Overall, the Big Muff puts you toward the front of the line, since its sustainer (compressor) knob you takes the to the front of the line with what is a more smooth and creamy 1970's tone. It can be noisy when not playing because the compressor increases of the background "shhhhhhhhhhhhhh".
If you peel back the layers of QOTSA, you hear Cream (I only have "Songs for the Deaf"). Finding out what Clapton used may be easier to find out.
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As far as FUZZ, I like the soundtrack that was done on the cheap for Roger Corman's B-movie biker flick "The Wild Angels":
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0061189/
The lead tone from this 1966 movie is that diode-y square wave tone that sounds like two cats fighting...just add wah-wah. You can believe that the choices at the time were few. Perhaps the entire world's supply of "fuzz boxes" could have fit inside a Volkwagen microbus in 1966?
As far coarse square wave type fuzz goes, Iggy Pop's The Stooges' first album would certainly be in the top running...like on the the solos of the songs "Not Right" and "Ann". I would like to find out what that box was.
If someone would really like to go retro, just use those fragile, nasty, cheap coiled cords people used in the '70's. They roll off some highs out of sheer design. Joe Walsh said he liked them for this reason.
