The Fjord Fuzz Kvasir D882 Silicon Power Transistor Fuzz is a Uniquely Textured Fuzz pretty much ideal for Shoegaze

During good friend Daniel Thornhill’s development process for his recent extended-range Berserk Silicon Fuzz Face variant, a number of different transistors were experimented with along the way - including trying out the very different D882 Power Transistors.

That experiment kind of headed out on another tangent and ended up as a sort of collaboration with Ruban Nielson of Unknown Mortal Orchestra who is responsible for the excellent demo below. The D882 transistors produce a really distinct sort of elegant buzzy timbre with amazing sustain - so at times it sound a touch like a muted trumpet drone.

The circuit topology is still very largely Fuzz Face in nature - while we have 3 slightly different controls - Volume on the big knob, and then Bias and Thickness / EQ. I find you get very interesting textures when you crank up both the smaller dials.

The sustain here is unprecedented and seems to ring out almost infinitely so it’s wonderful for those sort of fuzzy / buzzy timbre pad sounds. This pedal demands to be played slowly and languorously for dreamy soundscapes - just like those made by Ruban below - with the notes kind of ringing out and bleeding into each other.

Right of this moment barely a handful remain of the original Limited 50 Unit run where the usual copper facia has been further coated with a black gloss layer to match the enclosure. Underneath the stealthy black we sill have those really cool copper topped facias - which is slightly evident when the pedal is switched off. The all-black variant will only be available as of this limited 50 unit run, and if / when there is another batch of these - they will be in the more standard copper-facia design.

Priced at $180, there were but 7 left in stock on the Fjord Fuzz Reverb.com Webstore as of my writing this - so time is of the essence if you want one of those stealthy all-black ones.

This is a unique and notably different fuzz - I’m not aware of any others out there using Power Transistors for this purpose - the below demo is an excellent guide to the pedal’s tonality and use - and if you like that then you should of course get that source instrument! I’m very glad to have snagged one for my own reference collection.