Bias
As the name implies, this control adjusts the bias of your transistor and
hence the symmetry. I’ve given you free play here to adjust the bias
anywhere you want. With the bias all the way down, the transistors will not
conduct at all, and you won’t get any sound out (unless you hit the G.I. fuzz
with a really big signal). As you turn up the bias control, you start to get a
gating effect, where the transistors conduct (and you get a signal out) as
long as you’re playing, but as soon as you stop, the pedal cuts out. If you
wish you can set the pedal like this almost as a noise gate. I really like this
setting, not for the ‘noise gate’ character, but rather because the fuzz sound
is really cool here. It’s almost as if the pedal is about to die!
As you turn the bias up and the transistors start to conduct with no signal,
you’re pretty much at the ‘symmetrical’ setting. The exact position that this
happens depends on many things, including the characteristics of the
transistors, internal trimmer setting, and other settings, so it’s not possible to
give an exact position for this point, but you should be able to tell by ear. At
this point, the tone is the fattest, and the sound is very full. As a hint for
finding this point by ear, it’s the point at which the tone sounds like it has the
most low end. Turn the fuzz up to 12 O’clock, turn up the load control, and
adjust the bias whilst playing the low strings. The ‘symmetrical’ point is found
where the tone is fattest.
As you turn up the bias control, the tone starts to thin out and get edgier, but
one of the interesting things about this range is also the ‘pumping’ effect that
you get. The more you turn up the bias control, the more pumping you get
from the fuzz. This feels like an ‘attack time’. The notes take some time to
settle.
As you can see thus far, these controls give you the ability to create a huge
range of fuzz sounds by varying parameters associated with the generation
of the fuzz. The next controls adjust the tone post-fuzz.
Body
This is a mid-range control. The mids are the most important set of
frequencies for controlling how much the fuzz cuts through, and how it will
interact with your amps, and sonically with other instruments in a live setting.
A quick play with this control will reveal just how much range there is,
allowing you to create outrageous and unheard of tones with the G.I. Fuzz.
Note that this control is very interactive with the tone control.
Tone
Like other MI Audio pedals, the Tone control is not a simple low pass filter.
It’s the low/high balancing control which I’ve found to be the most powerful
single knob tone control available. It cuts and boosts the lows and highs
depending on its position. All the way down, and the lows are boosted, and
the highs are completely cut from the signal. At 12 O’clock, you have a
perfect balance of low and highs. With the tone control maxed, the low end is
completely cut out, and the highs are boosted. The tone control, in
combination with the body control provides more flexibility than a 3 band
tone control. To see what I mean, set the body to 12 o’clock and sweep the
tone across its full range. It’s a remarkable range... at times I think almost
too much. But, look, I trust you to make a sensible choice!
Brightness Switch
The brightness switch controls the ‘bandwidth’ of the fuzz. This feature was
added to the G.I. fuzz towards the end of the original development process.
There are a few reasons why I added this feature:
1)
Modern amps can be very bright. In fact, many are not designed
to accept overdrive/fuzz pedals at all. Keeping all the top end in
the fuzz signal results in a piercing tone. With the brightness
switch, you can “Tame” the top end to match your amp.
2)
Matching overdrive pedals
:
If you use an overdrive pedal with a
fuzz pedal, switching between them reveals very quickly that a
fuzz pedal is generally much brighter and sharper sounding than
an overdrive. This can be used as a good thing, but in many
situations, this can be very annoying. With the brightness switch,
you can now match your fuzz and overdrive sounds.
The brightness switch is a 3 position toggle switch. The middle position
“Tame” is the brightest.
Volume
Why is it that most fuzz pedals have barely enough output to match your dry
signal? I’ve made the G.I. Fuzz so that it has a huge amount of output
volume. Now, you can use a fuzz pedal to overdrive your tube amp. The
large amount of output volume in conjunction with the low gain settings
achievable with the G.I. Fuzz (and the super flexible tone control) means that
you can use it as a pseudo clean-booster. In any case, you don’t have to
worry any more about not having enough output volume.
Other features
•
Strong die-cast enclosure
•
The enclosure is professionally powder-coated and silk-screened.
•
The G.I. Fuzz can be powered by an internal 9V battery.
•
Heavy duty 3PDT footswitch for true bypass and absolutely no
signal loss when bypassed.
•
9V DC plug for use with an external power supply (negative
centre pin like a standard Boss power supply)
Registration
To register your pedal, you can email your name, contact details, purchase
date, and retailer details along with the pedal serial number to:
Alternatively, you can send the above information to the postal address on
the front of this manual.
PLEASE REGISTER YOUR PEDAL
. In the long
run, it will be difficult to have your pedal serviced if you need to if the pedal is
not registered.
Warranty
This pedal carries a 5 year warranty that covers all repairs due to
manufacturer error. It does not cover any damage due to user mishandling,
shipping, acts of God, and abuse. The owner should contact MI Audio
directly for all repairs, and any work done by anyone other than MI Audio
voids the warranty. All shipping costs are the responsibility of the owner, and
are to be paid in advance of any work performed on the pedal. The owner
may be asked to provide a copy of the sales receipt for verification.
Disclaimer
The owner or user assumes responsibility for death, injury and/or damages
relating to the operation of this device. MI Audio Pty Ltd assumes no
responsibility for death, injury or damages relating from the operation of this
device. I am always thinking of ways to improve things, so all specifications
are subject to change without notice.
