Pinched harmonics + FZ-3? Whu?

[Jonnylane]

Right, let me begin. I am the lord of fuzz. 90% of the stuff I play involves a fuzz pedal of some description. I build a lot of fuzz pedals, and I own, or have played almost every comercially available fuzz pedal under the sun. Fuzz fuzz fuzz fuzz...

Last week I finally got my hands on that elusive Boss FZ-3 Hyper Fuzz. I had briefly played one in the past, and thought it was not bad. With them being discontinued I decided I better get one before they get too expensive.

Sooooo, I plug it in and start rockin' away. I reach a solo of one of my favorite songs which happens to include a pinched harmonic (I very rarely use them) and suddenly im greeted with a heinous noise that makes my ears want to emigrate.

It's hard to describe; It sounds great normally, but pinching sounds like sh!t. It's sort of like an intense white noise with the harmonic very faint in the background. I toyed with the settings, but nothing I do can get rid of it.

It's a minor problem, but weird because I've never heard anything like it.

Any ideas anyone? Or, if someone has an FZ-3, give it a try and see if you get the same thing...

Cheers
Jonny

[Kent S.]

Re: Pinched harmonics + FZ-3? Whu?

Thats the FZ-2 not 3, the FZ-3 was simply Fuzz, not the Hyper Fuzz, anyway, being the way that fuzz units are in reagrd to their harmonics, and lack of upper harmonic restriction (as in producing all harmonics pretty evenly) what you say here makes sense. Just like any intervals other than octaves start to beat a bit, play a tritone with a fuzz and then come back and tell me it wasn't a truely grating experience. Oblique bends are another beauty for demonstrating intermodulation distortion, much more so than with normal distortion. Fuzz is Fuzz is Fuzz, that be the way it is ...

[Jonnylane]

Re: Pinched harmonics + FZ-3? Whu?

Sorry, you're right, it's the FZ-2

Thanks for the input. The thing is, I've never heard it before, which is odd considering all the fuzz's I've played. Not even my FZ-3 (the normal one ) does it...

Once I get soundclick sorted, I'm gonna get some clips up to illustrate it.

Cheers,
Jonny

[Kent S.]

Re: Pinched harmonics + FZ-3? Whu?

Sorry, you're right, it's the FZ-2

Thanks for the input. The thing is, I've never heard it before, which is odd considering all the fuzz's I've played. Not even my FZ-3 (the normal one ) does it...

Once I get soundclick sorted, I'm gonna get some clips up to illustrate it.

Cheers,
Jonny

I don't know, the DOD classic fuzz (forget the number, it was metallic pumpkin coloured though) did a similar thing as well,I vaguely remember the little big muff doing the same. How is the FZ-3? I never tried one, it's a stripped down version of the 2, but is it closer to mode I or mode II on the FZ-2? Thanks.

[Jonnylane]

Re: Pinched harmonics + FZ-3? Whu?

Closer to mode 1, without question. If I'm honest, it does mode 1 (the "classic" fuzz) a bit better than the FZ-2.

[Jonnylane]

Re: Pinched harmonics + FZ-3? Whu?

Bugger it, i'm gonna try it with them all tomorrow, and maybe record them all if I can be bothered

[Kent S.]

Re: Pinched harmonics + FZ-3? Whu?

Closer to mode 1, without question. If I'm honest, it does mode 1 (the "classic" fuzz) a bit better than the FZ-2.

Yeah mode I on the Hyper Fuzz does get a little harsh, doesn't it? Does it have the same gain though? Thanks.

[Benjy_26]

Re: Pinched harmonics + FZ-3? Whu?

One of the Boss Fuzzes had a clean gain boost mode, right? I remember playing one in boost mode into a Fender Deluxe Reverb and thinking it sounded alright.

[Jonnylane]

Re: Pinched harmonics + FZ-3? Whu?

yep, that's the fz-2. It's not a bad boost, though why anyone would buy a fuzz pedal for a gain boost is beyond me. It's not as if you can use it with the fuzz itself...

Kent, I'm just trying em now, and to my ears the FZ-2 maybe has a touch more gain when on mode 1, but you're right, it's awfully harsh with the gain past 3 o' clock.

I normally use fuzz running into the dirty channel of my amp, with both the preamp gain and the fuzz gain set at around 12 o'clock; it suits my style

[Kent S.]

Re: Pinched harmonics + FZ-3? Whu?

I normally use fuzz running into the dirty channel of my amp, with both the preamp gain and the fuzz gain set at around 12 o'clock; it suits my style

LOL... That reminds me of the old slogan for the Rat ...
Grow some hair on your leads... ... Yeah I only use the FZ-2 in mode II for basically a full out '60s assault type of thing ... mode II kinda reminds me of the little big muff PI the thing that used to plug into the guitar itself, yeah that thing ... except the FZ-2 has more definition ... it's that whole Hendrix Foxy Lady type compressed thing. Cool.I think they put the gain boost (cool becasue the tone controls work on it) on there to make it more marketable.