Many fuzz enthusiasts swear that the germanium Fuzz Face possesses a certain magic that was lost when the design later moved to silicon: warmth, musicality, and unmistakable mojo. The downside is that authentic germanium fuzz circuits can be notoriously temperamental. Changes in ambient temperature can have a significant impact on their behaviour, making them far less predictable than their silicon counterparts.
The Deitsch Mark 1 is a loose reinterpretation of the 1966 Fuzz Face, featuring a number of thoughtful improvements that make it more flexible and more practical to use than its ancestor.
The most notable improvement is the addition of a dedicated BIAS control and an indicator LED that lights up when the circuit reaches its sweet spot. This allows you to quickly compensate for temperature changes and dial the pedal back into its optimal operating range.
You can even take it further and intentionally set the bias a little above or below the sweet spot, depending on your preference. Pushing the bias control to its limits also opens the door to more “broken” and unstable tones.
The pedal also includes a very responsive TONE control and a MOSFET BOOST with plenty of gain on tap. The boost is particularly useful when working the guitar’s volume knob, letting you explore the beautiful clean-up behaviour typical of germanium circuits.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.