Univox Super Fuzz

it has 2 knobs, a slide selector and a switch: it's really easy to use, of course.

AND THIS IS WHATEVER YOU'D LIKE TO KNOW ABOUT THE CONTROLS:
BALANCE- this is the volume knob
EXPANDER- this is the gain knob
TONE- it allows you to select between 2 fuzz voices:
1<-- scooped mids fuzz
not scooped mids fuzz -->2

this is my setup, following the signal flow:

GIBSON les paul custom (black)
BOSS tu2 tuner
UNIVOX super-fuzz
VOX v848 clyde mccoy wah
BOSS dd6 digital delay
HUGES & KETTNER tube factor
FENDER hot rod DeVille 212

EVENTUAL ENTRIES:
ELECTRO-HARMONIX big muff pi (usa, reissue)
ELECTRO-HARMONIX eh 4600 small clone
GREEDTONE distortion
DOD-ANALOGMAN od250 overdrive preamp (mojo and led mods)
BOSS-KEELEY bd2 blues driver (FF-FREAK FUZZ mod)
T-REX mudhoney overdrive- distortion(10th anniversary edition, gold painted, #19 of 25 made worldwide)
T-REX dr. swamp overdrive- distortion
HIWATT custom overdrive
MXR gt-od overdrive
MXR phase 90



i can really get the sound i looked for years, and i can also get as close as possible to the sound of this pedal's heroes (pete townshend playing live in the 70's and anything ever recorded by mudhoney, just to name a few)

if you looked at this pedal you certainly know what it's about :-)
this without any doubt is about HEAD-CRASHERS.
it has a tone that really is CRUNCH WITHOUT STOPPING POWER.
works great with any of my pedals, and of course, like every germanium transistors- equipped fuzz, it doesn't like to be after the wah.

it is absolutley dependable.
i surely use it on gigs, without any backup. (if not, what i got it for?!?)

if it lasted until i got it, surely it will last forever!

mine is a repainted electric blue one with the blue rubber pad.
formerly it was a grey one wit blue rubber pad.

univox became korg, and i don't think that korg would repair/restore this piece of history directly from the 70's.
i don't really even imagine to ever find any of the original parts for a repair.

i play from classic rock to grunge rock, from 1997.
this fuzz is the best match anyone could ever do!!
if it were stolen, it should be a problem: they are amazingly rere and they go at least for us$ 400/450. or even more if well kept and in barely good conditions.

i love everything of this pedal, and this is really inspiring on making music for me.
in fact it's really the basic sound i use for my saturated sound.

I got this pedal around 1967 - mine is the grey/green version shown on the univox.org site: look under Effects> Foot pedals> U1093 Super-Fuzz> Green.

But I use this pedal for BASS. In the 60's, there simply weren't many effects pedals around. This is one of the first, and it has rather limited uses for bass, but when you really want a radical fuzz, this is the one. it's strictly analog with no LED or other indication that it's on..just two knobs (see Sound Quality), a Tone switch and the on/off button.

In the 60's you could always tell when someone got a new fuzz box - they played almost everything through it until the novelty wore off. Not so true today.

As another reviewer noted, the controls are as follows:

BALANCE: the volume knob
EXPANDER: the gain knob
TONE: selects between 2 fuzz voices:
1<-- scooped mids fuzz
not scooped mids fuzz -->2

The #1 setting (I think) is what I use for bass; the #2 is better for guitar. Th4e biggest challenge with this pedal is that the fuzz is extremely aggressive, and on bass it can fuzz the signal out to where it's very difficult to pick up in the mix - it can make your sound use definition. Therefore, moderation is called for and I usually set the gain so that the fuzzed signal is slightly louder than the clean signal.

After 40 years, 20 of it in storage, all it took was a shot of contact cleaner in the Tone switch and foot switch, and this pedal works like a trooper. It doesn't get any more reliable or simpler than this.

There is no AC input to this pedal, so to insure that I don't have a power problem I made a small notch in the bottom panel fo the pedal, added a rubber grommet and then use a snap-on 9V battery adapter from my power pedal board to power the Super-Fuzz. This way I'll never have a battery run out. Total reliability.

Univo has gone the way of the unicorns, but there's not much to break and I believe that all the parts or equivalents are still available if you do some online research. It may take a while to find a part, but you should be able to keep it going just about forever.

I play surf and classic rock, so this is just the right pedal for the music. I don't use it very much - maybe one or two numbers in a two-hour concert - but on something like "Secret Agent Man" it really fills out the sound and tears it up.

If it were lost or stolen, I would dearly to have another but I don't think I could afford to replace it. Street prices on these things run $400 or more. DANG!!!!

This is one reason to consider insurance on your musical equipment, folks.

very easy, two knobs, no brainer, if a pedal needs all kinds of adj. knobs to sound good , that should tell you that is over engineered. Simplicity is a genius in itself.

out of this world fuzz from the 60's or 70's, great with humbuckers or single pups. The fuzz itself is very nasty and spitting with great sustain. Two pedals in one really because of the mode switch, I love both settings. I have about 20 other pedals from custom tonebenders, maestro fuzz phazzer pedal, Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Wah, Vox Fuzz Wah, Foxx Fuzz Wah, Fuzz Face with NKT trannies, Jordan Bosstone clone, Big Muff clone, and various other pedals all analog. It would really break my heart if it were stolen, re-issue's do not even scratch the surface compared to this one.

I brought it online on e-bay , broken for $150.00 dollars, fixed the wiring and battery issues and oh-boy. No reapirs on ckt. card itself, just a good cleaning. This baby is blue and it shows it's 35 years plus of wear and tear, but still works like a champ. If only this pedal could talk about it's jouney's. Simple and 95% original with exception of battery wires. Life resurrected, it lives again. Very dependable after all these years. I thank the U.S. Navy for teaching me the skills to bring this baby to life. Literally , this pedal must have been found in a deserted house or basement. This baby has so much Vibe it's not even funny to joke about.

say what, these are a myth after all right?

I love all music earthly and extra terrestial. This baby is for the latter part. Sorry folks , no other pedal compares with this one unless it's 40 or 35 years old, only my vintage fuzz wah pedals and maestro fuzz phazzer can talk to this one.

No effect is necessarily easy to use. Sit down with it, tweak the knobs, figure out where it should go in the signal chain, what guitars sound better on certain settings, bla bla bla.

Nevertheless, I got a good sound out of it right away.

The Super Fuzz I have is the Orange and Blue version. I don't know how the other 2 versions sound.

2 settings: Boosted Mids and Scooped Mids.

The scooped mids has more gain and retains/boosts bass fequencies very nicely. In this setting, the octave overtones are more pronounced. Especially when you roll of your tone on a pickup. The superfuzz does this cool high attack ultra-compression when you strike a note. I always use this setting.

The boosted mids is more "harsh" and, to me, sounds like there's less gain. It can be overdrive-like on minimum settings. I don't tend to use this setting much.

As with the general population of fuzzes, there will be noise on more extreme settings or with noisy pickups, but not outrageous. I haven't had any tone suckage problems with the Super Fuzz in bypass.

I use humbucking and P-90 guitars and this sounds great with both. It's a very managable fuzz pedal that doesn't compromise your guitar or amp.

The reason I give the Super Fuzz a 10 in sound quality is partly due to how unique this fuzz is. It doesn't sound like a Big Muff, a Fuzz Face, or a Tone Bender.
The other reason is that considering it's a 30 year old fuzz, it completely blows most "boutique" fuzzes away. Then again, tone is subjective.

This is why super fuzzes are still living after 30 years. Little tanks. ( It actually kinda looks like a goofy car from Blade Runner).

I don't buy pedals to let them sit on a shelf. I play (as in GIG) with this. I've already done roughly 10-12 shows with it no problem.

I would love to get another if prices weren't in the 400's or if someone could make a decent clone. I guess the price on these will never decline. However, this pedal IS built to last.

If yours breaks, call up Analogman. If you ask me, he's THE vintage pedal guru. Even Gilmour calls him up to touch up his pedals.

This is THE most unique fuzz I've ever played and I've had the pleasure of being able to play lots and lots of different pedals (only other couple I could justify keeping include a Big Cheese and a Fuzz Factory).

The only other fuzz that ever really stood out was the Maestro Brassmaster (I wish I could've bought it).

Sounds remarkable on bass (along with the brassmaster).

This is my pride and joy.

Just buy it already.

Two knobs and a switch...couldn't be easier to use.

I first came across a super fuzz early on in my guitar playing development. It was in a glass display case and my friends and I inquired into what it actually was. The guy working behind the counter pulled-it-out for us and changed our lives. I have looked long and hard for another; since, I unfortunately did not buy that unit. Needless to say, I have spent almost 20 years searching for something similar and nothing has even come close. Now I have one and things are as they should be.

Hopefully, it will run as long as I have 9-volt batteries to put inside of it.

Unfortunately...none.

The king of all fuzzes. I remember one of us asking the guy that showed it to us if it was similar to a big muff...and he just laughed. He knows, what I now know...there are fuzzes, but there is only one king.

it has 2 knobs and a switch: it's really easy to use, of course.

BALANCE- this is the volume knob
EXPANDER- this is the gain knob
TONE- it allows you to select between 2 fuzz voices:
1<-- scooped mids fuzz
not scooped mids fuzz -->2

this is my setup, from right to left (signal flow):

GIBSON les paul standard (vintage sunburst, 2001)
UNIVOX super-fuzz
VOX v848 clyde mccoy wah
BOSS dd6 digital delay
HUGES & KETTNER tube factor
ELECTRO-HARMONIX eh 4600 small clone
FENDER hot rod DeVille 212

EVENTUAL BACKUPS:
ELECTRO-HARMONIX big muff pi
BLACK CAT superfuzz
GREEDTONE distortion
BOSS-KEELEY bd2 blues driver
DUNLOP jdf2 fuzz face


i can really get the sound i looked for years, and i can also get as close as possible to the sound of this pedal's heroes (pete townshend playing live in the 70's and anything ever recorded by mudhoney, just to name a few)

if you looked at this pedal you certainly know what it's about :-)
this without any doubt is about HEAD-CRASHERS.
it has a tone that really is CRUNCH WITHOUT STOPPING POWER.
works great with any of my pedals, and of course, like every germanium transistors- equipped fuzz, it doesn't like to be after the wah.

it is absolutley dependable.
i surely use it on gigs, without any backup. (if not, what i got it for?!?)

univox became korg, and i don't think that korg would repair/restore this piece of history directly from the 70's.
if you like this pedal drop me a line!!

i play from classic rock to grunge rock, from 1997.
this fuzz is the best match anyone could ever do!!
if it were stolen, it should be a problem: they are amazingly rere and they go at least for us$ 400.

i love everything of this pedal, and this is really inspiring on making music for me!!!

It's a fuzz box, how hard can they be? Two knobs and a tone switch.

Crunch without stopping power.

That's probably a good overview for it. This is the crown jewel of my distortion box collection, but it's not without it's drawbacks. I do lots of really noisy stuff that only barely constitutes as music. With this thing, I just crank up the knobs, flip the switch and lay waste to all I survey. Careful though. Hit more than two strings when it's maxed out and it loses all tonal quality. It's wonderful for simplistic, double-pickin' solos which I am prone to. Great for surf music, not good for metal as it doesn't have that heart-stopping THUD when you mute. Mine loses attack sometimes, which is to say, sometimes, I hit the strings and it fades in. Of course, mine's taken a beating and is ancient. The sound is, in any setting the most distorted thing I've ever heard. It destroys the notes sometimes. The tone switch drops out the mids pretty well. A most driving vintage sound that most young poseur-punks should learn to embrace.

I've used it on a wide array of 6 and 12 strings as well as solid state and tubed amps. No name and big name. The last band I was in, my drummer described my playing to a friend with one word: "clang". This was with a Standel twin with loose springs and tremelo, a hopped-up Charvell and a couple of other distortion pedals.

No! But mine was scored in a garage sale close to twenty years ago. It's seen better days. The attack thing is a concern when buying one of these. Since I've never seen another one up-close, I can't say whether or not the age and condition is a factor here, but mine was lookin' pretty rough when I got it and I often have to resolder the batt. wire, which could explain this.

Also, with newer boxes, you turn the things of by pulling the input cable. Not so here. If it's on or gets turned on with nothing plugged in, then it is still on. Easy to waste 9v's.

They still service this thing? Never even tried. I'm surprised it still workes, given the abuse it's seen before it even got to me.

I do a wide variety of music that calls for little talent and lots of destruction. This includes punk, metal, surf (OK, it was this box that got me playing surf), oi!, experimental, powernoise. Been doing this twenty years.

It's hard to find these mama-jammas and replacing them is costly. I guard this thing with my life and will probably try out some of the newer knock-offs for gigging.

I heard the Sauv Big Muffs were the other badasses of the era. Tried them out. May get one eventually, but the Superfuzz RAPES the Big Muff.

I wish it had a little more thump sometimes or at least a solid attack. A few more knobs to control the thing, but then again, I like to let this ugly dog run. Mine's great when it's working, but you see what I paid for it. Like I said, I started playing around with surf music because of the sound it made and it's limitations (once again, not good for eleborate chords).

"Anything else you'd like to share?"
Yeah, I have one and you most likely don't. If you do, then you paid an arm and a leg for it. In the unlikely event that you scored one like I did, then you know what I'm talking about. It's a gem, but I don't believe it to be useful for most musicians (TOO distorted, if there's such a thing), so if you have one, you should give it to me so I can stack mine.

Very easy - just close your eyes and use your ears

Best fuzz I've ever owned or tried. Very deep and warm sounding with a little touch of octave. Perfect. Just recorded an entire album using only this fuzz pedal! I'm never gonna let mine go! Actually I'm trying to buy another these days - just to have a spare one.

No problems yet.

I currently use this for a heavy metal project that I'm doing. I run my 63 jazzmaster straight into the superfuzz going to my diezel vh4 - sounds fantastic. Get one if you find one. Not many around anymore.

Just plug in, turn on, and play. It has only got a 2 nobs and 1 tone switch so its not very hard to get adjusted.

It sounds ausome. It has got a really great roar to it. But it doesnt sound like a grunge or metal kinduf thing. I use a 2000 gibson sg. That has 2 humbuckers, and a fender blues junior pr-295.

I am not sure, I only got to use it for one gig. A freind of mine had it with him. But it looked old, and he let me barrow it, so i guess he thought it was reliable.

never delt with company sry.

If you can get your hands on one, take the opprotunity.

Very simple. Just an expander knob (fuzz), balance knob (volume, and tone switch. I bought it used and didnt get a manual with it, but you dont need one, takes about a minute to realize how to use it.

HOLY CRAP this is the coolest damn fuzz pedal I have ever heard. It sounds like a big muff on acid. Very deep, growly. This pedal has balls. Both settings on it are killer. I use a '74 and '79 strat with varied other effects and play through a Fender DeVille.

I have only used it live a couple times because I fear it might crap out on me. It never has.

Yeah, I dont think Univox exists anymore.

I play very early 90's influenced rock, so this pedal is perfect. Gets a good Mudhoney sound. Also, can get some good Queens of the Stone Age sounds without having to buy a rediculously priced Ovation GP.