Like Teaching Machines’ first product release, the Wellspring spring reverb [Tape Op #155], their new beast of a product is also jam-packed with features and functionality. FuzzBillion is a fuzz pedal, but that may be the understatement of the year. Though initially it may have been intended to be used as a fuzz pedal, there are many variations of tones and sounds the unit can produce. The FuzzBillion doesn’t look like any pedal or device I have seen in the last 30 years. Its dark grey steel enclosure, which carries a significant weight for its size, has a clean, industrial aesthetic, and sports only a row of 12 numeric switch “wheels.” Each switch is marked with a hieroglyphic looking symbol, providing values of 0 to 9, which are changed with plus and minus push buttons. A reddish/orange knob controls volume. A small button on the side of the unit selects between Guitar (instrument) or Line Level. This is a mono unit that accepts 1/4-inch balanced or unbalanced cables for its I/O.
Each of the 12 numeric switch wheels along the top of the FuzzBillion pedal adjusts the amount of specific sonic attributes. From left to right, the controls are as follows: The first switch wheel selects different kinds of boost amplifiers. Settings 1 through 4 on the wheel use op amps for Clean Boost, and 5 through 9 select varying degrees of a mis-biased transistor for a Fuzzy Boost that sounds a bit gated and dirty. You may find that this tone sounds like a traditional fuzz pedal. There is still clarity here even at higher settings, and the fuzziness is not overwhelming. I loved this sound, and if the pedal only did this I would be stoked! Setting 9 on the first wheel is two mis-biased transistors in series for a Double Fuzzy Boost setting that progresses further into the fuzzy realm. It is still very dynamic and starts to sound a bit like Black Sabbath when hit hard. On the lower settings, such as 4, the increase in dirt is also very dynamic. The harder you play, the more grit is revealed. Output gain is increased on the higher settings.
Switch wheels two, three, and four work in relationship with each other. These sections create more overdrive-sounding results rather than a distortion. It is an op amp surrounded by a variety of different switchable diodes. Switch wheel two is the overall gain control of the section. Switch wheel three affects how the upper part of the waveform is clipped, and wheel four sets the clipping of the lower part of the waveform. There are options as you scroll from zero to nine on wheels three and four to select the different diode types, such as germanium, silicon, 1N4148, or Red LEDs. Wheel four introduces a capacitor, which tamps down the tone of the whole section, and the sound gets a bit compressed in a cool way. Classic tone alert here! Position 5 on wheels two and three removes all of the diodes from this section for some pure op amp dirtiness. Positions 6 through 9 mimic the earlier settings but introduce resistors. You get the idea – this thing is deep!
Switch wheel five is a tone control. Wheels six and seven control the Octave Fuzz Drive and Octave Fuzz Mix. Wheel eight sets the PLL (Phase Locked Loop) Mode. If you know, you know. I have an original Schumann Electronics [Tape Op #43] PLL pedal that I purchased at Main Drag Music in Brooklyn years ago. It is the most bonkers pedal I own, and although attempts have been made to imitate that pedal, nothing touches it in terms of complete insanity. To my delight, I discovered before looking at the FuzzBillion manual that wheel eight was a PLL. What is a PLL, you ask? It’s an oscillator that attempts to track and play in tune with the original signal. It is so dependent on what you are playing and the original signal’s register, but it also has a mind of its own. It is a truly unique effect. I would describe it as the sounds of an alien abduction surgery with the subsequent laser battle that ensues when your compatriots from the Tron movie come to rescue you.