Fuzz pedals

C

Chistopher

malapterurus electricus tonewood instigator
What's y'all's opinions on the common fuzz pedals?


Big Muff: Sounds great if you get a good one on fuzz and synth. I can't get it to sound good on guitar, but I know many people can. Topologically isn't a "fuzz" as such, rather it's a clean boost into an OD into an OD into a clean boost.

Fuzz Face: Probably my favorite fuzz pedal. I could do an entire set with just this pedal. If my job did a "bring your kid to work day", I'm probably bringing my Fuzz Face. Silicon > Germanium.

Tone Bender II: Apparently these are resurging in popularity. It's a Fuzz Face with a boost in front of it. I bought one recently it has not shown up yet. Germanium >> Silicon.

FZ-2 / SF300: Man these things are a great sound, but I don't like a fuzz with one tone control, let alone 2. Too much to think about

Octavia: I struggle to formulate an opinion on this one.

Rat: Not a fuzz pedal, but it's often grouped into the same category. I love mine, the stock circuit is 3 minor component changes from being perfect. Basically a DS-1 with one less gain stage and a more primitive tone control.
 
I love the big muff while playing alone . . . but find it hard to make work with a band. The lack of midrange means it's either overpowering or not heard a lot of the time. For the last few years I've been using a germanium fuzzface that I built with two tone controls - a post gain bass roll-off and a pre-gain high roll-off. It's flexible enough that it can do everything I want from a fuzz.
 
GuitarStv said:
I love the big muff while playing alone . . . but find it hard to make work with a band. The lack of midrange means it's either overpowering or not heard a lot of the time. For the last few years I've been using a germanium fuzzface that I built with two tone controls - a post gain bass roll-off and a pre-gain high roll-off. It's flexible enough that it can do everything I want from a fuzz.
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I've recently discovered that if you double both resistors on the tone stack, you can shift that scoop down an octave, which makes it cut through a lot better. Instead of 1.2kHz on mine, the scoop was at 600kHz and shallower.
 
i love a good fuzzface, i usually use germanium, but i like silicon as well. doesnt always cut through a mix well though so i usually only use it in a trio. i have a soulbender from fulltone which is cool. i love the silver foxx from stomp under foot, which is a foxxtone thing, that cuts through just fine
 
I had trouble with the Big Muff until I took a chance on the Big Muff Deluxe. The tweakability is great.

The only downside is the size. It's a big pedal. Still, worth it in my opinion.
 
I like heavier fuzzes myself, either to create a proper "wall of fuzz" or a more gritty, synthy drive tone for downtuned guitars and bass.

On my main board, which is split into 2 sides/circuits, I have a Moth Electric Rat going into a Moth Electric Big Muff going into a Zvex SHO-style boost on the "doom/noise rock" side. I could easily use just the Rat or Muff for most things, but pushing the Muff with the Rat takes things to a whole other level!

I'm also putting together a small, fuzz-specific daughter board that's meant to be a "one stop shop" for different applications. Currently, it has:
  • 903 Effects Vostok Fuzz (one-knob D.A.M. Meathead variant)
  • Vaderin Laser 1 (pretty unique frequency multiplier/folding fuzz)
  • 903 Effects Texas Chainsaw (gated sawtooth fuzz)
  • Peper Pedals Humongous Fuzz (expanded FZ-2/Hyper Fuzz)
  • JPTR Ramrod (dual filter guitar synth/fuzz)
 
All the non-modeled fuzzes I've used are some variation of a Muff. The one that stuck around is a big box NYC Big Muff that I got as a gift. It sounds like poo without a nice clean buffer in front. I liked it in parallel setups on bass but always wound up preferring a distortion with more high end sizzle in a mix. I've actually been liking it on guitar lately for the first time in my life. I route the clean signal around it with the level turned down about halfway to compensate for the drop in perceived volume when the pedal is on.

It's too big and the setups I need to make it work are too kludgy. It would be fun to try modding - a clean blend and a standard power jack would be cool to have. I can get nearly indistiguishable sounds from the Dark Dove model on my HX Effects. If I was going to get another Muff I would probably go for the smaller size Triangle reissue.

​​​​​​​The fuzz I really want next is a Fuzz Factory. Used Vexter series units are not prohibitively expensive, but I'm wondering if I should try building the AionFX version. I've been playing through the HX model lately and I love how I can basically get it sounding like a really edgy, crisp distortion pedal, with a boatload of filth that doesn't obscure what I'm playing.
 
Seashore said:
All the non-modeled fuzzes I've used are some variation of a Muff. The one that stuck around is a big box NYC Big Muff that I got as a gift. It sounds like poo without a nice clean buffer in front. I liked it in parallel setups on bass but always wound up preferring a distortion with more high end sizzle in a mix. I've actually been liking it on guitar lately for the first time in my life. I route the clean signal around it with the level turned down about halfway to compensate for the drop in perceived volume when the pedal is on.

It's too big and the setups I need to make it work are too kludgy. It would be fun to try modding - a clean blend and a standard power jack would be cool to have. I can get nearly indistiguishable sounds from the Dark Dove model on my HX Effects. If I was going to get another Muff I would probably go for the smaller size Triangle reissue.

​​​​​​​The fuzz I really want next is a Fuzz Factory. Used Vexter series units are not prohibitively expensive, but I'm wondering if I should try building the AionFX version. I've been playing through the HX model lately and I love how I can basically get it sounding like a really edgy, crisp distortion pedal, with a boatload of filth that doesn't obscure what I'm playing.
Click to expand...

Fuzz factory is nothing like a big muff. It's more like a less controllable fuzz face. Cool sounds in there for sure, but you have to be kinda patient. And pray to God that nothing knocks your knobs.
 
GuitarStv said:
Fuzz factory is nothing like a big muff. It's more like a less controllable fuzz face. Cool sounds in there for sure, but you have to be kinda patient. And pray to God that nothing knocks your knobs.
Click to expand...

Yup, the "Industrial Fuzz" Fuzz Factory model in the Line 6 HX Effects is what got me interested in trying the real thing. Although really I have no complaints with the model and no reason to spend extra money. Much clearer and yet more aggressive-sounding than a Muff.

I think modding my NYC Muff would be a fun project and maybe I'd get something more useful out of it. Muff sounds have never been a great fit for me, so it's not a huge loss if I mess it up.
 
Seashore said:
Yup, the "Industrial Fuzz" Fuzz Factory model in the Line 6 HX Effects is what got me interested in trying the real thing. Although really I have no complaints with the model and no reason to spend extra money. Much clearer and yet more aggressive-sounding than a Muff.

I think modding my NYC Muff would be a fun project and maybe I'd get something more useful out of it. Muff sounds have never been a great fit for me, so it's not a huge loss if I mess it up.
Click to expand...

Now I gotta try that on my HX Effects...
 
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