Maestro FSH-1 Filter Sample Hold Owned and Used by Tom Verlaine Model Loop Pedals and Samplers Effect (1974), made in Chicago, serial # 1254, black, red, white and blue enamel finish, aluminum.
Any lover of effect pedal history would never discount the amount of innovations and era-defining effects produced by Maestro from the 1960's into the 70's, and perhaps one of the more bizarrely magical of those entries was the Maestro FSH-1 "Filter Sample Hold." While the company had already begun producing popular but straightforward gainstaging effects and fuzzboxes like the seminal FZ-1, the company brought on synthesizer pioneer Tom Oberheim to develop select products. The FSH-1 was a charmingly innovative experiment in cutting costs at Maestro by building gear with less-than-top-shelf components and utilizing the noisier, poorer quality to their advantage.
The FSH does not have many tricks up its sleeve; one flip of a switch separates the more standard low-passed filter 'wah' sound and the real strt of this pedal: the sample/hold feature. The sample-and-hold sound is a glitchy, bubbly and holds up after several decades of development in effect pedals and digital effect processing as a genuinely unique and otherworldly sounding effect. Basically, SH is a filter that's triggered by an intentionally noisy transistor circuit, producing a somewhat unpredictable and sometimes wild, but always fun, tone. Understandably, this pedal still proved a little too psychedelic for the market of its day, and not many were made before it ceased to exist in the Maestro catalogue. Luckily, Television's Tom Verlaine got one first and found it to be a fount of inspiration in the studio.
Height is 6 in. (15.2 cm.), 7 in. (17.8 cm.) width, and 3 1/2 in. (8.9 cm.) high.
This example remains all original, seemingly even down to the battery snap within, only with a bit of cosmetic scarring on the face from years of studio use; the Maestro label bearing the serial number is easily in tact. Both the filter and sample/hold settings operate clean without a hitch, showcasing a pedal that has good reason to sit in the guitar effect halls of history. The pedal also comes with a letter of provenance from Jimmy Ripp (his co-guitarist on most Verlaine projects since 1981). Overall Excellent Condition.
