Frantone Electronics is a New York City company that has been hand-making a variety of effects pedals since 1994, and recently launched it’s germanium-transistor powered The Sweet, which the company says offers “…full bottom and crisp highs… and endless sustain…”
Though simple in design, the Frantone units are very sturdy and include some nice touches like an enamel finish, bakelite knobs (a lil’ vintage element), and a bevel on the LED indicator that really helps when stage lights make it hard to determine whether certain things in your signal chain are engaged.
The Sweet features volume, sustain, and tone controls with an LED indicator in an aluminum MXR-style case. We plugged it into a Les Paul, hit the footswitch, and were able to create a retro fuzz tone with a sweeter, warmer tone than most of other fuzz pedals we’ve tested. The high-quality filters in the tone and sustain controls gave it a very rounded, musical sound.
Frantone The Sweet
Type Of Effect: Fuzztone.
Features: Cast aluminum housing, epoxy enamel finish, true bypass switching, signal bypass and status LED w/steel bezel, Switchcraft jacks, bakelite knobs, hard-mounted PCB, external power jack, teflon hookup wire.
Price: $179.
Contact: Frantone Electronics, www.frantone.com
This article originally appeared in VG‘s Dec. ’01 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
