Matapō

Dual Mode Vintage Silicon Fuzz

Oversize, expensive to build, completely unnecessary. Just the way we like it.

I don’t want to hear any complaints about the lack of knobs. you’ve got a switch that toggles between two different circuits. Two whole circuits! In one pedal! You should be thanking me really, I’m being very generous.

Two-Transistor style fuzzes are at their best with the gain at 10, and the volume set a little above unity. The player can then use their guitar’s volume knob as the gain control, and dial in great sounds on the fly. Everything is internally set right in the sweet spot, just plug in and play!

The toggle switch gives access to two different circuits. Red is characterised by a smoother distortion, punchy midrange, and subtle but rich bass. Blue gets sillier, with more focus on the treble, delivering a wild, spitty, gated fuzz.

Best practice for the Matapō Fuzz is to put it first in your chain, even before your tuner. These are impedence sensitive devices, they do not appreciate their line of sight to your guitar being obstructed. 

Matapō translates to "blind person", giving nod to the anthropomorphism of the legendary Fuzz Face, and acknowledging the lack of "eyes" on the unit.

  • Dual mode silicone fuzz.

    9V centre negative (Boss style) power supply.

    Optional 9V battery clip inside.

    Internal volume and bias controls.

    Mild steel plates. Carefully oil to prevent rust.

    Solid wood construction. Keep away from water to prevent damage to the finish.

  • Both circuits are taken from vintage style fuzzes that have their roots in the two-transistor input stage of the Vox T60 head, released in 1962.

    This topology was first used on it’s own by the Vox Distortion Booster, a plugin style unit that was released in October-November 1965. Brian May loved his one enough to have it mounted inside his guitar. This was short lived however, it was removed, and the hole left in the pickguard from the switch is now patched by resin and an inlay.

    February 1966 saw the release of the Sola Sound MK1.5 Tonebender, the first two-transistor fuzz in stompbox format. This model was a strange deviation from their usual three-transistor design, which resumed in 1966 as MK2, replacing the MK1.5

    The most well known example of the two-transistor fuzz topology is certainly the Arbiter Fuzz Face (1966). This was almost an exact clone of the MK1.5, so closely related in fact that it’s instruction sheet described it as being “Tone-Bending”. Jimi picked one up, and the rest is history.

    In 1996, We see the release of the Colorsound Fuzz Box (AKA One Knob Fuzz Box), designed and built by crucial early Vox engineer Dick Denney. This design comes from a prototype of his, designed some time in the early 1960s.

    More history info here, deep dive at your own risk http://www.bigmuffpage.com/The_Tonebender_Timeline.html