GEAR SPOTLIGHT
KEELEY
ELECTRONICS
HOLY FUZZ
REVIEW BY PHILLIP DODGE
STREET PRICE $229.00
As the story goes, once
upon a time (2014 to be
exact), Robert Keeley
stumbled upon a stash of
86 Matsushita germanium
transistors that were
perfectly suited for use
in a MKIII Tone Bender
circuit. Rather than just
do a straight clone,
Robert and Craighton
added a defeatable gate
control to the circuit and
legend was born. They
built them. They sold
them. And that was the
end of our story—that is,
until Keeley discovered
a new clutch of Mullard
OC75s and set about to
rebirth this white rhino of
a fuzz: The Holy Fuzz.
48
COMPLETE
CONTROL
With controls for Volume,
Fuzz, Tone, and Gate,
the Holy Fuzz seems
pretty straight forward.
And on some level, it
is. The potentiometer
for the Gate control
incorporates a switch that
removes it from the circuit
when it’s rotated fully
counterclockwise. In this
position, you get nothing
short of a really fantastic
MKIII Tone Bender.
BENDER BUT
BETTER
I’ve played some pretty
fantastic MKIII Tone
Benders over the years.
How
To
Keeley
Master
Electronics
Your Jazzmaster
Holy Fuzz
TONE SPOTLIGHT
GEAR
TALK // //
They’ve all sounded
amazing at various
settings, but none have
sounded amazing at every
setting. Some get really
hissy when you fully crank
up the Fuzz control. Some
get impossibly dark and
muddy when you dial the
Fuzz back too low. And
most have tone controls
with just a few
sweet spots.
The Holy Fuzz is one of
the few I’ve met that
sounds great with just
about any mix of control
settings. Sure it’s a little
dark and weak at low Fuzz
settings, but the Tone
control has just enough
bite and snarl to create a