The Neo Fuzz is a design I worked on for a few years. The idea behind the design was to create a 'vintage' fuzz, but with all the parameters adjustable. Bear with me whilst I explain,...

After doing an analysis fuzz pedals, I came to the conclusion that fuzz pedals were in fact very complex devices, despite the deceptive sparseness of  their circuit designs. In fact, there are many more parameters to control in a fuzz pedal compared to an overdrive pedal, but for some reason, overdrive pedals often come with a plethora of controls, whilst fuzz pedals often just have fuzz and volume.

I identified the following 'parameters', and set about designing the Neo with controls to control the following:

• Input Impedance - Fuzz pedals typically have a low input impedance. The value of this impedance 'loads' different pickups in different ways, and is often the reason why fuzz pedals sound magical with some guitars, and very dull with others. With a variable input impedance, it would be possible to 'tune' the fuzz pedal to different guitars,... and even make them useable with humbuckers (shock horror!)!
• Fuzz Amount - Fuzz pedals tend to have a very limited range. I want to create something which could go from completely clean to over the top.
• Tone Controls - Why are there rarely tone controls on Fuzz pedals?
• Bias - May 'classic' fuzz pedals were in fact very variable, both with respect to temperature, as well as from pedal to pedal. Often, this was a result of the transistor working at different point. A bias control would allow the user to adjust the operating point of the transistors and capture any sound from asymmetrical synth-like sounds to smooth vintage fuzz.
• Output volume - traditional designs often aren't loud enough.