The Rarest Fuzz Face! | Analog Man Sun Face — NKT275 White Dot (Mid-2003)

Analog Man returns to the channel — this time with a genuinely rare piece: a mid-2003 Sun Face fuzz, White Dot NKT275 germanium transistor variant, dated April 24th, 2003. Welcome back to Edge of Breakup.

The Analog Man Sun Face (White Dot NKT275) pairs with the Gronlund Guitars SC18 — TV Jones TV Classic Filter'Trons — into the Greer Amps Mini Chief and Greer Smallblock 1x12" with a pre-broken-in Scumback S75-PVC speaker. The Effectrode Tube Vibe joins from 10:18.

Huge thanks to Alex at ToneCraftFX for lending this unit for the shootout — give him a follow and subscribe.

The Analog Man Sun Face has been Mike Piera's flagship germanium Fuzz Face-circuit pedal for decades, and the specific era and transistor variant matters enormously to collectors. This unit is White Dot — referring to the white mark found on the NKT275 germanium transistors used inside, visible in the macro closeups of the pedal internals in this video. NKT275 transistors are widely considered among the best-sounding and most desirable germanium transistors ever used in a Fuzz Face-style circuit, and by 2003 they were already becoming difficult to source in quantity.

This unit also carries the 2.2uF input capacitor — a spec Analog Man later moved away from in favor of a 1.0uF input cap on subsequent production runs. The larger 2.2uF cap passes more low-end content into the fuzz stage, giving this specific era of Sun Face a fuller, thicker low end compared to later units. Between the White Dot NKT275 transistors and the 2.2uF cap, this specific dated unit represents a particularly sought-after and hard-to-find combination — genuinely difficult and expensive to track down today.

The Bias knob is explored extensively from 01:56 through 04:08 — colder settings tightening and gating the fuzz, hotter settings opening it into fuller sustain and bloom. Volume knob cleanup is explored across all three TV Classic pickup positions from 03:35 onward, showing the classic Fuzz Face glassy cleanup character that NKT275 transistors are famous for. The Greer Mini Chief pushed into its own natural breakup from 06:28 stacks with the Sun Face for compounded amp and fuzz sag — and the Effectrode Tube Vibe from 10:18 gives classic Fuzz Face into Uni-Vibe tones.

🎛️ Analog Man: https://www.buyanalogman.com 🎸 Gronlund Guitars: https://www.gronlundguitars.com 🔊 Greer Amps: https://www.greeramps.com

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🎸 Gronlund Guitars SC18 | TV Jones TV Classic Filter'Trons 🎛️ Analog Man Sun Face | White Dot NKT275 Ge | 2.2uF Input Cap | April 2003 | Effectrode Tube Vibe 🔊 Greer Amps Mini Chief | 3W | Class A | Greer Smallblock 1x12" | Scumback S75-PVC (Pre-Broken-In)

Recording: Universal Audio Apollo x4 | Ohma Ribbon | Lauten Audio LS-208 | Royer R10 & R121 | Ableton Live 12