The original Ace Tone Fuzz Master FM-2 is one of those vintage Japanese circuits that people chase for years. It’s basically a Super Fuzz variant — that same aggressive octave grind — but harder to find and usually crusty with age. With the Earthquaker Devices Fuzz Master General, the Ohio-based builder took that circuit and re-imagineered it for people who actually want to use one on a modern board.
The Fuzz control is the big upgrade. On the original it was more of a suggestion. On this one it sweeps from nearly clean up through full buzz-saw assault, so you can actually dial in the amount of dirt instead of just taking whatever it gives you. The Voice toggle is where it gets interesting — three positions: germanium diodes, silicon diodes, and no diodes at all. Germanium is open and loose with more output. Silicon is tighter and more compressed. The center position, no diodes, gets you a nearly clean upper octave that borders on ring modulation. That alone is worth the price of entry.
The original had a footswitch to toggle between two fixed tone settings. The Fuzz Master General gives you a variable tone control instead, so you can sweep from wide-open treble assault to scooped, bass-heavy blast. More output volume than the vintage unit. Lower noise floor. All the swelling octave grind intact, just way more usable.
$179. Made by hand in mostly tropical Akron, Ohio. Limited run, so if you want one, don’t sit on it.
