MAESTRO FUZZ-TONE FZ-M
Satisfaction guaranteed?
The FZ-1 Germanium fuzz pedal went through some different incarnations in its lifetime including a transistor change in the FZ-1A from 1966, the 1968 Robert Moog designed FZ-1B with Silicon transistors, the FZ-1S in the 1970s and even a limited numbers re-issue of the FZ-1A by Gibson in the 1990s. The latest in that line is this new FZ-M which comes equipped with two distinct sounds – a nod to the past in ‘Classic’ said to be based on the FZ-1A sound, plus ‘Modern’ which Gibson describes as a fuller and heavier tone. The Classic setting is really all you need to nail that Satisfaction riff. Turn up that Attack knob and you’ll be getting a cool mid-1960s fuzz sound that is at the same time lean and saturated with a raspy edge. It’s a bit of a scooped sound with attenuated low end/lower mids but it’s powerful. It’s at it brightest with the tone knob full up, but all points on the knob sound good - just roll it back to cut down the high end presence depending on your needs.
If you switch over to the Modern sound there’s a quite different experience, and the Tone knob is key to everything here. Running with the Tone knob fully left offers the fattest sound with plenty of low end girth but still enough top end to stop things getting woolly, turning the knob up adds treble all the while reducing the low end providing plenty of useful tones on its arc of travel. Get past perhaps about 2-0’clock though and things start to get nasty as the lower end is sacrificed for the sort of harsher upper mids and treble that’ll slice your eardrums.
From sixties garage, through classic rock to hooligan, this pedal should satisfy a lot of fuzz needs.