Everman Custom Audio Effects Fuzz Drive - Deluxe Edition

This pedal takes several hours of tweaking because of the four internal trimpots: fuzz shape, fuzz, fine adjust, and one to control the amount of fuzz for when you pull up the external drive knob. All four pots have a very extensive range. For example, when you turn the fuzz shape trimpot to the left you'll find the sound becoming less and less bassy and more and more octave up. You actually discover that the octave-up sound is a natural extension of the fuzz and you can see where Roger Mayer got the idea for his Octavia. The fuzz trimpot controls the amount of fuzz and more or less speaks for itself. The fine adjust is the best one because it allows you to dial in as much TS-like midrange as you like, which really helps give the pedal its transparancy and definition. I don't have a need for the fourth trimpot because I don't pull up the external drive knob (I'd rather use my guitar's volume control to clean up the fuzz).

It may not be the world's most user-friendly pedal (which is why I'm giving it an 8 for ease of use), but by allowing you to dial in your own presets you're much more able to create your own unique fuzz(y) sounds. To add to the tweakablity of a fuzz and still keep it userfriendly most pedals will feature a tone knob of some kind but as I understand it it's the elimination of the EQ-circuit that gives this pedal its outstanding transparancy and definition, making it the most versatile fuzz pedal I've ever come across. With so many trimpots it's definitely the most tweakable fuzz but Justin must of thought, better tweakable than muddy-sounding. So it pays off to do the tweaking, folks, but as with any fuzz you have to know what you're doing.

I bought a Fulltone '69 pedal based on its reputation of it being the best germanium fuzzface clone out there and I love the creamy sound of that fuzzbox (see my review of the '69 on Harmony Central). I also love the fact that Mike Fuller added the bias and contour knobs to the original design as well as an internal trimpot (more tweakability again). This really helps make the '69 sound good with a Fender amp with 10" speakers. However, after using it for a while my main gripe was that I felt the pedal still lacked the slightest bit of high end and that the low end was just a touch too undefined. I needed a pedal that could give me that little bit more.

I came across a Fuzz Drive Deluxe on Ebay not long ago, started reading up on it and decided this might just be the fuzzbox I was looking for. Now that I have it I can tell you that everything they say and write about it is true. You can get a TS with a fuzzy edge out of it but also a fuzzface with a TS edge and every imaginable sound in between or even outside of that! I think it's really cool that it has the basic sound characteristics of a TS, which makes it very usable for blues players with Fender amps like myself. Whereas most fuzz pedals will sound at their best thru Marshall amps with 12" speakers the FDD effortlessly works together with any decent tube amp, from huge Marshall stacks to small Fender combos.

I hooked up the '69 and the FDD together and because I dig the sound of the '69 so much tried to get as close as possible on the FDD. With the 'fine adjust' trimpot on the Everman I could dial in the same kind of bass range as the '69 but that presented me with the same problem of less defined low end. So instead I fine adjusted the Everman to the max, adding more TS-like midrange. It still sounded like the Fulltone but all of a sudden it cut thru the mix so much better. The added transparancy made for a slightly less creamy sound, though, and I now know why fuzzfaces lack that extra bit of midrange. I prefer the added midrange because it gives me a fuzzface sound with a TS feel, which I'm liking more and more!

The external bias knobs are very ballsy! Boy, does this thing have bass (bias knob). I can also get more fuzz and volume out of this pedal than the '69, making the FDD a much quieter pedal. To get a Doyle Bramhall-like fuzzface sound I set all three knobs on 3 o'clock, which seems to be as far as you can go before entering the realm of sonic bedlam. The way I set the trimpots I can easily get a TS sound with fuzzy overtones out of it as well by keeping the volume at 3 o'clock but by simply setting the bias and drive on 12 o'clock.

It's hard to get a bad sound out of this pedal. You just know a Texan designed it because the FDD truly rocks! I'm afraid the '69 has got to go. As one guy put it, my search for the ultimate fuzz is over. Amen to that!

It's the biggest fuzzbox I've ever seen. The housing is probably big so as to protect the inside better. It looks and feel sturdy enough, so I can't imagine it falling apart anytime soon. As much as I would like to have a backup I'm afraid that's virtually impossible as only 100 Fuzz Drive Deluxes were made. I'm just lucky to have one.

I have never dealt with Justin but I'll take everybody's word for it that he's so supportive and stands behind his product. As well he should be for designing such a great fuzz!

As I put in my review of the Fulltone '69, I'm a big-tone-Texas-school blues player with influences from late 60's and early 70's rock and funk. I've been playing 17 years now. This is THE most musical fuzz pedal around - and I was saying that about the Fulltone '69 before! Besides the Fulltone I owned a Dunlop fuzzface reissue (crap!) and a Roger Mayer Mongoose Fuzz (great, but again not defined enough). The Everman beats them all. It lives up to its name, because it truly is a combination of fuzz and drive. I abolutely love its TS-like characteristics which makes it cut thru so much better. You guys reading this can only hope that Justin will start making another 100 at some point because this pedal will be worth a lot of money in the future!

the Fuzz-Drive Deluxe is a pedal with two adjustments: external and internal. External you can adjust, BIAS, DRIVE (push-pull for mor fuzz portion) and VOLUME.
Inside the pedal there are four trimmer pots: SHAPE, FUZZ, FINE ADJUST and PULL POT FUZZ.
So it's very easy to adjust the Fuzz Drive pedal on each typ of amp and guitar.

the sound quality is high-end,really. i have tested with two amps: Tone King Continentel and Fender Dual Professional. The Guitars were:
Strat, Tele and Les Paul. On each position the Fuzz Drive Sound is very honest and clear on tone! the sound was never blurred. I had the feeling that the amps and the Fuzz Drive "worked together" ! And with the guitar you can regulate the Fuzz very easy. You can use the Fuzz Drive Deluxe to boost an amp or make Crunch and Distortion-sounds.If you want more fuzz with a Strat or Tele ther is no problem. You can pull the DRIVE adjustment and than you have more Fuzz portion for fat Rocksounds. But the pedal can't produce HEAVY-sounds !!!
By the way,the pedal could be very loud,so be careful with the volume on your amp if you use it first!

This pedal is handcraftet and very robust. No gig or session without my Fuzz Drive Deluxe!

Best Service no problems!

I play Blues and Rock-Sounds. There are many Fuzz and Distortion pedals but for me the Fuzz Drive Deluxe has the best Quality I've ever heard before!

at first glance, this looks like a standard 3 knob overdrive/fuzz box. but thats until you read the manual. inside the box are 4 tweakable knobs and the drive knob can be pulled up to 1/2 the gain stage. in comparison to your typical 2 or 3 knob fuzz boxes, this is not easy to use... but in a good way, i like the fact that i can tweak the fuzz. he's very clear that he didnt want to put a tone knob on there as it will dampen the trasparency of the fuzz.
so for ease of use, it's easy to geta good sound out of it, but not a simple turn two knobs and your done kind of operation,,, you gotta like tweaking, and fine tuning... i love it.

i'm using a les paul classic, through a bbod, fuzz drive deluxe, klon, george dennis stereo chorus, into two 1x12 combos....
i love the fact that i can use the drive knob to 1/2 the gain... then for lead kick the knob down to go into full fuzzzzzzzzz...
this is one of the quietest fuzz pedals i've ever played.
it does sound better at loud volumes, but if you're playing in low volume settings, why would you waste your money on a fuzz anyways?
tweaking the fuzz can get you more of an overdrive flavor, or insane fuzz sounds. it also cleans up really well when you back of your volume knob. i can almost use it all the time. j.everman makes some great fuzz pedals. i've tried my buddies fuzz drive which also sounds great but is not as tweakable as the fuzz drive deluxe.

high quality parts, built like a tank.

j. everman returns email fast. nice guy, and is really helpful.

i play bluesy rock, this pedal fits in perfect. if i ever lost this thing, i would be frantically searching for another one. everman says he's only making a limited run of these. i'm glad i got one while i could.

i told justin what kind of gear i had. so he already set it up. but as soon as i have more time on my hands i will definitely tweek to my liking. since the pedal takes some tweeking i won't give it a 10

i play a gibson sg standard, 61 reissue and i have the following effects. budda wah > 1980 mxr phase 100 > way huge swollen pickle > fuzz drive deluxe > marshall jcm 900 100w. it sound cool with or without the pickle, with the pickle there is a lot more sustain. with out it, it sounds very cool and i slip right into stonersville really quick. the promised land.

oh this thing is built like a brick, but light as a feather. i looked in the inside to install a battery and everything is nice and neat. you can tell justin does quality work.

justin is a class act. very patient with all my stupid questions. sounds like someone who actually cares. and he even fixed my eh memory man deluxe for me. he didn't have to do that. the guy from cowtown guitars in las vegas shipped me a bogus one and said that the unit worked perfect when he shipped it. i told him about it and he copped an attitude. so i asked justin if he would fix it for me and he said no problem (i think this dude is cool!). and i believe if anything happens to my fuzz drive deluxe, he would stand by his product, that's the impression i get from him. no questions asked.

i play mostly stoner rock (how come people hate that name so much?) and this pedal is awsome. it fuzz is very organic and some tone sucking pedal and it also has true bypass. i've been hacking off and on ever since i was a young pup. i would by another one in a heart beat if some scum bag stole it. the pedal is quite pricey, but you get what you pay for. if you want junk the by boss, if you want quality then check out j.evermans line of effects. you won't be dissapointed. so that is the only reason you it will get a 9, not every one can afford it (hey, that's a good thing right?) and i don't think he is making to many more of these things so they are sure to be a collecter's item in the future.

I would't say that this Pedal is not one for peole new to the world of effects as it virtually impossible to get a bad sound out of it, but the tweakabillity factor might put some people off. I've had mine for acouple of months now but it only took me 3 or 4 hours to find the settings that work for me. I'm only giving it a 8 because of the fact you have to totaly remove the bottom of the unit to get at the trim pots.

I'm using the pedal with an Ibanez 270DX that is tuned down a whole step and a Mesa/Boogie studio preamp that goes into a Mesa 20/20 stereo pwer amp and it F***ing rules! You can get a massive range of different tones from it, every thing from virtually clean to full on fuzz mayhem and all of them are excellent. As it says in the leaflet you get with it it's like an extention of your amp so I guess if you've got a shit amp it won't sound as good as it would with a decent one. The way I have it set I can easily get fuzz laden stoner rock sounds as well as thick professional lead sounds and turning the drive knob down i've got quality overdriven sounds as well(Warning: if you turn all the trim pots to full and the drive control as well you get all manner of squealing and radio tuning noises,you have been warned this is not a crank it and go type pedal).This is easily the best sounding pedal i've ever heard in my meagre 5 years of playing guitar and theres been plenty.

I havn't had it that long but I havn't had any problems with it yet and don't suspect that I ever will, the wiring is all hand done as far as i'm aware and seems pretty sturdy and the case seems pretty solid also. It is expensive but I guess you get what you pay for.I'm giving it an 8 because you never really know do you?

I havn't dealt with Customer support since buying the pedal but before buying it Mr Everman (or whoever it was i dealt with) was incredibly helpful they even paid the S&H to the U.K

I'm currently in two bands one's a metal band for which I don't use this pedal and the others a sort os stoner/hard rock band which this pedal is great for if it were stolen I'd want another but I'm not sure if I'd get one because I'd have to import it again and it works out to be stupidly expensive. I think that the ammount of "saturation" you can get and the way it enhances the sound of you're amp make this a totally killer pedal but with better access to the trim pots and battery this pedal would be totally perfect. It excells at any kind of rock music from mild to to spazzed out sonic insanity. I'm oly giving it an 8 though because it's so boody expensive.
If you can afford it, THIS PEDAL ROCKS!

This is an easy pedal to figure out. It comes with instructions to adjust the internal trimmers. It takes some work to find your own settings but it is good for the ear of the musician doing the tweaking. I'll take away a point because you have to exert some effort to do this. It's really no big deal though.

I use my Fuzz Drive in front of a Fulltone Clyde then to a Banzai Fireball Od> Boss DD5 Delay> Fulltone ChoralFlange>Amp 65'modified Dual Showman. I've tried a lot of Fuzzes the Fuzzdrive is the quietest, the ballsiest and the most flexible. I've trie the Fulltone 69', 70' the Diaz Sqare Face the Lovetone Big Cheese a Big Muff and others (Roger Mayer etc..) and the FuzzDrive has beat them all. I have never Had a problem with Radio Frequency interference which all the above was troublesome to from time to time. This thing smokes man, sustain for days, balls , grit to bluesy subtleties. What more can you ask for?

I use mine 3 to 4 times a week on gigs and so far without a problem. I still have the same battery as I started with about 3 months ago!!!
I don't worry about a backup. The $300 is steep but the tones and overall performance is amazing.If I had the bucks I'd probably order another one just because there is only going to be 100 made.

Justin's been great. Never had to get an upgrade or repair.

I play all styles of music. Mostly blues and a Doors tribute band right now. It's great for that stuff and any psychadelic sounds you may want. I have been playing for 30+ years. My search for the ultimate Fuzz is over!!!!

This pedal is NOT a two knob deal.If your patience is easily tested
this is not for you.If you like to tweak and refine your sound this may be what you're looking for.(also why I give this a 7)

I'm using this pedal with a variety of guitars into a '69 Marshall.I've only had the pedal for a couple of days,so these are initial impressions.My first trial was with a Firebird and I must say
I was impressed.I think I've fallen in love with the neck pickup.A little delay and chorus got me into Robin Trower land in a hurry.The
notes remained defined and articulate and the punch of the amp remained.This particular trial was the drive function of the pedal.The
fuzz trial is next.I will add an update when I've tweaked some more.

Checking out the guts of the pedal you will see a neatly laid out
interior.The runs from the switches and inputs are neatly done and the solder joints are nice and shiney.This unit looks very well built.

Justin Everman answered every email and question promptly and made himself available to answer more.I get the feeling that if for any reason a problem did arise it would be dealt with quickly and with
courtesy.

Again this is a first pass review and I haven't delved into all the
nooks and crannies yet,but first impressions can tell you a lot about
the tonal character.The thing that leaps out at me is the charcter of
the amp shining through.The bridge pickup on my Strat(a Kinman Scn)had tons of spank and rich harmonics(jimi- live at oakland-hey joe intro)
The 9 rating is only because I've had this pedal for a couple of days
and I think may get to a 10 when I've spent more time exploring.

This pedal is J. Everman's Deluxe Edition of his Fuzz Drive. New features include a LED indicator, dual gain control, 9 V ac-dc power jack, and internal trim pots.

The pedal is easy to use, but offers a lot of control. It's really several pedals in one, and can also be set up for maximum sonic effect with different guitars, pickups, and amps.

Externally the controls are Bias, Drive and Volume knobs. Pulling up on the drive knob engages the low drive/low gain settings. Internally you have four additional pots: Overdrice, Low Gain Adjust, Fuzz, and Fine Adjust. A one page instruction sheet is included and gives several sample settings for these internal controls.

I love this pedal. I believe less is more when using effects and have it set on a very nice blues/overdrive mode. The overdrive characteristics are wonderful. The pedal is very quiet and transparent. Apparently the elimination of EQ circuits helps in this regard.

As I mentioned, it's also several pedals in one and, by using the internal pots, you can get all kinds of fuzz sounds from smooth to huge. On extreme gain settings, it sounds as if something is going to blow up.

I've only had it a week. It certainly looks very solid. I don't anticipate any problems.

Justin Everman is great, very professional and considerate. Plus he makes great stuff.

I play blues and rock and this is a great pedal, flexible and organic-sounding.

I own a variety of effects by manufacturers such as Fulltone, Way Huge, Akai, etc. If I could only have one pedal, this would be the one. It's expensive but you get a great-sounding pedal that is several effects in one, and you also get a lot of control.

I like the look, but some people may be a little put off by the pedal's appearance. It doesn't look like a slick, mass produced box, and it is not. J. Everman is only going to produce 100 Deluxe versions.

Check out the Fuzz Drive Deluxe and other offerings from J. Everman at www.jeverman.com