OVERDRIVE, DISTORTION AND FUZZ ...IS THE OLD STUFF BETTER?

THE FUTURE IS FUZZY
There are virtually 3 categories of dirt pedal makers. Those that clone the classics. Those that use them as a starting point with modern updates and those that make original pedals.
Were the old pedals better?  Why?

Analog dirt pedals have virtually progressed from Fuzz Pedals to Hardclippers then Soft Clippers and finally amp simulators. The first used germanium transistors followed by silicon transistors and then to OpAmps and finally to FET transistors.
It is now all an old technology and has very limited use since digital tech owns the consumer industry.
It is complicated further because even from the beginning the market for this tech was all about reliability and cost not for literally creating sound. 
Yes it was used for reproducing sound but that is all about antiseptically clear and clean sound. In short even in the past what transistor or OpAmp sounded great was dumb luck. Pedal makers simply took the same value of transistor from several different companies and used the one that their ears felt was the best. Then one day it was discontinued because the big market for garage door openers ...or timers for Stoves and ovens wanted a more reliable or cheaper transistor.

SOMETHING OLD SOMETHING NEW SOMETHING BORROWED SOMETHING ELSE
The parts used to create the actual sound in dirt pedals that truly impress us use some or all NOS (NEW OLD PARTS). The parts that do not create the actual sound but in most cases move current around where it is needed or not are often new, reliable, robust smaller and cheaper. Obviously the NOS are running out ...there are only so many dusty old boxes from the mid 20th century left. The biggest growth in truly new pedals is with FET transistors that are still useful enough to see a few small advancements but in a generation or two they could be gone.

THE GOLDEN AGE IS NOW
So the golden age of pedals is now. Everything is available from perfect clones of the past to hybrids and even digital control of analog sound. Our ears can hear even small differences so mixing up parts from every generation can make us something new ...if not new different.
ENJOY!

The 1962 Maestro FZ-1 Fuzz Tone
the pedal that started it all.