NAMM 2022: SolidGoldFX refreshes its Fuzz Face-inspired If 6 Was 9, adding a host of player and wah-friendly updates

SolidGoldFX has unveiled the latest stompbox from its archive to get the refresh treatment as the If 6 Was 9 fuzz returns with a raft of improvements to make it a more versatile pedalboard addition.

Like the original, the If 6 Was 9 BC183 MKII has a ‘60s classic on its mind, and we’re not talking about the Hendrix reference. This is the Canadian guitar effects pedal specialist’s contemporary update on Dallas-Arbiter Fuzz Face, one of the first and most important fuzz pedals of all. 

It circuit features a dual-BC183 transistor design, selected by SolidGoldFX “as a happy medium between the potentially mushy compression of germanium and the brash sawmill-like fuzz of silicon”. 

The idea being is that the If 6 Was 9 gives players the best of both worlds, hair and teeth to give chords some bite, and that smooth velvet quality that makes guitar solos with a fuzz take on a bowed strings or horn quality.

So what’s new? Well, MKII has top-mounted jacks for starters, which can be an all-important pedalboard space saver, and it has a soft-relay footswitch. 

It also has an expanded control setup, with a Saturate dial to trim input gain and help it sit alongside your wah pedal, and a variable voltage pump. 

Capable of selecting internal voltages between 5V and 15V DC, this Voltage dial allied to the Bias helps you tune the fuzz just how you like it without relying on a draining battery, and puts a wide range of fuzz sounds at your feet.

Rounding out the controls are Volume for overall output, Fuzz for the amount of distortion in the signal, and a three-way body switch that selects between Fat, Treble Boost and Classic modes.

The If 6 Was 9 MKII is true bypass, takes a 9V DC pedalboard power supply, and is available now, priced $199. Head over to SolidGoldFX for more.