Rotosound Reissues its full range of Vintage Pedals, including the Excellent MKIII Germanium Fuzz
You often hear me talking of 90’s style enclosure pedals (1590BB), and here we have late 60’s style enclosure pedals a la Sola Sound MKIII type. The selection comes across as very ’Macaris’ in those enclosures - which are along very similar lines. Actually that Germanium Fuzz was originally OEM’d by Sola Sound for Rotosound back in the day (1967). The Rotosound Fuzz was supposedly a MKIII prototype - which emerged the year before the official Tone Bender MKIII release.
"After years of demand from guitar players, Rotosound has brought back its series of seven boutique effects pedals. Like the originals, each unit is hand-built by audio electronics designer Dave Cherry (Cherry Designs) at Rotosound’s factory in Kent, England, using carefully selectedccomponents, bespoke enclosures, and true bypass switching. Although inspired by guitar and studio sounds from the sixties and seventies, each pedal features a unique circuit design that adds a creative twist to these classic effects."
As mentioned - each of these is a fairly unique spin on those classic effects - which offers a unique and distinct vibe for each effect,
I totally understand the love for and appeal of these every-way vintage style pedals, white I personally normally gravitate more towards compact enclosure units of those same vintage style circuits. For instance I really love the PigDog JuJu MKIII take which Steve Williams makes. The Germanium Fuzz is made along similar lines using NOS components to really authentically deliver those vibrant tones!
I believe this range which somewhat dates back to the sixties was reissued at least once before - in 2012 I think. This would seem to be a repeat exercise with an overall limited number on release. I expect the Germanium Fuzz to be particularly popular - so that will probably go first!
Here are the 7 reissues :
- The Aftermath : Analog Delay - £195
- The Crusader Chorus - £195
- Germanium Fuzz (TB MKIII) - £349
- The King Henry 4-Stage Phaser - £195
- The Leveller EQ - £195
- The Pusher Compressor - £195
- The Wobbler Tremelo - £195
"Recommended retail prices start from £195, with the RFB1 Fuzz’s RRP at £349. Rotosound pedals will be made available to authorised dealers worldwide from March 2025. Each pedal is made to order and limited while stocks last."
Further details below as usual :
The Aftermath : Analog Delay - £195
Controls - Depth, Rate, Feedback.
Great sounding Analog Delay - where each repeat has that trademark analogue degradation / decay.
The Crusader Chorus - £195
Controls - Rate, Depth, Level.
This has a Level control to blend the effect with the dry signal — a feature not seen on many chorus
pedals.
Germanium Fuzz (TB MKIII) - £349
Controls - Volume, Treble, Fuzz.
Rotosound’s 1967 Fuzz Pedal Reissue is a faithful reproduction of their original 1960s germanium fuzz pedal that was first produced alongside the Solas Sound Tone Bender fuzzes and were only ever available in limited numbers at Rotosound’s showroom in London’s Denmark Street. Based on the same circuit as the original design, each Rotosound Fuzz effect pedal is hand-wired with carefully selected components, such as vintage N.O.S. Germanium transistors. This meticulous attention to detail helps the RFB1 deliver the same chewy fuzz tones that made the original popular with legends like Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page.
The King Henry 4-Stage Phaser - £195
Controls - Depth, Rate, Peak.
A particularly luscious 4-Stage Phaser.
The Leveller EQ - £195
Controls - Boom, Fuzz, Honk.
Vintage-style equalisation with a modern +18dB boost per band.
The Pusher Compressor - £195
Controls - Squeeze, Bite, Regain.
A musical yet utilitarian compressor that can sweep from a 1:1 ratio to full limiting 50:1, a noise-suppression stage, plus the BITE control that mixes in a brightened parallel signal to retain attack and tone.
The Wobbler Tremelo - £195
Controls - Rate, Depth, Silly <> Germ.
A Tremolo that allows users to sweep between silicon (Silly) and germanium (Germ) signal paths, which offers a unique vibe to this classic modulation effect.
