JHS Pedals - Smiley Legends Of Fuzz

In 1966, a salesman by the name of Ivor Arbiter saw the burgeoning UK scene in need of fuzz. He decided to take his company, Arbiter Electronics, into the guitar products industry and bring out his own version of this fashionable new sound.

After seeing the circular base of a microphone stand, he came up with the idea of putting the effect in a similar box and giving it the appearance of a head with 2 settings for the eyes, a footswitch for the nose and the brand name as the mouth. Thus was born the Fuzz Face.
That same year, an American guitarist called Jimi Hendrix arrived in London and adopted Ivor's pedal as his signature effect, and the rest is history.

The first Fuzz Faces were made with germanium transistors, but by 1969 germanium had given way to silicon and Arbiter never changed. Hendrix himself preferred the silicon versions because of their sound, aggressiveness and stability in environments where germanium was unstable.

The JHS Smiley is a faithful recreation of the first silicon Fuzz Face. Several vintage pedals from the late 60s have been analysed to ensure that the magic of that era is captured perfectly.

One of the most appreciated features of a good Fuzz Face is its ability to brighten up as the guitar volume is turned down, and the Smiley does this effortlessly.

The Fuzz setting controls the saturation for more fuzz.
On the side is a Mode button that gives access to a JHS mode with more gain and noise reduction that you won't want to come back from!