Danelectro

122
GUITARIST NOVEMBER 2019
The Eisenhower Fuzz
Plug in to the supreme commander of the allied fuzzes…
MANUFACTURER
DANELECTRO
MODEL
THE EISENHOWER FUZZ
CONTACT
DANELECTRO/ WWW.DANELECTRO.COM
PRICE
£149
PEDALBOARD
PROS Resurrects a rare and expensive
vintage unit; choice of tonal modes;
practical EQ; loads of gain
CONS We can take or leave that distressed
finish; no switchable octave like some
octave fuzzes
Words Trevor Curwen Photography Phil Barker
R
eleased alongside The Breakdown
in Danelectro’s new ‘vintage’
pedal range, which revives
the sounds of certain ‘lost’ pedals, The
Eisenhower Fuzz is said to be based on
a 50-year-old fuzzbox with an octave
effect. Resplendent in its distressed
finish, the pedal features two selectable
voices – Flat and Sculpt – suggesting to us
that it may be based on the rare Univox
Super-Fuzz, which had a similar two-
position tone switch and was used on
stage by Pete Townshend, notably on the
Live At Leeds album.
Where you need to turn some
fuzzboxes’ Fuzz knobs up a bit to get
a usable fuzz tone, you’re good to go
from the minimum here because the
Eisenhower delivers a righteous fuzzy
grind with that ever-present upper octave
contributing a spitty attack to the notes.
Setting the Volume knob at around 10
o’clock will give you parity with your
amp’s level, so there’s plenty available if
you want to dial in a boost, and the fuzz
has the whole range of travel to the huge
saturated fullness and harmonic-laden
sustain at its end stop.
This is classic square wave fuzz with
rough-edged texture and plenty of
compression, and the two-position tone
switch pretty much gives you two pedals
in one. The Flat position retains all the
mids, giving the pedal a snarky poke that
definitely won’t get lost in the mix, but with
Sculpt you get a sharply executed scoop
of the mids coupled with a side order of
boosted low-end, creating a monolithic slab
of sound for heavy chording but with that
octave transient more prominent when
playing single notes up the neck. Choose
your weapon and tweak it with the Treble
knob to enhance/subdue the brightness,
and Bass to add more thump or clean up
murkiness with a practical roll-off.
VERDICT
An invasion of octave fuzz seems underway
with recent releases from Teisco and
Dunlop, and this one storms the beaches
with the best of them. Pete Townshend
often used his pedal as a ‘hooligan’ fuzz
to make noise at the end of songs and this
could certainly inhabit that role – but with
two distinct voices, it’s a versatile fuzzbox
capable of more than just freakouts.
DANELECTRO
From a boutique pedal maker in Spain comes
this updated Super-Fuzz clone with some mods.
A Tone knob blends between the two Superfuzz
flat and scooped modes, while the Octave knob
takes out the octave signal leaving just the fuzz.
A kit of parts for those who fancy building their
own Super-Fuzz clone. Named after The Who’s
legendary live album, this has the two-position
tone switch but also features an internal trim-pot
to adjust the octave.
Leeds Fuzz $59+
TEISCO ANANASHEAD EFFECTS BYOC
Silicon-based with an optional upper octave
switched in by a small top-panel toggle switch, this
fuzz takes its inspiration from the 70s Foxx Tone
Machine with a sound that’s every bit as thick, fat
and edgy-sounding as we remember the Foxx to be.
Fuzz £149
© WWW.ANANASHEAD.COM
© WWW.GEARGASSTORE.COM
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GIT452.peds_dano.indd 122 10/3/19 12:09 AM