France’s Jacques Effects enjoys the distinction
of being among the most highly
regarded boutique pedal makers outside of
the United States. The company’s line of
compact, handmade stompboxes are known
for their wild tones and over-the-top voicings
and are favorites of adventurous players
from Reeves Gabrels to Jerry Donahue.
Even with that track record, they tout their
newest pedal—the Black Mamba Fuzz—as
their masterpiece. And its design intent,
which is to simulate Jimi Hendrix’s classic
Fuzz-Face-and-cranked-Marshall combination,
takes aim at one of the holy grails
of guitar sound. It’s also likely to be the
company’s rarest pedal: With nearly unobtainable
new-old-stock NPN Valvo OC141
transistors at the heart of this monster,
Jacques will only be able to build five.
Venomous Concept
The Black Mamba has a sparse control layout,
to say the least. And with little reference to
how its three knobs work and an unconventional
layout that deviates from the common
Volume/Fuzz/Tone array, I found myself
wishing they’d been labeled. On the Black
Mamba, two knobs control the gain levels—
one for the germanium transistors and the
other for a cranked plexi Marshall emulation.
The bottom knob sets the pedal’s output level.
Jacques based the Black Mamba, to some
extent, on his Mercer and Wercer distortion
pedals. The primary difference is the Valvo
OC141 germanium transistors and a polarity
flip that comes with the change from PNP to
NPN transistors, which Jacques says enables a
burlier tone. The sonic payoff is considerable.
At nearly 500 bucks, Jacques’ mean little
machine isn’t a cheap one, which is why I
had some concerns about the build quality.
The input jack is a plastic barrel type like you
see on Vox AC30s, while the sturdier output
jack is metal. The wiring inside could’ve been
routed more neatly, and the circuit board
was wrapped in a leatherette pouch that had
been stapled shut. In addition, the wiring
connected to the LED was well soldered,
but covered in red electrical tape wrappings
instead of shrink tubing. Everything worked
properly without a hitch, but for a pedal that
commands this type of price—and one with
such rare components inside—I expected
tighter quality control under the hood.
Poison Control
However things may look inside the Mamba,
the tones within are to die for. With a 2011
Fender American Stratocaster and a Fender
’65 Twin Reverb Reissue, the fuzz tones that
poured out of my neck pickup were thick,
juicy, and blistering with harmonics. Sustain
was incredible, allowing me to hold notes
bent above the 12th fret and have them sing
for what seemed like an eternity.
I had to explore some slightly unorthodox
settings to get these tones, however. Jacques
recommends that you max out both Gain
controls and use the guitar’s volume to sweep
through the pedal’s sonic palette. While I
found this technique truly effective—and got
some fantastic sounds ranging from razor-sharp
fuzz to gritty cleans—it did leave me
wishing there was a little more nuance available
from the Mamba’s onboard controls.
Still, the Black Mamba cleans up better
than most fuzzes I’ve come across. And dropping
my Strat’s volume control to slightly
above halfway yielded a crisp rhythm tone
that was perfect for fast, 7th-chord vamping.
The Verdict
The Jacques Black Mamba packs some of
the most fluid and dynamic Hendrix-style
fuzz sounds I’ve heard in quite some time.
The build could be better, but the incredible
searing, psychedelic tones on tap cannot
be denied. The big question is whether
the cost is worth it, no matter what transistor
is inside. But given the price of vintage
fuzz units and the potential collectability of
the Black Mamba, it could well prove to be
worth every last cent to the right player.
Buy if...
you’re jonesing hard for old-school, ’60s psychedelic fuzz that can sustain for days.
Skip if...
you need more range in your fuzz and need to mind your budget.
Rating...
