Mullard OC45 Germanium Fuzzrite | Hand Wired Vintage Fuzz Pedal | Limited Edition

Description

Description of Product

The original Fuzzrite is one of those rare pedals that makes more sense the longer you spend with it. Rather than trying to produce the biggest, thickest fuzz possible, it was designed to do something entirely different. It strips away low end before the clipping stage, creating a focused, cutting fuzz that sits effortlessly in a band mix.

After building the version featured on my YouTube channel with an NKT OC44 transistor, I wanted to hear how the circuit behaved with another classic British germanium device. The result is this small run of three pedals, each built around a genuine NOS Mullard OC45 orange jacket transistor.

Every pedal is hand wired on traditional tagboard using vintage blue moulded capacitors, my favourite capacitors to build with. They’re housed in a bent steel enclosure finished in aged metallic blue with a skull motif on the front, completed with vintage style Bakelite knobs. Each one is built, tested and signed off individually in my workshop.

These are not production pedals. They are individual builds, made one at a time, with the same attention to detail that goes into every Hello Sailor Effects pedal.

Description of Sound

This is a fuzz with a very distinctive voice.

Instead of producing huge amounts of low end, it stays focused and articulate, allowing chords to retain their shape while single notes cut through with a raw, textured character. It has the familiar rasp and bite that made the original circuit a favourite of garage rock and psychedelic players, yet it remains surprisingly responsive to your guitar’s controls.

Rolling back your guitar’s volume cleans the sound naturally, while opening it up brings out the full character of the germanium transistor. It works particularly well into clean valve amplifiers, where the circuit can push the front end without becoming muddy, but it is equally at home driving an already breaking up amp into rich, expressive fuzz.

The Mullard OC45 gives this version its own personality. It retains everything that makes the circuit recognisable while offering the warm, organic response that makes vintage Mullard germanium devices so enjoyable to play.

Specifications

Circuit: Vintage style Germanium Fuzzrite

Transistor: NOS Mullard OC45 orange jacket germanium

Construction: Traditional hand wired tagboard

Capacitors: Vintage blue moulded capacitors

Controls: Volume, Depth

Power: 9 volt battery

Enclosure: Bent steel

Finish: Aged metallic blue

Artwork: Skull motif

Knobs: Vintage style Bakelite

Hand built in the UK by Hello Sailor Effects

Real World Testimonials

“Best fuzz I’ve ever played.”

Abbey Road Fuzz customer

“Joe’s pedals never a let down and this one sounds fantastic.”

Abbey Road Fuzz customer

“Super high quality handmade pedals.”

Abbey Road Fuzz customer

Only three of these Mullard OC45 Fuzzrites have been built.

Each pedal is individually hand wired and no two Hello Sailor Effects builds are exactly alike. This particular combination of circuit, components, finish and artwork will not be repeated in this form.

If this is the version that speaks to you, it is available.