Above: a scan of the 1974 fOXX catalog: we see the O.D. Machine, the Loud Machine, the Fuzz & Wa & Volume, the Down Machine, the Clean Machine, etc…
“Fuzz so thick it grew a coat.” There’s no rule that mandates that effect pedals need to be built into painted metal boxes. Just as Kustom rallied against the tolex-hegemony with their Naugahyde-plush guitar amplifiers, fOXX was a Chatsworth, California based company that burst onto the rock scene in 1971 with a range of guitar-effects pedals that were covered in furry, fuzzy material. Shit, man, it’s a fuzz pedal, let’s cover that fukker with fuzz! There are certainly a number of secondary interpretations as well but… you can figure that out on yr own time.
Besides the iconic fOXX pedals, fOXX also sold amplifiers. Let’s see… if you have a company named fOXX and you want to sell some amps… What other famous amp rhymes with fOXX?
fOXX amps were, apparently, real Vox AC30s with a new badge attached. Read the whole story here.
Don’t forget yr fOXX-brand coiled-cable. I really hope these weren’t furry too…stale beer sticks to ordinary rubber cables well enough; imagine its attraction to furry cables.
**********************************
Above: The fOXX Wa Machine, Fuzz and Wa, and Power Machine. The Power Machine is one of a largely lost category of guitar effects that were intended to be inserted directly into the instrument rather than interface with a cable. Other notable examples of this slightly awkward form-factor include the Electro Harmonix LPB-1 and the entire Dan Armstrong ‘Sound Modifiers’ line.
The fOXX Octave Fuzz, available in five plush varieties.
fOXX is back (?), although I can’t find any indication that it’s actually the same folks responsible. Visit their website here. The reissue Tone Machine is available as a kit for $109 or ready-made for $149.
Also… you might enjoy a visit to this great fOXX Tone-Machine tribute site.