EarthQuaker Devices Park Fuzz

Not A Normal Walk in the Park.

The Park Amplification company, originally started by Jim Marshall himself, has almost as much history as the actual Marshall name. As the story goes, Jim Marshall entered a distribution deal for his amp line in 1965, but the terms of the deal were vague enough, so Marshall was able to build amps on the side, as long as he didn't use his own name. Thus, Park was born, and the amps produced under that name were slight variations on Marshall circuits, until the company dissolved in 1982.

Among the line of amps, a few pedals were also produced. Most of them were wahs or variations on similar classics, but one pedal stuck out from the rest: The Park Fuzz Sound.

The original pedal featured unlabeled TO-1 package transistors, and the good folks at Earthquaker Devices, in collaboration with the newly-resurrected Park Amplification, have faithfully recreated the Park Fuzz Sound so a whole new generation can enjoy its unique sound.

While the original deployed the aforementioned mystery cans, the new Park Fuzz Sound uses a different set of NOS germanium transistors, hand-selected for a tonal match. Indeed, when A/B’d with the original unit, the sounds were strikingly similar. In fact, the staff at PGS was split right down the middle as to which was which. What’s more, when doing the test, they had to set the new Park Fuzz Sound’s Fuzz control at about half, whereas the original was at 10. The reissue has way more range in the Fuzz dial than the original.

Another bugaboo of original fuzz pedals is the powering situation. In the case of the original Park, it’s powered by only a battery, but changing it out required using a lever to pry open the lid. While that’s a hassle, using batteries is a hassle in and of itself. The original unit, and many older fuzz pedals, are positive-ground, so the common workaround was reversing the lugs on the power jack internally. This configuration means that the pedal cannot be daisy-chained. Welcome to the future!!! The new Park Fuzz Sound never phones it in, offering a chip inside that corrects the voltage problem for complete rig integration.

The new Park Fuzz Sound is hand-made, one at a time in exotic Akron, Ohio. The pedal is wired for true bypass, and accepts a standard 9v center-negative Boss-style power adapter. The current draw is low, so it’s ready for your isolated power supplies.?

Measures

4 5/8? x 2 1/2? x 2.25? with knobs

Power

Our pedals take a standard 9 volt DC power supply with a 2.1mm negative center barrel. We always recommend pedal-specific, transformer-isolated wall-wart power supplies or multiple isolated-output supplies. Pedals will make extra noise if there is ripple or unclean power. Switching-type power supplies, daisy chains and non-pedal specific power supplies do not filter dirty power as well and let through unwanted noise. Do not run at higher voltages! Current draw is 10 mA.

Controls

Volume: This is the level control, louder to the right, quieter to the left.

Treble/Bass: This is the tone control, thicker tones to the right, brighter to the left.

Fuzz: This is the gain control, more fuzz to the right, less to the left.