When it comes to vintage effects from New Zealand there sadly isn't a huge pool to dive into. And while we've taken a look at brands like Gunn and Holden in the past (who both put out some really awesome pedals) the majority of 60s/70s effects from NZ are still relatively unknown outside of Middle Earth.
Within this hidden world is yet another brand that most likely slipped past your radar until today, and that is Jansen; a guitar and amplifier company that was based out of Auckland. And while their main forte was amps, in the mid 60s - early 70s they took a stab at the effects market with two pedals; the Twin Wow-Wow & Volume, and the perfectly named Fuzzman.
A little digging around online revealed that the Jansen Fuzzman went through a few cosmetic, and at least two circuit alterations over its lifetime.
There are the grey and black tooled enclosures, and the two rectangular project box enclosures (that look less like pedals and more like table-top units, à la the Rangemaster).
As it is with these older pedals from the other side of the planet, it's usually quite difficult to track one down outside of the home country. So I have yet to find one, but with multiple iterations and the amount of photos floating around of existing units, they don't seem to be overly rare.
What is awesome however, is that someone was gracious enough to record a demo of his later version and load it up online:
In addition to the cosmetic differences, the two component photos I have been able to find show what appears to be an earlier germanium Fuzz Face inspired circuit, and a later modded/souped up silicon version.
The original Jansen Fuzzman was designed by Bruce Eady and reportedly modified later on for more gain and stability.
*As of now I have yet to see any circuit images of the table-top units, but I'm guessing they're pretty similar inside???
So as you can see I have been able to gather a bit of information on these, but there are still a lot of unknowns...
Exactly how long were they made? How many? Why the different enclosures? Were they exclusively sold in New Zealand? etc.
So if you happen to own one, or have any additional info on Jansen as a brand, or even just the Fuzzman itself, please reach out to me via Email or Instagram
Thank you as always,
-ed
