FX66 Flashback Fuzz

Early-issue FX66 Flashback Fuzz (1999), with well-worn original box

The FX66 Flashback Fuzz was announced at Winter NAMM 1999, and was the last FX-series pedal introduced by DOD. Using the same circuitboard as the FX69B Grunge but with fewer components (C13, C21, C22, R37, R39, and Q8 are missing, and other parts such as the op amps are likewise different), the FX66 offers less gain but more fuzzy brittleness. The FX66 is not a Fuzz Face clone, but is definitely voiced closer to a Fuzz Face than the Big Muff-esque high gain of the FX69B Grunge. The vast majority of FX66 pedals were made in China as part of the "VFX" series, but it appears that at least the very first production run was made in the U.S.A.

• Controls: Volume, Low, Tone (hi eq), Fuzz
  
  
• From the manual: "The FX66 is a distortion pedal reminiscent of the old fuzzy faced distortions of the 60's. You'll feel like you just had a flashback from the Monterey Pop Festival just by connecting your guitar to the FX66 and playing."
  
  The manual (copyright dated 1999) also noted 25 years of Excellence for DOD, and invited the reader to "step on us for another 25 years." With the apparent discontinuation of the YJM-308 in 2009, it looks like we only had another 10 years (for new DOD pedals, anyway).
  
  
• Cosmetic variants? For most of the final-series (1998-on) DOD pedals, there is no way to determine whether a pedal was part of the made in China VFX series without checking the back plate for a serial number that includes the letter "V". We only have experience with three different FX66 pedals, but it appears that early (non-VFX) FX66 pedals have a pink or light purple element in its paint, seemingly "underneath" the blue/teal green swirl found on all FX66 pedals. It is possible that these early FX66 pedals are repainted FX70P casings, or perhaps DOD simply switched to an easier/cheaper (fewer coats of paint required) color scheme when production shifted to China. However, we have not seen enough FX66 pedals to be certain.
  
  
• MSRP (1999): $89.95
  
  
• Technical info:
  
  
  • Notable IC chips: three 4558-type op-amps
    
    
  • Component-side circuitboard image: April 1999
    
    
  • Related circuits: FX69B, FX70P, GFX70
  
  
• FX heritage: FX52 FX66
  
  
• External links:
  • @ ftp.dod.com - instruction manual (1999), .pdf format
  • @ DOD.com
  • @ discofreq's FX site
  • @ harmony-central.com
  • @ noiseguide.com
  
  

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