NZGuitars.com

I was browsing some older posts and stumbled across a couple mentions of fuzZie bRo.

Anyone who has owned fuzZie bRo gear or dealt with Paul/fuzZie himself knows how great a guy he is and what fantastic work he did.

Since I was quite closely involved with Paul back when he was most actively designing and building his stuff, I have ended up with a fair number of his pedals. I also saw and heard him testing many of his builds before they went out the door, so I know there is a lot of amazing gear out there in the world.

Paul and fuzZie bRo were very active on NZG and the guitar scene for quite a long time but since he has moved on to different things, we don't see much mention of him any more.

Consequently, I thought it might be a cool idea to set this thread up as a register to find out what is where, share and compare and generally gather as much of a resource as possible for future reference.

I plan to dig out a lot of the more interesting gear I have stashed away and make some demo clips t share. A lot of them will be fuzZie bRo pedals I've accumulated over the years. It would be great to see others do the same, or post photos and a bit of a description/review.

It'd also be interesting to share any stories you might have too.

I'll write up a bit of a history from my perspective which will cover some of the ideas behind the development of the amps and pedals when Paul worked out of my studio, The Manor in Auckland. I won't be able to talk the tech stuff (that was Paul's turf) but I was often involved in the direction and development side which shaped the sound and style of some of his designs.

rocK oN fuzZie bRo!

Paul/fuzZie bRo poses on the stairway in the Manor with his prototype amp.
Early on in our association, Paul had great ideas of building amps. He set up in an upstairs room at The Manor where he could work on his builds and test gear in the studios downstairs. This amp was a starting point from which many of the amps he completed were derived from. Sort of a test mule which could be jigged around to try different circuit variations.
The incredibly tidy hand wiring of the prototype. This amp designed by Paul, was exploring the character and controls of the classic NMV Marshall but in a lower wattage.
The amps of inspiration!
This is a selection of amps that we could set up in the Manor to test against and compare amp characters.
No master volumes in sight.
L-R, '77 Marshall 1959 Super Lead, c. 59-61 Jansen IA715 25watt head running through a DC Cabs 2x12 loaded with '50s vintage Goodmans alnico 12"s, '74 Marshall Super Bass running through 1960B cab with G12Hs and in front a Roland Jazz Chorus JC120.
Paul testing his prototype. On the left is a '63 Fender Showman head sitting on an angled 2x12 (quarter stack) loaded with '70s era Celestion G12-65s.
Paul was an incredibly accomplished and tasteful player in his own right. The Manor was located next to Real Groovy records and the owner Chris Hart stopped by one time raving about how he could hear "...someone playing some righteous blues in there! Was that you?"
"Nah man... that was fuzZie bRo!"
Paul jamming on my Black Tokai LP.
Still jamming... You can see the amp was set up with EL84s. Searching for that perfect blend of Marshall/Fender/Vox
Paul's other great contribution to The Manor and the wellbeing of the AK music scene was the famous Carimali coffee machine... He was a skilled chef and barista too. Say no more...

Pedals!

This one is, I think, a one off. fuzZie CHiPs bRO.

Simple single knob fuzz control.

I picked this up from Polar Bear a few years back. I don't think I've even tested it yet! I have a tendency to acquire FB pedals when they come up for sale. I've lost track of what's in the collection but there's some really interesting models that do quite specific things. i'll dig 'em out and show them soon.

I don't often sell them but I did once
get talked into parting with a couple pedals in exchange for a gigantic '70s vintage 32 channel Jands mixer...

I've had this thing for years. No idea what it is.. I'm actually not sure I've ever plugged it in!

I bought a 808 kit off him, it might have been the first pedal I built, he hooked me up with vintage JRC4558's as well, sounded epic, kdawg has it now

when ever I heard his name mentioned I always thought he would look like Jimi Hendrix not Steve Clark ... Don't think I have ever had the pleasure of hearing anything of his

willow13 wrote:when ever I heard his name mentioned I always thought he would look like Jimi Hendrix not Steve Clark ... Don't think I have ever had the pleasure of hearing anything of his

I totally thought he would look like Hendrix too

jeremyb wrote:I bought a 808 kit off him, it might have been the first pedal I built, he hooked me up with vintage JRC4558's as well, sounded epic, kdawg has it now

Cool! I didn't know it was a Fuzziebro kit! It's on my pedal board all the time and it's an excellent light gain/ boost pedal.

I still have my fuzz though its been out on loan for about 3 years! That is a magical pedal.
I had an 808 for awhile.
He did a lot of tweaking on the Bombardier which has been sat in my workshop for about 7 years, waiting for me to fit a new power transformer! I also want to fit it into a combo, maybe in tweed lol

He built a tube screamer for me that is quite good. I lent it to my nephew so he could decide if he wanted to get his own screamer pedal. He settled on the Cmat Mods Super Sigma Drive, which is a well regarded pedal. Demos sold him on that over all the other options out there. However, he likes the Fuzzie Bro pedal more and i have not been able to get the thing back off him yet. I am making do with the boost on my amp.

I’ve got a little fb amp here. 5w I think. Pic to follow.