The JHS Smiley Fuzz Pedal is their recreation of early silicon transistor Arbiter Fuzz Face pedals from the late 60s/early 70s with some extra versatility and without the vintage price tag.

The first few years of the Fuzz Face were manufactured using germanium transistors but by 1969 germanium fully gave way to silicon devices and Arbiter never looked back. The most famous Fuzz Face user, Jimi Hendrix, preferred the silicon versions over germanium because of their sound, aggressive bite and stability in environments where germanium proved inconsistent, the JHS Smiley is a sonically faithful recreation of what makes these early silicon Fuzz Faces great.

The Smiley is clear and defined with sustaining low end and crisp mid range bite that you expect from a vintage Arbiter unit, one of the most revered characteristics of a good Fuzz Face is its ability to clean up when the guitar's volume is rolled back and the Smiley does this effortlessly. The controls are Volume and Fuzz, Fuzz is the distortion control, the more you turn it clockwise the more fuzz you create. On the side of the pedal is a 'Mode' switch, this moves it into high gain / gated fuzz territory that you may never want to come back from.

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