BALDWIN BURNS BUZZAROUND / EARTHQUAKER DEVICES SOUND SHANK

The Baldwin Burn Buzzaround is a rare bird. There is not much information on them but seems to be quite a few clones or models based off it. Earthquaker Device's custom shop (take note "custom shop only") have a new pedal out based on it, Dirty Boy Pedals have the "Buzzy Boy", supposedly based on the same circuit as well as & a few more below.

"It's all about the fizz and NOT the Fuzz"

Abraxas Sound Buzzaround (Buzzaround copy)

Creepy Fingers Buzzaround (Buzzaround copy)

D*A*M Fuzzaround (Buzzaround copy)

DenTone Electronics Buzzaround (Buzzaround copy)

EarthQuaker Devices Sound Shank (Buzzaround copy)

Erafuzz Buzzaround (Buzzaround copy)

eZone53 Buzzaround (Buzzaround copy)

Ghost Effects Buzzaround (Buzzaround copy)

Montgomery Appliances Buzzaround (Buzzaround copy)

SkinPimp Buzzaround (Buzzaround copy)

V8V Buzz U Round (Buzzaround copy)

Some history on the original pedal:

"Between 1965 and 1968 the merged UK subsidiary of Baldwin Piano & Organ Company and Burns London, called Baldwin Burns Ltd, produced a small number of guitar effects pedals. One of these was a fuzz pedal called the Buzzaround. Gary Hurst reportedly designed this pedal around 1966/67 (unconfirmed and probably hearsay) and the circuit is extremely close to the 3-Knob Tone-Bender circuit. Those with a flair for the conspiracy theory suggest that, with very good reason, the Sola Sound Tone-Bender MKIII is basically the Buzzaround circuit with the addition of a tone control. The pedal contains three knobs, being:

- Sustain. Self-explanatory.

- Balance. This is basically a bias control for Q3.

- Timbre. This is a volume/tone control, which is never fully off."

and a couple of videos of the clones and some pix, including a picture of the original.

The only one in my current collection is the Buzzy Boy. It's a raging pedal that takes a bit of tweaking. But has some seriously crazy tones on tap! Here's what AlexSaraceno had to say about it from a personal email I sent him:

 You just need to find a setting that works with your setup, It is highly flexible. I realize my pedals can come across as Quirky at first, but once you get your stride, you will start enjoying them...

Best

Alex



"It's all about the fizz and not the fuzz"



VIVANT FUZZ AND TREBLE BOOSTER PEDAL!

This has got to be my most obscure pedal in my collection. I just scored it!! Seems to be similar a "Applied Fuzz" and the "Goya Panther Fuzz".

There are 2 youtube videos from someone in Japan (see below). It was made in the USA and dig this, out of wood & of course metal. It's a Fuzz and Treble Booster but from the video clips sorta has an octave pedal kind of vibe. The seller stated it's from the 50's or 60', but my guess would be 60's but if any has any information on this pedal please contact me. 

TEXTONE FUZZ NUTS

This is the only other video of a Austone pedal I can find. I do not have this pedal yet, but will try to locate one and post a video.

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THIS VIDEO STARTS OUT REALLY LAME !! ! BUT GETS BETTER !!
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Here is the original details from Austone:

Each component is hand tested and selected in this hand- built discrete circuitry beauty. Has more crunch than the original Fuzz Nutz due to an extra gain stage and a tone control. A sustain and crunch monster! Very British sounding. The Textone control rolls off the high end for a singing woman tone, or open it up to peel the chrome off your Tele's bridge! Great for slide, lead, or crunchy rhythm. You must plug this into a wah wah and approach the tone altar!!! Radio frequency interference proof. Each hand-built unit comes standard with a red LED. True bypass switching is retained by using a 3 pole double throw switch. To preserve the battery, the 9V battery power is only available when a plug is inserted in the input jack. A 9V DC negative center tip "wall wart" power supply jack is supplied as standard on all units.

AUSTONE MILLENNIUM OVERDRIVE PEDAL DEMO TEXAS TONE

AUSTONE MILLENNIUM OVERDRIVE PEDAL DEMO, REAL TEXAS TONE! LOOKS TO BE THE ONLY VIDEO ON THE INTERNET AND IT'S AN OLD ONE FROM GEARMANNDUDE.

Here is the original details from Austone Electronics

NEW FROM AUSTONE! Hand built in the finest Austone tradition. As with all Austone products, the circuitry is discrete and the components are hand-selected and individually tested. One year of research and testing results in an overdrive that is transparent and touch-sensitive. Transparency maintains the tone of the amp when the pedal is switched on. Touch-sensitivity means that the tone can be controlled by the picking hand. Unlike many mass produced products, the MILLENNIUM OVERDRIVE will not compress your signal. Also cleans up nicely when the guitar volume is rolled off. Many players leave it on all the time! Rolling the tone down takes you into woman-tone territory and rolling it up gets the bite needed to cut through on lead breaks.

With the DRIVE control at lower setting, the pedal reacts like a small tube amp turned way up. That is, it is clean until you drive the string harder then it overdrives. As you advance the Drive Control you get into British tone territory sounding like Cream era E.C. with lots of screaming sustain. The level to the amp, or next pedal, is controlled by the OUTPUT control. Each unit is tested for 1Volt of output, so there's plenty of output! Each MILLENNIUM OVERDRIVE comes complete with true-bypass switching, as with all Austone products. Each unit comes standard with a cool blue active LED indicator and a negative center 9V DC adapter jack (wall wart type). The housing is the same heavy-duty polished aluminum box that has long been identified with Austone products. This is quickly becoming the overdrive of choice for discriminating players. 
CLICK HERE! HARMONY CENTRAL

AUSTONE ELECTRONICS - JON BYRON BESSENT

Yes, it's a little late but still sad to just find out the main man behind "Austone Electronics" had passed away in 2009. Austone Electronics made five different pedals: "Fuzz Nuts", Soul-O-Stomp, Vibro Stomp, Fuzz Nutz Textone and most notably the Austone Millennium Overdrive.

With respect to "Vintage Jon" here is his obituary.

Jon Byron Bessent, musician and electronics technician, died Tuesday, June 23, 2009. Jon was born November 8, 1952, in Pecos, Texas. He was the son of Dr. E. Wailand Bessent and Rachel Pfluger Bessent, both now of Austin. Jon attended McCallum High School in Austin for a year, but graduated from the "old" Anderson High School in 1971. He worked at several Austin bicycle shops and in the early 1970s was co-owner of The Bike Shop. He later attended classes at Austin Community College, earned a first-class FCC license, and began repairing and servicing TVs. In 1980 he went to work for Texas Instruments where, among other things, he built power supplies for NASA and NORAD projects. In 1990, Jon – a guitarist who played both electric and acoustic guitar – took up his preferred career of fixing guitar amps, working at Musical Exchange. In 1997, he co-founded Austone Electronics, and in 2001 he and his wife, Merlyn, set up Tonecraft Amp Repair. Jon played with several bands over the years, playing a wide variety of music ranging from rock to Irish traditional to country music. Many people might recognize him as the guitar player for the Irish traditional band Gan Ainm, and as one of the musicians who attended weekly Irish tune sessions at O'Brien's Café (later Senor O'Brien's Café) for more than a decade.