BJFE / BearFoot fx Guitar Effects Community

As I find myself answering the same questions alot more often recently maybe this will help to give new folks an idea of some things that may not be immiediatly obvious....

BJFE is Bjorn Juhl Forstarker Elektronik
(which is Swedish for Bjorn Juhl Amplifier Electronics -
'BJ' is Bjorn Juhl and he is a Swedish Swede living in Sweden )

BJFE and the BJFE Customshop are two separate entities whos distribution networks do not cross.

BJFE pedals are all handmade by BJ and his wife Eva paints the lettering and inside pictures and they are distributed by Harri Koski and his dealer network... (A Honey Bee in orange with your goldfishes name on it is still a Honey Bee and would be a 'special order' orderd thru Harris dealers - not the CustomShop)

Mad Professor products are DESIGNED by BJ but manufactured and distributed by Harri Koski (Custom Sounds).

The Customshop pedals are all handmade by BJ, Eva does the lettering and illustrations and I paint or shine most of the boxes (Donnerbox) and find homes for the pedals and gather feedback from thier owners CS pedals are either Research and Development pedals like the Model H or are small batch/limited edition/special use pedals (2 stomp Minivibes, VCFs,Folk Phasers) .....

For R and D pedals the first batch mostly goes to people Ive dealt with before who have most of the other pedals and who can compare them in the context of the rest of the line - the second batches of these offereings will go thru 'drawings' on this site, so we can get a more random second opinion but hopefully from people who will take the time to run thru there rigs in every way possible and write up the results... the point of the Research is to find any weak spots or needed upgrades BEFORE alot are made and to judge the level of interest for future batches.....
Also the CS is fun. BJ could easily just sit and make Honey Bees non stop and probably never catch up - but he is a very creative person as well and new model development keeps things interesting between batches of the standards....


I am not an employee of BJFE - I just do what I can to free up time for BJ - answer questions, do Customshop R and D, put up an info website/forum etc... we all want more BJFE pedals and even BJ cant type and solder at the same time
So whatever we can figure out on our own by helping each other is productive.

So there are a number of interesting things coming this winter and the best way to get involved is check in here ....
On the drawings I will open them on Mondays and draw on fridays giving the selectees the weekend to pay and then ship them on Mondays. BJ has a heavy MP design commitment that took most of the extra RnD time recently but much of that is done so things should liven up around here....

Yes, and to piggyback upon what Donner said...

I, too, am not an employee of BJFE, Custom-Sounds, Mad Professor, Harri Koski, or Donnerbox.

My function as a mod on this forum and in my postings in other forums is similar to Donner's...I'm just helping out. I answer questions that I know the answer to, and this leaves more time for BJ to solder and/or Donner to paint boxes and process Customshop orders.

Before this forum got a bit more secure, one of my other jobs was to come in here a few times a day and "clean up" a lot of the spam postings we used to get around these parts.

Anyway, in the spirit of full disclosure, etc....

Carry on, gents.

DocRock

Good call on the FAQ - can this be stickied?

As a newb it took me a fair few trips round the forum and website to initially get my head around BJFE.

Can I make a suggestion for a few more potential topics to cover?

1. What BJFE pedals are currently being produced / What is the currently available range?

2. Where are BJFE pedals available for purchase?

3. Which BJFE pedals have been discontinued within the last 6/12 months?

I know this stuff is featured on the site but I reckon it'd be real helpful to have a catch-all thread on the forum.

Yeah , maybe it would be more useful in the question answer form...

or maybe '10 BJFE FAQs'

Ok lets do that - any other tidbits you think would be worth serving up to new members ???

The main other one for me would be a brief explanation or description of each current production pedal... and perhaps the older models too.

Starting out here was a bit of a headf**k of acronyms, custom shop one-offs and discontinued pedals if I'm totally honest! In a fun way of course

At the minute the only place to find this out is from Bjorn's interview and the pedal profile threads right? Just a couple of lines on each would be real helpful I reckon, especially if it was grouped into sections like in that interview, to make clear the connections or distinctions between the pedals, as in...

Q. What is the current range of BJFE pedals?

A. Current Fuzzes:

Candy Apple Fuzz (CAF) was the result of a talk with the King of Cheese, collector of cheesy fuzzpedals...some of which I had for repair. There were qualities in fuzz that only old fuzzes could make and the old units often broke down in mechanics, etc. and most of these sonic qualities I tried to put into CAF. The result is a very crude fuzz, with octave function if needed and dying moans of gated fuzz......

Pink Purple Fuzz (PPF), after the introduction of CAF Harri, my distributor asked if there could not also be a more behaved fuzz. PPF was devised to meet this but do the fuzz sounds in the grey zone of fuzz/overdrive/distortion.

Current Distortions:

Dyna Red Distortion (DRD) is the kind of distortion pedal I always wanted myself. Distortion range allows very light to heavy, and those that like this one use it mostly for high gain sounds but it also matches particurlarly well for light break up dynamic rhythms with some amps.

Emerald Green Distortion Machine (EGDM) was made more or less through correspondance with the String King Dean Farley who wanted a particurlar sound derived from stackning some other BJF models into a Komet 60. I had no Komet 60 to test with but aVOX AC-15 Twin 10. Final result proved to work on both amplifiers and many other brands. EGDM gives a range of distorted sounds that are a bit less aggressive than DRD and also more compressed almost like it had a compressor built in while the distortion depth is a bit less than DRD.

Q. What BJFE pedals have been discontinued?

A. Discontinued Fuzzes etc...

Maybe production dates could be included too? As in, May 2005 - present day / Sep 2004 - July 2007 etc.

The descriptions here are good...

http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/Catalogu ... chTerm=bjf

Barnaby, Hardly wrote:The descriptions here are good...

http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/Catalogu ... chTerm=bjf

It looks like those are from http://www.custom-sounds.com

but yes i would agree they are good

hmm yeah actually maybe a gathering of vitals for each at t he beginning of the pedal profiles section - like an overview...

I can see that being helpful...

For sure. I look forward to reading them!

Hi,

Firstly I must say thank you for all the valueable feedback given on researchmodels, something that has enabled me to lock some designs so they can be made by MP Amplification and others giving vital information of functions of guitars speakers and amplifiers and in a great way added to my sonic library.
Gentlemen thank you!

On the matter of resale I feel that pedals sold are really the property of the owner and the owner may ofcourse do whatever he/she sees fit with them.
No, I cannot operate a recycling service how much I'd want to, as it would take a huge piece of time just the logistics and it's the prime reason I have distribution so as to save such time for development and fun also with my family.
What makes my day most often is that a pedal has found a good home with somebody who uses it and so it can bring joy.
Everyone can have hard times now and then as what not breaks and funds are needed quickly and I have sold quite a few pedals myself for that very reason and so I hold no judgement over this.
If I made only one model and sold right off my workshop I might have been able to make sure everyone who wanted got a fair deal sort of like Ferrari does with their motorcars and if you'd like one of those the only source to get one is through Ferrari, but I can't do that with 22 and increasing models and I gather now most of my dealers that used to have a trial period or refund policy, just state that you can resell the pedal for more than you bought it for.
Ah, yes there have been instances where it would seem some would have placed an order just to resell the item without even listening, which also have created longer lines while some units have been available on e-bay at a mark up and maybe it has also been so that some that formely was happy with their BJF pedal realized that they can resell it for much more than they bought it for and yes I do remember a post over at MusicToyz a few years back a guy who had bought a secondhand unit for say 140USD and was happy with that until USD fell and new units of same model retalied at 299 USD and so the guy felt that his pedal wasn't worth 299 USD but must be sold at 299......
as he'd never pay 299USD for the pedal while in fact he had paid 140...........
Yes I know how that feels and works too.
However it means a lot to me all the pieces of feedback I get that can spur new or better models more aligned to needs.
I am also happy to meet shiny happy people getting good sounds.
Is sound a journey? Yes, to many it is and to some it just doesn't matter- I meet both kinds in my work and the best goal to me is to find the solution that gives the least excuses to further travel and hopefully no excuse but to play.
Yes I know at least a couple of musicians that constantely change their gear and that go from being happy with their sound to new requirements and really mostly to maintain the spirit and edge and taking on new parameters to conquer and thus staying awake through hours of sets- musical journey as a way of life perhaps, sort of like the Beatles had sandwiches on their amplifiers to stay awake but as interpreted through gear.


"Good call on the FAQ - can this be stickied?

As a newb it took me a fair few trips round the forum and website to initially get my head around BJFE.

Can I make a suggestion for a few more potential topics to cover?

1. What BJFE pedals are currently being produced / What is the currently available range? "
A.
Overdrive:
HB Honey Bee Overdrive
Distortion:
DRD Dyna Red Distortion colour change in 2004
EGD Emerald Green Distortion Machine colour change in 2004
Compressor:
PGC Pine Green Compressor, formely Pale Green compressor
Fuzz:
CAF Candy Apple Fuzz
Booster:
RRB Red Rooster Booster, units made before 2004 have fiesta red colour
BPB Baby Pink Booster, available only on request
Equalizer:
SBEQ Sea Blue Equalizer
Modulation:
MGMV Mighty Green Mini Vibe formely Mint Green Minivibe
Bass effect
3BOD Blue Berry Bass Overdrive, available only on request

2. Where are BJFE pedals available for purchase?
World wide dealers are found under 'dealers' menu at the top of frontpage at http://www.custom-sounds.com.
US dealers are found at the front page of http://www.bjfelectronics.com
Custom versions of available models above are sometimes available from custom-sounds or certain dealers.

Customshop models are intended primarily for research:

Model R: this model can only be made in 99 units and it has gathered lots of information so far.
Let say Model R can sound terrible with some setups and like an imaginable extension with other set ups, which leads to that through the research route it has taken most units can end up with happy homes and feedback on the functions of this model has been given.
Off spring of Model R is the MP Mighty Red Distortion- there's no sound or circuit relation, but the thing that the Model R is so sensitive to what it is used with spurred the thought EQ of MRD to make that repeatable through most amps and speakers.
Train of thought:
First this guy asks about an overdrive that would be inbetween LGW and EGD....discussed is the midrange to protrude at stadiumlevels and a circuit is made, one that later spures the MP Sky Blue OD. While making a prototype to bring to a show of this stadium OD with the midrange to protrude
I thought couldn't this be made more as a distortion-different circuit requirements but how about that midrange? Model R was then deviced to capture just this protruding midrange but with the texture and feel of a distortion,however the functions of this makes Model R align to certain speakers only

VCF: feedback has been gathered on this model and enough to lock this circuit and it has been added to the MP line to be made in a small box with four controls- without the valuable feedback from those that tried the protos this would not have been possible.
Origin of VCF: this was intially made as a remote wha to go in a rack system for multiple rocker set ups back in 1991

Folk Fuzz: this was really first meant as a DIY project, published first in guitarmagazine FUZZ and later a De Luxe version had its own article http://www.fuzz.se/main.asp?go=13&src=1 ... =6&aid=161 but it has also brought feedback and the custom shop Folk Fuzzes are in the spirit of 'Take what you can take' made with transistors of the day.

Sparkling Yellow Overdrive: is a reasearch project for an overdrive to add to BJF line

Model H: is a research project on a function-dynamics of distortion and EQ- more reasearch needed before I can determine what to do with this one

2SMV: is a research project of control over the effect

Folk Phaser/ Plum Phaser both part of research over phasing effect and results were transfered to the MP line in the Tiny Orange Phaser and reasearch is finished and closed

"3. Which BJFE pedals have been discontinued within the last 6/12 months? "
PPF Pink Purple Fuzz- discontiuned from parts shortage
LGW Little Green Wonder- transfered to the MP line
BBOD Baby Blue Overdrive- discontiuned from parts shortage

Earlier discontiued models
SYT Saffron Yellow Tremolo- replaced by MP Mellow Yellow Tremolo; not the same circuit but the same theory of operation.

LRT Little Red Trebler, discontinued no replacement planned

Copied and added to from the pedal statistics

(Yr/M/Day)
BBOD 001216 discontinued 070625
DRD 010509 in production; colourchange 2004
BPB 010826 available on specialorder only and taken off distribution-talk to Harri
CAF 011028 in production
3BOD 011221 in production but available only on request
LRT 020122 available on specialorder only and taken off distribution-talk to Harri
MGMV 020122 in production, colour change in 2004
PPF 020309 discontinued 0709
PGC 021204 in production, colourchange in 2004
HB 021204 in production
SYT 021204 discontinued 2005 replaced by MP Mellow Yellow Tremolo
LGW 030108 discontinued 2006 replaced by MP Little Green Wonder
RRB 030527 in production; colourchange 2004
EGDM 030930 in production; colourchange 2004
SBEQ 040906 in production

Have fun
BJ