The MJM London #Fuzz is an old-school kind of #fuzz pedal. It is a relatively dark sounding fuzz, as you can expect from a #germanium transistors based audio circuit. It preserves low-end and sounds at its best when pushing the front of a tube amp that's on the edge of breakup. I use it primarily with my #Marshall JCM 2000 DSL 401, but occasionally I would use it with larger #Marshall heads and some Fenders. I would say that to my taste typical Fender-ish (super bright, super clean) amps won't pair nicely with this pedal, or any vintage fuzz pedal - at least not for the sound I'm going for. When the amp at hand is not the best companion, I would try to push a full range overdrive pedal instead. Sometimes that will work, sometimes it won't, depends on the pedal, the amp, the moon and the stars..
cleans up amazingly when rolling off the guitar volume
That pedal is perfect for Pink Floyd More Ibiza Bar, The Nile Song and early Hendrix type tones. It is very dynamic and cleans up amazingly when rolling off the guitar volume. Most of the time I would max the fuzz knob and roll the volume on the guitar a little to tame it. It's almost as if that's how it was designed to be used. You just can't get the same tones with the guitar volume cranked..
Listen!
The next track demos the pedal in a mix. All three guitars are recorded through the pedal.
On both rhythm tracks the pedal gain is around 11 O'clock and the volume all the way up and into my #Marshall DSL 401 clean channel. On the left channel it is a Telecaster bridge pickup and on the right a G&L Legacy (stats style) bridge single-coil pickup.
The lead guitar is a G&L Legacy bridge humbucker and the pedal gain is almost maxed and the volume all the way up.
From Filth to Glassy Cleans
In the next two samples you can hear a G&L Legacy (strat) played through the pedal. The gain is at 3 O'clock, which is pretty high and as you'll hear, around the middle of each track, I take the guitar volume down from 10 to around 5 - 6, which demonstrates some of the sparkly clean tones you can get out of this pedal.
Like many vintage style fuzz pedals, especially those built around germanium transistors, you have to carefully find your sweet spot and that changes depending on the guitar, amp and amp settings you're using... that means that you cannot just plug in and play - you will have to experiment, be patient and it will pay off eventually.
A few warnings/advices worth noting:
I wouldn't pair that pedal or any germanium fuzz with a solid state amp before I tried it on that amp and made sure it works to my expectations. From my experience, they work best with slightly broken #Marshall type tube amps.
Works best when positioned first in your signal chain. Also, be aware that buffers can radically change the tone of a germanium fuzz.
Pros
very sensitive to input signal strength, pick attack and dynamic
rolling the guitar volume cleans up to an array of very useful tones on every guitar I tried it with, single coil and humbucker alike
sounds great for those who appreciate vintage germanium fuzz tone
very quiet
very well built
true bypass
long battery life
Cons
recommended to be used with a battery
flip polarity DC connection (works with Strymon isolated power supply like the Zuma, but not with an old MXR DC brick for example)
like all germanium fuzz pedals, doesn't always like other pedals around it
This pedal is not cheap, but it doesn't sound or performs cheap, so that's fair. Get this pedal, or any other good germanium fuzz pedal, only if you know what you're after, but if that's the sound you're looking for, you are going to be very happy!
Check out my Vintage Style Guitar Fuzz Tone Guide!
More Audio
The lead guitar here is an early 2000's G&L Legacy HB through the London Fuzz and into an OCD stacked with a Lovepedal Eternity (don't remember the order) and into a dirty Marshall JCM 2000 DSL 401.
The rhythm guitar on the left channel, is a Telecaster through the London Fuzz with less gain and into the same Marshall JCM 2000 DSL 401 + tremolo.
The guitar here is an early 2000's G&L Legacy HB played through the London Fuzz and a Strymon Volante Echo into a Marshall JCM 2000 DSL 401. The volume on the guitar is around half way and the fuzz and level on the pedal are set high.
PGS Demo Video
Check out MJM FX for more info and more cool pedals!
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