Boxxes of Foxx(es)

Above: a scan of the 1974 fOXX catalog: we see the O.D. Machine, the Loud Machine, the Fuzz & Wa & Volume, the Down Machine, the Clean Machine, etc…

“Fuzz so thick it grew a coat.”  There’s no rule that mandates that effect pedals need to be built into painted metal boxes.   Just as Kustom rallied against the tolex-hegemony with their Naugahyde-plush guitar amplifiers, fOXX was a Chatsworth, California based company that burst onto the rock scene in 1971 with a range of guitar-effects pedals that were covered in furry, fuzzy material.  Shit, man, it’s a fuzz pedal, let’s cover that fukker with fuzz! There are certainly a number of secondary interpretations as well but… you can figure that out on yr own time.

Besides the iconic fOXX pedals, fOXX also sold amplifiers.  Let’s see… if you have a company named fOXX and you want to sell some amps…  What other famous amp rhymes with fOXX?

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fOXX amps were, apparently, real Vox AC30s with a new badge attached.  Read the whole story here.

Don’t forget yr fOXX-brand coiled-cable.  I really hope these weren’t furry too…stale beer sticks to ordinary rubber cables well enough; imagine its attraction to furry cables.

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Above: The fOXX Wa Machine, Fuzz and Wa, and Power Machine.  The Power Machine is one of a largely lost category of guitar effects that were intended to be inserted directly into the instrument rather than interface with a cable.  Other notable examples of this slightly awkward form-factor include the Electro Harmonix LPB-1 and the entire Dan Armstrong ‘Sound Modifiers’ line. 

The fOXX Octave Fuzz, available in five plush varieties.

fOXX is back (?), although I can’t find any indication that it’s actually the same folks responsible.  Visit their website here.  The reissue Tone Machine is available as a kit for $109 or ready-made for $149.

Also… you might enjoy a visit to this great fOXX Tone-Machine tribute site.