Fuzz Master, not that one...

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Here's a weird one for you

So I know I've mentioned this before, but I have a couple decades-worth of photos saved on my hard drive of anything I deemed to be awesome and pedal related. One such photo (apparently saved in 2003) was a generic ad shot of a woman on the phone, and then for zero reason I can think of, this pedal just randomly cropped into the corner. 

The image was so tiny and pixelated that I had to do my best to blow it up to what you see above. And what you see is another mystery pedal, I'm going to guess from the mid/late 60s, called the "Fuzz Master".  It appears to be green, with knobs for Volume and Attack on opposite sides of the enclosure, and Input and Amplifier jacks at the top (although it seems like there is a jack of some sort visible on the side, so it could be possible that the labeling is just in a weird place?). The knobs remind me of the ones used on the Sekova wedge fuzzes, and the font and layout choice remind me of something else, but I can't quite place it...

If I had to put money on it, I would guess that this is a (Japanese?) Maestro FZ-1/1a clone, but sadly there's no way to know for sure. The term "Fuzz Master" was used other times in the 60s (i.e. the Claybridge Fuzzmaster from Australia, the Acetone Fuzz Master from Japan, and the Olson Fuzz Master from the US/Japan).  

One thing we definitely know is that starting around 1966 there were ads in every electronics magazine selling different fuzz build-it-yourself kits, and articles detailing how to build a fuzz from common components you could find at any hardware store. So it's possible that this is nothing more than a home project fuzz.

But it's also possible that there is some type of hidden fuzz history here... something that ties this pedal to a bigger brand! or a builder who went on to do something classic! or who knows what else! 

But what I do know, is now I must find one. :)

thanks for reading!

-ed