Dunlop JH-F1 "Hendrix" Fuzz Face - Whoa!

drasp · Post by **drasp** » Sun Jun 15, 2008 4:18 pm

I know Dunlop isn't very well respected for their stuff, but with the introduction, next month, of the new Way Huge line-up, and the recent Hendrix pedals the old reputation is changing. I just scored a JH-F1 from someone over at HCFX as the price was too good to pass up. OH MUH GORSH! This thing is amazing. I think I'm even going to sell my 2 Headed Monsterpiece & Fuzz God II. . .

1) It's REALLY nice looking. I know that's a bit silly, but I'm a visual person and respond very well to gear that I like to touch & look at. This pedal kills in this dept. Maybe the best looking, or one of the best looking stomp boxes I've got.

2) It was supervised by "Mr. Huge" himself, Jeorge Tripps - one of the ultimate gurus of the the boo-teek world.

3) They went totally nutz with sourcing the components. Actually used Cliffs jacks, OMEG pots & (I think) a Carling DPDT switch!!! That's not cheap stuff, in fact, it's considerably better than a lot of the stuff that most boutique builders use. Check out THIS thread over at TGP for info on tiny trimpots on the base of the board!

4) Seriously, the thing is beautiful. See #1.

More posts when I've had more time. Anyone else sporting one of these?

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Sun Jun 15, 2008 6:19 pm

demodemo =)
good hendrix tones?

Fibus · Post by **Fibus** » Sun Jun 15, 2008 8:35 pm

The only thing that puts me off the fuzz face is that it can only run on batteries, i like my 9v jacks

turtle · Post by **turtle** » Sun Jun 15, 2008 9:20 pm

The 1-spot plus pack by Visual Sound comes with 2 count 'em...two 9v adaptors

drasp · Post by **drasp** » Sun Jun 15, 2008 9:58 pm

9v FTW on Fuzz Face circuits. 4 Real. Specifically, cheap-o carbon 9Vs.

From Analogman's site:

An Alkaline battery will sound a bit dull in a germanium fuzzface, it can lose some character (you can hear the difference in a sound sample above). It's not just the voltage that makes batteries and power supplies sound different. It's the resistance, inductance, and capacitance in the battery, which is part of the circuit in a fuzzface.

I know the above quote refers specifically to Ge Faces, but the true seems true with Si FFs and old-skool Wahs. Plus, I like believing this b/c it keeps me on the cheap-O batteries.

ElCapitan · Post by **ElCapitan** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 2:25 pm

I've played one of those before, along with a Rat 2 and a Big Muff. The BM won. Not a fan of the whole boutique mojo snake-oil. Christ, that was a Mike-ism.

Will · Post by **Will** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 3:12 pm

Built a clone of it a couple weeks ago - I keep trying to put other dirt pedals in my chain, but taking them out again cuz the FF covers all the territory. It can get out of control, or get this really defined crunch with the volume back. The epitome of a classic sound.

drasp · Post by **drasp** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 11:03 pm

I've played through more FFs than any other Fuzz and the thing that blows my mind is how varied the sound can be while still being a Fuzz Face.

Comparing to other fuzzes is a little weird though. I gotta' have a Rat, a Muff & a FF at all times. In fact, at the moment, I've got more than one of each of those!

Also, NOT mojo, snake oil OR boutique, so don't be afraid. It's cheap, Dunlop & available at any music store that carries pedals!

Post by **Doog** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 11:07 pm

NEEDS TONE CONTROL

drasp · Post by **drasp** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 11:26 pm

Doog wrote:NEEDS TONE CONTROL

Yur. Just about as much as my Tele needs a Floyd Rose. Well, actually, that'd be kinda sweet. But a tone control on a FF would be. . .well, not a FF.

Will · Post by **Will** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 12:09 am

FFs don't need tone controls - they sound perfect no matter what PUP/guitar you use.

Post by **Doog** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 9:25 am

The tone of the pedal won't drastically change with guitar changes, but the amp EQ you're likely to set for each guitar would have a big effect.

I guess it's all just preference, but I hate having a brighter OD/dist than my clean sound, and no non-EQ dirt pedal I've used has been of any use to me.

Post by **Mike** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 9:28 am

I think not having a tone control is retarded. I've shown how easy it is to add the full complexity of an actual 3-band tone stack into a pedal. It's not rocket science.

Post by **Doog** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 9:32 am

MOJO

Vintage-correct- must be good.

Post by **Mike** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 9:36 am

I'm just talking pedal design in general. it's not hard - it's a few caps, resistors and pots - sort it out.

Post by **Doog** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 9:51 am

I suppose because it dates back to when pedals were in their infancy and people weren't as fussy.

Post by **Mike** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 9:54 am

I'm not specifically talking about the Fuzz Face, I understand why it doesn't have a tone control, I'm just talking about newer designs. I find it lazy as fuck - EQ is really important for drive sound shaping.

Post by **Doog** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 10:02 am

Fuck knows. I think they're just trying to appeal to people who like the older, simpler designs- regardless of the inflexibility of them.

drasp · Post by **drasp** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 10:50 am

Doog wrote:Fuck knows. I think they're just trying to appeal to people who like the older, simpler designs- regardless of the inflexibility of them.

So, are you planning to put a Floyd Rose on your Jazzy?

The tone of this discussion is that it's silly to like something simple, which seems very much out of line w/ the whole point of Shortscale.org - a site dedicated to simple/vintage styled guitars from the '60s. I couldn't care less if someone made a Fuzz Face with a guh-jillion tone sculpting aids and haunting mids too boot. That'd be a mess and I wouldn't care to use it. I've just traded away a Fuzz God II b/c even though it cost twice as much as this pedal, and had a LOT more controls, it wasn't capable of the same rawkus stuffs. If you follow the logic of wanting a tone stack added to a Si Fuzz Face, you're probably best served by one of those huge foot controller multi-FX deals with multiple treadles and 12x pads you can assign with your PC and midi and stuff into a monster-rack. I'll keep my 'older, simpler designs'. They seem better suited to making music.

Post by **Mike** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 10:57 am

Not really, at all.

A simple tone control and a Multiple FX setup are worlds apart. Well done with the Rhetoric though, impressive, specially that parting shot, Classy. Considering Doog probably blows you out of the water musically you might want to chill your boots. All we're saying is that being married to the EQ response of a dirt pedal is hardly ideal, since it could be needlessly muddy or ridiculously bright depending on the clean tone you're using, hardly asking for the moon on a stick to have a modicum of toneshaping applied to the pedal, even if it's a simple lowpass filter.