Completely Bummed out with 70th Anniversary Jimi Fuzz

[nedcronin]

This fuzz arrived today. I'm totally bummed out with it. Let me think of some adjectives.....weak, thin, brittle, fizzy, etc. Maybe I got a bad one but it sounds like absolute ****. Andy from Pro Guitar Shop made this thing sound awesome in his demo. As soon as I tried it out I could not turn my frown upside down. Can you guys suggest a fuzz that is warm, rich, dynamic fuzzy fuzz that cleans up with the volume knob? I want a Hendrix type of tone through a clean amp.

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Completely Bummed out with 70th Anniversary Jimi Fuzz

Any good Fuzz Face will do what you are asking.

Silicon models will be brighter and will have more gain...you might hear that as more brittle and they don't clean up as well but Jimi used an Si Fuzz Face from BOG until he passed, Gilmour used an Si Fuzz Face from 1969/1970 until the switch to a Big Muff in 1979 or so and Eric Johnson always uses a Si Fuzz Face...

The new Dunlop stuff is VERY consistent so if you liked the clip from the PGS vid it's in the box you have...

What else is in your signal chain and what kind of guitar are you playing and most importantly...is this your first fuzz??

[nedcronin]

Re: Completely Bummed out with 70th Anniversary Jimi Fuzz

I tried this pedal without anything else in my chain like I do with every new pedal I buy. Instant dissatisfaction. I have tried various fuzzes over the years, this is the first fuzz I have ever purchased. Been playing 31 years. I don't know much about fuzzes, but I do know that you can pull two of the same fuzzes and get different tones. I don't know WHY this sounds so cheesey, I just know I hate it! I have tried Muffs And Fuzz faces, this is just a very thin sound. Have you tried one of theses with different results? I need a fuzz but I need warmth & fuzz, not brittle fizz. Maybe I need germanium instead.
Oh, btw I am playing a strat with a 68 super reverb, and I need to keep my amp set clean and get my various OD/ crunch/ fuzz from pedals.
Could i be getting this tone because I am using a power supply instead of a battery?

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Completely Bummed out with 70th Anniversary Jimi Fuzz

Sure all fuzzes are different but I'm telling you Dunlop is running a VERY tight ship these days.

A blackface/silverface Fender might not be the best amp for a Fuzz Face unless you tweak the EQ to sound it's best.

The power supply has little to nothing to do with this situation.

You can't liken a muff to a Fuzz Face...completely different set of rules plus a tone control make the muff MUCH easier to dial in.

Fuzz Faces are not plug and play units and require a lot of work to figure out how to get them sounding nice and smooth...

Dump a lot of the top end on the amp, push the mids up a bit, make sure the bright switch is off and roll the tone back on the guitar some too...the tone from that clip is in there.

[nedcronin]

Re: Completely Bummed out with 70th Anniversary Jimi Fuzz

I just learned there are 2 trim pots in there. Maybe I'll try an adjustment to those before I give up on it.

[Agileguy_101]

Re: Completely Bummed out with 70th Anniversary Jimi Fuzz

Are you running the fuzz full up, or at least just shy of it? That's the only way I get good tones from fuzz faces, and that's the general consensus especially running into a fender (I should know, I have two different fuzz faces on my board running into a 68 Bassman.)

[Chickenwings]

Re: Completely Bummed out with 70th Anniversary Jimi Fuzz

Silicon fuzz faces are consistent units generally. However - being a fuzz face they are unlike any other modern pedal - they have their own thing going on and pretty much will sound like ass unless you build your whole sound around it.
This is coming from a devoted fuzz face user.
Forget everything you know about dialing in your sounds and start again with new ears. Fuzz faces are so sensitive to everything you do. They are not simple plug and play pedals like bigmuffs, overdrives or any other jfet, mosfet, diode or buffered pedals. They are way more subtle than that.
My setup is similar to yours. I use a twin (clean of course) and use pedals for dirt. Actually, i only have one pedal in my chain and its a silicon fuzz face most of the time (that is, if its not a germanium one). It takes quite a while to get the sweet spot on the fuzz dial. Too low and everything starts sounding dark and muffled. Too high and its just a wall of splattery fuzz.
Try this:
Set your amp so you are getting a fat clean sound with your guitar knobs on 10.
Set your guitar volume on say 5 and switch on the fuzz. Turn the fuzz gain down until when you play softly there is no distortion in your signal - only a little grit when you dig in.
Set the fuzz volume level so that this "fuzz on" clean sound (gtr on 5ish) is roughly equal to your unaffected clean sound with your guitar volume on 10.
Dial in your amps eq so your "fuzz on" clean sound is fat and warm.
When you are ready, wind up the guitar volume to unleash various shades of fuzz from clean to wall of noise - try to avoid that last half knotch between 91/2 and 10 on your guitar dial because there is a big jump there.
You might find that getting the exact spot where everything balances and you have controllable fuzz on tap take a while. I dont belive in the "Set the fuzz on 10" school of thought because the coloration and sound of the fuzz changes at different spots on its dial and of course it is very much interactive with your guitar knobs.
Once you get the sweet spot - mark it with a sharpie to save time in the future.
I think your pedal is most likely a good example of a silicon fuzz, i think you are just finding that fuzz is a whole other world to regular pedals and are experiencing the usual state of shock mixed with the usual "these things suck" response. This initial shock you are experiencing is why fuzzes almost died out, but with time and patience i think you will find a lot of the really cool stuff that a fuzzface can offer.

[xxxplorer]

Re: Completely Bummed out with 70th Anniversary Jimi Fuzz

TGWIF nailed it. Every time I step on my Fuzz Face, I learn something new!

[Chickenwings]

Re: Completely Bummed out with 70th Anniversary Jimi Fuzz

the 2 trim pots are most likely to be bias for the 2 transistors (this will either fatten/smooth the sound or make it splattier in the other direction). The round hendrix fuzzface has two bias trimpots hidden under the circuit board. If you do want to mess with them...make sure you remember where each were set intitally.
Some fuzzes have only one bias trimmer (or none). If this is the case then i'm guessing the other one is input gain trimmer - its kinda like a pre-set roll back on your guitar's volume knob. It will reduce gain a bit which is good with humbuckers. LEave it full up for regular fuzzface circuitry if you are using a strat.

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Completely Bummed out with 70th Anniversary Jimi Fuzz

I just learned there are 2 trim pots in there. Maybe I'll try an adjustment to those before I give up on it.

They are bias trim pots and trust me you don't want to move them...

If there was a single bias pot then moving it would be alright but the dial bias pots are for the purpose of adjusting the bias on both transistors and w/o test equipment and knowledge of those units you'd be better off letting it be.

Let's just say that if you don't like it now you sure won't like it if you mess up the bias on one or both sides of it.

Do this:

Plug it, turn the fuzz full up and start tweaking the amp and guitar to give you the fattest smoothest sound possible...if you don't like what you hear then Fuzz Faces are not for you, it's that simple.

[J.C.R.W]

Re: Completely Bummed out with 70th Anniversary Jimi Fuzz

Not sure if you have done this already, but make sure to crank everything nice and loud before you decide to ditch the pedal. You really cannot hear the full potential of a Fuzz Face unless you turn up the volume, one of the may reasons why players like Gilmour and Hendrix made them sound so good (IMHO). Hopefully the new purchase works out for you.

[nedcronin]

Re: Completely Bummed out with 70th Anniversary Jimi Fuzz

Thanks for all the advice guys, I'll spend some time with this over the weekend and see if I can bond with it. I appreciate all the wisdom!

[Inkstained]

Re: Completely Bummed out with 70th Anniversary Jimi Fuzz

I guess I'll be a minority voice here. You might try turning the fuzz down and turning the pedal's volume up.
There's a long and honorable tradition of turning your fuzz up and riding your guitar's volume -- this is what I do -- but "DESTROY" is not the only possible setting. The knobs do go counter-clockwise.
In general, these things are supposed to be fun, but powerful and *nasty*. They are, in my view, the greatest jamming dirt pedal in existence. Keep the fuzz as close to your passive pickups as possible (sounds like you're doing this). Just experiment.
If you're playing a Strat, Fuzz Face and a Super Reverb, you should be getting a *fantastic* sound. (If your gear is working properly ...)
But as others said, the 'Face may not be your thing. I can't imagine not having one.

[nedcronin]

Re: Completely Bummed out with 70th Anniversary Jimi Fuzz

Hey guys, after some dialing this is better than I thought. I need to play with it some more but I think my original perception was a little too critical. If I back the fuzz down to about 3 o'clock and have the volume at about 4 o'clock, it sounds much better. Fills out the lows and keeps the top end from getting harsh. Pretty much what you suggested Ink, with the fuzz all the way up it gets too bright. This may work for me with some more tweaking. I did not realize what a huge difference in the voicing a small turn of the knobs makes.

[Inkstained]

Re: Completely Bummed out with 70th Anniversary Jimi Fuzz

Pretty much what you suggested Ink.

Sig worthy.