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The world of fuzz is a kaleidoscope of sound, color, and moods. But if you use fuzz enough, there are days almost any old fuzz will do the job—so long as it buzzes and sounds louder than everything else.
What makes the Massive FX G.O.A.F. (Golden Order of Alchemist Fuzz) special is that, even on such days, it sounds and feels different. Sure, it buzzes and rips—especially when you add the octave effect to the mix. And it’s definitely loud enough to bully most other pedals into submission. But there’s also a sense of air and evenness to the G.O.A.F. that never seems to come at the expense of aggression. And the controls interact and feel quite unlike most fuzzes sitting on your shelf. The G.O.A.F. is a fuzz that can be positively inviting—even on days when you could care less whether you’re stomping on a Fuzz Face or a phone book.
Buzzaround Blues
Some of the G.O.A.F.’s can’t-quite-place-it tone profile probably comes from its uncommon design inspiration, the Baldwin Burns Buzzaround. The Buzzaround is most famous for being Robert Fripp’s fuzz of choice through the early ’70s. It’s also legendary for being incredibly rare. Purple 10-horned pachyderms may outnumber surviving examples.
Such rarity makes it hard to evaluate how precisely the G.O.A.F. nails the Buzzaraound’s signature tones, but the Buzzaround’s circuit clearly is the foundation of the G.O.A.F.’s three-transistor design, which features a germanium AC125 and two rubber-sheathed germanium transistors of uncertain origin. (Massive says they are NOS Russian units.) The whole circuit is tidily laid out on a through-hole board about an inch wide that runs the length of the enclosure and is mounted independently from the in/out jacks and footswitches. The arrangement also makes way for a 9V battery, which Massive FX says is key to extracting the best tones from the G.O.A.F. On the whole, it’s a sturdy, thoughtfully built stompbox.
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