Danelectro DTF1 3699 Fuzz Pedal Overview
Danelectro has brought back the revered 3699 fUZZ™ in a stunning reissue. Known for their retro charm, playability, and unmistakable sound, Danelectro® guitars have played an integral role in the birth of rock and roll and continue to captivate audiences to this day.
Amidst this incredible journey, Steve Ridinger, the owner of Danelectro, has also crafted some of the most exceptional foot pedals in the realm of guitar effects, including the legendary FOXX® 3699 Tone Machine® – an iconic pedal etched into the annals of guitar history.
And now, the revered classic is reborn as the Danelectro 3699 fUZZ™, capturing all the mesmerizing fuzz tones that turned the original into a must-have for countless players across the globe since its inception in the 1970s, courtesy of Steve Ridinger himself.
Presented in a robust metal chassis with Danelectro’s custom vintage wear-and-tear finish, aged knobs, and a distinctive large lens orange on/off indicator, the pedal marries the charm of yesteryears with modern resilience. Steve Ridinger has painstakingly reengineered the original analog circuitry and reintroduced decades-old NOS (New Old Stock) transistors, meticulously selected for their specific gain range to produce sweet and nuanced tones, with modern enhancements seamlessly interwoven.
While retaining its unmistakable vintage core tone, the pedal now boasts a new dimension with an independent foot-switchable octave, delivering an even more pronounced octave shift. This addition imbues chords with a unique depth and lends soaring highs to solitary note runs.
The overall tone is enriched, gracing the sound with a warmer character. A singular tone control, characterized by its vast range, blends a diverse array of captivating frequencies with the 3699’s signature edgy fuzz. The pedal exhibits exceptional responsiveness throughout the guitar’s volume control sweep. Modern features encompass a mini-toggle switch, introducing a mid-range boost to counteract the mid-cut inherent to the original design, and the integration of true bypass switching for pristine signal integrity.
Steve Ridinger often gets queried about the origin of the name “3699” for this extraordinary octave fuzz pedal. In the 1970s, it was en vogue for companies to have phone numbers that corresponded to their product names when dialed on the telephone keypad. In an attempt to spell “F-O-X-X,” the numbers 3-6-9-9 emerged. In a remarkable twist, it turned out that this very combination was already the phone number of the FOXX company, assigned randomly by the phone company the year prior. Whether eerie or bizarre, the Danelectro 3699 fUZZ™ stands as the premier choice for vintage fuzz aficionados, encapsulating a legacy that echoes through time.
