Sam Ash Fuzzola Owned and Used by Tom Verlaine Model Fuzz Effect, c. 1970, made in Italy, cast aluminum. Legendary and recently shuttered New York musical instrument store Sam Ash provided instruments to untold numbers of players in the tristate area and abroad, and for a time their offerings included several proprietary Sam Ash branded effect pedals. Not uncommon for the retailer dipping its toes into selling branded equipment, Sam Ash briefly manufactured their effect offerings at the Shin-ei factory in Japan until eventually finding a partner in the Jen factory in Italy; some of these pedals, such as this one, were nearly one-to-one in terms of circuit and aesthetics with Jem branded counterparts. It is difficult to say how many of these are out there, but a surprisingly small number of them seem to ever have hit the market. This large enclosure Jem factory Fuzzola is the most uncommon to find; less were made than the black box Shin-ei Fuzzolas, and significantly less of either were made than Sam Ash's previous fuzz, the Fuzzz Boxxx.
The Fuzzola is a simple fuzz circuit with three control sliders for sustain, tone, and volume. If you see three controls on a fuzz and think Big Muff, you're not wrong; these are based on a slightly modified circuit comparable to a few early version Big Muffs with the addition of a Germanium noise gate to tighten things up a bit. Sam Ash placed their name on the pedal, but it has two siblings that are completely identical in all ways except name and brand: the Dallas Arbiter and Jem Jumbo Fuzz. Among users of the Fuzzola are The Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan (who used the slightly earlier black Made in Japan version) and the previous owner of this specific Fuzzola: Tom Verlaine, the guitarist and vocalist of New York's generation-defining rock band Television.
Height is 8 1/2 in. (21.6 cm.), 4 1/2 in. (11.4 cm.) width, and 2 1/2 in. (6.4 cm.) in depth at deepest point.
This overall very well-preserved example is all original inside and out, seemingly including the battery snap as well. The furthest right slider for 'volume' is a little scratchy when in use, but you'd never know if you "set it and forget it." There's a bit of wear proportional to some stage and (mostly) studio use by Verlaine, and as with many of Tom's other effect pedals the battery cavity cover is missing for easier access to a quick 9V battery swap. No time to fiddle with screwdrivers when you're rushing to a packed-out gig at CBGB. The pedal also comes with a letter of provenance from Jimmy Ripp (his co-guitarist on most Verlaine projects since 1981). Overall Excellent - Condition.
