Hey yáll
Does anyone here use a dallas arbiter fuzz face ?? I have one for awhile now but it just doesnt have enough fuzz for me.I wonder if anyone knows of a mod for this pedal ? I know Hendrix used it but I heard that his was modded.
Thanks in advance

Which type of FF is it that you have is it Germanium or Silicon ? if it's Ge it wont be as fuzzy as a Si version, Hendrix used the Ge version only for a short period before going on to the Si version plus his was modded by Roger Mayer, famed for the Band of Gypsies period etc if you check out The Technology of the Fuzz Face at www.Geofex.com you'll get all the info you require from RG Keens post giving advice on FF's and mods etc

soulpumkin1974,

Jimi used as many different types of fuzz faces as his girlfriends had different sized nipples!!
Roger Mayer had already made a fuzz effect pre-dating the earliest Fuzz Faces for Beck and Clapton and then Hendrix, after Arbiter Fuzz faces came out with Ge xsistors (AC128 or NK275)he went with those but they have a lot of variances. Temparature being one of the worst, that and radio signal interference. Roger and Jimi would supposedly have go thru twenty to find a couple good ones out of the bunch. His definitely got modded many times. Then RM made the Axis fuzz for that album which has a unique combo of PNP & NPN silicon xsistors in it (also used on BOG, Cry of Love, Rainbow Bridge....) Then Dallas Music Industries came out with a mid 60s fuzz face that Jimi also used and then Dallas-Arbiter came out with the silicon Fuzz face in the later 60s and thru the mid 70s. Then a period of time went by where no new F Faces were produced. Then Dave Fox came out with a re-issue of the DA FFace with silicon xsistors (BC108/109s)in there ( I have two of those)from Crest Audio (mid 80s). About the same time in the early to mid 80s RM came out with his Rocket FX Jimi style modded Fuzz face with AC128s. I have one from Guitar Galaxy NYC I bought straight from RM via mail order about 1986 (also bought an Octavia with the landmine optical switch). After that RM made about 4-5 more including the AXIS fuzz in the Rocket FX case. Now there are about twenty different kinds out there!!! some modded by Analog man and he also has his own version with GE xsistors called the sunface, there is also one called the London fuzz which is a good one if you can find one. Dunlop now makes the original re-issue 60s looking fuzz face but it does not sound like a vintage one, no way. Actually Arbiter makes their own version of the Arbiter FuzzFace (pre-Dallas) with the original design and GE xsistors which is supposed to sound pretty good, but i have not heard one. These are all battery effects and that in itself is a rascal to deal with unless you own a battery company, for some reason the crude Fface circuit is not crazy about direct DC 9 volt power supplies either. So there's another bit of technical drama you have to deal with. IMHO the best ones are a pre-DA vintage Ge fuzz if you can find one (ebay from $300-$600)and then the RM Ge or Crest Audio Si fuzz very early re-issues, athough I hear the Sunface, London and re-issued Arbiter are all good too. One thing is for sure you can't get a really pure Hendrix sound without at least one good version of one of those types of fuzz faces. He used many different types in a period of 4 years. At times more than one in his chain. His roadie Eric is quoted as saying he would start off an American tour with no less than twenty of them and about the same amount of wahs (Vox, King Vox, Thomas, Italian Thomas, Sound City, and many modded by RM) and then there was the Univibe another long tale............................. cheers, hope this helps soulpumkin1974, hey when are you guys gonna get rid of that damn Euro over in the Netherlands??????? It's hard to make the Cup in November in Amsterdam since the Guilder is gone, everything cost a million US dollars against the EURO!!

Cheers & viva the Melkweg!!