What We Say: The quality of AnalogMan is well known and the Astro Tone appears no different. A great fuzz box inspired by the Sam Ash Fuzzz Boxx and Astrotone Fuzz made in New York in the mid to late 1960′s.

What They Say: ”…The Analog Man ASTRO TONE fuzz is somewhere between a fuzz and distortion, it acts differently into different amps. But it sounds great into almost anything! I always had trouble using Fuzzfaces live, this one is MUCH easier to use and you can hear it well with a band.

Many people have problems using a Fuzz Face type pedal, like our Sunface, live with a band. I had the same problem which is one reason we are making these pedals, it’s something I need to get the sounds I want. I play Fender amps with a Les Paul, which is not too favorable to fuzz face pedals. But this pedal works great with that setup.

The sound is not as compressed as a Fuzz Face, not SUPER thick and saturated, something between a fuzz and distortion. It’s fuzzier into a smaller amp (Fender Deluxe), and more of a BOOSTER into a large distorted amp (Marshall 1970s Super Lead). It can also be stacked with other pedals, for example running a fuzz face into it can get a sound like Spirit in the Sky, which buzzes and cuts out. Or run the Astro Tone into an OD pedal like a TS808 or KoT to make it fatter.

Features:

1. True Bypass switching
2. Super Bright LED for lower power use, buffed so as not to blind you!
3. Uses less than 1 mA of power when off, only 3 when on, so an Alkaline bat tery will last a few hundred hours of normal playing time.
4. Normal Boss style power jack, negative ground so no polarity problems
5. Three simple knobs – Volume, Fuzz, and Tone.
6. High quality, hand wired RE’AN input and output jacks.
7. original 1966 Fairchild Silicon transistors, not affected by heat like a Germanium fuzz.
8. Sound is not as compressed as a fuzzface, not SUPER thick and saturated, something between a fuzz and distortion but closer to a fuzz…”

TheAstro Tone Fuzz can be purchased at the Analogman website.
http://www.buyanalogman.com

Sources: www.analogman.com

ANALOGMAN SUN LION

What We Say:Currently out of production the Sun Lion is hard to track down. Analogman have prmised to start building these again sometime in the future, but who knows? Great graphics.

What They Say: ”…In early 2005 we combined these two pedals, the BEANO BOOST and SUNFACE into a new pedal – the SUNLION! The result of this combination turned out to be much more than the sum of it’s parts- an amazing sounding Tri-Germanium fuzz! We have made several three-transistor Tonebender MK-II pedals but they are not possible to make as consistently perfect sounding as our Sunface or Beano Boost so we stopped making them. We find the Sunlion an excellent alternative as it can get the same sounds with both sides on, plus MANY MORE sounds and so much more flexible.

The order of the two pedals is SUNFACE -> BEANO BOOST. We chose this order because it is quieter this way (less noise), and it’s a less subtle, more cutting sound. The other order (Beano -> Sunface) is more a classic rock tone, while SUNFACE -> BEANO BOOST can get more extreme sounds. You can use the volume controls on each pedal to change the sounds, for example crank the sunface up really loud into the Beano Boost and turn the Beano down so the output is not too loud for your amp, and you can get an even more extreme fuzz…”

The Sun Lion is no longer available to buy, it might be worth looking on online auction sites, or specialised dealers.
http://www.buyanalogman.com

Sources: www.analogman.com

ANALOGMAN SUN FACE

What We Say: A popular thick fuzz based on a modified FuzzFace. Solid, professional quality build.

What They Say: ”…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. Germaniumtransistors were the first type of transistors generally available, starting in the early 1960s. They are not very stable or easy to manufacture consistently. Since silicontransistors took over from germanium about 40 years ago, 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…”

The Sun Face can be bought at Analogman’s website, the estimated build time is approximatly two weeks.
http://www.buyanalogman.com

Sources: www.analogman.com

What We Say: Knowing the quality from Analogman this is unlikely to be different. Sexy looks and a solid build guaranteed.

What They Say: ”…There were some nasty, buzzy fuzz pedals made in the mid 1960s. Some examples are the Mosrite Fuzzrite, Maestro Fuzz Tone, Jordan Bosstone, Kay fuzz, etc. We found some super high gain germanium transistors in late 2006 that could be tuned to get those sounds so we are finally able to offer a few hundred of these pedals, which we named the PEPPERMINT FUZZ in tribute to the song INCENSE AND PEPPERMINTS which features this very sound. It can also be used for some later punk rock sounds like the Stooges, etc. And can do a decent late 60s Fuzzface sound if dialed in properly…”

The Peppermint Fuzz is available in two versions, this standard one, and the ‘dark’ one which uses darker sounding transistors. Both can be bought from Analogman.
http://www.buyanalogman.com

Sources: www.analogman.com

ANALOGMAN KING OF TONE

What We Say: Analog Man is a well respected manufacturer of high-end, boutique pedals and the KOT is one of his crowning achievements. Widely regarded as one of the best and most sought after Overdrive pedals.

What They Say: ”…Everyone seems to know what a Tube Screamer sounds like, so we can use them to describe the KoT sounds. Even our modified Tube Screamers and all the TS clones out there are still basically tube screamers, so this info will still apply.

The KoT is one of the few overdrive pedals available that is NOT based on a Tube Screamer circuit. It does not have a huge amount of distortion. In OD mode, it has a little less drive available than a Tube Screamer. It has quite a bit more volume available than a Tube Screamer and The TONE control has a similar range. The KoT has less compression than a tube screamer, and also does not boost the mids or cut the low end as much…”

The King Of Tone (Currently In Version 4) can be bought at AnalogMan’s website, however, at the time of writing the wait is said to be over one year long due to popularity.
http://www.buyanalogman.com

Sources: www.analogman.com

ANALOGMAN BEANO BOOST

What We Say: Analog Man is a well respected manufacturer of high-end, boutique pedals and the Beano Boost looks to be no different.

What They Say: “This pedal is based on the 1960s British Dallas Rangemaster, which was needed at the time to give a treble boost to the dark British amps. This allowed them to get a sound more in tune with the time, as guitars were starting to become a loud, bold, lead instrument. This pedal is a type of BOOSTER, not really a distortion pedal nor a clean boost- it does modify your sound quite a bit. It excites certain frequencies and pushes your amp to allow it to create rich tube distortion. The pedal colors your tone, with a crunchy overdrive, boosting certain frequencies, and warming the tone with NOS germanium transistors. It does not have a lot of compression and sustain like most OD pedals, but a more raw, open sound.

This pedal has three tone settings from the tone switch- Center is a treble boost, the same as the original Dallas Rangemaster. UP is a fuller-frequency mid range boost (MID setting). Down is a LOW range, also quite a full frequency sound. Optionally we can install a push/pull switch (built into the volume knob) for 2 tone selections (treble and mids) but this option is not as good so we rarely build them.

The Beano Boost is spectacular into an amp that is already cranked up pretty well. It will also work well into a clean amp, but you probably need to turn the volume on the pedal up, to make the tone thicker by hitting the amp harder and making it work more.

At 9:00 the Beano Boost is unity gain and may not sound very special into a clean amp. At 12:00 it starts to boost the volume and get thicker. At 3:00 it should be waking your tubes up like a passing jet plane.

So if you use a clean amp, it’s not something you can just turn on and get a great sound at the same volume. However most of the time when you want more crunch you want more volume, so it may work out fine.”

The Beano can be purchased at the website of manufacturer ‘Analogman.’
http://www.buyanalogman.com

Sources: www.analogman.com