Fjord Fuzz returns to its roots with the visceral fuzz rollercoaster - Måne 2 x 2 Dynamic Filter Fuzz
For us proper Fjord Fuzz pedal fans - that have been there since the early days, what attracted us first to the brand - apart from the original striking Copper and Black Enclosures - were those raw and full-fat properly unfettered and wholly unlimited and unrestricted saturated fuzz sounds.
The Måne is a joyride in pedal format - where you most definitely need an expression pedal - it’s an incomplete experience without one of those.
The controls are very simple here :
FUZZ SIDE } Fuzz Gain (Big Knob), Fuzz Type : Low Gain + High Dynamics / High Gain + Low Dynamics, Fuzz Level, Fuzz Bypass / Engage Footswitch.
FILTER SIDE } Filter Cutoff (Big Knob), Filter Type : Band Pass Filter / Resonant Low Pass Filter, Filter Level, Filter Bypass / Engage Footswitch.
Note that there is also an internal trim-pot for the Resonant Filter Feedback - which I did not feel the need to adjust!
You start of by attaching your expression pedal to the Filter Cutoff EXP Port at the base of the pedal, and then you’re best off setting Fuzz Mode to Low Gain, Fuzz Gain to 3 o’c, same as the Fuzz Level. With the Low Gain Fuzz - it remains fully dynamic and you can control and trigger it via playing style and pick-attack, and of course via your guitar volume knob. While the High Gain Fuzz (Tone Bender-ish) is pretty much steadily full-on. The guitar volume will bring the Low Gain Fuzz back to mostly clean - while you have the most fun with the filter interacting with a a properly fuzzy voicing.
My preference is for the Resonant LPF side of the Filter - and as I use an expression pedal the Filter Cuttoff knob is irrelevant, while the Filter Level sounds about right for me at 3 o’c.
There’s all kinds of interesting sweet-spots to be found along most of the sweep of the expression pedal. And while the Twin-T Band Pass side is not quite as much fun for me - it still provides plenty of superior variations.
You will often find me singing the praises of the currently discontinued Fjord Fuzz Gjallarhorn - and this Måne Filter Fuzz has that same killer full-flavour pedigree. Beautifully served here by expressive and richly textured BC848 Silicon Transistors.
The fuzz output of the Low Gain is a little starved and spitty - in the best possible way, while the high gain variant is really pretty much full on searing most of the time - depending on where your Fuzz Gain is set. You need to apply more level on the Low Gain Fuzz voicing, and less for the High Gain Fuzz.
We've had a couple of esoteric ambient pedals from Fjord Fuzz recently - so it's nice to get back to Fjord Fuzz's core mission.
I chose a pink-hued Norwegian snowscape to accentuate the pedal illuminations. I also got to calling the all-white edition 'Snow White' (my favourite) - and so had to find suitably Disney Princess names for the other accent knob colourways - where I named the yellow-knob edition Aurora, and the red-knob edition Ariel - all pretty obvious really.
I've gone through a real curve of having different Fjord Fuzz colourway favourites over the years - it kind of depends on the actual pedal at times - while I love the elegant aesthetic of the All-White / Snow White colourway - that is definitely my pick the bunch. There are actually various colourways out there - including one with blue Marconi style knobs. There's also a few custom editions of the Lake doing the rounds. And several dealers still have the Black and Gold Måne ones in stock - which sound just as great.
The Måne is fairly widely available now - where it retails for $229 and equivalent. Of course available direct from the Fjord Fuzz Webstore too!
I think most of you fuzz fanatics out there would really enjoy this ride! It hasn't been much publicised - but this is a proper killer combination - just remember to use an expression pedal!
Demos
12 Degrees of Saturation 2023 Compact Edition
