Monkey FX Monkey Fuzzle 3

a very simple pedal to use, two knobs - volume and gain, on/off switch and led (a very bright one too), the usual input/output jacks and powered by either a 9v battery or boss style dc jack - to get at the battery you do need to unscrew the baseplate, which you do need a screwdriver for, but it only takes a minute (granted not ideal on stage in a rush) and is the same method used my mxr and the vast majority of boutique builders

firstly the pedal is 'true bypass' so no signal loss at all when switched off which is always nice

i use it with a Marshall JCM2000 DSL401 and a tele (humbucker bridge, singlecoil neck) or BC Rich (two humbuckers)

this pedal sounds awesome, unlike a lot of fuzzes the gain knobs is very useful too, going from a lovely thick fuzz at high settings to a lovely lower gain sound at lower gains - a kinda overdrivey gain, but lovely and fuzzey sounding
it also reacts to different pickups and guitar volumes really well, flicking from the humbucker the the singlecoil on my tele (a seymour duncan jb to a strat singlecoil respectively) gives an excellent change in sound, from a lovely thick fuzz to a much more open defined sound, both sounding equally awesome

i dont really have many other pedals to compare to, but compared to my ZVex fuzz factory, it is a much nicer fuller fuzz sound compared to the higher gain harshness of the zvex, much better for 'normal' music

i havent had any problems with this pedal so far, and will happily gig with it and the like

mine was chipped when i got it (bought slightly cheaper due to this) so i dont know how tough the finish will be, but it is still looking the same as i got it after 6 months of use

Andi (the builder) is a top bloke, and has been very helpful to me with questions about the pedal, and indeed other electronics/pedalbuilding questions, alwasy replying quickly and answering everything, when i got the pedal it was one of the first trades i made online and Andi was very helpful in helping me get my items packed and sent off and how to pay and so on, so top marks here

I love this pedal, if it was lost or stolen i would buy another straight away, amazing sounding and it looks awesome too to as a bonus

Just two controls - fuzz & volume. Very easy to get a good sound.

I bought this on-line without having heard it first except for a few clips on the MonkeyFX webbie so only had a vague idea what to expect. The pedal arrived without a battery so I whipped one out a another pedal I had knocking about and plugged in. The sound was terrible, all bassy and crackly with no sustain and I was all ready to return the FX pedal. However, I then gave it another chance but with a new battery and WOW! this was exactly the 'sound in my head' which I hadn't quite been able to find before. Nice warm fuzzy sustain without destroying the guitar's original tone. Nicely sensitive to the guitar's volume control too. Roll off the volume and the sound just cleans up beautifully. Oh, and true bypass, nice paintwork, and very bright status LED. (Strangley the aforementioned battery still works fine in my compressor pedal.)

Looks to be very well built, and with quality components too. I don't see it going wrong. However I've only had this a month or two so really too early to tell.

Not dealt with them.

Got to be 10 again. I play mostly blues through various single coil guitars, primarily Telecasters, usually through a Marshall amp and this pedal suits me perfectly. Would I buy another - almost certainly, but would probably spend more time looking around first, rather than buying on spec (although I have to say it worked for me).
I like the blue and green paint work, and the quality feel of this pedal. I dislike needing a screwdriver for the battery access.

Two controls - volume and fuzz - how difficult can it be?

Nice bright LED shows up very well.

My equipment is a Fender Std Telecaster thru a Marshall solid state amp.

Easy to get a good sound. Unit apparently has true bypass - certainly doesn't seem to affect the sound when it's turned off. When on the fuzz has a much deeper warmer sound than others I have tried - exactly the kind of sound I was after but I realise that anything to do with tone is subjective, and this might not be to all tastes. Seems to be interaction between fuzz and volume contols so needs a little playing about to get dial it in but not much. Also, turning the volume down on the guitar cleans up the fuzz nicely. I'm not really into a lot of effects but I wanted a warm sustain with a little bit of an edge to it and this does the job nicely - I also own the Marshall BB2 stompbox which is very good for the money, but in my opinion lacks the warmth which I was after. Just my opinion though.

Looks tough, although I'd be happier if the knobs were better protected. Build quality ad quality of components look to be very good. Some paint runs but I still love the look of the thing and hey - it's a hand made stompbox and anyway I bought it for the sound not the look of the thing.

I think I would use the BB2 as a backup, but this thing looks tough enough.

Never dealt with them but other reviews reckon customer support is good.

I play mostly blues and soft rock - this pedal suits my style fine.
And yes, I'd buy another if this one was lost or stolen.

Pedals don't get much simpler than this. One input, one output, one power socket, one fuzz knob and one volume knob. Nice and sturdy footswitch, (true bypass of course) and a VERY bright LED.
It is easy enough to get a good sound. This isnt a fuzz pedal that is tied to the usual "fuzz on max, volume to taste" set up. You can read more about this later...

Battery access is via unscrewing base plate and so a little fiddly, But this is par for the course with most boutique pedals using the MXR style hammond boxes. My MF was one of the very first, (I think it was one of the first three!), and I understand Andi has started using a larger case for the newwer runs.

I run this in my usual gigging setup of either a strat loaded with kentarmstrong lipstick tubes, a Fender Jazzmaster, an Agile LP2500 Paul clone or an Italia Mondial. That runs into a Burman Pro2k head and a mid 70's marshall 4x12. My style is rockabilly and garage punk rock hybrid.
The pedal is a little unusual for a Fuzz in that it seems to favour both single coils and buckers equally. Most of my other fuzzes, (and I own a fair few), only work well with one or the other. The big cheese likes single coils, the muff prefers buckers and so on.
This pedal almost functions as an "townsendy" overdrive at lower gain settings. Higher gain settings give a nice Si fuzzface style rasp without the HF "splutter" prevelant in many fuzzes. Think stoner rock, (blah!), through to retro rock and you have a good idea of what this does. I spent a happy couple of hours jamming out kinks, sonics and 13th floor elevators riff when I first got this pedal. Altogether I would describe it as more refind than a Muff, less "original guitar sound mangling" than a big cheese and more cutting than a Ge fuzz face.
I use the thing as a lead boost and there is plenty of volume on hand for this. It has no problem with providing a nice fuzz tone that cuts through drums, bass and second guitar in a live situation.

Dependability? I have had it for a couple of months so far. I have gigged with it a few times and all went well. The wiring is very tidy, the board is nicely secured. I can't see anything going wrong.

Cust service should be great.

If it went missing I would buy another. Altogether it is afunky little box that has given me the lead sound I needed. All in all it is well worth a look. I actually got two compliments about my playing / sound after the first gig I used it on.

For brist and EU bods this is areal alternative to boutique USA stuff.

As simple as a FuzzFace - "Fuzz" and "Volume" controls. In and out jacks up top, and a DC power input socket on the left side. A wonderfullt bright LED is a handy addition over most vintage fuzzes.

I have tested this with various instruments into a Vox Cambridge (valve pre-amp) and Roland JC120 (super clean solid state). Sound quality of this unit is exceptional. It is a similar circuit to a FuzzFace, but ia a usefully more modern take on the FuzzFace sound. It is a versatile little fuzz, it sounds great into a clean amp (though better fully cranked here) or used as a drive pedal into an already clipping valve pre-amp. It also works very well run into another distortion or overdrive pedal - it really kicks a TubeScreamer type awake! This is real fuzz, by the way - warm, woolly and loose. No chugging metal rhythms here, just pure tone. It isn't as aggressive as a Big Muff or Tonebender, but rather sits in a very useful middle ground between these and it's ancestor, the FuzzFace. it reacts very well to adjustments from the guitar, cleaning up beautifully smoothly when the guitar's volume is dropped. At lower gain settings, the pedal is very transparent, and the guitar's inherent tone is still there with the fuzz.

It is built like the proverbial brick outhouse in a very high quality machined casing - MXR sized. It also uses probably the best quality footswitch on any of my pedals. I am guessing that this fuzzbox will be around, operating perfectly for a long time!

The guy who makes theses effect, Andi, is a thoroughly decent man, and exceptionally helpful. He is also genuinely interested in his customer's views and thoughts. I very much doubt it will ever need repairing, but if it did, I suspect it would be a much smoother process than dealing wiht most companies.

A superb pedal, and I own a LOT of distortion units. This has made it up there with the Vintage Rat and 1977 Big Muff that I use most of the time. It offers me a fairly different fuzz to my other pedals, but when cranked up fuzzes and screams as much as I ever asked my Big Muff to do! It doesn't use the same parts as a FuzzFace, but is of that ilk tonewise. Considerably better made though, and much better priced than even a duff vintage FuzzFace (and plenty of them are duff!), I cannot recommend this fuzzbox enough.