Sutton Instruments first pedal is the 70's inspired extended range Del Fuego Fuzz with Independent Boost

I’m always slightly bemused by some pedal builders’ need to retain an air of the opaque and secretive. ’Classic 70’s Fuzz’ with a Sustain gain knob rather puts it firmly in Big Muff territory - and glancing at the circuit on Sutton Instruments’ Instagram Page - you can clearly see 5 TO-92 style transistors - presumably 4 for the Fuzz, and 1 for the Boost - or thereabouts! Discrete transistors singles it out as a Ram’s Head inspired variety - as the two Big Muff varieties of the 70’s were the Ram’s Head in the early part of that decade, and the Opamp variety towards the end!

The Fuzz half of the pedal has controls for Sustain, Presence, Tone, Volume and Heavy / Light Clipping (would be nice to know what the Clipping Diode selection and arrangement is!). The other half of the circuit is a fully Independent Boost with Deep / Bright EQ switch, and Boost Volume / Level knob. And then you have an Order switch - where you can determine if Boost goes into Fuzz or vice/versa.

Controls - FUZZ } Sustain, Presence, Tone, Volume, Clipping : Heavy / Light, BOOST } Volume, EQ : Deep Bright, Order : Fuzz 1st / Boost 1st.

When first glimpsing this pedal from afar it reminds me most of Italian brand Mastro Valvola  - which builds similar medium-enclosure format boxes typically with dual footswitches and a similar extended feature topology of knobs and switches.

Sutton Instruments is a family business that goes back to the 80’s as a Scientific and Electronic Instrument Manufacturer, while the pedal business is a more recent venture for father Paul Lowsley and graphic designer son David. The Del Fuego has taken a fair few years of R&D to perfect and is available in both Guitar and Bass editions. All Sutton Instrument Pedals are hand-made in Hessle, Yorkshire from the finest full-size THT discrete electronic components.

The Del Fuego has enormous range - and frequently doesn’t really sound like a Big Muff at all - it’s very reasonably priced at £169 and is available both direct via the Sutton Instruments Webstore, and via my friend Joe Light’s Joe’s Pedal Boutique - where I will indeed be getting mine from.

A really great first attempt for sure - with some really classy touches.