Baldwin-Burns Dizzy Tone...?

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Here's a mystery for the real nerds.

Back around 2011 this weird pedal popped up on the internet that had the enclosure and graphics of an Elka Dizzy Tone, but also the "B" logo used by Baldwin-Burns, and contained the circuit of a Buzzaround!

As it turned out it was owned by an old friend of the blog (a very difficult to track down friend), who probably has the best fuzz collection in the world. At the time we had a few long discussions about the mysterious "Burns Dizzytone", but unfortunately never discovered any kind of definitive story behind its origin or reason for its existence. 🤔

Well it's been over 10 years now, and we're still about exactly where we left off. So I figured it was time to throw it up on the blog and see what happens...

There has always been a rumored connection between Elka and the Buzzaround; with the Dizzytone essentially being an Italian copy of the British fuzz (most likely brought to Italy by Gary Hurst while he was working for Elka... but that has never been confirmed). 

So with this pedal, we see a literal Buzzaround circuit inside of a Dizzytone enclosure, but what are we actually seeing? 

Is it a mockup or prototype enclosure that they used for demonstration purposes? Is it evidence of a partnership between the two brands that ultimately fell through? Is it simply a rehoused Buzzaround that someone made at home? Or is it some crazy fourth option we haven't even considered yet?

Adding to the weirdness, the enclosure isn't quite the same dimensions of an Elka Dizzytone and it's heavier/thicker, but it's clearly the same shape! And it obviously says "Dizzy Tone" right where it should...

So what's the deal with this thing, and what does it tell us about the history of Baldwin-Burns, Elka, and possibly Gary Hurst???

These are questions that as of now will most likely remain unanswered. But I thought it would be cool to highlight this oddity and get it out there for the collective fuzz trust to stumble upon and maybe offer up some new possibilities.

So what do you think? 

Hit me up via Email or Instagram, or just leave a comment below. 

Thanks for reading, 

-ed

Royal Fuzz Box Demoooooo!

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I just stumbled on this awesome demo of the best Super Fuzz circuit ever designed... The Royal Fuzz Box!

Check it out in all its gnarly and unhinged glory//

Thanks for watching!
-ed

Electro Harmonix Pulse Modulator (1970)

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After a year and half of releasing plug-in style effects, Electro Harmonix came out with their first true stompboxes in the Spring of 1970. These were the Big Muff π, the Low Frequency Compressor, and the massive Pulse Modulator. Obviously the most popular of this trio is far and away the Big Muff, but unfortunately to the point that people tend to overlook the ingenuity and technical wizardry that went into creating the other two.

And because of this, most people are not aware that in addition to the now legendary Perfboard Big Muff, both the v1 Low Frequency Compressor and the v1 Pulse Modulator also featured circuits built on perfboard!

In the ocean of wild and ridiculous effects that Electro Harmonix has produced in the last 50+ years, the Pulse Modulator is right up there with craziest...

So what is it?

Well in a simple explanation, it's a pedal with 3 separate tremolos that allow you to control the speed and volume of each individually. It also features a boost circuit, that I assume is somewhat similar to the LPB-1(?). 

When it comes to the tremolo, it's considered a pulsewave, which is essentially a non-linear squarewave (on/off) style. And if you engage all three at different speeds, you can imagine how chaotic this would get; with cascading pulses creating mind-melting patterns and wild polyrhythms!

So the design itself was a bit ahead of its time (or maybe it was perfectly OF its psychedelic time), because in just two short years the Pulse Mod was no longer being sold by ehx.

Even though it didn't do well, the Pulse Mod surprisingly saw two brief spin-offs with the Stereo Pulse Modulator and wildly misnamed Hare Lip Microphone Echo.

All three of these effects were super weird, and would essentially set the stage for the type of experimentation that Electro Harmonix and Mike Matthews would become known for.

While it hasn't been 100% confirmed, I do believe the Pulse Mod was conceptualized by Matthews and designed by Bob Myer (who also invented the Big Muff).

When looking inside, it seems very likely that the two pedals were created around the same time. And you even see some of the same exact parts that were used in both; certain very specific capacitors and resistors can be found.

And while they both have the same 1966 date codes that you typically find in all early ehx pedals, the real clue lies in the CTS brand on/off potentiometer that's dated to the 22nd week of 1970 (which again you will find in many perfboard Muffs).

For vintage pedal nerds the Pulse Modulator wasn't seen as very collectible for a long period of time. More often it was simply a cheap(ish) way to harvest a stash of  knobs for Triangle Muffs!

But the rarity of these, and the fact that they were made for a very short (and very early) period in Electro Harmonix history, is finally starting to be realized.

So while you may have a hard time finding a perfboard version, I do recommend tracking down a Pulse Mod for history-sake, as they signal the beginning of Electro Harmonix' legacy of innovative boldness.

thanks for reading!

-ed