The Framus Star Bass with Built-In Fuzz: Bill Wyman’s Secret Weapon on 'Satisfaction' and Beyond

Bill Wyman’s 1964 Framus Star bass came with a factory-installed fuzz circuit, making it one of the earliest “effects-ready” basses on the market. On “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” Wyman ran the bass straight into the amp but engaged the built-in fuzz, giving the low end a gnarly, compressed growl that cut through the mix. That fuzz tone became a key ingredient of the track’s rhythm bed, though the famous guitar riff gets all the credit.

Wyman used the same Framus Star on several other mid-60s Stones cuts. You can hear that