ZVEX Fuzz Factory Clone
90’s ZVEX Fuzz Factory Effects Pedal Clone!
For auction is a unique imitation ZVEX Fuzz Factory. This pedal came to us as an authentic ZVEX pedal but after close investigation by our technicians and several emails with Zachary Vex, it was found to be a clone. It IS however an amazing replica and an awesome sounding pedal. Zachary Vex has noted that most components are almost identical to that of the originals built in the late 90’s.
This pedal looks to be made in 1999 and has an etched serial number SJN0001 on the bottom plate. It is in the theme of a series of 50 pedals made by ZVEX. There’s paint chipping on the casing throughout and a several scuffs and scratches.
We’ve recently put this pedal up against an authentic ZVEX Fuzz Factory and found them to be very comparable in tonal quality. This is a nice addition to any boutique collection or a great sounding ‘one-of-a-kind’ fuzz!
The pedal features five controls: Volume, Gate, Compression, Drive and Stab absolutely
The photos do a great job of describing this pedal but please as any questions before bidding.
We’ve included parts of Zachary Vex’s discussion on the pedal
ZACHARY VEX : “Looks like a fake, a clone. SJN001 is not a ZVEX serial number. We did not etch numbers into the paint, we've always used paint pens, which from that era, would have faded away leaving only a sheen on the surface which would be visible at an angle against bright light.
J Myrold should (show) on the front edge of real ZVEX products (he was painting for me in '99).
I never used that type of perf board to make Fuzz Factories. I used a milled stripboard that was custom-machined for me out of thin, greenish-white fiberglass with solid copper cladding. That perf board is Radio Shack stuff. What's intriguing is the mixed blue and green pots... those look right for '99, as well as the Eaton switch and the wiring style on the switch. Even the battery clip looks right... but the wire colors? Not right for that period either. They would have been green, red, black, and/or striped.”
“…there's one giveaway as to why they painted the letters backwards.
I did produce a series of less than 50 reverse fuzz factories, but they were red and had very nice neat reversed lettering and complete artwork. There was no need to make a prototype using perf board... they used the same boards as the regular fuzz factories.
The reason they were reversed was that the Germanium transistors were RCA NPNs instead of PNPs, which required reversing the power supply.
That's why that unit has the positive lead from the battery connected to the jack instead of the negative.
The person who built this clone put in NPN germaniums and attempted to pass it off as a ZVEX reverse FF, but no such pedal was ever built in green.” |
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