Catalinbread StarCrash Fuzz (Fuzz Face Variant), StarCrash '70s Collection

The Starcrash isn't an exact recreation of the venerable '70s "Face" circuit, but one refined to truly explore the boundaries of the circuit. Featuring a gooey saturated fuzz circuit with a voltage starve circuit to gently increase harmonic content, you can dial in the transistor voltage that best suits your playing. We've also installed a Low-Cut knob to tighten up the flubbiness that plagues some silicon fuzz circuits, extending the range up into the low-mids to sit in the mix nicely.

OVERVIEW

The Fuzz Face debuted in 1966 as a germanium-equipped model, and by the ‘70s, all Fuzz Faces being made featured silicon componentry for circuit stability reasons. However, the powers that be barely adapted the circuit to its new semiconductors, only a single part was changed to reflect this. In light of this, the Starcrash is the ‘70s fuzz you wish they would have made from the beginning. For starters, we got rid of that goofy Fuzz knob. We know that 95 percent of all players run it dimed, and the remaining five percent use their guitar’s volume knob to rein it in. Secondly, we installed a handy Bias control, also known as a “dying battery simulator.” This starves the second transistor of voltage and lets you dial in the right amount of texture, from raw and brawny to lean and harmonically rich. The Low-Cut control enacts a tastefully executed filter circuit that cuts the bass frequencies from 40Hz to 500Hz with the turn of a knob. While bias and filter controls cut volume, we’ve compensated by giving the Starcrash a little more volume than the typical “Face” circuit, so you can still push your amp regardless of knob settings.

CONTROLS

VOLUME: yes.

LOW-CUT: Engages a high-pass filter that cuts at ~30Hz (minimum) and ~500Hz (maximum). It’s a 3dB cut per octave so when it’s all the way up you lose 3dB from ~250Hz, 6dB from 125Hz, etc etc. 30Hz is inaudible to the human ear (and it would only cut 3dB at 15Hz anyway) so the control is effectively out of the circuit when all the way down. It’s at its most notable when it’s up past noon. Anything before that just cuts out subharmonic mud.

BIAS: Changes the character of the fuzz from “distortion-esque” to “Velcro fuzz.” When it’s all the way down, the sound is full and throaty. The noon position on this knob is the normal Fuzz Face bias point, ~8K2 on Q2 collector. All the way up is sputtery and Velcro-esque. It’s just about the best sounding limit of this kind of control, any higher and it wouldn’t be usable.

POWER SUPPLY

You can use a variety of power sources to power your StarCrash. It supports a standard DC power supply of 9 Volts.DO NOT give the StarCrash AC or a center-positive supply, you will void the warranty. Bad move.