Fuzz Head

An NPN germanium transistor at the front end does the heavy lifting, feeding a Darlington pair of high-gain silicon transistors for a second stage. The combination gives you germanium's sag and bloom with enough gain on tap to leave classic Fuzz Face territory behind.

The Si/Ge toggle doesn't swap transistors — it drops a pair of clipping diodes (one silicon, one germanium, in parallel) into the signal path for the SI mode. Result: a more compressed, higher-gain voice on one side and an open, natural germanium response on the other.

Responds hard to guitar volume and attack. A long-running small-box Keeley build, still the lowest-gain fuzz in the lineup.