The Holy Grail Pedal ?

[peteraltongreen]

Hi Guys,

I've been into my gear store again,and discovered my old Burns Buzzaround pedal.I bought this new, about 1965-6,I presume to play 'Satisfaction' by the Stones,and other Fuzzy stuff popular at the time. I had great difficulty with this pedal,as I played only Semi acoustic ( Epi Sorrento,Gretsch Tennessean) & full archtops ( Gibson L5 ) at the time,and it took off like a Hornet ! I've been looking on the net,and because of it's association with Robert Fripp,and it's rarity,there's a lot of interest in it. So,how do guys younger than me see this unit ? ( Which is probably everybody ! ) Is it a Holy Grail item ? What would you do with it ? How would you use it ? When I finally used it with a solid body,it sounded like a cross between a Bandsaw & a Harley Davison revving up,I kid you not ! I occasionally used it in the studio,with a wah pedal,it was death on tape ! Can't think of any examples to give you,every other fuzz box is too gentle in comparison. Your input,please.

P.S. I know the knobs aren't right.I changed them to chicken heads for quick changes.Don't fret ! I have the originals,and they will be reunited soon.

Peter Alton Green

[111518]

Hi Guys,

I've been into my gear store again,and discovered my old Burns Buzzaround pedal.I bought this new, about 1965-6,I presume to play 'Satisfaction' by the Stones,and other Fuzzy stuff popular at the time. I had great difficulty with this pedal,as I played only Semi acoustic ( Epi Sorrento,Gretsch Tennessean) & full archtops ( Gibson L5 ) at the time,and it took off like a Hornet ! I've been looking on the net,and because of it's association with Robert Fripp,and it's rarity,there's a lot of interest in it. So,how do guys younger than me see this unit ? ( Which is probably everybody ! ) Is it a Holy Grail item ? What would you do with it ? How would you use it ? When I finally used it with a solid body,it sounded like a cross between a Bandsaw & a Harley Davison revving up,I kid you not ! I occasionally used it in the studio,with a wah pedal,it was death on tape ! Can't think of any examples to give you,every other fuzz box is too gentle in comparison. Your input,please.

P.S. I know the knobs aren't right.I changed them to chicken heads for quick changes.Don't fret ! I have the originals,and they will be reunited soon.

Peter Alton Green

 

I like the "timbre" knob ...not a word you hear much in tone discussions in the US, at least outside of the world of classical music. But then, you say it sounds like a saw, so maybe it needs to yell ...

 

(sorry, bad pun, and I do know that timbre is pronounced like "tam-bur.")

[GuitArtMan]

I'm not familiar with that one, but give the prices original Tone Benders bring it may be worth some big bucks to a collector. Is that the "Satisfaction" pedal?

[peteraltongreen]

I'm not familiar with that one, but give the prices original Tone Benders bring it may be worth some big bucks to a collector. Is that the "Satisfaction" pedal?

I believe 'Satisfaction' was done on a Gibson Maestro 'Fuzztone' FZ-1.I may be wrong,time has erased the details from my memory.

[campfire]

Are you THE Peter Green? (of Fleetwood Mac and The Bluesbreakers fame?)

[FredZepp]

I used to find a site that had dollar values for old pedals, but can't find it at the moment..

 

There are some interesting comments on your pedal on the web , including some astronomical prices..

 

The most expensive vintage effect I have seen was a Burns Buzz-Around that went for $3300.

Who knows how true it is... I'll look for more info..

From a place selling a repro..

•DenTone Electronics about the Buzzaround:

 

These have sold recently for as much as $3000 on ebay! If you think that's crazy, you won't get any argument from me. Those prices are for collectors, not regular guitar players. But the fact remains that this is an absolutely amazing pedal. The only thing keeping this from being more popular than the Fuzz Face or Tone Bender is that no one really famous used one "back in the day".

 

My build uses NOS germanium transistors and is in a rock solid, bulletproof build. This will stand up to many years of hard use.

 

 

There were none sold recently on eBay... I can't really say the value without more research...

[TalismanRich]

I've never even heard of the Burns. I wonder if anyone imported it to the US. Baldwin had Burns guitars for a while.

 

When I was playing around the early 70s, the pedal to have was a FuzzFace. My first fuzz was a Jordan BossTone which had a really nice smooth sound to it. It was a bad match to a Fender Jaguar. The whammy bar had a bad habit of swinging down and hitting the knobs, which eventually broke. I had to make a guard out of a piece of erector set and some black electrical tape. Problem solved. Unfortunately, I traded it for an EEProm burner years later because I wasn't playing guitar.

 

I also had a FenderBlender that should have been in the footlocker in the garage, but darned if I can find it. I never thought the Fender sounded as good as the Fuzzface or Jordan. It was pretty raspy in comparison.

[yoslate]

I My first fuzz was a Jordan BossTone which had a really nice smooth sound to it. It was a bad match to a Fender Jaguar. The whammy bar had a bad habit of swinging down and hitting the knobs, which eventually broke. I had to make a guard out of a piece of erector set and some black electrical tape. Problem solved. Unfortunately, I traded it for an EEProm burner years later because I wasn't playing guitar.

 

I also had a FenderBlender that should have been in the footlocker in the garage, but darned if I can find it. I never thought the Fender sounded as good as the Fuzzface or Jordan. It was pretty raspy in comparison.

 

Boss Tone!! Yes!! Had one, and loved it! Boy, I'd thought I'd arrived with that thing. More fun than getting dirty! Thanks for the trip down memory lane, Rich!

[smurph1]

I don't know a thing about that pedal, but it looks cool..

[rjsanders]

even new repro colorsounds are very pricey ($300-400?). a friend got a couple in the last year while visiting London...

 

about the Burns, i'd ask on the gear page in the pedals forum