Used JHS Smiley Fuzz Arbiter Fuzzface Guitar Effects Pedal

Mint, all original packaging, as new

The JHS Smiley is part of the Legends of Fuzz series — a collection of the world’s most historic, rare, and sought-after circuits, ensuring these stories live on in the music you create.

In 1966, Ivor Arbiter saw the rising British rock scene demanding fuzz. He put the effect in a round enclosure and gave it a face: two knob eyes, a footswitch nose, and a brand label mouth. The Fuzz Face was born. That same year, Jimi Hendrix arrived in London and adopted Ivor’s design as his weapon of choice.

The first Fuzz Faces used germanium transistors, but by 1969 germanium gave way to silicon — Hendrix himself preferred the silicon versions for their aggressive bite and stability. The JHS Smiley is a sonically faithful recreation of what makes these early silicon Fuzz Faces great, based on vintage units from Josh Scott’s personal collection.

The Smiley is clear and defined, straddling the line between distortion and searing sustain, with crisp mid-range bite you expect from a vintage Arbiter unit. One of the most revered characteristics of a good Fuzz Face is its ability to clean up when the guitar’s volume is rolled back — the Smiley does this effortlessly.

Controls: Volume (overall output level), Fuzz (distortion amount). A “Mode” button on the side sends the Smiley into high gain / gated fuzz territory.

If you want fuzz covering classic tones played by Jimi Hendrix, Jack White, Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, and Eric Johnson — this is it.

Power: 9V DC Negative Center, 4mA consumption. Battery operation supported.