Ron Ellis Pickups || 64s Single Coils & Bette Humbucker

Hello Gearheads, Welcome back! Today I’ve got a fun feature for you all. I’ve had this wonderful set of Ron Ellis Pickups in my Danocaster “Single Cut” for a short while and wanted to put together a feature on these wonderful pickups.

Ron Ellis, based out of Carlsbad, CA is building some of the most in demand sets of guitar pickups available today. Ron’s designs are so in demand, they often for years have fetched incredibly high prices on the used market. If you haven’t heard of Ron’s work, you’re either living under a rock, or maybe you’re not a guitar player! A scientist and engineer by trade, working for over 35 years on a National Fusion Energy Project, Ron has a mind that’s truly unique and his pickups reflect that in spades.

Today, I’m featuring a combination set for a HHS or Humbucker, Single, Single. I replaced a set of Rocketfire Total 60’s single coils that were stock in the Danocaster build many moons ago. I’ve always liked the Rocketfire’s but always felt I could have a bit more of a “speaking voice” with the pickups and I wanted to dip my toes in the bridge humbucker sound. The Ellis pickups are simply put, a masterpiece. They’re familiar, open and very dynamic… nothing to hide behind much like a really good amplifier. Ron’s pickups just speak in a different way, the hype, the mystery and the “It Factor” are all here folks. I get it now!

I chose the 64s Single Coils for the neck and the middle position. A perfect vintage 60’s style Stratocaster pickup that sits well within the tonal bank I’ve got in my head. The 64s’s are bell like with their chime and presence, but warm and full without getting murky or bloated in any way. The neck pickup isn’t dark or undefined in any way, with a nice woody character that’s truly inspiring to play.

The Bette Humbucker I chose for the bridge pickup position is based off the Patent Number PAF’s that were used in the 60’s ES (hollowbody guitars like the ES335 etc…) making them a very sweetly voiced, open humbucking pickup. Ron regards these as being a bit more fundamental sounding, which make them a great choice for a clear sounding humbucker. I tend to not like a super creamy and dark PAF in the bridge of a Stratocaster, so the Bette is a perfect match. I’m really impressed by the Bette and would love to try a set in my custom Montuoro hollow body. I think that would be a match made in heaven!

In the demo featured below, I used a variety of amplifiers and pedals to showcase how great these pickups sound. I tend to find that when using the exact same guitar in creating multiple layers, for example on a song or cues for a scoring session the guitars tend to stack up on themselves and you lose the character of the guitar and things get murky. Not the case here! Ron’s pickups are just straight up out of this world and I hope that everyone who wants to check these out can at some point in time. Ron’s retired from his previous full-time gig, so while the Ellis sets aren’t the cheapest around, they are available direct from Ron and his amazing family and crew!

Thanks for checking this Gearheads Feature on the 64s and Bette set from Ron Ellis Pickups. If you’d like to learn more about Ron and his work please do check out these sites for more information.

https://www.ronellispickups.com

https://www.instagram.com/ronellispickups/

https://www.facebook.com/ronellispickups

Until next time Gearheads, please take a moment to Like, Subscribe & Share this Feature and I’ll see you all very soon!

CHASE TONE || FUZZ FELLA TEAL BC109C

Hello Gearheads! Today I’ve got another fantastic fuzz to share with you… the Chase Tone Fuzz Fella Teal BC109c! I’ve had the luxury of checking out a few of Kyle Chase’s great fuzzy creations over the years, check back on past Gearheads Features for both the Fuzz Fella Blue BC108C and the ‘68 Red Velvet Fuzz… and this newest creation is right in great company!

Kyle Chase builds incredible sounding and feeling pedals, he has a great ear in how he voices these circuits and if you haven’t had the chance to check out something from his line - I highly encourage it! Not only are they extremely toneful, versatile and musical… they’re quite affordable! I’ve mentioned this about a few other builders, but I’m just not sure how Kyle puts these out to market at the prices he charges! Great parts, hand built and wired in USA to boot. If fuzz isn’t your things, his Secret Preamp is a very good tone shaper in the vein of an Echoplex Preamp. Easily one of the best in the market.

The Fuzz Fella Teal BC109C in Kyle’s words is a ‘Desert Island Drive’ capable of merging the world of gnarly fuzz and singing overdrive. I found all this to be true in working on this feature. I found the Teal Fella to sit really well in all those tonal camps, largely in part to it’s tone shaping feature set. It worked fantastically with all the instruments and amplifiers I used it with and like any great Fuzz Face circuit, it cleaned up amazingly. Most often when a Fuzz pedal, especially a Fuzz Face circuit employs the types of tone shaping controls the Teal Fella does, shortcomings end up showing themselves in how natural the sound of the pedal is. Not the case in any way here - I was very impressed.

The Feature set offers the usual Volume and Gain but with the addition of mini trimmers for Midrange, Feel and Bass. These mini trimmers offered the biggest and most useful alterations for me. I found that they all interact with each other to create a fuller picture of the tone you’re trying to achieve, whether it be thicker, thinner or more/less aggressive. The kicker is that while they all share a relationship, it’s not detrimental to each control to make changes. Some pedals often sound great if you set them in a certain way but then if you need to make a small change, they end up sounding artificial and terrible. Not the case here!

I found the Teal Fella to be a great option for folks who never really got along with the Fuzz Face, or want to dabble in Fuzz pedals but don’t want to spend $1000 to find out they don’t really like that sound. It’s not the price margin either that makes this a perfect pedal in that regard - it’s how well it can integrate with your rig and ultimately what sound you’re looking for. I easily found gnarly thick Fuzz Face tones as much as I found gritty and smoother overdrive tones. Rolling back my guitar’s volume knob at any point yielded a variety of clean to edge of breakup tones. Plainly put, regardless of price… this is a really great pedal.

In the demo below I used the Teal Fella on all the guitars and even on some bass parts. Any clean tones you hear are with the volume knob rolled back. It responded to both humbucking and single coil pickups as well as both British and American style amplifiers. I used a ‘76 50w Marshall JMP and a Two Rock Traditional Clean. I’m highly impressed with this latest fuzz from Chase Tone, it might honestly be my favorite from them to date. I absolutely encourage you to grab one of these and find out yourself… slap that pedal on a board and you’re ready to go!

Thanks for checking this Gearheads Feature on the Chase Tone Fuzz Fella Teal BC109C. If you’d like to learn more about Kyle and his work please do check out these sites for more information.

https://chasetone.com/

https://chasetone.com/fuzz-fella-teal-bc109c/

Until next time Gearheads, please take a moment to Like, Subscribe & Share this Feature and I’ll see you all very soon!

Stacks FX || Zenor Overdrive

Hello Gearheads! Today, I’m happy to return the awesome Long Beach, CA based Stacks FX with their new and very cool Zenor Overdrive. I had the pleasure of featuring Stacks FX’s Acid Cat Fuzz/Distortion in a previous Gearheads Feature, which you can check out HERE… Miguel A. Vasquez, the man behind the artful creations at Stacks FX set out to create something unique and familiar all at the same time with the Zenor, which is at first glance a simple overdrive pedal… except that it’s one that could satisfy any need you may have in the overdrive, boost and distortion world.

The Zenor Overdrive was born out of the idea of offering more than the typical simple and somewhat limited aspects that all overdrive, boost and in general… gain pedals offer us musicians. Guitarists, specifically and almost exclusively are lilted towards the many shades of subtle nuance and minutia that most overdrive pedals offer. We absolutely love to find and fall down those subtle rabbit holes to chase our tonal nirvana’s as well as our own tails. Plainly put, most overdrive pedals are simple variations of themselves and they usually don’t offer that much versatility… so we end with a lot of them. Guitarists LOVE overdrive pedals. Stacks FX came out swinging with the Zenor, basically taking the tonal variance and utility of a wide variety of pedals and simply put them in one box. The Zenor takes that aspect of utility and nuance and gives us the chance to make it our own all within the same box…

The Zenor is in my mind a familiar friend and a studio beast all in one. It absolutely can get you in the ball park of all the overdrive pedals you love and want… maybe even the ones that are currently on your pedalboard. You can get the Tube Screamer, Klon, Bluesbreaker, OCD, Transparent Timmy… etc and so on - if those are the things that matter to you as a consumer of gear. With all that said and absolutely not discounted, I’d like to mention that the Zenor is a highly versatile and great sounding pedal that will work in any musical situation you’d find yourself in. I prefer to look at the Zenor as something new and unique rather than trying to “shoot it out” against the circuits that already exist.

“Most overdrives are tailored for very specific sounds. They give you 3 parameters that mostly get the job done but I felt I needed more flexibility. I wanted something that could cover a wide range of sounds without sacrificing the overall tone. I experimented for months and months on my breadboard. I distilled/re-examined everything countless times and after reaching the brink of insanity, I came up with this circuit. It has six control knobs and two 3-position toggles. With these 8 parameters, you can get a WIDE range of sounds. ”
— Stacks FX

What makes the Zenor so unique and useful is in it’s feature set. This pedal offers a lot but is also deceptively simple to operate. You don’t have the typical tone controls you’ll find on most drive pedals. The EQ section is more like a studio tool - cutting or boosting with high and low pass filters. You have the usual volume and gain controls but there’s also a very cool and uber musical clean blend control. Miguel mentioned that the blend is actually a version of their awesome ‘The Worm’ built into the Zenor. I’m usually not impressed with clean blend function on overdrive pedals - they often sound fake and feel unnatural. The Zenor’s clean blend however is very musical, open and natural. It’s fantastic and I used it quite a bit.

I found the Zenor really great at dialing in a great sound quickly in sessions and then having the option to get pretty surgical with the EQ to settle it in each track or mix. In addition to having the ability to high or low pass the tone, you also have control over the midrange shelving and the option to choose different versions of clipping in the overdrive circuit. You might be the kind of person who loves the deepness that this feature set offers or you might like the simplicity to get a great sound quickly. I like both of those elements and find that the Zenor isn’t really about trying to sound like pedal A, B or C… but instead it gives you the chance to pull the sound out of your head and into your fingers. The Zenor is intuitive and robust. Stacks FX are using some of the best components available.

“All parts and components are top-notch, Wima and Nichicon fine gold foil capacitors. JRC and Burr-Brown op-amps. Heavy-duty 3pdt foot switch. Solid aluminum knobs. Powder-coated enclosure with control panel overlay”
— Stacks FX

In my demo, I used the Zenor on all the stringed instruments, including the bass guitar. I also used the Zenor with a very old and cranky ‘Rubber Bridge’ Silvertone Aristocrat archtop, creating some unique and fantastic sounds. The Zenor blew me away in the way I would approach each part and layer, each instrument would require subtle changes on the Zenor, but they were quick and musical. One of the key things I’ll say about this pedal is that in it’s versatility it absolutely shines. There are no blind spots resulting in the “Master Of None” tendencies that most ‘Do-it-all’ pedals tend to exhibit. The Zenor is a killer drive circuit and a worthy studio companion in more ways than one.

Thanks for checking this Gearheads Feature on the STACKS FX Zenor. If you’d like to learn more about Miguel and his work please do check out these sites for more information.

https://stacksfx.com/

https://www.stacksfx.com/product/zenor-overdrive

https://www.instagram.com/stacks_fx/

Until next time Gearheads, please take a moment to Like, Subscribe & Share this Feature and I’ll see you all very soon!

DryBell || Module 4 || Orange Flavored Compression

Hello Gearheads! Welcome back to the wonderful world of tone. Today I’m excited to bring to your attention one of the most musical sounding compressor pedals I’ve ever come across, from some of the coolest people out there making musical equipment - the sweet folks over at DryBell Musical Electronic Laboratory! For any of you gearheads who might not know, DryBell are an inspired company from Croatia who have a penchant for vintage voiced pedals with the modern brain in mind. They’re the genius behind the Vibe Machine and The Engine… both of which I’ve featured previously! I really love the direction DryBell takes on their pedals - maximizing the history, function and most importantly, tone of their pedals. It’s always a joy and anything DryBell makes is ready for the most experienced to the simplest of needs. Today’s feature fits snugly right in that experience!

The Module 4 is in short a compressor pedal based off the Dan Armstrong Orange Squeezer circuit. The original unit was a small attachment that would hook up to the input jack of your guitar and the cable would then run to your amplifier… Rudimentary, but very toneful. The Orange Squeezer was best known for it’s use on “Sultans of Swing” by Dire Straits and by Skunk Baxter care of Steely Dan. The Squeezer had a sweet smooth compression and very musical “squash” on the note.

The folks at DryBell took great care to not only be inspired but to take this circuit into the present and the future. The Module 4 offers a bevy of compression uses - all of which are extremely musical. I’m not sure about the rest of you… but I’ve had a very shaky relationship with compression, and most of all compressor pedals. Often misunderstood and misused - from the “you can’t tell it’s on” to the “all my dynamics are toast” scenarios, the pedal compressor has been an interesting choice each and every time. I’m happy to report that the Module 4 is the first compressor pedal that (in my opinion) retains as much of your original voice as you’d like. I’ve owned most of the popular pedal compressors and while I wished they would work for me, they always would change the core feeling of what I was doing on the instrument. No matter how many controls or options they had, I’d always feel like something was missing and I’d usually just end up using them as clean boost pedal… and then ultimately deciding a compressor pedal is… not. for. me.

Cue the DryBell Module 4. The Module 4 has a very powerful combination of controls. Output, Tone, Blend, Attack, Release & Preamp. DryBell of course offer deeper and much deeper diving into their feature set if you so choose… adding deeper control and an interesting Expander circuit that works like a noise gate. You can set that circuit to react fast or slow, which changes the way it curbs the signal to noise ratio. While I did try the Expander circuit, I found the normal setting to be more to my liking. In addition to the 6 knob configuration, you also get the option of using the original “Orange” setting or a more full range compression circuit. Both are valuable and equally musical. I found myself tied to the “Orange” setting with all my electric guitars and using the “Full Range” setting for bass guitar and acoustic guitar. There’s definitely a sweetness to the “Orange” setting, which is addictive in the best of ways.

The Module 4 is one of those great tools that can work as simply as you prefer or as deep as you decide to dig. I found running various sources into it, using the TONE, BLEND and PREAMP controls yielded the most enjoyable and quickest results. Most of the time, in sessions of any form… finding your tone quickly is the most valuable resource. The Module 4 works really well in that regard. I found once I found general OUTPUT, ATTACK & RELEASE settings, I could simply make small movements of the remaining controls to get what I needed. I will say the Module 4 has the most usable tone control circuit I’ve ever encountered on a compressor pedal. The PREAMP control also adds color, not just gain to your signal, so it’s very interactive with each input source.

On the demo below, I used the Module 4 on all the stringed instruments including bass guitar and acoustic guitar. While I do prefer to do a dual microphone/DI setup for my usual acoustic sessions, I opted to just use DI for this feature, of course utilizing the Module 4. It worked fantastically and it’s now a permanent fixture in my DI chain. Being able to add that extra bit of “juice” before a DI is just so useful and it really helps to settle in the source before it hits the rest of the chain. For those interested in my DI chain, it’s simply the Module 4 and a Spontaneous Audio Devices Son Of Kong. I use this chain for both acoustic and bass guitar and it works great!

All in all, I found the Module 4 to be a multitude of tools in one. Front end compression, subtle tone shifting, EQ and spacial management and also a wonderful boost source for other gain pedals or amplifiers. The folks at DryBell have literally outdone themselves and I’m so happy to be part of their family. They make musical devices for the entire spectrum of music creation… and I know I’ve said it before, but it begs being said again - I cannot wait to see what they come up with next!

Thanks for checking this Gearheads Feature on the DryBell Module 4. If you’d like to learn more about the fine folks at DryBell and the Module 4, please do check out these sites for more information.

https://drybell.com

https://drybell.com/module-4/

Until next time Gearheads, please take a moment to Like, Subscribe & Share this Feature and I’ll see you all very soon!

JHS PEDALS || ARTIFICIAL BLONDE

Hello Gearheads! As we embark through the final passages of the holiday season (whatever season you may celebrate that is) I’m happy to bring you one final Gearheads Feature for the year… and it’s a fantastic one! You may know my penchant for the unique tone and style of Pitch Vibrato and today’s offering is not only a fantastic pitch vibrato circuit, but a very cool artist inspired one at that! None other than the JHS Pedals Artificial Blonde!

The Artificial Blonde is the signature pedal designed for the incredibly inspired Madison Cunningham. If you’re not familiar with her catalog or her music in general, I’d say stop reading this feature and go get you some… Cunningham is one of the most unique and interesting songwriters to come forth in the last decade and her signature pedal sits right next to her artistic prowess. The Artificial Blonde is so important to her tone that she actually never turns it off! Originally, using JHS’s Emperor Chorus/Vibrato pedal, choosing to only use the Vibrato setting - that warm wobble became a signature tone for Cunningham before any idea of a signature pedal existed. That alone is very cool to me - as I’m sure many of you Gearheads out there know… how many times do we see artists rep’ing a new pedal… (it’s their signature pedal of course) only to never see them use it on stage or in the studio. Whether those situations are “cash grabs” or they just move onto other gear like many of us do - that is definitely NOT the case with Cunningham and the Artificial Blonde.

The Artificial Blonde itself is very simple. In a nutshell it’s the same killer Pitch Vibrato circuit from the Emperor Chorus/Vibrato, but instead of having the Chorus and Vibrato, it’s just Vibrato with the option of choosing two speed settings. Dead simple and very useful. The pedal shares a global gain/volume control and a very musical “Tilt” EQ. Tilt EQ’s have been finding their way onto more pedal designs as of late as they work well to shave off frequencies you won’t need or want as you move up or down the EQ spectrum. The two independent speed options are foot-switchable and have their own depth controls. This enables you to really dial what you might need for the task ahead. Often, opting for a fast and slow movement you’ll find that the depth needs to be adjusted to get the tone to sit correctly in the mix. It’s very important and useful to have a depth control for each speed.

Tonally, the Artificial Blonde reminds me of many different Pitch Vibrato pedals. It’s circuit origins are from the old 80’s plastic import, Arion Chorus which also had a vibrato function. Often used for copping a fast Leslie speaker tone for the LA studio scene and Jazzers alike. I can hear those origins but also brighter tones akin to the Boss VB-2 and darker murkier tones that get soupy and almost tape-like. All of those tones and circuit styles are right there at your fingertips via the Tilt EQ.

The Artificial Blonde is a decidedly simple tool for anyone looking for a great and versatile Pitch Vibrato pedal for either live or the studio. The simple feature set is useful and zero filler. As much as I love options, sometimes I don’t! The Blonde gets right to point and you’re able to make music, which at the end of the day pals… that’s all that matters. I really enjoyed making the song for this feature and used the Blonde on pretty much every instrument, including a cool old Suzuki Omnichord for those Lanois/Eno chordal swashes. The Blonde fit right in, I’d say magically.

Thanks for checking this Gearheads Feature on the JHS Pedals Artificial Blonde Vibrato If you’d like to learn more about JHS Pedals and the Artificial Blonde, please do check out these sites for more information.

https://www.jhspedals.info/

https://www.jhspedals.info/artificial-blonde

https://www.youtube.com/@jhspedals

Until next time Gearheads, please take a moment to Like, Subscribe & Share this Feature and I’ll see you all very soon!

JDM PEDALS || GERMANIUM HUMDINGER OCTAVE FUZZ

What’s going on Gearheads! Today I’m happy to finally share my feature on the counterpart to the JDM Pedals Humdinger series - this time a Germanium version! You can previously check out the feature I did on the Silicon Humdinger here: “CLICK HERE”.

JDM Pedals took the basic DNA of their Silicon fuzz/octave, a roaring and raucous circuit and brought all the warmth and open quality a Germanium transistor can bring to the table. The two fuzzes are similar in their function, both being able to independently access all the sides of the pedal, fuzz, boost, octavia and of course their unique ability to act as a fuzzy swiss army knife of sorts. JDM isn’t messing around with the versatility in these circuits. I’ve not been able to find one situation where I couldn’t get not only a sound that works, but a great one.

The GE version does vary in a few ways, mainly in it’s “Texture” control, which acts more of a EQ shift control that moves the midrange subtly throughout the range of the control. A much more subtle control than that control on the SI version, which was a pure bias control that would get broken, gated tones to full fat ones. The texture control on the GE version acts more like a “settle it in” once you’ve got everything in a general spot you like it, sweep the potentiometer to sweeten the tone. Very cool and very usable.

All in all, the GE Humdinger is a definitely a warmer, more open fuzz circuit that I find works great for rhythm guitar parts, fatter single note lead lines and when you bring the Octave side in… you get massive 60’s Hendrix type tones that are quite addictive. The volume knob cleanup is stellar, being both germanium and how the circuit is tuned. Again, as with the previously featured SI Humdinger, the Thin/Fat and TONE controls really offer a versatility that’s so useful in the heat of the battle. Being able to add or subtract core elements to the gain structure, how fuzzy or thick something is… it’s simply simple. You wonder why all pedal designers don’t incorporate this kind of control. Nothing is worse than getting your beautiful, fat and gooey fuzz tone going on stage or in a crowded mix and you’re lost in the sauce! The versatility of the Humdinger’s EQ feature set totally fixes that. You can keep the core tone and feeling you’ve got, but simply add or subtract elements to settle it in. Everything is interactive with itself, so you’ve got a wild variety of options at your feet.

I really enjoyed spending quality time with the GE Humdinger… I had specifically not done the two features back to back as I wanted to in one way, isolate myself from any simple generalizations when creating the music for this feature… but also to allow the two pedals to sort of create their own destinies in a way. I would not use both pedals for the same thing. I would absolutely pull each of them out for different types of parts, different gigs… different instruments. At the possible behest of taking way too long to get this feature out, I’ve found that uniqueness and am certainly happy I did. They may look similar, being in the same enclosure etc… but man oh man - they are absolute yin to the yang of eachother.

As always (although sometimes certainly not as easy as this demo) I used the GE Humdinger on all the stringed instruments. Using the various gain stages and volume clean up to get all the layers heard here. I highly recommend this fuzz for anyone looking for a pedal that I guarantee will work with your rig and your real world environments, whether you’re on stage, in a studio, in a garage or a bedroom!

Thanks for checking this Gearheads Feature on the JDM Germanium Humdiner Fuzz/Octave. If you’d like to learn more about Joe and all that Joe Doc Music is up to, please do check out these sites for more information.

https://www.joedocmusic.com/

https://www.joedocmusic.com/jdm-pedals-humdinger-germanium-edition-dual-pedal-fuzz-octavia-boost/

https://www.facebook.com/JDM-Pedals-1792051797784922/

Until next time Gearheads, please take a moment to Like, Subscribe & Share this Feature and I’ll see you all very soon!

FATPUPS PICKUPS || BLACK GUARD || CLASSIC VINTAGE ALNICO 3 TONE

Welcome back Gearheads! Today I’ve got a fantastic set of pickups from another somewhat under the radar winder for you all to check out. I first came across Fatpups Pickups upon a recommendation from fellow guitarist and YouTube demo’er Mike “Roknfnrol” when I had inquired about a great set of replacement pickups for my Telecaster. A few months ago I had the idea to get the pieces together for a fun and killer “parts” Tele and happened to buy a body that had a set of Lollar pickups in it. While I do think Lollar makes great pickups, they just weren’t speaking well in this guitar. It’s a very light Ash body from Guitar Mill (who is Mario Martin Custom Guitars and supplies the bodies for Danocaster) and a maple Musikraft neck. All in all, really good pieces to make a killer guitar. Mike recommended Fatpups’ Black Guard set as a great marriage in that kind of guitar and man was he right. All the twang, spank and clarity I was looking for was instantly present and at the same time, the warmth you’d like to expect from an old guitar was absolutely there. Extremely happening set of pickups!

“
Handcrafted in the USA

Tone tested, built to last, and made from the finest materials available. Every guitar pickup is individually handcrafted and scatter wound with the utmost attention to detail. Completely committed to quality, incredible guitar tone, and most importantly your satisfaction!
”

Fatpups is Chris Larsen, a self described tinkerer and lover of all things music and gear… a familiar spirit indeed! Chris is churning out some pretty amazing, handmade pickups at extremely affordable prices. Again, much like Gemini Pickups from a previous Gearheads Feature… there are some really amazing smaller builders out there making fantastic sets of pickups that don’t get anywhere near the crazy money some of the boutique builders are asking, and to be completely honest they are every bit as great and musical.

“I’m Chris and I love guitars. I got my first guitar 25 years ago when I was 13 and I’ve been hooked ever since. As a kid I started tinkering with them right away and I even got in trouble for completely disassembling my Uncle’s Strat!

After working many different jobs over the years ranging from guitar teacher to electronics manufacturing one thing has remained the same - I have not lost my passion for amazing guitar tone, and I never will!”
— Chris Larsen (Mr. Fatpups)

The Blackguard Tele set comes equipped with scatter wound heavy build magnet wire and alnico 3 magnets which provide a remarkably clear tone with a balanced frequency response. They have a lower overall output than alnico 5, and the bass tone is leaner and tighter than alnico 2. The near absence of cobalt in alnico 3 causes it to have less magnetic pull, impeding string vibration the least, allowing the player to articulate every subtle nuance of their playing style.

Neck Covers - Raw covers will have scratches because they are not plated and unpolished. Chrome, Gold, and Nickel plated covers are polished and will not have scratches on their tops. All covers are made in the USA from pure nickel silver for the best tone.

Bridge String - Choose either a black string or a white string to be wrapped around the bridge pickup. Black was common for '50s era pickups and white was used in the '60s.

3-Wire Mod - The neck pickup will come equipped with a third wire (a dedicated ground wire for the metal cover) giving you the option to use a 4-way switch with both pickups in series.

Aged Poles - With this option the alnico rod magnets are patinaed which gives the pickups an aged look.








I found this set of Black Guard pickups to really wake up my parts Tele, in a variety of situations and gain structures. They work well with gain, fuzz pedals and wet effects like reverb and delay. I did have Chris send me his favorite treble bleed capacitor to use with these pickups and I’m super happy with the range of tone and EQ across the guitar’s volume knob. These pickups offer all the vintage, woody and expressive tone you’d want out of an old set of vintage Telecaster pickups without ANY of the “Ice Pick” we all try to avoid. They’re balanced and individual notes and chords feel great under your fingers.

In the video demo below, I used only the parts Tele with the Black Guard set into both a Komet 29 and vintage ‘76 Marsahll 50w JMP amplifier. You can really hear the snarl and snap this guitar now has… very addictive.

I will add one small anecdote - at times I do feel the guitar has a touch too much compression, almost as if the notes dip when you dig in. It’s a cool effect and while that may work for certain tasks and musical environments, I did look for solutions and it’s most definitely coming from the brass saddles on the guitar. I’m planning on replacing them at some point with steel saddles to firm up the whole fit and feel, upon which I’ll come back to this feature and share those experiences with you all! Again, the guitar sounds great and I could imagine if you were running a cleaner, more high headroom rig you’d really appreciate those brass saddles and the compression they yield.

Thanks for checking this Gearheads Feature on the Fatpups Pickups Black Guard Set. If you’d like to learn more about Fatpups are up to, please do check out these sites for more information.

https://fatpups.com/

https://www.ebay.com/str/fatpups

Until next time Gearheads, please take a moment to Like, Subscribe & Share this Feature and I’ll see you all very soon!

BALAM FX || ITZAMNA FUZZ

Welcome Gearheads to another Fuzzy Feature! Today I’ve got a really unique and under the radar fuzz to showcase. Balam FX, is a part time builder of really great sounding fuzzes. Born out of the love for collecting anything he could get his hands on, the 2020 Pandemic shutdowns created the space for Balam FX to start building and selling these killer pedals online. There’s been a really cool movement of under the radar, uber boutique builders, mostly in the fuzz pedal varietal that have all popped up after the pandemic lockdowns. Call it captive creativity, I simply call is inspiring!

What makes the story of Balam Fx even more unique and awesome is the fact that all the profits are donated to charity and the remainder is donated to a specific organization in Chiapas, Mexico that helps kids from the Lancandon tribe get education benefits. Being from Chiapas, this was near and dear to his heart and is a remarkable story of kindness and creation. There is a true sense of giving back in all that Balam FX does and I can’t say enough amazing things about them.

The Itzamna Fuzz, named after the Mayan deity and ruler of heaven and hell is aptly titled as it’s one ruling fuzz tone! Balam knew I had a long history of loving the Fuzz Face circuit and decided to build a nice take on one. It’s built in a “naked” wiring scheme where all the solder traces are free flowing throughout the enclosure and on a tag board, which makes for a uniquely artistic circuit. With all NOS components, this is a very cool looking and sounding fuzz pedal.

Sonically, the fuzz is a ripping, thick Germanium fuzz. Capable of massive amount of gain that sound amazing into both a clean and dirty amplifier. There’s a pretty small sweetspot on the gain knob, so you’re going get the majority of your tone shaping from your guitar’s volume knob. This is an extremely common scenario with Fuzz Faces and honestly, it’s all part of the charm.

The Itzamna has 3 controls. Volume, Gain and Bias. The bias control acts as very subtle shift in dynamics to my ear, much less effecting than most bias knobs that take you from fat to thin or full to farty… This bias control really just shifts the EQ a bit and adds or subtracts a bit of girth. While it is different than most controls of this type, I found it super useful for getting my tone with different amps or guitars and is mostly set and forget. As I stated above, there’s a S**t Ton of gain in this box, more than most vintage Fuzz Face clones, which is pretty addictive. It’s got a nice presence and 3D quality though, that never gets too compressed and shines in a mix… which if you’ve played many Fuzz Faces, you know that’s not an easy thing to accomplish. This fuzz will NOT disappear into the sunken place of your band’s mix! There’s also quite a bit of volume on tap and I found that I either liked shelving it back a touch for more compression and a less robust gained up tone or full up for the fattest and most rich fuzz tone. You could dial the gain back a bit when the volume was higher. These instances are also quite familiar with most vintage Fuzz Faces, but I felt the interaction was more pleasing on the Itzamna. More is more!

In the demo below, I used the Itzamna on all the guitars even on some bass parts. What a great sounding vintage fuzz tone that’s capable of gnarly full tilt madness all the way to cleaner passages and anything in between. I’ll be completely honest here - this fuzz meets and matches some of the most expensive Germanium fuzzes I’ve played in my career and I think it’s absolutely awesome. I love it when someone creates something out of a deep respect and passion for the craft, using off kilter components and not trying to jump in the same boat as all the other builders out there… this is NOT a NKT275 fuzz, but it certainly roars as much or better than some of the best sounding versions of those high dollar investment pieces. I’m not sure what the future is for Balam FX, but I certainly hope he keeps building and inspiring. Please contact him and get the fuzz sound that’s in your head, while helping to support such an amazing cause. It’s an equal handshake here folks, inspiration meets love and humanity!

Thanks for checking this Gearheads Feature on the Balam FX Itzamna Fuzz. If you’d like to learn more about Balam FX is up to, please do check out these sites for more information.

https://www.instagram.com/balam.fx/

https://reverb.com/shop/peps-music

Until next time Gearheads, please take a moment to Like, Subscribe & Share this Feature and I’ll see you all very soon!

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