Between 1965 and 1968, Baldwin Burns Ltd. produced a small number of guitar effects pedals. One of them was a germanium fuzz called Buzzaround.
According to legend, Gary Hurst designed this pedal around 1966/67 and the circuit is similar to that of the Tone Bender à trois potentiomètres.
The Baldwin Burns Buzzaround has three controls: Sustain, Balance (essentially a bias control for Q3) and Timbre (a volume/tone control, which is never completely off).
The Black Vulture Fuzz is an updated reinterpretation of the original Buzzaround, for guitar and bass. Instead of the original NKT213 germanium transistors, I use Soviet MP38A and GT404 germanium transistors.
These NPN transistors have the double advantage of being more stable in the presence of temperature changes and of allowing the use of the fuzz with a classic Boss type power supply (9v, - in the center).
In addition to the three potentiometers of the classic Buzzaround, I added an output level potentiometer, in order to allow a more precise control.
This effect is in my opinion a must have to accompany guitar and bass in the Stoner Rock register !
