FuzzFuzz Face Style FuzzGated and Velcro FuzzGermanium FuzzSilicon FuzzWyatt Audio+-
Key Points
Wyatt Audio’s Heiress is a seven-control, two-stage Fuzz Face-style fuzz: Q1 is BC109B silicon, while Q2 switches between MP10B germanium and BC109B silicon. Controls are FREQ, NOISE, LEVEL, BASS cut/stock, LOAD (Q1 gain overload), and VOLTS/starve. Silicon is wiry and searing; MP10B adds subtler warmth and openness. VOLTS shifts from classic Fuzz Face response toward raspy, gated, spitty and Velcro tones, with LOAD and NOISE balancing gain.
Preferred settings: FREQ 10:30, NOISE/LEVEL noon, MP10B, Bass stock, LOAD 1:00, VOLTS minimum. It cleans up well from guitar volume. As of the stated listing date, the price was £189 ($255). Instagram teaser: https://www.instagram.com/p/DXuYFxWiCN4/
Wyatt very evidently likes to do things differently, and this is about as different a Fuzz Face as you can get! Beautifully conceived and executed.
It leans a little more into its wiry and searing Silicon side, but gives you the option of switching in a Germanium MP10B Transistor to warm things up slightly - if that’s more your thing.
The 3 top knobs are your usual Fuzz Face style controls - essentially Tone, Fuzz, and Level. You then have the Transistor Selector, a Bass-cut option, then a highly unusual LOAD Q1 Gain Overload control, and VOLTS / Starve control - for more Raspy / Gated / Spitty and Velcro tones.
There’s plenty of range on every dial - as you can see by the fact that most of my preferred settings (below) do not exceed
the mid-way point.
A key aspect here is balancing the NOISE and LOAD dual gain controls, and figuring out how raspy you prefer the output - courtesy of the VOLTS control. As with many fuzzes this is an exercise in balancing and blending. There is some slight overlap with the Fuzz Factory too - but this Heiress is very much its own thing!
Of course this Fuzz has great guitar volume gain cleanup - so you can set the overall gain quite high - and then temper / attenuate it with your guitar controls. That’s typically how I operate most of my 2-Stage Fuzzes. This one cleans up really well on both transistor types.
Along many unusual aspects for this fuzz is that the Transistor Switching happens on the Q2 Stage, where for most similar single-stage switching options - they occur on the Q1 Stage. Q1 really sets the character of the fuzz, while Wyatt reasoned that the lower gain Germanium Transistor here would be better supported, and would benefit by coming after the higher gain Q1 Silicon Stage. This means that the core character is that wiry searing Silicon variety. The Germanium comes in a lot more subtly - but it does warm up the signal a touch and open it up a little too.
I typically favour Germanium over Silicon mostly, but there are plenty of exceptions - and this is a superb sounding fuzz for sure - every which way. The switch up to Germanium on this Heiress is relatively subtle - still very evidently discernible - but not that overtly open and warm character you typically get with Germanium - here it's quite a bit more subtle than that - but still wholly worth it for me. And I do prefer the Germanium Transistor in action here - while dual Silicon sounds fantastic too.
Controls - FREQ (Tone), NOISE (Fuzz), G2 Transistor Selector : Ge MP10B / Si BC183, LEVEL, BASS : Cut / Stock, LOAD (Q1 Gain Overload), VOLTS (Starve).
For a classic Fuzz Face sound - you would have the STARVE control dialled all the way back. By cranking that knob - you then kick in that dying battery effect - which gives you progressively more Rasp, Velcro and Spittiness - obviously dependent on the dual LOAD and NOISE Gain controls too! The full taper of the VOLTS control is highly usable - while I mostly have that dial all the way back, at 9 o'c, at Noon, or @ 3 o'c. Wyatt tends to prefer things more wound up and raspy textured - while I like maximum harmonics alongside a warm and open sear, much like you get with my preferred settings below.
My Preferred Settings - FREQ @ 10:30 o'c, NOISE @ Noon, Q2 Transistor : Ge MP10B, LEVEL @ Noon, BASS : Stock, LOAD @ 1 o'c, VOLTS @ Min.
Wyatt advises that the LOAD control is optimal and at its most open sounding at around 1-2 o'c, and 1 o'c is the perfect hot spot in my above settings. Sometimes I prefer the VOLTS fully wound back, and sometimes at 9 o'c - those are kind of my default start-up settings - and you can then ramp up from there if you so desire.
I like plenty of Bass in my signal - so the Bass is always fully there, the Q2 Transistor I have mostly on the MP10B, but I do give the second BC183 the occasional spin too - I just overall prefer that slightly more open and warmer character you get with the Germanium. While as mentioned - it's quite subtle really because of the influence of the other BC183 on the Q1 Stage.
This is a wonderfully expansive Fuzz Face - which deserves to be revered every bit as much as a Fuzz Factory - where as mentioned - there are some degrees of overlap!
The Heiress Fuzz is very well priced on the Wyatt Audio Webstore - at just £189 ($255) - which is exceptional value. I love the minimalist aesthetics one - and the attention to detail inside and out. Perfect knob choices too!. I borrowed Wyatt's Chainmail theme too - for the background - originating my own refined background visual for that purpose.
This is a really great full-fat expanded 2-Stage / Fuzz Face for sure - which is still pretty easy to dial in - even with all those controls. You may have several Fuzz Fazes already - but this one hits somewhat differently - it's well worth checking out!
I have over 120 Fuzz Faces now, but I always have space for another excellent top-tier candidate!
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