Banana Fuzz

The Banana Fuzz works from the classic two-transistor Fuzz Face topology, built with 1/2W carbon-comp resistors and NOS axial capacitors for a vintage voice. It comes two ways: a germanium version with hand-selected transistors chosen to hold their bias in hot, humid climates, and a silicon version whose transistors don't drift with temperature. An external Bias knob lets you starve the circuit for gated, spitty textures or open it up for full saturation. Like any Fuzz Face-style circuit it wants to sit first in the chain, ahead of buffered pedals, and it responds hard to guitar volume, cleaning up to a rough edge-of-breakup when you roll back. The germanium build includes an onboard voltage inverter so it runs from an ordinary 9V center-negative supply.