EarthQuaker Devices is celebrating 20 trips around the sun with a special VOS reissue of the pedal that started it all, the Hoof Fuzz.
This “hyper-limited edition” follows a similar template to the original fuzz pedal, and features a circuit with a hybrid silicon/germanium design, and if you are into cork-sniffing component tasting notes, that might suggest a fuzz that copes better with fluctuations in temperature (thank you, silicon) and maybe more touch-sensitive and warm (thank you, germanium).
However you slice it, this is going to be one versatile fuzz. Easy to use. One knob for output volume, one for the amount of fuzz in the signal, and one tone control.
There are top-mounted jacks. It’s true bypass with a Soft Relay Switch. It’s your golden ticket in a platinum vein enclosure for “harmonically rich sustain.”
EQD has revised the design of the Hoof fuzz over the years, adding a Tilt dial to help you shape your tone. Here, we revert back to the three-knob design, and Jamie Stillman, EQD founder, president and product designer, promises players the same kind of tones.
“The original Hoof was finely tuned to produce everything from light overdrive to a thick sustaining wall of fuzz with a wide range tone control that featured pre-set mods in lieu of the ‘shift’ control found on later models,” says Stillman. “We always loved this original circuit and we are pleased to bring it back for our 20th Anniversary!”
Same tones, same kind of build. Just like the original, this deluxe reissue has been soldered by hand, featuring all through-hole construction (hey, you could mod this if you were so inclined) and features a the same “super rare military spec germanium transistors” that were used in the first generation of the pedals.
We would always advise any player to keep the original box for any guitar effects pedal purchase. It will help you make your money back – or even turn in a profit – should you want to switch it out of your pedalboard and sell it on.
But that advice counts double with this special reissue, with the 20th Anniversary Edition arriving in a custom wooden box, in a gold satin bag no less, with a metallic sticker, enamel pin, and woven patch inside. It’s a nice package.
But if you want one you had better hurry. They are only making 400 of them, sold exclusively via Reverb, and when they are gone, they’re gone. Right now, at the time of this article hitting the site, only 36 of them are left. Don’t sleep on it.
See the EarthQuaker Devices Reverb store for more details. Priced $229, the Hoof Fuzz 20th Anniversary Edition is available now.
