Fuzz Imp Independent Fuzz Specialist - Introduction and Highlights
I’ve been meaning to do something with Fuzz Imp for a while now. I’ve actually been following Fuzz Imp’s Justus Gash for quite a few years - from early Fuzz advocate and enthusiast to fully fledged pedal maker - from his earliest grassroots beginnings up to a fairly mature profile now with a range of different pedals on offer - 16 or so varieties now all told.
It’s been a really interesting journey to witness, and I don’t think Justus has put a foot wrong yet! Hopefully my shining a light here can accelerate him further along that path!
I feel the perfect jumping off point for the brand is the Creature Dual Gated Stacked Fuzz - which has both a relatively tame, and wild side to it. Most of Justus’ pedals are dual-natured in what they deliver - and are designed to be highly versatile - with several core killer tones onboard - not just a singular fire and forget!
So the Creature is the perfect start, and the Machina II Pro / Deluxe take on the Creature is then a natural evolution, followed by the Perfect Doom Fuzz Muff - the Sender V, and then Dual Natured Amity Glassy and Crunchy Dual Overdrive :
- Creature Dual Gated Stacked Fuzz - $149
- Machina II Deluxe Germanium Hybrid Fuzz (Creature DLX) - $229
- Sender V Death Metal Fuzz Muff - $174
- Amity Glassy and Crunchy Dual-natured Dual Overdrive - $189
I’ve only had a relatively brief dialogue with Justus - but already feel connected. Justus describes his output as follows :
"The vision for Fuzz Imp has always been not just to make killer pedals but for every product in the lineup to have more than just “one sound” especially the 4 pictured have multiple unique textures just in the one box and can be used by all the different genres. As a player, I’ve always had to wear a lot of hats so any gear I use needs to be flexible."
"The flexibility and also boutique nature of Fuzz Imp is one of the hallmarks. It’s an entirely one man shop (backed by a faithful community and experts outside of myself) based out of Oregon - and trying to make the best tools for the best players."
Justus makes his pedals in small batches - around 10 or 20 at a time - and they sell through fairly quickly - so there are periods with scant stock availability. Moreover there are typically at least 2 different colourways made - largely a sort of hammered copper finish / hammerite, or kind of standard stealth black.
For instance the iteration I like best for the Creature is the Black Edition with the anodized aluminium knobs!
The intention has always been to add some of those to the reference collection - while the availability of some of those pedals has hitherto clashed with other ongoing priorities. I definitely want to start adding some of these to the reference collection - probably starting with a black aluminium knobs Creature, and hammered edition of the Machina II. All my preferred editions are as pictured in the main visual.
I look forward to doing some hands-on reviews of these in the near future - I just need to strike an accord first!
These are all excellent high quality productions at incredibly reasonable prices - available for orders on the Fuzz Imp Webstore when each of those come into stock. As mentioned there are occasional gaps in availability while Justus strives hard to keep up with the level of demand.
Further details on each of the core quartet below :
Creature Dual Gated Series Stacked Fuzz - $149
Controls - Squish (Bias / Independent Noise Gate), Clang (Overdrive Gain + Lows + Oscillation), Level (Volume), Gate (Bias / Independent Noise Gate), Fuzz (2nd Fuzz Circuit Gain).
Interestingly the Machina prototype came first as far as I gather - but where the streamlined Creature take on that became the first runaway success for Justus.
The Creature has 5 really smart interactive controls which control two separate Fuzz Circuits - one which is most influenced by the Clang control (the tamer overdrive / fuzzy-drive side), and where 'Fuzz' is the gain control for the wilder Gated side of the fuzz.
Essentially the Machina II gives you expanded granular control over the Creature, and allows you to separate out the two core Fuzz circuits / channels - where each is served by an independent footswitch on the Machina II.
For the Creature both fuzzes are always engaged - and you're just controlling the proportion and degree of each!
The magic of the Creature is the internal Jekyll and Hyde struggle as such - between the Tamer and Wilder side of this fuzz. A really unique creation for sure. No doubt with some hints of the Shin-Ei companion fuzz - courtesy of that gating, but also capable of a lot more textures - even-handed and totally wild obviously!
Machina II Deluxe Germanium Hybrid Fuzz (Creature Pro / DLX) - $229
Controls - KAOS side (Right) } Clang (Overdrive Gain + Lows + Oscillation), Hybrid Clipping : Ge/Si, Push (Volume), Soak (Master Bias), KAOS Footswitch (Tamer Overdrive / Fuzz side), GATE side (Left) } Fuzz (2nd Fuzz Circuit Gain), Squish (Bias / Independent Noise Gate), Hybrid Clipping : Ge/Si, Gate (Bias / Independent Noise Gate), GATE Footswitch (Wild Fuzz).
Interestingly the Machina is a precursor as well as a more expansive Pro / Deluxe version of the Creature Fuzz with additional Ge/Si options per each of the 2 core fuzz Chanels / Circuits and a split and more granular interface - with a separate between the Tamer and Wilder side of the pedal courtesy of the independent Kaos and Gate Footswitches.
So you're getting the Creature on steroids here - with great range and granularity obviously. 9 controls here in place of the 5 for the Creature.
The nature of the two different control topologies means that those two fuzz pedals can behave quite differently to each other - while the core underpinnings are largely the same!
I say start with the Creature, and then upgrade to the Machina II went you want even more!
Sender V Death Metal Muff Fuzz - $174
Controls - Level, Tone, Gain, Boost, Gate, Hot / Vintage Mode Switch, Symmetrical Clipping : High Pass Clipping / Open / Full Diode Clipping, Boost On/Off Switch, Left EQ Boost / Saw Footswitch, Right Gain Boost Footswitch.
The ultimate Doom / Death Metal Muff Fuzz with expansive control topology in advance of most Big Muff takes. Of course you have the same 3 controls in common (Level, Tone, Gain (Sustain), but then 2 killer extra boosts - EQ and Gain, with additional clipping options in the mix too.
So a genuine Super Muff with HM-2 Heavy Metal leanings. A very straightforward albeit expanded control topology.
I already have over 110 Big Muffs in the reference collection - while there's definitely still room for unique special editions of that circuit - like the Sender V!
Amity Glassy and Crunchy Dual Overdrive - $189
Controls - GLASS (Left) [±Obtanium] } Volume, Gain, Depth (Low End), Sculpt (Active Mids Cut / Boost), Glass Bypass Footswitch, CRUNCH (Right) [±Screamer-ish] } Volume, Gain, Depth (Low End), Sculpt (EQ with fixed prominent Mids - focused CCW, and more Highs and Lows CW), Crunch Bypass Footswitch.
Input voltage 9V-18V.
Duality Stacking Overdrive with sparkly Glass side, and gainier, more textured Crunch side. Those two circuits stack beautifully for added impact, Where the first Glassy circuit leans more into the high headroom lower gain side of things - contrasted with the more mids-prominent crunchy / textured side - sort of Screamer-adjacent and with a whole lot of gain.
The beauty of this pedal is that it's a proper 3-way pedal with two independent stacking circuits - for maximum range coverage - and giving you he best of transparent sort of low-gain - married to a more textured and gainer side!
This is another Fuzz Imp dual-natured masterpiece - where the sum of its parts is always greater than the whole!
