Isle of Tone

Th4fonz · August 2023

Isle of tone

Has anyone owned one of these extremely expensive fuzz pedals?

they sure are beautiful looking and sound fantastic but the eye watering price….

I love the sound of lennartdelissen haze64 and wondering what would be the closest sounding pedal to that not named isle of tone?

soma1975 · August 2023

I have complained about them several times.

Absolute snake oil salesmen. There is literally nothing about their pedals and either their time or components or the skill in building them or their desirability or even pedigree that makes their prices even vaguely in line with reality.

They are an insta-influencer marketing scam.

There are some brilliant boutique builders that do amazing repros, like Jimmy C and Dustin Francis.

There are some brilliant boutique builders that are know to be the best in the business that have for want of a better phrase 'perfected the circuit' like Analogman or Foxrox.

There are some standard production line fuzz faces that easily hold their own against the big boys like the big box Dunlop Hendrix fuzz, the Solidgold FX If 6 was 9 etc.

I currently have a Sonus 68 Jimi Mod germanium fuzz with old NKT transistors that sounds glorious and even then brand new it was under £300.

Don't give your money to those pricks. You are way better off getting something from one of the companies mentioned above and just learning the different ways to set up a fuzz pedal and amp to attain the specific tones you are after.

soma1975 · August 2023

They have probably sold like 2 pedals. All the others are the ones given to YouTubers to say they are the best thing ever and all the ones you see for sale online at silly prices are the ones those same YouTubers are now offloading having moved onto shilling the next bit of kit.

soma1975 · August 2023

Honestly I was going to write a 3rd post slagging then off but maybe I should have a sit down and a think about the things I allow to make me cross.

Good luck with your fuzz choices.

jellybelly · August 2023

It'll just be a germanium Fuzz Face clone. Dozens available.

I'll give them a bit of leeway as English isn't their first language, but I've seen that sort of marketing BS in dozens of places before. Tone is in your hands/it's how you feel/vibe/mojo/voodoo etc etc. Oh and it turns out you can buy all those things for 4 figures.

Just do some research on whatever Analogman, Roger Mayer, JHS, Way Huge or even MXR (who own the rights to fuzz faces now I think) do in the Fuzz Face realm, they'll all be good.

You could probably get all of the above with change for the price of an 'Isle of Tone', judging from the used UK prices.

jellybelly · August 2023

Lol @soma1975 beat me too it. Much more effusively it turns out!!

soma1975 · August 2023

At one point they were pretending that AC128 transistors were somehow the rare holy grail component of fuzz tones.

jellybelly · August 2023

soma1975 said:

At one point they were pretending that AC128 transistors were somehow the rare holy grail component of fuzz tones.

Never heard of that particular component before.

I know this opinion is sort of unpopular, but anyone sounds good through pretty much anything if they practice. I know those of us with busy jobs and kids to attend to will always be tempted to buy their way into sounding better, but it's just not a thing.

benmurray85 · August 2023

Whenever I see an IoT thread pop up I can’t wait to click and see @soma1975 ’s reaction(s), this one didn’t disappoint.

Weren’t these the pedals that had “vintage correct” cardboard circuit boards or summat daft like that? Must admit, I’m a huge fuzz fan and can swallow most marketing bullshit but these are way and above the usual racket.

Seziertisch · August 2023

The guys from IoT have a background in printing/design so it’s not surprising that style is to the fore.

stickyfiddle · August 2023

They’re.. just.. fuzz faces, right?

With old (ie mostly worse) components?

But I guess investment 101 says you’re better off selling a fifty $20 widgets for $1000 than a thousand of them for $100, so maybe they’re right?!

Seziertisch · August 2023

In their defence, I think the IoT guys are just catering for the same portion of the market that are buying Murphy Labs etc. and for whom money is less of an object.

A lawyer friend of mine was recently advised that the best answer to questions as to fees when you don’t have enough detail to be able to give any sort of a realistic estimate was to say that they are “reassuringly expensive”. This is the same principle.

gatheredinsong · August 2023

jellybelly said:

those of us with busy jobs and kids to attend to will always be tempted to buy their way into sounding better, but it's just not a thing.

I need this as a default screensaver on my phone.

Sporky · August 2023

stickyfiddle said:

They’re.. just.. fuzz faces, right?

With old (ie mostly worse) components?

But I guess investment 101 says you’re better off selling a fifty $20 widgets for $1000 than a thousand of them for $100, so maybe they’re right?!

Especially if you can engage the Veblen effect.

stickyfiddle · August 2023

Sporky said:

stickyfiddle said:

They’re.. just.. fuzz faces, right?

With old (ie mostly worse) components?

But I guess investment 101 says you’re better off selling a fifty $20 widgets for $1000 than a thousand of them for $100, so maybe they’re right?!

Especially if you can engage the Veblen effect.

aka "rich idiots are still idiots"

soma1975 · August 2023

jellybelly said:

soma1975 said:

At one point they were pretending that AC128 transistors were somehow the rare holy grail component of fuzz tones.

Never heard of that particular component before.

I know this opinion is sort of unpopular, but anyone sounds good through pretty much anything if they practice. I know those of us with busy jobs and kids to attend to will always be tempted to buy their way into sounding better, but it's just not a thing.

Basically it's the transistor that was used in the really shitty 90s germanium fuzz face reissues that was never used in the originals and is very, very plentiful.

Analogman says he has never once seen one in an original fuzz face and they refuse to use them.

soma1975 · August 2023

benmurray85 said:

Whenever I see an IoT thread pop up I can’t wait to click and see @soma1975 ’s reaction(s), this one didn’t disappoint.

I mean what else am I going to do? Practice?

soma1975 · August 2023

Seziertisch said:

In their defence, I think the IoT guys are just catering for the same portion of the market that are buying Murphy Labs etc. and for whom money is less of an object.

A lawyer friend of mine was recently advised that the best answer to questions as to fees when you don’t have enough detail to be able to give any sort of a realistic estimate was to say that they are “reassuringly expensive”. This is the same principle.

For me the difference is that whether you like his work or not, Tom Murphy has pedigree. Gibson has pedigree. They have the clout to be able to be reassuringly expensive.

This is an exercise in 'only someone with magic ears could appreciate this pedal, you do have magic ears, right?' style marketing and it ruining the industry in my opinion. It's aimed at scamming rich idiots.

GoFish · August 2023

gatheredinsong said:

jellybelly said:

those of us with busy jobs and kids to attend to will always be tempted to buy their way into sounding better, but it's just not a thing.

I need this as a default screensaver on my phone.

Not only is jellybelly entirely correct, there are a cohort of "reassuringly expensive" fuzz builders of which IoT are simply not a part. David Main of D.A.M makes extremely pricey and high end fuzzes. Pete Cornish used to do something similar I believe?

Proper builds with rigourous component selection and bombproof casing etc. For those occasions where you simply want to pay the most to get the "best", no hidden gems or value propositions here. To appropriate that pricing structure and to try and piggyback off that sort of reputaion without having the goods to show for it is snake oil of the lowest quality.

Around 20 years ago, an aquaintance told he had eaten out at a TGI Fridays chain restaurant type of place. The cost per head was in the ballpark of this nice little bistro I knew in Mayfair! I may be biased but I'd be inclined to say that the bistro offered a tangibly better experience for a moderately pricey meal out.

soma1975 · August 2023

Castledine is reassuringly expensive. He only charges bigger bucks for stuff where there is a lot of time consumed testing and discarding transistors (that others would happily use) before finding a great set.

Lots of his stuff like his wah and vibe cost way less that other builders of his standing in the game. I'd have said the same for DAM but their recent subscription thingy is sickening.

Sassafras · August 2023

All this talk of them makes me want to rush out and buy one or two.

Seziertisch · August 2023

@soma1975 This is what Mufasa was talking about when he explained the circle of life to Simba early on in the Lion King.

People with more money than sense and for whom money isn’t an object, they need to be catered for.

I’m also sure, compared to some other pedal brands, that more of the people buying IoT pedals aren’t recording/making music that anyone is listening to. They are plugging in at home to their expensive vintage or repro amps and guitars and cosplaying at being Hendrix or whoever.

Objectively, all of the demos of the IoT stuff I have heard have sounded good, as in, in the ballpark of those vintage sounds and very usable, not unlike a myriad of other pedals which cost a fraction of what the IoT stuff costs, but hey.

What the more affordable/less snakeoily stuff doesn’t offer compared to IoT is bragging rights and the assurance that comes with spending nearly the most you possibly can on something. The IoT stuff also looks great, you can open it up, show the “vintage” cardboard to people, retell them the marketing spiel, feel good about yourself.

soma1975 · August 2023

Seziertisch said:

@soma1975 This is what Mufasa was talking about when he explained the circle of life to Simba early on in the Lion King.

People with more money than sense and for whom money isn’t an object, they need to be catered for.

I’m also sure, compared to some other pedal brands, that more of the people buying IoT pedals aren’t recording/making music that anyone is listening to. They are plugging in at home to their expensive vintage or repro amps and guitars and cosplaying at being Hendrix or whoever.

Objectively, all of the demos of the IoT stuff I have heard have sounded good, as in, in the ballpark of those vintage sounds and very usable, not unlike a myriad of other pedals which cost a fraction of what the IoT stuff costs, but hey.

What the more affordable/less snakeoily stuff doesn’t offer compared to IoT is bragging rights and the assurance that comes with spending nearly the most you possibly can on something. The IoT stuff also looks great, you can open it up, show the “vintage” cardboard to people, retell them the marketing spiel, feel good about yourself.

That film just props up the idea of a monarchy and it was just assumed that one day all that was going to be his. Nobody voted for Simba. I am great fun at parties!

I just think of this whenever someone tells me they own an IOT pedal, which of course they never do because nobody has actually bought one. They've just been gifted them and told to pass on the hype like a crypto or NFT salesman.

GoFish · August 2023

Poor OP - We support you and want the best for your fuzz needs! There are a lot of great Fuzzfaces out there. Come back to us and we'll steer you towards some that you'll love

edit: Roger Mayer will produce one with bragging rights (JImi's tech etc) and the coolest spaceship enclosure. Otherwise check Super Electric pedals on the socials. He'll knock you one up.

soma1975 · August 2023

Just because this is my favourite thread, the tagline on their website:

I’m into vintage gear my whole lifetime. Always corious how amps, guitars and pedals work, trying to understand and getting deeper into that materia, learn to distinguish between a *magical touch* and an interpreted into *Voodoo* we might perceive while playin some *holy grail* stuff.

Aside from the terrible proof reading, that's guitar gear scammer phrase bingo. I don't care how corious he is and about which materia. The magic voodoo holy grail of bellends.

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