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"