Gear details: 1995 Custom Shop Master Built w/ Arcane single coil pickups, Dunlop Jazz III pick (90′s era), Dunlop 10 gauge pure nickel strings, EJ Fuzz Face (fuzz knob dialed right around teardrop like EJ), Marshall 100-watt Super Tremolo head into matching era cab with 25-watt Celestions, Vintage Unidyne III, Shure SM-57 into Avalon 737sp channel strip, Pro Tools HD3 with Apogee converters.
Some killer sounding quick demos of the EJ fuzz courtesy of James Santiago from Voodoo Labs. He’s got the EJ licks down and it sounds HOT.
“Even though I did these while doing homework on my own Giggity pedal, they do also prove that the EJ fuzz sounds pretty awesome…Bear in mind that these were done with a real signed off version of EJ’s pedal. Other than myself, Jeorge Tripps and EJ, any other people that claim to have a different color/version are not hearing the final product.”
- James Santiago, Voodoo Labs
Words from the man himself on the EJ fan forum:
“Let’s see…yes there is a fuzz face coming out and I am very happy with the way it sounds. In my humble opinion, it is the closest I have ever heard to the original FF. I actually think in addition, they are more consistent than the old ones. Hats off to Jeorge Tripps for working hard on this one. There is also a speaker coming out that I am very excited about. George Allessandro and I worked for quite awhile to tackle this challenge but for me, it was a necessity as finding old originals is increasingly difficult. It has the wonderful even harmonic characteristics of the old speakers which I have never been, up to this point, able to duplicate with new speakers…”
And thanks to a heads up from GuitarNoize here are fresh pics of the pedal from the EJ Fuzz Face designer himself, Jeorge Tripps, all signed off and ready to go into production. So excited to get my hands on one of these!
News from Patrick Patterson, a member on the EJ fan forum, with pictures of his newly acquired EJ Signature Fuzz Face prototype. So the rumours were true and production shouldn’t be far off now! Early 2012 perhaps?
“…here are some photos of my prototype Eric Johnson Fuzz Face I picked up in Visalia, CA on 7/15/11. This thing sounds great in front of my Twin but sounds even better through a Marshall (I tried a 1970 big box 50W). I’m not sure if the production one will have them, but mine has BC183′s. This unit was hand wired by Jeorge Tripps. He founded Way Huge and is currently the Director of Product Development for Jim Dunlop. He also worked on the Hendrix and Bonamassa Fuzz Faces. A genuinely nice guy and it was a pleasure to meet him. It, to me, was even more of an honor to get to meet Eric back stage after the show. I cannot wait for the production version to come out so I can A/B them.”
** UPDATE – PRODUCT LAUNCHED AT WINTER NAMM 2012 – READ MORE **
Rumours abound of a new Eric Johnson Signature Fuzz Face to be released shortly by Jim Dunlop. After the success of the Bonamassa edition its no surprise that Dunlop would be looking to follow it up with another celebrity Fuzz Face model and who better to partner with than the man with best ear for Fuzz Face tones in the business? The classic EJ tone is generally working off a vintage Fuzz Face, Echoplex, Chandler Tube Driver and a wall of vintage amps. It works … big time.
Below is a shot of a recent EJ setup with some rather special looking Dunlop Fuzz Faces.
The Oz Noy Trio with special guest Eric Johnson playing Schizophrenic live at Saxon Pub Austin, Texas. Great groove and flying by the seat of the pants type stuff. Oz Noy is one cat that is pushing things out there.
I’ve spent way too much time trying to improve my tone. Actually in the last year, I’m not spending as much time as I used to. I’m trying to let go of that because life’s short and it’s time to start making records and making music.
Eric Johnson
