Danelectro: NICHOLS 1966™

It’s a fuzz. It’s a distortion. It’s a distortion-fuzz..? Whatever you want to call it, the Nichols 1966 rocks and has great big tubs of tone. There’s a story behind this unique pedal, and I quote: “In the hills above Hollywood, California… sit several well known canyons. Beachwood Canyon, to the East of Hollywood, is home to the famous HOLLYWOOD sign. To the West sits Nichols Canyon, where Foxx pedals founder and current Danelectro® owner Steve lived with his parents in the mid 1960’s. It was in the garage of that home on Nichols Canyon Place that Steve created his first effects pedal, which he named “The Liverpool Fuzz Tone”. Steve had no money to buy a fuzz and no access to any schematics. So he created a completely unique circuit architecture that has never been seen again. Although he called his box a “fuzz”, it was in fact half way between a distortion and a fuzz. This incredible box dishes out delicious tones unlike those of any pedal ever made. While Steve labored to create this new box in 1966, less than 2 miles away in Laurel Canyon musicians were collaborating on what would become the most famous songs of the 1960’s.“ The full and uncut ’jam’ component of this video can be viewed at Today’s tools: Guitar: 2023 Danelectro Triple Divine & 2023 Charvel Prashant Aswani Signature Pro-Mod PA28. Both stock. Amp: Axe-FX III Turbo running Cygnus X-2 Mid-60’s Deluxe Reverb model. Cables: BOSS Strings: Ernie Ball 10-46 Pick: Signature Honey Pick Mic: Audix USA PDX720 - Camera: GoPro HERO10 Sony ZV-1M2 x 2 Soundcard: PreSonus Quantum 26x32 (No longer available) Desktop Monitors: PreSonus R80 R-Series Active AMT Studio Monitors - Monitor Control: SPL 2Control - Headphones: Audix A150 - All Stands: Gravity Stands - Computer: 2017 Apple iMac Pro, 2.5 GHz 14-Core Intel Xeon W, 64 GB 2666 MHz DDR4, Radeon Pro Vega 64X 16 GB Backing track “Twister“ courtesy