Is this the
Holy Grail of fuzz? In many peoples’ opinions – absolutely yes. This is the
ridiculously rare and almost unfindable Baldwin-Burns Buzzaround, made in small
numbers in the UK in the mid to late 60s. It is the sound of Robert Fripp on
David Bowie’s “Heroes”. It is one of the earliest truly functional, and great
sounding pedals of all time.
These pedals
were manufactured in England by Baldwin-Burns Ltd between 1966-1968 in low
production numbers and are now fondly referred to as the “mythical fuzz”. They
are hand wired with tag board construction using 3 x Germanium transistors
and powered by a standard 9 volt transistor battery. There are very few of the
original units still surviving. And we have this one here in our showroom
in Sydney – it’s the real deal, it’s completely original, it’s all working, and
it sounds huge.
Amazingly,
this is the second genuine original Buzzaround listed by PREMIER GUITAR. As some followers would know, we sold one via Reverb.com earlier this
year. It sold within an hour of listing for quite a large sum to a canny buyer
in Europe.
That result
prompted the owner of this one to make contact with us recently. As it turns
out, he is a longtime friend of the owner of the Buzzaround we had listed earlier.
In fact, the reason that owner bought his Buzzaround was because he heard the
one we are now listing – back in 1971 !!
Engineer
Gary Hurst reportedly designed this pedal around 1966 and the circuit is
extremely close to the 3-knob Tone Bender circuit. The Buzzaround pedal also
features three knobs – Sustain, Balance and Timbre.
From Guitar
Player Magazine (1974) –
“On stage I use
three pedals on a pedal board: A volume pedal, fuzz-tone, and wah-wah. I’m not
sure what type of wah-wah it is. The best fuzz-box to use is a Burn’s
Buz-around which they discontinued making in England about six years
ago.” – Robert Fripp, King Crimson
This box
sounds like no other. Many have tried to copy it, but the original versions are
something quite special. It barks & spits like an uncaged animal, it roars
and cuts through like nothing we’ve ever heard. And there are so few of
these original Buzzarounds out there, let alone one that’s actually working
properly, and sounding this good.
Every client
of ours who has been invited to test drive this beast is amazed at the tone,
the rich harmonics, the fatness, the versatility, and the almost surreal
openness of the sound with virtually any good guitar plugged into it. The
Baldwin-Burns Buzzaround can create a range of tones from classic vintage fuzz
through to chunky overdrive and modern rock distortion.
We have been
researching these for two years since the owner of the first one hinted he may
sell it, and we have not seen another genuine original Buzzaround appear for
sale in that period. Apart from this one, that is. It is certainly the real
thing, and perfect in every way.
Here’s a
rare chance to secure a truly collectable piece of music history that will
further appreciate over time.
Here’s an interesting video about the original
Buzzaround –-
ABOUT THE PRICING – there is probably no way of determining an accurate price for
this original Buzzaround. They simply never come up for sale. And who knows
what it may be worth to someone out there ?
In a departure from normal practice at Premier Guitars,
we are not setting a fixed price on this most unique instrument, and genuine offers
or Expressions of Interest are invited from serious buyers.
So disregard the price
published here – Reverb.com requires a price in order to list it with them. If
you are sincerely interested in owning this amazing piece of music history, please contact us via Reverb if you are interested in owning it.