Rose Morris teams up with ThorpyFX to bring back its much celebrated Shaftesbury Duo Fuzz / Super-Fuzz

Note that there are 2 pedals in this release - a more practical sort of standard Compact one, and a more accurate full replica one too. There are a few differences besides the obvious size and enclosure variations. The Heritage Edition (£349) is a fully period-correct vintage reproduction - with the same circuitboard and sizing of the the original. The Heritage edition also has NOS Germanium Diodes, while the Compact Edition (£249) makes use of a pair of near identical Schottky Didoes.

I am ever the more practical musician - so I’m always going to go for the more flexible and user-friendly experience. And I really like having the 2 Tone Options (Flat / Scooped) on the left-hand footswitch versus a side-mounted switch on the Heritage version.

Controls - Balance (Level), Expander (Fuzz Intensity), Tone Footswitch : Flat / Scooped, On/Off Footswitch.

The Univox / Shin-Ei / Honey Super-Fuzz was OEM manufactured for several different brands from 1968 onwards - including Rose Morris’s Shaftesbury imprint - and all of these following ones! : Ace Tone, Alex, Apollo, Aria, Avora, Boomer, Bruno, Companion, Crestwood, Crown, Diamond, Electra, Elk, Excetro, Goya, Greco, Hohner, Jax, Kimbara, Kent, LRE, Lord, Luxor, Mana, Marlboro, Maya, Mayfair, Melos, Memphis, Mica, National, Nomad, Northland, Oscar, Pax, Rands, Royal, Sekova, Selmner, Teisco, Telestar, Tempo, Thomas, Uecks, and Zenta.

Thorpy was commissioned to make fully authentic vintage style versions - working from replicating an original Shaftesbury DuoFuzz which is part of Rose Morris’s permanent collection. So these Compact and Heritage versions very much have vintage specs, and slightly lower output profiles / volume - exactly in line with the originals. Several of my own Super-Fuzzes are somewhat modernised, modded and evolved - for a more visceral and thicker output - while the Shaftesbury Duo Fuzzes very accurately deliver the authentic and period correct sound of he originals - of course including the main benchmark edition that these two were based on.

The Heritage version is made from folded Steel, while the compact Edition is Aluminium - so significantly lighter and easier to handle all-round.

I really like how this Super-Fuzz sounds - it retains all the flavour of the originals, while some of my other models from my reference collection are somewhat louder, thicker and more visceral. Supposedly the very earliest Super-Fuzzes were louder Germanium Transistor varieties - which tends to be quite unusual. The latter and mainstay silicon editions like the one here - had notably less output - but then that really became the norm for that time.

So be aware that you’re buying an authentic slice of history here - which may not be wholly aligned with later versions of that circuit - like Boss’s highly celebrated FZ-2. Where robably the most expansive take on that variety to date is last year’s Life Is Unfair x Boston Manor Bad Machine - with also adds HM-2 and MT-2 flavours into the mix!

If you’re in the market for an original spec Super Fuzz - then the Shaftesbury is as good as any, and it of course has that Thorpy quality stamp on it.

This has been a very finely executed project which should find many fans. Your choices are of course whether you go for the pricier fully authentic Heritage Edition (£349), or the more practical Compact Edition (£249) like me! Those prices equate to dollar values of circa $450 and $330.

Interestingly I had a catch-up chat with Thorpy yesterday morning (Wednesday) - where we discussed the rough plan for the year. He alerted me that he’d done this project with Rose Morris - which was due to launch any time soon soon. Only around 10 minutes after the call - the email came through from Reverb.com to announce the pedals’ arrival. Which is how I ended up getting the very first DU #0001 of the Compact Edition.

The most famous user of the original Duo Fuzz was The Who’s Pete Townshend, while there were several more luminaries that made use of this fuzz - including Steve Hackett of Genesis, Miles Kane of the Last Shadow Puppets, and Dave Stewart of Eurythmics to name but a few!

In terms of my own preferences - I tend to have both dials maxed out, and more of a preference for the slightly thicker sounding scooped ’Tone’ selection!

There’s for sure plenty to like here, and the prices are exactly in line with expectations. These are currently for sale on the Rose Morris Reverb.com Store - I have a feeling that these may be somewhat limited - particularly the Heritage Edition - so there’s some urgency there if you really want one of those!

The Shaftesbury Duo Fuzz is my 24th Super-Fuzz! : 

Anasounds Crankled Bitoun Fuzz, Animal Factory Chemical Burn Unit, BearFoot FX Candiru Fuzz Gold Edition (Germanium), Blackhawk Amplifier Mithrandir Fuzz, Boss FZ-2 Hyper Fuzz, Danelectro The Eisenhower Fuzz, DeadFX I Can’t Feel myFace Super-Fuzz Mini, Fjord Fuzz Fenris Fuzz, Fjord Fuzz Gjallahorn (2 variants), Hello Sailor Effect x Joyo Modded Voodoo Sailor Fuzz, JPTR FX Add Violence Fuzz, Kuro Custom Akuma Fuzz (sort of!), Lastgasp Art Laboratories Sooper Fuzz, Life Is Unfair Bad Machine, Loe Sounds Superfuzz, Malekko Omicron Mini Fuzz, Shaftesbury Duo Fuzz, Sitek Pandora Fuzz, SolidGoldFX 76 Fuzz MKI and MKII Editions, Toneczar Effects Vault Fuzz, TWA Wahxidizer Fuzz, Union Tube & Transistor Bumble Buzz Fuzz.

Thee are no official demos out yet - so I will need to reference one of the originals!, I will add further references ad and when they materialise :