MAESTRO

TOTAL GUITAR MAY 2022
86
T
he FZ-1 Germanium fuzz pedal went through some
di erent incarnations in its lifetime including a transistor
change in the FZ-1A from 1966, the 1968 Robert Moog
designed FZ-1B with Silicon transistors, the FZ-1S in the
1970s and even a limited numbers re-issue of the FZ-1A by
Gibson in the 1990s. The latest in that line is this new FZ-M which
comes equipped with two distinct sounds – a nod to the past in
‘Classic’ said to be based on the FZ-1A sound, plus ‘Modern’ which
Gibson describes as a fuller and heavier tone. The Classic setting is
really all you need to nail that Satisfaction ri . Turn up that Attack
knob and you’ll be getting a cool mid-1960s fuzz sound that is at
the same time lean and saturated with a raspy edge. It’s a bit of
a scooped sound with attenuated low end/lower mids but it’s
powerful. It’s at it brightest with the tone knob full up, but all
points on the knob sound good - just roll it back to cut down
the high end presence depending on your needs.
If you switch over to the Modern sound there’s a quite di erent
experience, and the Tone knob is key to everything here. Running
with the Tone knob fully left o ers the fattest sound with plenty of
low end girth but still enough top end to stop things getting woolly,
turning the knob up adds treble
all the while reducing the low
end providing plenty of useful
tones on its arc of travel. Get
past perhaps about 2-0’clock
though and things start to get
nasty as the lower end is
sacri ced for the sort of
harsher upper mids and treble
that’ll slice your eardrums.
From sixties garage, through
classic rock to hooligan, this
pedal should satisfy a lot of
fuzz needs.
I
t may have been seen as old and tired technology when digital
delay was the new thing many years ago but these days guitar
players can’t seem to get enough of analogue delay judging by
the amount of new pedals out there using BBD chips. The
Discoverer is of that ilk and clocks in with a delay time range
that runs from 20ms up to 600ms allowing you to use it in many
ways. At the lower end of the delay knob travel you’ll  nd rough
reverb, turn it up a bit more for a doubling e ect and then to around
it’s 9-0’clock position for some cool rockabilly slapback. Beyond
that you can dial in delays to add spacey depth behind your playing
or create some prominent rhythmic repeats in true The Edge style.
There’s no tone knob here to alter it but the tonal balance of the
repeats is just right, sitting snugly with your dry tone and becoming
more dissolute and breaking up as the tail progresses. The Sustain
knob turns up the feedback from a single repeat to a long trail of
them and has plenty of travel before you get into self-oscillation
territory where the repeats take o on their own. In the EHX Deluxe
Memory Man tradition, modulation is the switchable facility here.
There’s just the toggle switch to bring it in but you get internal
trim pots to adjust the rate and width.
As shipped, the modulation
is a fl oaty otherworldly sound
that combines well with the
delay. It’s not unlike a rotary
speaker e ect but the trimpots
will let you tone that down
to something more subtle
like mild chorus or an even
more obvious detuned
warble e ect with wayward
pitchshifting. No bells and
whistles, just simplicity
of use combined with
quality sound.
MAESTRO FUZZ-TONE FZ-M
Satisfaction guaranteed?
MAESTRO DISCOVERY DELAY
Analogue delay with modulation
AT A GLANCE AT A GLANCE
FEATURES: True bypass, two different
fuzz types
CONTROLS: Attack (Fuzz), Tone, Level,
Modern/Classic switch, Bypass
footswitch
CONNECTIONS: Standard input,
standard output
POWER: 9V battery or 9-12V
DC adaptor
DIMENSIONS: 84mm (w) x 126mm (d)
x 60mm (h)
FEATURES: True bypass, 20 to 600ms
delay range, modulation
CONTROLS: Delay, Mix, Sustain, Mod
On/Off switch, Bypass footswitch,
internal trim pots for modulation
rate and width
CONNECTIONS: Standard input,
standard output
POWER: 9V battery or 9-12V DC adaptor
DIMENSIONS: 84mm (w) x 126mm (d)
x 60 mm (h)
£139
£149
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TGR357.gear_test.indd 86TGR357.gear_test.indd 86 24/03/2022 10:5224/03/2022 10:52