Why yes you can. It’s happening and it’s happening now"

The point in doing the above to bring you to the now and to these dark stealthy offerings. These black on black Fuzz Sounds are just a further continuation of my journey into and through the Tone Bender MKIII, MKIV and I guess the Buzzaround too, in fact any of the 'darlington fuzz' circuits of the 1960’s. I find it endlessly fascinating to the point of obsession that this circuit can go from a clumsy choppy overly gated heavy booted drunk of a fuzz tone to an amphetamine fueled blade wielding lasers for eyes daggers for teeth distortion box.

So as a chronology, as in, sound being time, this is last in line of the above. The early 1990’s, kill your boss, kicked down doors, broken foot, broken mind, stumblin’ man, 1000 yard stare, Jeffery Dahmer, acts of aggression, the Cold War over.
Exact precision under a heavy foot. Solid, heavy, dense, but none too chubby. A GMC 4x4 blowin’ sparks down a one way street, a F-117 blowin’ your mind. In a nutshell, it’s a bad-ass-fuzz-box. Still has all the tonal scope of any D*A*M Fuzz Sound but tuned with Satanic might and lil’ extra biggity bam in the lower midrange.

Evilinside

All have the same germanium line-up of a sole Mullard/Philips OC76 backed up by the military sh*t, a CV7004 (the military version of the OC45) and a CV8314 (military OC76). The usually high quality resistor and capacitor presentation (Arcol, Vishay and Wima) along with solidly produced mechanical hardware (Omeg, Neutrik etc) make these bruisers not only look like a stealth bombers but give a nod and wink to the construction style of one.