View source for Maestro FZ-1 Fuzz-Tone

[[File:Gibson maestro fuzz tone 1 752.jpg|thumb|Gibson Maestro FZ-1 Fuzz-tone.]]
The '''Maestro FZ-1 Fuzz-Tone''' was the first widely marketed [[fuzzbox#1960s: fuzz, distortion, and introduction of commercial devices|fuzz distortion]] guitar and bass effect. Introduced in 1962, it achieved widespread popularity in 1965 after the Rolling Stones guitarist [[Keith Richards]] prominent use of the FZ-1 on the group's hit, "[[(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction|Satisfaction]]".  Later in 1965 the design was slightly modified, designated as the model '''FZ1-1a'''.  In the wake of the success of the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction," numerous recordings—mostly from  1960s [[garage rock]] and [[psychedelic rock|psychedelic]] acts—featured Maestro Fuzz-Tones on guitars.  More significant design changes made after 1967 resulted in different renditions of the Fuzz-Tone released over the years.  In the 1990s, [[Gibson (guitar company)|Gibson]] re-issued the FZ-1a, but it was later discontinued.
==History==
===Early use of fuzz effects===
In the late 1950s, guitarist [[Link Wray]] began intentionally overdriving his [[vacuum tube amplifier]]s to create a noisy and "dirty" sound for his solos after an accidental discovery. Wray also poked holes in his speaker cones with pencils to further distort the tone, used electro-mechanical [[echo chamber]]s (then usually employed by singers), the recent powerful and "fat" Gibson [[humbucking pickup]]s, and controlled "feedback" ([[Larsen effect]]). The resultant sound can be heard on his influential 1958 [[instrumental]], "[[Rumble (instrumental)|Rumble]]" and Rawhide.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hicks|first=Michael|title=Sixties Rock: Garage, Psychedelic, and Other Satisfactions|publisher=University of Illinois Press|year=2000|page=18|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JviHtOrIlkkC&pg=PA18| isbn = 0-252-06915-3}}</ref> In 1961, while recording the [[Marty Robbins]] song "[[Don't Worry (Marty Robbins song)|Don't Worry]]", a fuzzy tone accidentally caused by a faulty [[preamplifier]] in [[Bradley Studios|Bradley Studio B]]'s [[mixing console]] distorted [[session musician]] [[Grady Martin]]'s guitar part. Later that year Martin recorded an instrumental tune under his own name using the same faulty preamp. The song, released on the [[Decca Records|Decca]] label, was called "The Fuzz", and Martin is generally credited as the discoverer of the "fuzz effect."  Shortly thereafter, the American instrumental rock band [[The Ventures]] asked their friend, session musician and electronics enthusiast [[Red Rhodes|Orville "Red" Rhodes]] for help recreating the Grady Martin "fuzz" sound.<ref name="gradymartin">{{cite web|url=http://thecountryclassics.com/jukebox/music/how-grady-martin-discovered-the-first-fuzz-effect|title=How Grady Martin Discovered the First Fuzz Effect|access-date=2009-04-09}}</ref> Rhodes offered The Ventures a fuzzbox he had made, which they used to record "2000 Pound Bee" in 1962.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Halterman|first=Del|title=Walk-Don't Run: The Story of the Ventures|publisher=Lulu|year=2009|page=81|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8KsyZ0W5hr0C&pg=PA81| isbn = 0-557-04051-5}}</ref>
===Introduction of the Maestro FZ-1 and FZ1a===
As "Don't Worry” topped the country charts and crossed over to the pop charts, the unique sound of the faulty mixing console channel rapidly became sought after in Nashville studios, but the transformer had failed completely, so [[Audio engineer|recording engineer]] [[Glenn Snoddy]] partnered with fellow [[WSM (AM)|WSM]] [[Broadcast engineer|radio engineer]] Revis V. Hobbs to design and build a [[Effects unit|stand-alone]] device that would intentionally create the fuzzy effect. The two engineers sold their circuit to [[Gibson (guitar company)|Gibson]], who introduced it as the Maestro FZ-1 Fuzz-Tone in 1962, the first commercially available fuzzbox to gain widespread acceptance,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hicks|first=Michael|title=Sixties Rock: Garage, Psychedelic, and Other Satisfactions|publisher=University of Illinois Press|year=2000|page=18|quote=While most of the documentation on early fuzz boxes has been discarded or lost, the earliest such devices appear to have been introduced in 1962. The best known from that year was the Maestro Fuzztone FZ-1...
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=JviHtOrIlkkC&pg=PA17
| isbn = 0-252-06915-3}}</ref><ref name="Dregni (Fuzz-Tone)">{{cite web|last1=Dregni|first1=Michael|title=Maesto Fuzz-Tone |url=http://www.vintageguitar.com/17397/maestro-fuzz-tone/ |website=Vintage Guitar |publisher=Vintage Guitar, Inc. |date=December 2013 |access-date=November 30, 2015 |location=Bismarck, ND}}</ref> and {{US Patent|3,213,181}} was issued to Snoddy and Hobbs on October 19, 1965.
The Maestro FZ-1 contained a three [[Transistor#Semiconductor_material|germanium transistor]] circuit with RCA 2N270 devices, powered by two 1.5-volt batteries, and a lead cable to connect it to an instrument (bass as it was originally intended, or guitar). Germanium devices are temperature sensitive, and the effect responds to the incoming signal's amplitude (volume) consistently. Upon release, Gibson/Maestro made a demonstration disc available, featuring sound samples of the different settings of the pedal and guitar combination, emphasising the "brass-like" quality of certain tones. The circuit made its way into the body of Gibson's EB-0F "fuzz basses" (circa 1964).
Sales of the Maestro FZ-1 jumped after the Maestro featured prominently on the intro and main [[riff]] of [[the Rolling Stones]]' 1965 hit "[[(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction]].<ref name="Dregni (Fuzz-Tone)" /> Stones guitarist [[Keith Richards]] had laid a FZ-1 scratch track to guide an intended but never used brass section, but against Richards’ wishes, the scratch track remained. The popularity of Satisfaction caused every Maestro FZ-1 Fuzz-Tone to sell out as it became a favorite of many garage rock and psychedelic bands of the time.  <ref name="bosso06">{{Cite news |last=Bosso |first=Joe |title=No Stone Unturned |magazine=Guitar Legends: The Rolling Stones |publisher=Future plc |pages=12 |year=2006 }}</ref><ref name="Dregni (Fuzz-Tone)" /><ref name="bbc-soldonsong">{{cite web |title=Sold on Song: (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction |publisher=BBC |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/soldonsong/songlibrary/indepth/satisfaction.shtml  |access-date=2008-03-09 }}</ref>  <ref name="Ultimate Guitar (FZ1A)">{{cite web|title=FZ-1A Fuzz-Tone Review|url=https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/reviews/guitar_effects/maestro/fz-1a_fuzz-tone/index.html?no_takeover|website=Ultimate Guitar.com|publisher=Ultimate-Guitar.com|access-date=November 30, 2015}}</ref>  Other early fuzzboxes include the [[Mosrite]] FuzzRITE, and the [[Tone Bender|Sola Sound Tone Bender MkI]]. A few years later others followed, such as the Arbiter Group [[Fuzz Face]] used by [[Jimi Hendrix]],<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Shapiro| first1=Harry|last2=Glebbeek|first2=Caesar|title=Jimi Hendrix, Electric Gypsy|publisher=Macmillan|year=1995|page=686|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=JB1W2dn31rwC&pg=PA686}}</ref> the [[Electro-Harmonix]] [[Big Muff Pi]] used by [[Carlos Santana]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hunter|first=Dave|title=Guitar Effects Pedals: The Practical Handbook|publisher=Hal Leonard|year=2004|page=150|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=myP-4CZWyxcC&pg=PT155}}</ref>
In late 1965, the FZ-1 circuit was revised, using 2N2614 or 2N2613 transistors, with pertinent biasing network, powered by a single, 1.5-volt battery. This updated model was re-designated as the '''FZ-1a''', keeping the same wedge shaped enclosure as the original FZ-1. In 1968, the FZ-1 was updated again with a different look and sound, with a circuit designed by [[Robert Moog]] using a 9-volt power supply and alternatively two or four [[silicon transistor]]s, and designated the Maestro '''FZ-1B'''.  The FZ-1B went through three circuit revisions. In the 1970s Maestro introduced the '''FZ-1S''' Super-Fuzz, which had a distinctly different look and sound than previous Fuzz-Tone models.<ref name="Dregni (Fuzz-Tone)" />
===Re-issue and reproductions===
Gibson briefly re-issued the Maestro FZ-1A Fuzz-Tone in the 1990s, but later discontinued the model.<ref name="Retro-Tone (re-issue)">{{cite web|title=Maestro Fuzz-Tone FZ-1A|url=http://retrotonejunkie.blogspot.com/2011/04/maestro-fz-1a.html|website=Reto-Tone Junkie|publisher=Reto-Tone Junkie|access-date=November 30, 2015}}</ref>  It has not been manufactured since.  Other brands have offered models attempting to replicate the sound of the FZ-1 and FZ-1A.
In 2022, Gibson announced a new lineup of Maestro-branded effects pedals, including the Fuzz-Tone FZ-M.  This version features a new housing and two different fuzz circuits, one of which is designed to sound like the original FZ-1.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://reverb.com/news/the-return-of-maestro-pedals|title=The Return of Maestro Pedals|access-date=2022-01-18}}</ref>
== See also ==
* [[List of distortion pedals]]
==References==
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[[Category:Effects units]]
[[Category:Products introduced in 1962]]
[[Category:Gibson Brands]]