THE FUZZ YOU DON'T HAVE
A new breed of
octave fuzz based on a lost circuit that belongs to no known lineage.
Three effects all contained across one knob. A tribute to an unknown
pioneer who deserved to be famous.
- An octave fuzz topology that has never been replicated for production — until now
- One knob sweeps through three distinct effects: swell, fuzz, and octave
- Exceptional touch sensitivity and volume-knob cleanup — rare for any fuzz, unheard of in an octave fuzz
Every
octave fuzz you've ever played traces back to just a handful of
circuits: the Octavia, the Super Fuzz, and the Tone Machine. The Coyote
doesn't originate from any of these classic topologies. The Coyote is a
complete replication of the obscure and very difficult to find Moonrock
Fuzz by G.S. Wyllie, a reclusive North Carolina builder who sandcast his
own enclosures, etched his own boards, and designed a unique fuzz
utilizing a transformer in an unconventional way that sounds like
nothing else — the product of wild experimentation combined with solid
electrical engineering fundamentals. Here's what makes it strange: the
circuit has a transformer, but it's not doing what transformers do in
other octave fuzzes. It's not creating the octave at all. Glenn put it
somewhere else entirely, where it acts more like an inductive element,
shaping how the fuzz stage responds and contributing to the swell, fuzz,
and octave character of the control. We've never seen anyone do this.
The result is a texture and feel that doesn't exist anywhere else. He
never mass-produced them. He passed away in 2014, still building. This
is our tribute to Glenn and the wily circuit he left behind.
ONE KNOB. THREE WORLDS.
The
Swell / Fuzz / Octave control is the heart of this pedal. It sweeps
continuously through three distinct zones — each one a different effect.
Swell
— At its lowest setting, notes bloom in with a gated, reversed-tape
quality. A slow, breathing attack that rises up from silence. The final
stage of the circuit is allowed to turn on gradually, easing the signal
in and creating a natural bloom that responds to your picking dynamics.
We've only ever seen one other pedal attempt this — a thousand-dollar
vintage piece with a dedicated footswitch for it. Glenn built it into a
portion of the controls sweep.
Fuzz — At
noon, a fully realized fuzz tone. Not a Fuzz Face. Not a Big Muff. The
texture sits in Tone Bender territory — rich low end, aggressive mids,
the kind of fuzz that handles chords. Shoegaze. Psychedelic rock. Full
and powerful.
Octave — Fully clockwise,
the circuit shifts into aggressive octave-up territory. Intentionally
uneven clipping emphasizes even-order harmonics, especially the second
harmonic, pushing it above the fundamental to produce that snarling
octave-up sound. This is pure Hendrix territory — and Glenn, who met
Jimi several times in Greenwich Village, was always pointing here. He
landed on it perfectly, his own way.
The transitions between zones are continuous. Explore everything in between.
WHAT SURPRISED US
Roll
back your guitar's volume knob and this pedal transforms. At lower
settings on the Swell / Fuzz / Octave control, the Coyote becomes
remarkably touch-sensitive — light picking gives you warm, controlled
fuzz while digging in triggers the swell. It cleans up better than any
octave fuzz we've ever played. That kind of dynamic response is almost
unheard of in this category.
HOW TO USE IT
Put
it first in your chain. Play it into another overdrive or an overdriven
amp — that's how almost every iconic octave fuzz tone was created.
Clean amps work, but the sound in your head usually has some overdrive
after the fuzz.
Neck pickup, above the twelfth fret — that's where
the octave effect is most pronounced. Humbuckers push the swell and
octave harder. Single coils give more clarity. Both sound great.
WHO THIS IS FOR
This
pedal isn't for everyone, and we're good with that. If you love
Hendrix, Jack White, Gary Clark Jr., Beck, Black Keys, or the octave
fuzz on John Mayer's "Belief" — you already know you want this. If
you're a doom player, a riff rocker, a blues explorer. If you've tried
every fuzz on the market and you're still looking for the one you
haven't played — you're the Coyote. You're the fuzz scavenger. We found
something for you.
THE BUILDER
Glenn
S. Wyllie grew up in New Jersey, learned to read schematics from his
electrical-engineer father by age twelve, and built his first fuzz pedal
at seventeen after hearing "Satisfaction." He met Jimi Hendrix several
times in Greenwich Village during that era — and never stopped chasing
that sound.
He settled in the Appalachian foothills of North
Carolina — woodstove heat, a dog named Simon, a Hendrix poster on the
door, and metal guitar shapes hanging from the trees in his driveway. He
worked at a local music store, played guitar in a band called
Muletrain, and built pedals one at a time for anyone who found him.
His
work ended up on recordings and stages with Paul Simon, Bruce
Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, David Byrne, Joan Baez, and dozens more —
played by NYC guitarist Mark Stewart, who called Glenn an
"unacknowledged American master." Glenn should be talked about alongside
Mike Fuller, Paul Cochrane, Analog Mike, Zachary Vex, and Dave Barber —
the pioneers of boutique. But nobody knows his name.
We couldn't
find his family to tell them about this project. We tried. He's as
elusive in death as he was in life. A true coyote.
CONTROLS
Volume — Controls the output volume. Left is less, right is more.
Swell / Fuzz / Octave
— Sweeps through three distinct zones. Fully counterclockwise: gated
swell with blooming, reversed-tape character. Noon: full, rich fuzz.
Fully clockwise: aggressive octave-up with snarling harmonics.
SPECIFICATIONS
- True Bypass
- 9VDC Center Negative, 5mA
THIS
PEDAL MEASURES 2.6" X 4.8" X 1.6" AND CONSUMES 5mA. DO NOT USE MORE
THAN 9VDC. DAMAGE MAY OCCUR AND YOUR WARRANTY WILL BE VOIDED.
