Pigdog Fuzzbound

Pigdog

Fuzzbound is a faithful take on the original Buzzaround fuzz pedal originally made in the mid-60's by the Baldwin Burns company.

Fuzzbound's case in custom made to the exact same dimensions as the original except that the original 1960′s cases were a bit flimsy and so, consequently, some of those surviving vintage original units became dented and bent.

For Fuzzbound, we used a thicker grade steel. This is a real heavyweight of a pedal, but the measurements are still the same as that of an original unit. The guys I use to make my cases are experts with more years experience than you can shake a stick at. They work for big names in the aerospace industry and really know their stuff.

The result is a beautifully made and finished enclosure. You will struggle to damage these.

The guy who finishes all Pigdog cases does work for McLaren F1 (and road cars). The colour of the outer case is a slightly textured powder-coat. I never set out to try and fool anyone that this was going to be a carbon copy of the original units. But, visually, this is all Buzzaround and has that slightly futuristic (from a 1960′s viewpoint!) kind of thing going on.

For the all important knobs. I had those professionally custom made too. Fine quality solid aluminium. They are super-cool things. The guy who makes them for me is a perfectionist and the result is exact replicas of the original knobs, but more nicely made. Those of you that get to see them close up will know what I mean. You cannot buy these knobs anywhere else and I do not sell them seperately.

The circuit

The circuit is made as close as is sensible to an original vintage example. NOS Wima and Phillips capacitors and carbon comp resistors mounted on tag board.

Transistors

For the transistors I used NKT213 in Q3 and NKT214′s for the Darlington pair. I do not have an endless supply of NKT213′s, so this is a sensible combination in my opinion. Using NKT214′s allows me to get unwanted noise down to a minimum and sound wise I cannot distinguish them from a unit with all three NKT213′s.

Vintage units had aluminium battery holder brackets. It would be a shame not to finish these things with anything other than the same. (Also beautifully made by my expert case guys).

The case, finishing and screen-printing is all done locally here in Surrey. 100% handmade by me (of course).

So, there you have it. The Pigdog Fuzzbound. A Burns Buzzaround replica. Just a bit better made than you might expect! :)