SEAMOON collection

- Studio Phaser

- Fresh Fuzz

- Funk Machine v1

- Funk Machine v2 in original box + papers.

seamoon - fresh fuzz

V1, bakelite version

"The very first, very fragile, and very very rare V1 Seamoon Fresh Fuzz from 1973. The enclosure was made by Daka-ware (aka Davies Molding) using Bakelite plastic. Very few of these were made and even fewer survived ... Originally built in a plastic Bakelite project box, the Fresh Fuzz was one of the first distortion units to substitute an operational amplifier (op-amp) for the typical transistor-driven fuzz. This allowed for a massive volume boost that no other pedal had at the time. Excited guitar players quickly snatched them up, but were unfortunately met with a crushing realization when they actually stomped on one, as the delicate pedal would shatter into a million pieces! Anderton quickly abandoned the plastic box and switched over to the slanted metal casing we all know today, keeping the circuit untouched. These original units had a sound that was closer to a classic low gain distortion with a nice breakup (think ProCo Rat with less gain) than a buzzing fuzz. With a big beefy low end, and a smooth amp-like crunch, the V1 Fresh Fuzz really changed the game. But as new innovations tend to confuse the masses, people didn't get it."

vintage fuzz collection

seamoon - fresh fuzz

V2

seamoon - fresh fuzz

V1 1973

“ So if you want an extensive history of Seamoon, there are a couple places to look online. The first is A/DA's history as Dave Tarnowski began his career at Seamoon. The second one, that Gearphoria printed, specifically focuses on this pedal, the Fresh Fuzz. Reverb won't let me post the actual website info, so you'll have to do a little digging, sorry. This is BY FAR, one the most unique, elusive and RARE fuzz pedals in existence. There are 2 variations of whats known as the "V1" era of the pedal, all of which seem to have been made exclusively in 1973. The earliest Version 1 pedals are extremely rare because most of them shattered upon use (they had a plastic casing). The second incarnation are still pretty damn hard to come by as most people who own them don't want to give them up. By this time, Seamoon abandoned the plastic case of the early Version 1's and opted for the slanted metal casing. This pedal for sale is one of those Version 1's with the newly adapted slanted metal casing. As you can see, it has the same circuitry as those earlier ones, notably the 741 op-amp chip and the perforated, hand-wired circuit board. It's cosmetically impeccable. Sonically, its amazing. You'll read that a lot of people prefer the V2 Fresh Fuzz as they changed to the dual 4558 op-amp, which doubled the power of the V1's 741 chip. “ (Fuzz Wizzard)

“... Fresh Fuzz history a while back, and it looks like late 1973. They had released the Funk Machine earlier that year and it did quite well, so they decided to release a distortion unit under the Seamoon brand as a result. The first version of each pedal was made in a plastic Bakelite box (you can see an example on effectsdatabase, and I have also seen a photo from a guy who messaged me around 2013 about his. Shortly after this, around 1974 they switched to the metal casing you posted there. But not too much later they revised the circuit, making much louder, fuzzier and just better tbh; and they changed up the graphics slightly on the case. It doesn't appear as though they made them for more than a few years in total, as Seamoon switched over to those smaller enclosures in the late 70s and released that Controlled Tone Preamp became the only distortion in their lineup. ...  based off an interview i read with Anderton where he said Seamoon first true release, the Funk Machine, was out in 1973 and that later the same year they released the Fresh Fuzz. ... when i was looking into Seamoon I couldn't find any old ads, or manuals, or print stuff of any kind. “ (Ed Skymall)

“ The Phases of Seamoon      In the early ’70s, Berkeley, California was a thriving hippie community (and in some respects, it still is today) that attracted flocks of creative individuals to its hills. The main campus of the University of California is situated there, and many aspiring electrical engineers came to Berkeley to study. Of course, the San Francisco Bay Area also enjoyed a thriving music scene, and many of these engineers found employment for bands like the Grateful Dead and Santana (Furman, Alembic and Mesa-Boogie are just a few of the companies that got off the ground by making products for Bay Area musicians).      Seamoon  Ltd. was established in Berkeley  in 1973, when Craig Anderton, who later gained fame for his articles and  columns in Guitar Player magazine, and for his book Electronic  Projects for Musicians, solicited a music store in hopes of selling a pedal  he developed. “I had come up with the circuit for an envelope follower that  later became known as the Funk Machine,” says Anderton. “I had a friend named  Larry Schreiber, who was familiar with a music store in Berkeley called Skatzenbag Music. I took it  in there to see if John Lang, who owned the store, was interested in selling  it. He ended up taking it to a NAMM show and got orders, so we decided to make  the thing.”      Shortly  thereafter, Lang founded Seamoon, and started making their first product, the  Funk Machine. The original units featured range and sensitivity controls, and  were housed in a Bakelite box. However, too many overeager funksters crushed  the box with their feet, so later versions were housed in simple aluminum boxes  held together with six screws. The circuit was deceivingly simple.          “It contained two op-amps with an  opto-isolator to do the actual envelope detection,” says Anderton. “It’s that  famous opto-isolator sound that everyone is rediscovering. Because the  opto-isolators are all a little different. Every Funk Machine varied slightly.  It wasn’t anything obvious that would make someone go, ‘Oh, I’ve got to have  this one instead of that one.’ But there was a tiny variation. It was an analog   world, and in some respects that added to the character of the thing. Part of  the testing process was very subjective. If it didn’t work properly, we would  pull the opto-isolator and solder in another one.”Martha  Davis, who later became famous as the lead singer of the Motels, was an early  Seamoon employee who did a lot of the company’s assembly and testing. According  to Anderton, she developed a peculiar method of testing the Funk Machine. “She tested them by running her fingers over  particular parts on the circuit board. By noticing how the hum was affected,  she was able to really nail what was going on with the unit. It was very cool.  Her finger hum testing technique was flawless.”        Soon  after hitting the market, the Funk Machine fell into the hands of several  famous musicians, including Steve Cropper, who bought one of the very first  units, and funk bassist Larry Graham. “He was really big on it,” says Anderton.  “When he was on TV once, he held it up in front of the camera. It was a big  part of his sound.”  Shortly after  designing the Funk Machine, Anderton came up with the circuit for Seamoon’s  Fresh Fuzz distortion pedal. This circuit was a simple op-amp based device with  gain and bite controls.  “It was  really basic,” says Anderton. “It used regular diodes. If I was to design it   today, it would be a lot different.” The unit was a favorite of Tom Scholz, of Boston.  These products remained the mainstays of  Seamoon’s product line through most of the mid ’70s, although the company also   introduced an ill-fated battery-powered solid-state amp called the Peter  Portable.      By  1976, Seamoon had undergone significant changes. Anderton departed the company,  the cosmetic appearance of the products was redesigned and several new products  joined the lineup. However, it was also the beginning of the end of Seamoon and  the dawn of a new company that would carry out Seamoon’s ideals and ideas with  even greater success.      Sometime  in 1975, a young Berkeley  musician named Dave Tarnowski started working for Seamoon. He got the job after  walking into Skatzenbag Music and impressing owner John Lang with his technical   knowledge. “One thing let to another and I started working on some musical  effects,” says Tarnowski. “The first musical effect I designed for them used  early bucket brigade devices from Radicon. These are earlier than the bucket  brigades from National or Panasonic. I actually did some R&D work at  Radicon Corporation. I picked up a few of the chips to see if I could make a  time modulator.”      Tarnowski  designed the Studio Phase, an impressive phase shifter with intensity, shift  and speed controls that originally retailed for $129. Other products in  Seamoon’s line at this time included a cosmetically updated version of the Funk  Machine, and a distortion box called the Controlled Tone Preamp, which featured  volume, tone filter and distortion controls. A product called the Two-Track  Delay was announced in the summer of 1976, but it was never released to the   public.” (adaamps.com)