Tru-Fi's Two Face Dual Germanium and Silicon Transistor 4-knob Fuzz Face is an incredibly potent take on that classic circuit
Readers will know that I’ve just recently gotten into Tru-Fi pedals - where it just needed the appropriate ’gateway drug’ pedal to get me interested in that brand. That particular pedals was a deep hued purple edition of Tru-Fi’s Ghost Vibe - which was my 12th Uni-Vibe to-date, and for sure one of my favourites.
The semi-vintage classic styling of these enclosures - which tend to have no more than 3 knobs on the facia and just a single footswitch - does mean that said format has some inbuilt limitations. But for certain circuits it really works brilliantly - while having a 4th control fixed onto the side of the pedal can be a pet peeve of mine - but for these pedals I’m willing to make an exception.
Moreover, you can select from typically near 20 different finish colourways (19 to be 100% clear) - where some of those will add a further $25 to the price - expect where a particular sparkle edition is the standard colour.
My very First Tru-Fi pedal was the above purple edition Ghost Vibe Uni-Vibe
There's no question this particular Two Face is one of my very favourite representatives of this genre - where I already have over 80 Fuzz Face types in my extensive Reference Collection - and 2/3rds of those being Germanium or Dual Germanium + Silicon varieties.
And this is not my first Dual Fuzz Face as such either - I have alternatives of this very particular format from DanDrive Pedals, Expresso FX, and Wren & Cuff - and those other 3 allow you to mix up the Germanium and Silicon Transistors - so you can have one of each in Stage 1 or 2 as well as 2 Germanium or Silicon like with the Two Face. Another similar pedal to this is Fredric Effects' Duo Fuzz - which I'm just waiting to be transferred across to the new mini wedge shape enclosure - before I snap that up also.
Controls - Volume, Mode : '69 (2 x Ge AC125) / '70 (2 x Si BC108C), Fuzz (Gain), Bias, Input Gain (side).
I really need my Germanium Fuzzes to have external Bias Controls - where I won't really buy one without it - so that is one of the first things that makes this pedal super-appealing for me besides the Dual Transistor Nature of this one. Those 4 top facia controls are incredibly potent on their own - while the additional 4th Input Gain knob allows you to beef up your Fuzz Output even more - delivering a properly searing fuzz. You need to be careful how you deploy said knob as it can add to the noise-floor, and can also reduces the impact of your guitar volume knob gain-cleanup - which is superb as long as the Input Gain is not too far above its midway point.
For some Fuzz circuits you're best off diming the Volume and Fuzz / Gain - while here, and depending on how you deploy the Input Gain - you can overload the pedal with compression if both Fuzz and Input Gain are set too high.
In terms of the two Transistor types - these beautifully and exactingly deliver the core classic character of the very best of those varieties - Germanium has that lovely warm harmonic grit, and Silicon that cool searing aggression.
I know that Dan and Mick of That Pedal Show were particularly taken by this peda (forward the last demo below to 25:20)l - which really does sound superb. Each of my Dual Germanium and Silicon Fuzz Face types has their own distinct pairing of transistors - and each has a distinct character and voice - and with their slightly different controls they are all pretty much equally worthy and valid - while the Tru-Fi version is easily the best value as it's lower cost than my other 3.
Because of its lovely sparkle blue paint-job - my edition is a little more pricey than the standard - at $224.95 / £229 vs $199.95 / £199. Of course I picked mine up from Joe's Pedals just after I got the purple Ghost Vibe - those two arrived within a day of each other - and they pair superbly on the board!
There is surprisingly still a red sparkle Two Face edition up for grabs from Joe's Pedals alongside a cool Gold TB MKI style Spider Fuzz, while you can of course select form nearly 20 different finishes courtesy of the Tru-Fi Webstore - as well as whether you want the Input Gain knob on the side of the pedal, or as an internal trimpot. I recommend the outside - as I find myself fine-tuning that quite often.
I tend to have my controls set with Volume and Fuzz @ 3 o'c, Bias @ circa 1 o'c, and Input Gain at circa 2 o'c - that gives me the perfect balance of harmonics and texture - with still great clean-up - and while I will always lean a little more into Germanium - the Silicon voicing here is equally impressive and inspires different playing styles. The Silicon voicing also has a really cool just right bright top end. This is very much a fantastic Fuuz Face every which way!
Teddy Rasch has done a quite superb job on this, and this is actually one of two Tru-Fi posts going live today - as there's a further new pedal in the range to be featured - coming up later!
Demos
