Some pedal circuits are able to capture the ear of guitarists (and in this case also bassists) in ways that others can’t. The British Lovetone Big Cheese, one of the first hand-wired boutique fuzz of the ’90s, had the ability to do just that for iconic personalities like The Edge and J. Mascis, among others. The fact that it was released in a small batch for a short period of time has made the price of original units levitate to unseemly prices.
Pedal erudite and circuit designer Josh Scott from JHS has just released a faithful recreation of that fuzz with a street price of just $179, called Cheese Ball (manufacturer link coming as soon as the JHS site will be updated!).
Like the original, the Cheese Ball delivers a saturated sound that can be contoured for a more subtle, low gain sound, and features 4 types of fuzz/distortion modes selectable through the top right switch, and three more knobs: Tone, Volume and Gain.
In the Off position, the pedal’s Tone knob is disengaged, for a bright, trashy fuzz. Position 1 serves up a mid-scooped, Muff-style sound. Position 2 conjures a cutting, mid-boosted sound. Position 3 delivers a spitty, gated fuzz sound.
Here are the first videos of the Cheese Ball Fuzz:
