- 1 day ago
Richard Barrett and Jamie Dickson of the Guitarist Tone Lounge demo the lovingly recreated late-60s fuzz tones of the hand-built Rotosound RFB1 '67 Fuzz reissue pedal. From chewy, sputtery lead tones to thick, warm vintage chord work, the reissued (and subtly updated) Rotosound RFB-1 Fuzz evokes the '67 blues-rock boom incredibly well. Here the Guitarist team demo it with two classic British amp designs of the era - a Vox AC15 and a Marshall JTM45 and explore how the pedal, which uses NOS germanium transistors, performs with classic humbucker and singlecoil guitars - and also test whether period-correct strings add that last ounce of tonal authenticity to late-60s fuzz tone.
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MusicTranscript
00:02The
00:34Hey I'm Jamie and I'm Richard and we're in the guitarist tone lounge today to take a look at
00:39a pedal that harks back to the glorious 60s past of fuzz tone which is this Rotosound
00:46RFB1 67 fuzz reissue right here. As you can see from the size of the pedal itself it really is
00:53from before the days of you know pedal boards crammed with compact pedals it's gloriously
01:00nostalgic but inside it has real deal new old stock components where it counts so
01:08we're going to take a little look at this pedal and tell you what you get for your money and
01:12have a look at whether it really does evoke those classic 60s sounds. So Richard tell us a little
01:19about some of the features of this pedal that make it authentic to the 67 original. Right well
01:25apparently the germanium transistors are new old stock. That's right. So it's very much you know
01:32what you're getting is what you got in the originals. I think some of the other components are updated
01:37because I think they could be quite temperamental and I know that I'd heard about guitar players
01:42going into a shop and trying every fuzz pedal until they found one they liked. These are a bit more
01:47consistent than that. Yeah well it's interesting what they've done here actually because they've
01:50you know the germanium transistors you know as a lot of fuzz aficionados will know were
01:56really the beating heart of that that great sort of chewy expressive tone. The original OC75
02:02germanium transistors are you know like angel hair or unicorn. Unobtainium. Unobtainium basically. So what
02:09they've done is they've sourced a very very near equivalent from Ukraine and which are new old stock
02:14germanium transistors with a very very similar spec to the OC75s. What they have done as a sort
02:20of nod to making the pedal consistent rather than wandering all over the place like those original
02:25units did like as you say is they've put some power control circuitry in here or power regulation
02:31circuitry I should say that stops the sound of the pedal fluctuating so much with battery voltage.
02:36But apart from that and the fact it's on a military grade pc pcb the the components. Yeah
02:43they're hand wired aren't they? Yeah yeah it's sort of a hand built pedal. The the kind of as I
02:51say
02:51the germanium transistors that it that it kind of gets its real core tone from are very faithful to
02:58the original ones from 1967 and um the rest of it is um absolutely of the era you know got
03:05this sort
03:06of almost like hammered hammered gray finish. Oh it's got the look yeah I mean this reminds me
03:10very much of a fuzz pedal I had and I've spent ages googling it today and it turns out it
03:16was a
03:16Jennings um who wrote a sound did make some pedals in collaboration with them so I don't know if it
03:22was
03:22one of those but they're basically saying there and there is only one survivor or something like that
03:26well yeah mine one didn't survive unfortunately a school friend of mine rebuilt it with better
03:32circuitry um but uh I mean we should we should hear this because I certainly um when I hear
03:39something like oh well we've used the original components where it counts and updated this and
03:43I start thinking oh wait a minute how how much is this going to sound like the originals this sounds
03:49fantastic and it takes me right back to when I had that Jennings pedal I bought this trainer combo
03:55um and he gave me the fuzz pedal with it um and I got it home and switched this thing
04:03on and it
04:03really was like oh that's the sound I've been wanting. Well that's the real acid test isn't it
04:08because you know these pedals they're large they don't run off a modern power supply you think well
04:13why would you play it and the actually the reason to play one of these is just that the sound
04:17is
04:17glorious it's really touch sensitive should we hear it let's have a little go. Yeah yeah I want to make
04:21sure it's not on I want I want you to hear so we have this. That's a JTM 45. JTM
04:2845 yeah not 100%
04:30clean but basically. So what we're going for here is a sort of rig that might be typical in 67
04:37really
04:38um you know JTM 45 okay this is a modern reissue but it's it's indicative of the kind of act
04:43this would have.
04:43they're made true to the original so right now
05:04I love the way the frequency of the very ultra highs shifts as you sustain it
05:20just on the very tail off of the note I kind of hear it rise I should point out that
05:25this is with
05:26the fuzz control set to zero yeah um and the treble control set quite low I mean apparently the treble
05:33control is a sort of a two-way thing with it straight up being more neutral uh I've had it
05:40down to about two because that just seemed to be the sound that I've heard in my head you can
05:45whack
05:45it right up and it becomes quite sharp a sort of special effecty sort of thing but that seems to
05:51be
05:51um if I go from
05:57it seems to retain the same kind of overall characteristic but it just gets so dirty I love it
06:04so you're playing with a NAGS SSC which is is very much in the ballpark of a sort of 59
06:09Les Paul
06:09standard type thing it is yeah I mean these pickups are bare knuckle they're based very closely on the
06:15mule model so they're paths basically they're not super high output about eight eight and a bit k um
06:21so so again it's a good match if we're we're recreating the sounds of an era it's a pretty
06:26good sort of indeed yeah it's not like an emg or something like that yeah well shall we tell you
06:30what if you do a little bit of playing I'm going to play with the first play with the um
06:33treble control
06:34just to show you the range of that as Rich is playing and then we'll we'll sort of turn up
06:38the um the
06:39gain um that goes a long way it does and we might switch to the the telly in a moment
06:44just to show
06:44you how that sounds as well but let's let's start with uh the showing the sweep of the treble control
06:48right
06:48so
06:55so
07:25That's really interesting.
07:26Because it's not a conventional treble control that just adds treble.
07:30It actually cuts bass as it goes up towards the treble.
07:32So the sort of half mast is a good balance of both.
07:36Turn it down and you get all of the bottom end back.
07:39And then turn it all the way up and you get a sort of wiry kind of,
07:42almost like the solo in It's Not Unusual, which I think was a Jimmy Page.
07:46Ah, yeah, yeah.
07:47That's interesting.
07:48So that works in a different way to how we're used to EQ working on pedals.
07:52Indeed, yeah.
07:53And I suppose it's worth mentioning at this point,
07:55I'm not playing a whole lot of chords or riffs or anything like that.
07:59You certainly can, but as you can probably hear
08:03and certainly would feel if you plugged in, it's not super defined.
08:07I mean, it's great for one of these.
08:09I mean, I've played through some horrific fast pedals
08:11where you couldn't play anything except a single note line.
08:13These are really good.
08:15The sound is very together for one of these.
08:17They're not really meant to be kind of, yeah, kind of thing.
08:23Well, tell you what,
08:24shall we just show the sort of dynamic ranges of the pedal a little bit more?
08:28These are traditional sort of vintage style humbuckers,
08:30but they've got a little bit more clout than the Lola bridge pickup in this telly.
08:37So why don't I swap this with you?
08:39You play the fuzz with this and we'll play with the gain control
08:42so you can sort of hear the range.
08:43Yeah, yeah.
08:43We'll hear more of the travel of it that way.
08:45Sure.
08:45Sure.
08:46Okay, Richard switched to my 52 telly reissue,
08:49which I've made some mods to,
08:50including an Alnico staple pickup at the neck,
08:53but we're not on that.
08:53We're on the quite vintage style Lola bridge pickup.
08:58We're going to go from the absolute bottom,
09:01the bottom of the gain range,
09:02which is still kind of gainier than most pedals.
09:04And I'm just going to turn it up as Richard's playing
09:06and we'll see what that sounds like.
09:08Right, here we go.
09:42Yeah, it's a great fun sound to play.
09:45Did we have more there or was that up to the top?
09:48No, that was absolutely full.
09:49But what's interesting is,
09:51do you remember the Electro Harmonix Big Muff
09:53was originally marketed as a distortion sustainer,
09:56but there's a similar effect going on here.
09:57As you turn it up to the limit of its travel,
09:59you're not necessarily getting much more fuzz,
10:01but you are getting loads more compression
10:03and loads more sustain.
10:04You're getting quality to the whole thing.
10:05Yes, indeed.
10:06It's almost like not quite infinitely sustaining,
10:08but if you held a note,
10:09if I turn it right up and you held a note.
10:28It's great, isn't it?
10:29So what I think that's interesting about that is,
10:32you know, you look at this,
10:33you think,
10:33oh, is this just for nostalgia freaks, basically?
10:36But you can see this working in like sort of,
10:38you know, stoner metal or something like that.
10:41Oh, yeah, yeah.
10:42Yeah, and I think that if you do want to get
10:44those authentic tones,
10:46like I'm thinking of the solo from Heartbreaker,
10:48you know, the Jimmy Page stuff.
10:50I mean, he actually used one of these,
10:51didn't he, in the late 60s?
10:55Yeah, Heartbreak is one that springs to mind immediately.
10:57I think No Quarter has got some of that sound to it as well.
11:01I mean, I don't know for a fact that he used one on that,
11:04but I wouldn't be surprised.
11:05I can probably get away with it.
11:10If I do a slightly shorter version of that lick,
11:12then you've just got that sound.
11:15It's in the pedal, you know,
11:16it's the right sound that you hear on the record.
11:19It's interesting that, you know,
11:21there are so many fuzzes on the market,
11:23but the best ones,
11:24and I think this is a really good example,
11:27somehow have endless compression,
11:28but also there's touch sensitivity,
11:30but also there is some detail there that is.
11:32Yes, there is, yeah.
11:33Where are we now?
11:34If I just come back a little bit.
11:35Yeah.
11:35One of the things that,
11:37in fact, I've come all the way back to about,
11:40what is that from here,
11:41nine o'clock,
11:43because we've got so much gain available there,
11:46that if I,
11:52one of the things that these were known for,
11:54sorry, it was,
11:54I'll finish the sentence,
11:55it started,
11:56is that you could back the guitar down
11:58and really change the tone.
12:00And with fuzz faces,
12:01it's known that another sort of,
12:03you know,
12:03ace up their sleeve is that,
12:05when you back off the volume,
12:07they actually create quite a nice,
12:08flattering clean tone.
12:10Yes.
12:13I can hear that chewiness around the edges.
12:22It becomes like a faster sound to play.
12:30I feel like I've got an album's worth of riffs with that sound.
12:34Absolutely.
12:35I mean, yeah,
12:36it's really interesting.
12:37When we got it out of the box,
12:38I must admit,
12:39I was thinking,
12:39oh,
12:40you know,
12:40this is,
12:41this is a collector's piece.
12:42Okay,
12:42fair enough.
12:43It'll probably make some,
12:45some evocative sounds,
12:46but,
12:47you know,
12:47beyond,
12:48you know,
12:49fuzz pedal aficionados,
12:51maybe it won't have that much musical application,
12:54but I think it really does actually.
12:56I think it does.
12:56And I don't know if I did say earlier,
12:58I mean,
12:58I know I mentioned the pedal that I had,
13:00but I just remember getting an electric guitar.
13:03I mean,
13:03it was early 80s,
13:04summer of 82,
13:05I think,
13:06and had this other sort of pedal similar to this and just finding it the most exciting thing.
13:13And playing through a similar sound again now does bring some of that back.
13:16It really is a great pleasure to hear that noise coming out as I hit the strings.
13:22Well,
13:23as you've been watching this video,
13:24you'll probably have heard like some music examples and playing we've done together.
13:27When I've been playing,
13:29I've been playing through a Vox AC-15.
13:31Again,
13:31we're trying to stick with amps that are broadly in,
13:34you know,
13:35would have been available on that scene at that time in 67.
13:39Okay.
13:39We're using modern reissues,
13:41so we're not going right down the rabbit hole,
13:42but you get the idea.
13:44I think it's a really cool pedal and,
13:46you know,
13:49okay.
13:49The size of it is pretty imposing,
13:51but I think given the sounds you can get out of it,
13:54I don't think it will put off anybody who really loves those tones.
13:58The only thing we will say that it is sort of impedance sensitive.
14:02So you don't really want a buffered pedal in front of it.
14:04You want it to be plugged straight into the guitar or first in the chain to get that touch sensitivity
14:09and that interactivity with it and that sound.
14:13One thing that Rotosan did say when they sent the pedal to us,
14:18they suggested that back in the day,
14:21the most popular strings around the time that they were selling these were the stainless steel,
14:28what are now the British steel strings.
14:31So these have a brighter tone than the nickel steel Rotosan yellows that we've got on both guitars.
14:37We've got a fresh set of Rotosan yellows on these.
14:39They sound great.
14:40They're that balanced tone we're all used to from nickel steel strings.
14:44Might be quite interesting to say,
14:46to see that if we get a last ounce of vintage authenticity from the tone,
14:50maybe a bead with the British steel strings and see if we can really conjure up a little bit more
14:56of that evocative 60s sound.
14:58So maybe a good plan is if I play a couple of chords and a couple of lines with and
15:04without the fuzz.
15:05Yeah.
15:06And then we'll chuck the British steels on and we'll see how it is.
15:09And we'll do the same thing.
15:10Okay, so these are the Rotosan yellows, the modern nickel steels.
15:14We're going to play a few riffs.
15:15We'll play the exact same ones with the British steels on after we've had a little changeover.
15:19Right.
15:20Right.
15:56Okay, that was the Rotosan yellow nickel steel.
15:59So with a little bit of video magic, we'll return in one second with the British steel strings that would
16:07have been used.
16:07One's very like them in 67.
16:10Okay, we've strung up the telly with the British steel.
16:12So here we go.
16:13Does this give us the ultimate 60s sound with the fuzz?
16:56I'm afraid I couldn't remember exactly what I played a few minutes ago on the other one, but I hope
17:02that's a good approximation.
17:03Yeah, they're meant to sound brighter.
17:06They sound a bit like beefier actually to my ears.
17:08I agree.
17:09I felt like they, and they feel beefier.
17:11They feel like there's slightly higher tension going on.
17:15And you're really.
17:19I mean, the other ones sounded like they had a bit more sort of sizzly top and these ones feel
17:24a bit more like.
17:25A bit more grunty.
17:26Yeah, smash your brains out.
17:28Yeah.
17:28Think of Jeff Beck a little bit, you know, just with that sound there for some reason, you know, with
17:32the long sustaining fuzz as well.
17:42So, yeah, so that's it really.
17:45We've had a lot of fun playing with this actually.
17:47I did, as you said before, we weren't sure if it was just a nostalgia exercise.
17:50It's actually really cool.
17:53Each one comes, you know, hand-initialed by Jason Howe, who's the current head of the company, and it's a
17:58family-owned company.
17:59So he's, you know, the current one in line from James Howe, who would have owned, run the company in
18:06the 60s.
18:07So, you know, it really is a little chunk of history, Rotor Sound history, British music history.
18:13And if you fancy checking it out, we'd heartily recommend it.
18:18It's a very cool thing.
18:18A lot of fun, yeah.
18:20Thanks very much for watching.
18:21If you've enjoyed this video, hit like and subscribe, and we'll see you next time.
18:57We'll see you next time.
19:20We'll see you next time.
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