Pro Suzzzz Fuzzzz: What? Who?

☟

I can't remember exactly when or where I heard about the Pro Suzzzz Fuzzzz for the first time, but I do remember being simultaneously perplexed and completely confident that I knew what was inside. A very quick glance will obviously bring up mental images of the Mosrite Fuzzrite, as the Pro Suzzzz is clearly built inside one of those legendary enclosures. So my first instinct was to assume that it was nothing more than a Fuzzrite with a tone control added. But over the years more pictures surfaced, and with them, more questions left to be answered.

So where did the Pro Suzzzz Fuzzzz come from, and who was responsible? At some point, some one definitely made this pedal. And while it really kind of seems like a very specific (famous) builder, there is enough here to make us question everything we think we know...

If the name "Ed Sanner" came to mind, you're not alone. Sanner, after creating the original Fuzzrite, went on to design for Rosac Electronics and made pedals like the Nu-Fuzz and Distortion Blender. These effects expanded on his earlier creation, with many featuring his signature eyelet-board construction that was seen in the pre-Sprague era of the Fuzzrite.

If we look at the Rosac Distortion Blender below and compare it to the Pro Suzzzz Fuzzzz underneath, it could definitely lead you to believe that they were at least possibly built by the same person.

But to play devil's advocate; just because they share a similar build style, same resistors, same gold capacitor, and possibly the same black silicon transistors, does not necessarily mean they were built by the same person.

When we look at 60s Japanese fuzzes, most of them share an almost identical construction. Which has lead many to believe that a single company was responsible for almost every pedal produced in Japan from 1968-1972. But when we dig a bit more, we find out that almost all of the Japanese builders were getting their parts from a single shop. Additionally, most of them were straight up copying each other's looks and designs. 

So while it is probable that these two pedals share the same origin, we will have to go a little deeper to be sure.

The next interesting piece of the puzzle is this, the Iron Butterfly Fuzz Wa. Another project spearheaded by Ed Sanner that sadly never really came to fruition. There were enough made that you will see one come up for sale at least once every other year, but they are fairly rare.

The original reason I even thought about this was the spelling of the word "Fuzzzz". Oddly enough the Iron Butterfly uses four "Z's", just like you'll find on the Pro Suzzzz Fuzzzz.

Additionally, and again like the Pro Suzzzz, the circuit itself does not seem to be based on the Fuzzrite. And the construction is done using an eyelet board, shares the same resistors, and those green caps.

But... let's see what else we can find.

So about a year ago I came across this weird Fuzz-Wah. From the outside it looked like it was going to be another Guild/Applied FW-3. But upon seeing the inside, it was something completely different.

That build style, those parts; where have I seen them before! It kind of really looks like a combination of everything we've seen so far and the early version of the Rosac Nu-Wa Fuzz.

Can you name all the similarities jumping out at you right now?

Well one that you may have missed, is the "Fuzz" logo itself. Look back at the photo of the Pro Suzzzz Fuzzzz and you will notice that the font is identical.

And while I sit here typing this, staring at a screen filled with pedals, I am hit with a memory; the image of a 2 knob Pro Suzzzz that I had possibly seen years ago. So I went digging (and digging) until I found it! And as I suspected, even more similarities poured into my lap.

The "Fuzz" logos are literally the same. And while it's hard to tell, when you zoom in, it appears as though they both use the same transistors.

Another thing I realized about the Pro-Fuzz, which is almost certainly just a coincidence, is that it vaguely looks like the AUL Foxey Lady inside. Again, probably unrelated, but I figured it was worth a mention. 

Lastly, when compared to the Rosac fuzz, while it's not the same layout, it is super similar in build style. And both are (probably) Fuzzrite derivatives.

This feels like a bit of a stretch, but "Pro-Fuzz" and "Nu-Fuzz" might not be a coincidence either... 

So what is going on here?

If anything, it seems very likely that the Pro Suzzzz Fuzzzz, the Pro-Fuzz, and the mystery Fuzz-Wah were all made by the same person. 

But was it Ed Sanner?

My best answer is that it really "feels" like it is. There are almost too many similarities to be a coincidence. But then again, if he had a completely different pedal company then why has he never talked about it before? Sanner has done multiple interviews in the past, and always went into the story of Mosrite, Rosac, his Sanner amp brand, his 90s Fuzzrite reissue, and his more recent Hallmark Nu-Fuzzes. But has never once mentioned the "Pro-Fuzz".

Is it possible that someone else associated with Mosrite, maybe someone who worked there soldering pedals all day, started his own company? We know they sold off deadstock Fuzzrite enclosures (*see the ZB Custom Fuzz) and there was that crazy "Electro Harmonix" Fuzzrite discussed on Totally Normal Behavior a couple years back. We also know that Mosrite did have a factory, and it wasn't just Sanner sitting at the bench all day soldering thousands of pedals by himself. So is it possible this wasn't him at all? 

Yes.

Just highly unlikely. 😁

So what do you think? Do you have any more photos or info that could help solve this fuzzy mystery? Do you know anyone who was directly involved in Mosrite or Rosac and could ask them??? If so, to any of those, please send me a message via Email or Instagram.

thanks as always for reading,

-ed