Bridging Fuzz to distortion

[Jazz Rock]

Following up on my thread on the Fuzz box shootout, I discovered I was playing fuzz without noticing (for those who heard about "le bourgeois gentil homme" by Molière, the analogy is not flattering, but culture is like "confiture" -jam- it doesn't hurt to put some here and there... anyway, I am digressing)

So, my wee laney is fuzzing around gently naturally. Which in itself is cool... Yes it is. I have been looking for a while now to find something that will allow me to get some more grit while keeping the sound of my amp... a fuzz pedal seems to be the right thing.
But then I realise I am somehow missing out on the distortion side. You might say I have the good old Marshall for this, and in some way I guess it is true. But what if I wanted to get some distortion with my laney?

Are there, out there, some pedals that produce good neat distortion retaining some clarity, while still being able to bring you to the darkside of the fuzz lord from time to time?

I know that 2 pedals could bring me there, but again, what if I wanted only one?

Possible? or not?

I have seen some of the fuzz pedal you all nicely shared your knowledge about, have a fuzz pot. So it got me thinking: it basically gives you a grip on the amount of fuzziness in the sound. So can thsoe be used as a more modern distortion?

Ok, enough! your turn...

 

[Pierre]

Re: Bridging Fuzz to distortion

Most, not.

To me the Muff is in between. Not all out fuzz like say a Fuzzface. But close enough. But with a bright setting, it's also a distortion.

You still don't tell us enough about what sound you want. All this tells us is that the Muff is nice, your amp is nice, but your amp is fuzz so you want a distortion We need sound

The MI Audio Blues pro has a fuzz switch. But it's more of an overdrive than a distortion. It's a TS circuit, but apparently doesn't sound like one. I can't wait to find some dough to try one out...

 

[drpietrzak]

Re: Bridging Fuzz to distortion

Sounds like a Keeley Fuzz Head may be something you like. Perhaps a Huckleberry or Pink and Purple fuzz.

 

[Low_fidelity2100]

Re: Bridging Fuzz to distortion

For a good basic distortion that sounds decent stock, I'de recommend the standard Cheap as hell Boss Ds-1. They're cheap, sound pretty good, and theres Sooooo many people modding them. If ya ever decide ya want a different/better sound out of it, It's no problem to get it modded.

 

[Pierre]

Re: Bridging Fuzz to distortion

By me

 

[Jazz Rock]

Re: Bridging Fuzz to distortion

You still don't tell us enough about what sound you want. All this tells us is that the Muff is nice, your amp is nice, but your amp is fuzz so you want a distortion We need sound

Just throw in some names, we'll see later about making choices. I am still interested to know about what's on offer.

 

[Jazz Rock]

Re: Bridging Fuzz to distortion

The MI Audio Blues pro has a fuzz switch. But it's more of an overdrive than a distortion. It's a TS circuit, but apparently doesn't sound like one. I can't wait to find some dough to try one out...

It sounds really good. Is it the same brand as your little red box?

 

[Pierre]

Re: Bridging Fuzz to distortion

Yep. Same maker. Down under.

 

[James Rock]

Re: Bridging Fuzz to distortion

A rat mainly distortion but with a booster infront of it maxed definate fuzz or the deucetone may having things like the dirty rat. Listen to the clips at the proco rat site some sound very fuzzy as well as more distortion tones.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Bridging Fuzz to distortion

The Big Muff really rides the line between fuzz and distortion to me. The Russian ones sound especially distortion-esque. A couple other options are the Tonefactor Mule/Kaden Flamingo Fuzz, at lower settings they are in the OD territory, but with the gain cranked they definitely become fuzzy. Another is the Cusack Screamer Fuzz, it actually has both circuits in it, and they have individual gain controls. I'd like to check one out.

 

[d1dsj]

Re: Bridging Fuzz to distortion

Sounds like a Keeley Fuzz Head may be something you like.

I agree the the Dr, the Keeley is tweakable.. Ok it's NOT the darkest sounding drive pedal, but it works great in front of a clean or distorted amp. I wasn't sure at first, but once I gigged mine (in front of a LOAD of players!!) they were all asking what I was using to get such a clear, crisp overdriven sound. It is also tweakable regarding the drive and the overall tone, the build quality is fantastic, battery life is unbelievable. Check out the Keeley website.

 

[Jazz Rock]

Re: Bridging Fuzz to distortion

All this sounds quite appetizing :9: But I need to find a place where I can test some. So far I haven't seen much apart from Boss, EH stuff and one of the RAT.

Maybe if I wander toward guitarguitar I'll get more chance. Need to organise this soon.

For the moment, the pedals that caaught my ears are the Fulltone '69, Mi Audio Blues pro, the Cusack screamer fuzz, the pigtronix OFO and the Carl Martin the fuzz.

Maybe some of you could share their experiences with one of these?

 

[baritone]

Re: Bridging Fuzz to distortion

For me the RAT II (mine is Keeley-modified) does this awesome blend of fuzz and distortion. You get all the cool overtones which sound like octave effects, and the chords still articulate well, even when the gain is cranked up. The Big Muff Pi still sounds a little messy on chords.

 

[drpietrzak]

Re: Bridging Fuzz to distortion

I agree the the Dr, the Keeley is tweakable.. Ok it's NOT the darkest sounding drive pedal, but it works great in front of a clean or distorted amp. I wasn't sure at first, but once I gigged mine (in front of a LOAD of players!!) they were all asking what I was using to get such a clear, crisp overdriven sound. It is also tweakable regarding the drive and the overall tone, the build quality is fantastic, battery life is unbelievable. Check out the Keeley website.

If you want dark pull the back, dial down the high cut, and install the bass boost cap. It will darken things a bit.

 

[Jazz Rock]

Re: Bridging Fuzz to distortion

For the moment, the pedals that caught my ears are the Fulltone '69, Mi Audio Blues pro, the Cusack screamer fuzz, the Pigtronix OFO disnirtion and the Carl Martin the fuzz.

No-one has any more opinions on the wee selection of pedal I posted earlier?