Fjord Fuzz's new shimmery SOL Fuzz-Vibe represents the first rays of spring sunshine awakening the land from its dark winter slumber
The SOL Fuzz-Vibe is a very personal pedal - both for Daniel himself, and all Fjord-dwelling Scandinavians in particular. In those jagged fjords the sun never manages to rise far enough above those craggy peaks through the depths of winter (which in some parts can be almost half the year!) - the first hint of spring is the sun finally cresting those fjord peaks and releasing the land from darkness. We Icelanders call this fabulous natural phenomenon ’Sólarkaffi’ - when the first appearance of the sun is celebrated at coffee time on that day - with Icelandic-style pancakes and waffles (cream and jam!)[blueberry ideally!].
And here the SOL Fuzz-Vibe combines elements of old and new - and obviously very classically Hendrix! The Vibe side is very much based on the Frei circuit, but with some nuances - with its impedance matched to work well after high output impedance fuzzes - like indeed the Fuzz Face. Where a typical Fuzz Face doesn’t just have too low of an input impedance, moreover its output impedance is also overly high!
This is Daniel’s current weapon of choice and wholly geared towards his JCM800 amp, and low output guitar pickups. So Dan has created quite a vintage spec of Fuzz Face - not at all like his Berserks, and not really like the Hedda either. As Daniel only tends to have 2 or 3 pedals in his chain - he tends to need his gain pedal to compress and expand the signal also - and if you dial up the dB on the fuzz side - things get very compressed over 3 o’c, but also have the most elegant of guitar gain cleanup - all the way back to clean punchy tones - with no discernible additional noise.
For my rig - I have a slight preference for the two Berserks (in terms of Fjord Fuzz Fuzz Face types), and really love the original Frei + Freia pairing. It’s a little more modern leaning, and a little louder and more open.
While the SOL has a somewhat lower output profile - but with more ’thickness’ in the signal which is very much a signature Daniel thing.
I actually really like the Vibe side with one or both controls knocked pretty much right back. Daniel kind of likens this uni-vibe to a mid boost that constantly moves around all the time.
Daniel reports that with the pedal at full tilt - and his guitar’s volume all the way up - the SOL adds endless sustain and a whole bunch of croaky low end - like a huge creaking door! And as mentioned - when you turn the guitar volume down - the fuzz totally cleans up but remains loud and punchy at the same time.
For me the two signature demos here are Daniel's original short film masterpiece, and Eirik Stordrange's not dissimilarly themed, but different playing style masterclass. Those 2 are all you need to hear to understand the essence of the SOL and how much the First Spring Sun matters to us Scandinavians. (strictly speaking Iceland is a Nordic country but not officially part of the geographic Scandi block - so I've coined the term 'Scandinovia' to include Iceland also! - and the Faroe Islands)
Note that you will get different results for different guitars and amps - and that the SOL very much likes to be at the front of the chain - you don't get anyway near the same punch and articulation, or output volumes - when the pedal is not at or near the front.
I think those with minimal rigs will get the most out of this - as there are different degrees of interplay when trying to establish Unity output within a rig of 40 or more pedals. Both sides of the pedal are very much vintage voiced, and with vintage dynamics - so they're not nearly as loud as Fjord Fuzz's more modern Fuzz Face variants. Supposedly there is more fuzz level here than the Hedda - which is nowhere near the levels of the Berserk or Freia, or even Embla - which for me are Daniel's perfect modern leaning fuzzes - which still retain the vintage sound and the essence of the core Fuzz Face tonality.
The SOL has been very much a personal project for Daniel and for his own gigging and playing needs - and has been precisely calibrated to best suit his particular setup. There are certainly a vast number of different superior tones to be found here, and both sides work really well in isolation and in tandem - while there are other Fjord Fuzz Fuzz + Vibe combinations that sound better in my rig - for instance the Frei + Freia combination, and Berserk and Embla too in combination with the Frei. Those fuzzes all also sound really great with the Njord Resly-tone style modulator.
The SOL is essentially optimised to Daniel's style of playing and his rig - guitar and amp. Recently he's mostly just been deploying two pedals for his gigs - the SOL and Loke Delay / Delay-line manipulator - that's all he needs!
So as I've said - this is a wonderful sounding pedal in every way - but it is very specifically signature optimised - and mileage may vary depending on your own setup.
In the right hands this can sound every bit like the shimmering sun melting down the snow and ice and bringing the land back to life and light!
I tend to have the fuzz side set to 3 o'c Max, and even then have it wound back a touch to remove some of that thickening compression. For the Vibe - there are lots of cool sweet spots - light and fluttery, as well as ponderously drony and pulsating and everything in-between. Mostly I like the vibe with the Speed dialled all the way back, and the Depth at around noon / 1 o'c - but dipping that dial too can be fun - for some cool subtler textures.
Such a neat and really potent pedal - brilliant from concept to execution - and it looks wholly gorgeous in that Cream and Gold colourway - this will certainly bring a little of that spring sunshine into your life! I mustn't forget Carl Martin's also really decent Purple Moon Fuzz 'n' Vibe - which is a very similar concept - but with less live-playback granularity somewhat, also slightly more modern leaning. The SOL has a somewhat deeper and richer and more specifically vintage flavour to my ears!
The SOL Fuzz-Vibe is available right now at just 3 international dealers - where total units will be limited to 500. It comes in 3 colourways - 2 of them are at $249 and equivalent, with the Burnt Rainbow Copper edition at $279 - where my favourite is the Cream and Gold one (as per my visual) - the White and Burnt Rainbow Copper is also pretty cool (rarer), as is the all-white edition. Check with Little Box Effects (USA), Palf (France / Europe), and Pedal Empire (Australia) - for the availability of each of those variants!
Demos
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