Maestro Fuzz Tone FZ-1A made in '69

The successor to the world's first fuzz.

The Maestro Fuzz Tone FZ-1A, the world's first product developed and marketed with the new concept of fuzz, is now in stock.

The world's first stomp box type effect pedal was the Fuzz Tone FZ-1 released by Maestro in 1962. It was designed by Glenn Snoddy, a recording engineer, and his friend Levi Hobbs, who worked at a broadcast station. Glenn's anecdote about the unit is that he wanted to reproduce the distortion of the pre-amplifier section of a console with a crude output transformer that was in his studio.

At first, the FZ-1 was not well accepted in the market, but word spread that Keith Richards used it for the main riff in the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction" released in 1965, and it became a popular pedal. In the same year, the FZ-1A was released with minor changes, and it became a big hit, selling over 40,000 units in total.

The Fuzz Tone then led to the birth of historical fuzz pedals such as the Tone Bender, which was based on the same circuit, and by 1968, when its successor, the FZ-1B, was released, it had disappeared.

The specifications were changed from the early FZ-1 to the FZ-1A, which operated on a single AA battery (1.5V).

A black knob was used until 1968.

This unit has a yellow knob (from '69), and since the pod date inside is from '68, we assume that this is one unit that was made just in time for the specification change.

While many of the ones on the market have had their input jacks modified, this unit retains its original condition.

We hope you will experience the first Germanium sound.

Two of the original screws that hold the enclosure in place are missing.

Please check the pictures.

Specifications

AA battery powered

1output