In that final year of production, Mosrite shifted exclusively to silicon parts, making germanium components a thing of the past. Of the two, the germanium version is by far the most rare, with original designer and Mosrite employee Ed Sanner estimating that around 250 ever made it out the door. Now that's spice.įrom the years of 1966 to 1968, Mosrite produced two distinct fuzz circuits-one outfitted with silicon transistors, the other with germanium parts. For example, when you let the 2nd string ring open on a C chord, it becomes a Cmaj7, but when you let the same string ring open on an Fmaj7 chord it becomes the much more sophisticated Fmaj7#4. This second concept is particularly interesting because even though we keep moving the same notes on the 2nd string against the first three chords, the quality of these chords keeps changing.

This example demonstrates two basic concepts: The first is that you can add color to the most basic chords, in this case C–Am–F–G, by moving, removing, or adding a finger to each voicing. But the aforementioned songwriters knew that to make the everyday unique, you need to add some spice.

In fact, the reason we hear it so frequently is because it sounds good, and it has been used masterfully by everyone from George Gershwin to the Rolling Stones and the Police. Now there's nothing wrong with the progression itself. These days it seems like every other hit song features the prosaic I–VIm–IV–V progression.

Easy contour drawing hand hords up