Fuzz-Box History

[Yun]

Okay, this is a little How do yous guys put it.... OT maybe?  Anyhoo;

Would yous guys agree with me that the Fuzz box's Origin started with a disc jokey.  The way i heard it was in Late 40's-mid 50's a Disc jokey Invented the Fuzz box for musicians.  And announced it on his show.  

Now, as everyone knows, the way the Guys in the 50-s were getting Distorted sounds- they'd actually razor their speakers.

So, What ever happened to the Poor Disc jokey eh?  You'd think he'd be a millionair, or made a patent, etc.  

Any help on this-i'd be much obliged....

[David]

Prior to rockers creating distortion intentionally, it happened all the time when tube amplifiers were overloaded.  Of course, at that time, no one WANTED it to happen.  The first "intentional" occurrence of distortion that I know of was when a speaker cone got cut or otherwise damaged prior to a recording.  As I recall, this happened during the late Fifties.  The producer of the session in question decided that he liked the sound and left it in.

[petemoore]

I think it's safe to say that every user and designer of ckts amps speakers etc, has experienced wanted and unwanted distortions.
 Anytime you amplify there's distortion of some kind, some are claimed or considered to enhance some degrade 'tone'. Take the wood on an accoustic guitars 'amplifying' characteristics...considered to have 'enhancing' qualities [lol hopefully].
 The term distortion' has different meanings to different ppl.
 The wiggling of a steel string making air pressure waves is too wierd [in itself]...the only references of what the metal string has been doing has been 'distorted' by everything between it and the air pressure waves it 'controls'. My estimation is that this has never been all that 'accurate' to begin with...I've probably been about as close as one can get to air pressure waves mimicing' a steel strings movement...distortion is present in technical terms all the time with electric guitar rigs.
 Ppl see colors differently and a [narrow?] spectrum of light and sound waves are turned back into electrical energy inside the eyes and ears...sound distortion occurs on/in drum and related wiring in ones head...lol...these waves are impeded by the body and the drum...the waves 'go around' like water waves go around an island.
 Sgars electronic distortion...musta had some of that when 'they' used tube amps...Ampeg was one of the first to make "Guitar" amps...
 I read that bit about slicing speakers, even dabbled with it on cheep speakers, never quite got the hang of it...they sounded alot like a speaker with a damaged cone...lol
 From my reads and estimations, Orville and Wilbur are front runners for first sustained flight [the French content it happened in their coutry first].
 Who 'invented' distortion? I'm sure there are those who have claimed to 'invent' it...I think i'ts more like who 'discovered' a useful, reliable distortion...and even that subject has been or is being disputed...
  I say these electrical properties have been the same since before anyone knew to think they might even exist, and that we 'discover' them, not 'invent' them...I guess it's all in the definition of the language...merging discoveries I guess is what you call an invention?
  I'm just glad whatever entity 'created' the laws of electricity did so...makes for endless fascination and can be very useful...
     Thanks entity!!!

[Mark Hammer]

The traditionally acknowledge progenitor of distortion that was a little more than mere amp overload was Paul Burlison, I believe, the guitarist for Burnette's Rock N Roll Trio, that recorded "Train Kept a Rollin'" which the Yardbirds eventually covered.  You can find a 1998 interview with him here:
http://www.vintageguitar.com/artists/details.asp?ID=138
If memory serves, he just passed away this fall.  There was a very nice article about him in a recent (Pat Martino cover) issue of Vintage Guitar and a nifty letter from his wife.  I found it kinda cool that he was such a big fan of Los Lobos.

I seem to recall there was another player from the early days whose impromptu distortion arose from a preamp tube that was not seated properly, but I honestly couldn't tell you who.

I know of no DJ from the 40's who did anything like either of those.  And as far as I know, there was no systematic use of either tube yanking or speaker slicing for performance purposes.  Both of these were one-off deals that occurred in a studio.  Of course as always happens, someone pulls off a curious studio stunt and the sound effect itself becomes popular and begets some way of technologically reproducing the sound.  Case in point was the original flanging sound on "The Big Hurt" by Toni Fisher in the 50's. and the "talking guitar" of Alvino Ray.  The wah-wah comes from popular trumpeter Clyde McCoy and an attempt to electronically mimic what was typically done manually with a mute.  And of course we have all those attempts to electronically simulate the assorted backwards tape exercises of the psychedelic era.

[aron]

Would yous guys agree with me that the Fuzz box's Origin started with a disc jokey. The way i heard it was in Late 40's-mid 50's a Disc jokey Invented the Fuzz box for musicians. And announced it on his show.

Where did you hear this?

According to the The Stombox book published by Guitar Player??? it was due to an overloaded/broken mixer I recall.  I forget the specifics but apparently this is the supposedly definitive trace that actually actually produced a stompbox later on.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0879304790/qid=1071604745//ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i4_xgl14/104-7439670-8430328?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

[RDV]

I seem to recall there was another player from the early days whose impromptu distortion arose from a preamp tube that was not seated properly, but I honestly couldn't tell you who.

Grady Martin was the guy with the loose tube. The year was 1960. Harold Bradley was the producer. Nashville was the town. Country was the music. The song was "Don't Worry" by Marty Robbins.

Regards

RDV

[Yun]

i didn't hear it, man; i watched it  :wink:

It was on tech TV....

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

http://www.thehighwaystar.com/interviews/blackmore/rb1973xxxx.html
-Ritchie blackmoore's opinion.
There are plenty more!
But so far as the 'classic' fuzzface design goes, I suspect it was one of those "wrong resistor' accidents when tryng to make a standard boost.
I've had one or two "happy accidents' myself