Question about the 2 knob Foxey Lady.

[Rambozo96]

Did EHX make this version too? Much to my surprise the circuit is a bit different than any BMP or it’s variants that I observed over the years. How do they sound? Been tempted to build a clone to see for myself.

 

[GAD]

Yes. I'm in the midst of doing a pile of research on these pedals so ask away.

I have a 2-knob here with me that I'm writing up and will record soon.

There are two 2-knob FLs - one with a switch between the knobs which is a Mossrite FUZZrite, and one with the integral switch on the volume knob. This later one is actually kind of what started EHX as Mike Mathews was building them for Guild. This pedal was also sold as the EHX Axis before the v1 Triangle Big Muff which is the same as the v4 Foxey Lady.

 

[Guildedagain]

The older pedal is the one that was posted here not that long ago, steel cased with painted finish, and sort of made disparaging comments about. I did email the guy in NY, really nice guy orig owner but a long distance deal wasn't that interesting to either one of us and I let it go. I believe that was actually a moneymaker for sure. Eventually, after studying all of these quite a bit too much I bought a Catalinbread Fuzzrite to see what that was all about, and it's vow...

It's a strange beast for sure, overall gain is minimal which is fantastic. It will do a proper fuzz tone at bedroom levels, and the depth knob is basically like a Contour made of two different Silcon transistors, there is an interplay between the two, you can almost hear octave tones, it's a very usable fuzz. It also cleans up almost like no other, better than any other.

But at this point all of this research made me rediscover my Germanium powered Dallas Treble Boost clone, and I appreciate Germanium like never before. There is a sparkle there, that's what Hendrix had in his sound.

 

[GAD]

Yeah I was the one doing most of the disparaging, too.

There are two models (really three) with two knobs. First is the Mossrite and looks like this:

Second (third, but the second is insanely rare) looks like this. This one is a modified Mossrite circuit from after Mossrite when out of business. On this one there is a large circuit board while on the first one there is likely to be the encapsulated sprague component.

 

[SFIV1967]

That's certainly a monster part in there!

There's a ton of info here:

The Big Muff History of All Versions Part 1

http://www.kitrae.net/music/History_of_OEM_Big_Muffs.html


Ralf

 

[GAD]

That’s the Sprauge encapsulated circuit. Sort of an early IC.

The big muff page is amazing but can be a bit dense to read. I’m consolidating what I’ve learned into one or more blog posts.

 

[SFIV1967]

Interesting that Sprague branded SM001 and MM001 circuits for multiple companies like Rosac Electronics, Sierra Electronics, Mosrite,...

Ralf

 

[Guildedagain]

A good version for dummies from the effects data page, very, actually insanely cool page that has some photos of mine here and there from old eBay ads of days gone by, more pedal info than you could imagine.

"Guild asked Mosrite to build Fuzzrites for them under the Foxey Lady name and in a different housing. According to Eddie Sanner, the designer of the Fuzzrite, the circuit was exactly the same, but Guild said they didn't sound the same, so after 2-3 runs (around 1000 pedals in total) they started looking for a new partner who could build pedals for them.

They found Mike Matthews, who didn't start the Electro-Harmonix brand yet, but he had a circuit and let Aul Instruments build the pedals. One of the techs at Aul, Norman Schwartzman, would become the first Electro-Harmonix employee.

When Mike started the Electro-Harmonix company, the Foxey Lady became a version of the Axis Fuzz, later of the triangle knob and ram's head versions of the Big Muff Pi"

Guild Foxey Lady

more than 25000 different guitar effects pedals from 4000 brands: vintage, modern, boutique, rare,...

www.effectsdatabase.com

More than 25000 guitar effects pedals from 4000 brands:
http://www.effectsdatabase.com/model/guild/foxeylady
"

 

[Rambozo96]

That's certainly a monster part in there!

There's a ton of info here:

The Big Muff History of All Versions Part 1

http://www.kitrae.net/music/History_of_OEM_Big_Muffs.html


Ralf

The later Ed Sanner made Sierra/Rosac fuzz had that same module. I don’t know what they used to encase the circuit but it looks like a capacitor. I did like the Fuzzrite I built that was based on the Fuzzrite found in the Mosrite/Award Ventures amps (unreliable and poorly built amps that has been said to have been what sunk Mosrite.). My interest is in the EHX made variant. I have a schematic handy here, don’t care to pay $25 for a set of 4 original NOS transistors it calls for. I’ll probably solder in a socket and audition several more common NPN silicon transistors to get the best results.

 

[GAD]

IMO the "secret" of vintage fuzz is those transistors. Additionally they used whatever parts were available and tolerances weren't respected so some of the great sounding vintage fuzzes sound nothing like another example of the same vintage fuzz.

Check out this video of six different triangle Big Muffs and see how different they all sound:



While I could argue that variances in pot sweeps between them means that you could never set two the same way, it's no secret that vintage fuzz snobs will audition a pile of the same model and keep the one that they think sounds best.

Having written all that, I'm a big fan of building stuff so let us know how it goes!

 

[Rambozo96]

Interesting set up for setting the amount of fuzz in the circuit. Looks like a blend control is implemented to achieve the ratio of clean to fuzz. If I’m looking at this right assuming you have the volume all the way up this effect should likely provide a clean boost when the fuzz is turned down. I want to be able to stuff this into a Hammond 1590G enclosure if I can...

 

[GAD]

The "Fuzz" control varies the type of fuzz between the two transistors. All the way left sounds completely different than all the way right.

 

[Guildedagain]

None of them sound that good to my ears. The only Big Muff I really regret getting rid of was this one, the thick sided "Tank" Russky version, and this Muff Fuzz from 1974.

 

[Rambozo96]

I have a opamp BMP I built and a Guyatone FS6 clone which was a Big Muff with a JFET input booster and the gain recovery stage after the tonestack completely omitted.

 

[fronobulax]

I have a opamp BMP I built and a Guyatone FS6 clone which was a Big Muff with a JFET input booster and the gain recovery stage after the tonestack completely omitted.

The sad part is that I can parse that statement even though I don't understand the importance of all of the details...

 

[Guildedagain]

Field Effect Transistors FET and more particularly MOSFET powered pedals have gained a huge following, myself included, absolutely crushing tone.

 

[Quantum Strummer]

My Foxey Lady is the rebranded BMP version. As GAD notes the early Muffs all sound different to each other: mine has a really nice clarity in the high end, super-scooped mids, a crazy amount of bass and never reaches unity volume even with all knobs cranked. I currently use a JHS Haunting Mids boost/cut pedal to both lift the volume and add some mids.

-Dave-