Duane Allman’s Vox V8161 Fuzz Box
Duane used a Vox fuzz box on his 1950s Fender Telecaster in 1966/1967. The unit was attached directly to the guitar by two broom holders, which were screwed onto the body.
The version of the Vox booster that Duane used was most likely a V8161 model with the rotating guitar jack on the bottom. You can see photos and the schematic of the Vox V8161 over at the Vox Showroom website. But, based on a forum post about the V8161 schematic made by user “vintagekiki”, some of the details on the schematic images are wrong. The Q1 and Q2 are 2N2924 transistors, and the R2 in the schematic should have a value of 150R (ohm), instead of 150k.
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My buddy had a similar old fuzz unit. I don’t think this was attached to the guitar “by two broom holders, which were screwed onto the body”. I’m pretty sure the jack itself was the only thing holding it to the guitar.
I don’t think this would be possible on a Telecaster, where the jack is on the side of the body. Based on the photos, the unit is clearly mounted just below the control plate, on top of the body. You can see the whole setup more clearly in this photo:
Yeah, that’s a totaly different unti than the one I’m talking about. It wasn’t much bigger than a fat pack of chewing gum.
See also : Skydog : The Duane Allman Retrospective, booklet, p.20 ( 2013 ).