American Fuzz v3

Guitar PCB American Fuzz v3 is a work-alike of the Mosrite Fuzzrite pedal from the mid-to-late 1960s. The Fuzzrite is probably best known as the fuzztone for Iron Butterfly's heavy psychedelic hit "Inna Gadda Da Vida".

Thermionic Studios has one(1) GuitarPCB American Fuzz PCB. When we finish assembling the pedal, it will be available for rental.

Controls

• Knob 1 - "Volume": This knob controls the total volume output of the pedal. Turn knob clockwise to increase the volume.
• Knob 2 - "Texture": This knob controls the amount of Gain, or Fuzz, or "Texture". Turn the knob clockwise to get a grittier and grittier sound.
• Footswitch 1 - "On/Off": This footswitch toggles the pedal between engaged/active ("On"), and bypassed ("Off").

Bypass:True

The American Fuzz v3 is true bypass.

General Information

This workalike of the original Mosrite Fuzzrite is about as ratty/splatty sounding as the original, which was clearly the intent. If you're looking for a 1960s era fuzz pedal, this does the job quite well. There are a few other 60s sounding pedals that you may want to consider if this doesn't work for the sound you're looking for:

• Fuzz Face
• Octavio
• Maestro FZ-1 Fuzz

Mosrite Guitars

Semie Moseley was originally born in Oklahoma, but grew up and is, for all practical purposes, considered to have been a native of Bakersfield, California. His was the mind behind the Mosrite company, and the vision for the Mosrite line of guitars. These guitars were made famous by the Ventures and associated with 60s Surf Rock. The Mosrite guitar was also made famous and, in combination with a Fuzzrite pedal, became associated with "heavy" music by Eric Brann of Iron Butterfly. You have undoubtedly heard the combination on "In A Gadda Da Vida". Finally, Johnny Ramone is affiliated with his use of a Mosrite while The Ramones were a band.

While Moseley was a very creative tinkerer and engineer, unlike Leo Fender, he wasn't necessarily the most fastidious businessman. After starting Mosrite in 1952 in Bakersfield, and being successful for 16 years, Mosrite first faced bankruptcy 1968. Throughout the 70s and even as recently as the late 1980s, Moseley was always working on a come-back for Mosrite Guitars. The Mosrite guitar is known particularly for its odd offset horns, thin necks, low frets, and high-output pickups. His daughter, Dana, was successful in having a hand in making Mosrite guitars up through 2015, though current status of the Mosrite name is currently unknown.

Fun Facts!

I (Zander) don't recall where I read this - perhaps it was in the pamphlet/liner notes combo (that didn't fit in the jewelcase but) that came with the CD version of In-A-Gadda-Da-Vita that I bought sometime around 1997? I don't exactly recall. Eric Brann was just 17 when he joined Iron Butterfly as guitarist, but Doug Engle (keyboards) was around 30 or so. At this particular time Iron Butterfly was working on the song we know now as "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vita". As I recall reading, it was at a party after the band had played an early performance of In-A-Gadda, but before the song had been released on an album. Engle was drunk on red wine when a groupie came up asked him what the title of the new "heavy" song was. He intended to answer with the agreed-upon name, "In the Garden of Eden", but because he was blasted, told the groupie, "In A Gadda Da Vita!" and apparently the name stuck!

Pedal Manual

• https://guitarpcb.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/BD_American-Fuzz-Pro.pdf

Phase Inversion: Yes

The GuitarPCB American Fuzz Pro inverts phase.

Schematic ID	Electronic Part	Action	Phase State
Q1	2N5088	Invert	Inverted
Q2	2N5088	Invert	Reverted
Q3	2N5088	Invert	Inverted

Artists

We are currently unaware of any artists actively using the pedal now, or who have in the past.

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Additional Sources

• http://www.mosriteforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6501