ANALOGMAN
SUNFACE BC109
REVIEW BY YOEL KREISLER
STREET PRICE $185.00
Among Uni-Vibes, Klons,
Big Muffs and Echoplexes,
the Fuzz Face remains to be
one of the most historically
important effects to this
day. It’s a deceptively
simple circuit that found its
way to the hearts of many
musicians both modern and
classic, and subsequently
the forefront of countless
hits throughout the ‘60s
and ‘70s. Tracking down
a vintage Fuzz Face in
playable condition that
doesn’t look like a postreentry piece of the Soyuz
spacecraft can be quite
a feat, and forget about
finding one at a reasonable
price. Collectors can be
blamed for the surge in
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prices, due to the pedal’s
iconic status and association
with Jimi Hendrix, David
Gilmour, Eric Clapton, and
Eric Johnson, to name a
few. For us laymen and
non-collectors, to achieve
that tone we can turn to
the multitude of clones
available on the market,
many of which expand and
improve (for better or for
worse) on the classic Fuzz
Face formula. Tonal purists
will only want the best—
convenience be damned—
and that’s where Analog
Mike comes in.
“Analog Mike” Piera, along
with Tom Hughes, authored
the effects industry’s bible,
known as Analog Man’s
Analogman SunFace BC109
Guide to Vintage Effects.
Mr. Piera is an avid collector
and studier of these effects,
and almost understands
them better than their
original designers. He was
also one of the very first
boutique pedal outfits on
the scene in the mid ‘90s,
which solidifies his near
mythic status as pedal
builder. The SunFace is
considered by many to
be the Fuzz Face formula
distilled into its purist
form, a simple, primal and
primitive scream to which
highfalutin “improved”
fuzzes cannot hold a candle.
As many of you may know,
the SunFace comes in many
different transistor flavors,