PART I

The rollicking sound of The Who’s Townsend exposed us to the idea of overdrive at its best – that grumble and tone breakup we hear when an amp is pushed to its limits. Today we take that ‘effect’ for granted, but back in the early 1960s, it was a rare thing to hear, and when you did it was like a madman wielding his axe and not just a typical guitar player. It was other-worldly compared to what existed before.

Townsend’s sound was very straight forward, in that he used as many Marshall amps and drove them as hard as his (and his fans’) ears could stand – fortunately we can get that overdriven sound artificially and without causing ear strain. It was Townsend who requested that Jim Marshall build him a huge cabinet that featured 8 speakers, but it was so large and heavy to move that Marshall divided the cabinet into two, together with a separate amp head, which was the birth of the ‘Marshall Stack.’

In the late 1960s Townsend moved onto customized 100-watt Hiwatt amplifiers and 4 x 12 cabs. These heads were boosted with an additional 10db and the middle and presence were removed, which left only treble and bass. Two additional volume controls were added to increase gain and flexibility at both the pre- and post-gain stages. The cabinets included some specially designed Fane 12” speakers that increased bass response. Now Townsend could really push the limits and get that heavy sound for which he became known. One other thing of note was his use of the Univox Fuzz Pedal to achieve that extra grind in his overdriven tone.

Jimi Hendrix was inspired by Townsend, having seen Pete perform with the big Marshall stacks and achieving feedback like none other before him. This set the stage for Hendrix, although Jimi was looking for his own signature tone as well. Besides driving his Marshalls to the limit, Hendrix included more pedals (and sometimes multiple of the same pedal!), such as the Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face, the Roger Mayer Octavia Fuzz/Octave, the UniVox UniVibe, and the Vox 847 Wah – all of which gave Hendrix that bass to mid-toned fuzz charm, besides that scratchy, gravely overdriven spark that has yet to be duplicated (or has it?).

There are few effects companies that have tried to emulate the Townsend quality, regardless of how landmark it may have been, and which set the standard for that driven vintage tube tone of the 1960s and 70s. On the other hand, there are more gear geeks trying to achieve the Hendrix tone since it is more distinct and Jimi tends to have a larger following in general. As a result, one digital effects company produced a pedal (no longer in production) that tried to emulate different sounds of key Hendrix songs; and although the various tones were passable, they did not sound as realistic and touch sensitive as they should have – thin, metallic and unfortunately digital (although there are excellent digital pedals available). The problem in such an instance is that the designers merely produced a pedal to achieve a certain effect with less consideration as to how it would match up against various guitars and amps. I consider that pedal a musical flop, since few serious practicing musicians would want to use it; and so, what is a boy to do if he wanted to get that authentic Townsend and Hendrix sound? Who is one to trust or who would a musician want to build such an effects unit?

I would put my faith in a few hands. First, it certainly helps if the party in question included experienced musicians who have spent time digging deep for the right tones, whether trying to achieve an original sound or one that already has captivated audiences. I’m sure the reader knows what I’m talking about... the ‘in the trenches’ affair serious gigging guitarists cannot escape and to which they have become prisoners in search of that all elusive tone. But there is one other group that often is overlooked – those who earn a living working or owning a studio and who produce musicians who make a living from music. THAT is where the quality of effect and tone reign supreme as it must be studio ready and to the standards of a producer! And that is where the Analog Alien FuzzBubble-45 was conceived, offering tube lush overdrive with a character-rich fuzz.