NAMM 2020 VIDEO: SolidGoldFX's Communication Breakdown is a whole lotta fuzz pedal

NAMM 2020: There's no question what kind of tone SolidGoldFX were going for with their latest dual fuzz. The name gives it away, but is the Communication Breakdown the holy grail for Led Zeppelin fans looking to nail Jimmy Page's tone?

Well, there's a lot more to that than a fuzz pedal. That said, the Communication Breakdown might get you in the ballpark – at the very least a seat in the bleachers. It has two switchable fuzz circuits housed in one enclosure, each replicating the tonal hot sauce of the Tone Bender fuzz box.

But with two channels, each with their own footswitch, the Communication Breakdown looks to be one versatile footswitch. The controls for each channel are identical. There are controls for volume, bias and fuzz, with switches for adjusting input attentuation to complement your wah pedal and choosing between bright and darker modes. 

Fuzz addicts will get a lot of joy from the bias control, where you can tweak the voltages sent to each circuit. Turn it clockwise for "beefy and bold" fuzz, Turn it anti-clockwise to choke it and get that gated fuzz tone, or clockwise for a thicker and warmer tone.

The Communication Breakdown is priced £239. See SolidGoldFX for more details.

(Image credit: SolidGoldFX)
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Jonathan Horsley

Jonathan Horsley has been writing about guitars and guitar culture since 2005, playing them since 1990, and regularly contributes to MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitar World. He uses Jazz III nylon picks, 10s during the week, 9s at the weekend, and shamefully still struggles with rhythm figure one of Van Halen’s Panama.