Fuzz?

[Montana O.G.]

At the moment I'm using a Big Muff Pie-like the "Gilmore like" sustain, although it does sound pretty diffrent with a - Les- Paul and humbuckers. Anyone think there is something better with my set-up? Opinions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[ICTGoober]

I was never crazy about them myself, but a lot of people used them!

 

[Mincer]

What's going on with the Big Muff that you don't like? Is it the tone, or the sustain?

 

[eclecticsynergy]

I like FuzzFace types - they don't have quite as much saturation & sustain as a Muff but they have great volume knob cleanup, which a Muff just can't give you. Roll a FF way back on the guitar, and you get those wonderful sparkly semicleans.

A FF will sustain quite nicely at a moderate band volume, as well as delivering nice harmonic feedback if you turn and face the speaker.

 

[Securb]

Check out the Seymour Duncan La Super Rica Fuzz. I still can't come up with a good reason why I haven't bought one yet.

 

[Dudeman7]

Check out the Seymour Duncan La Super Rica Fuzz. I still can't come up with a good reason why I haven't bought one yet.

That thing sounds great!

 

[ICTGoober]

Check out the Seymour Duncan La Super Rica Fuzz. I still can't come up with a good reason why I haven't bought one yet.

Very Sixties. Hate it.

 

[Mincer]

When I use fuzz, I like them with good EQ controls. I also like them on the darker, smoother side rather than bright and harsh. I will use them mostly for solos- I don't like the way chords sound with most fuzzes.

 

[Securb]

Very Sixties. Hate it.

That is exactly what I love about it. I get it we all have different tastes.

 

[GuitarStv]

I bought an MXR superbadass fuzz a little over a year ago. It was pretty cool sounding while it was working - could do some vintagey sounds, overdrivey sounds, and distortion type sounds. Everything from subtle all the way up to crazy zipper fuzz. Unfortunately after only light use for that year it has died on me (light comes on and bypass works but there's zero volume from the effect) and Dunlop/MXR has told me that they're not interested in repairing it, even at my cost . . . so I can't really recommend.

 

[jeremy]

theres a wide variety of big muffs out there. they all sound somewhat similar but some definitely suit me better than others. what version do you have?

i too prefer a fuzzface style fuzz for the most part. i love the fuzz of the silver foxx i have and it seems to handle humbuckers better than some other fuzz pedals. bender style fuzz can be great too! lots of options out there

 

[hamerfan]

With a strat i also say Fuzzface. A very low hfE transistor is mandatory for a smooth sound. The Dunlop Bonamassa FF seems to be selected for humbucker use.
I also heard good things about the JHS Series 3 Fuzz, a modernized version of the ToneBender Mk 1.5 with more knobs.

 

[Chistopher]

I like the Earthquaker Hizumitas. It's a copy of a Japanese clone of a Triangle Muff with one of the input caps changed as well as a bunch of components that apparently fell very out of spec from the other ones.

It is the best Muff I've used by far for making those large fuzz tones that take up the whole of the sonic space on a song.

 

[Securb]

JHS Series 3 Fuzz, a modernized version of the ToneBender Mk 1.5 with more knobs.

I have a Bender clone on my Source Audio Classic Distortion Pro. What I like best about it is the flexibility of the EQ and ability to control the mids

 

[hamerfan]

There 4 different Benders, but only mk 1.5 is dynamic and raw like a fuzzface.

 

[Securb]

There 4 different Benders, but only mk 1.5 is dynamic and raw like a fuzzface.

The Source Audio Classic Distortion Pro is based on the MKII

 

[Maggot]

There are any number of flavors of fuzz. The ones most commonly associated with Gilmour are the Big Muff, which sounds best into a clean amp, and the Fuzz Face, which sounds best into an overdriven amp. Fuzz Faces clean up nicely, but tend to have a more corpulent low end. Many FF derived circuits have bias knobs and or/EQ options to make them more versatile.

There are also any number of additional circuits:

The Fuzz Face is based on a MK 1.5 Tone Bender. All the other Tone Bender circuits (MK 1, MK 2-4) are gainier and middier than Fuzz Faces. MK 1 & 2 are two-knob fuzzes. MK 2 is the gainiest and is considered the classic, although for Gilmour sounds, I'd probably go for a MK3 (my understanding is that MK4 is essentially the same). MK3 has a filter knob to adjust EQ, and can venture into near-Muff territory. My favorite Benders are the Magnetic Fx Solar Bender and the Fulltone Soul-Bender.

This isn't necessarily a real fuzz, but a Rat pedal is good for a middy, sustaining lead sound. It gets plenty fuzzy.

I generally use a DOD Carcosa a lot. It's a jack of all trades, master of none, but it can really jack.

Really if you want to look into fuzzes, check out some YouTubes of different kinds of fuzzes so you can familiarize yourself with all the possible sounds.

 

[jeremy]

i have a soulbender and i like it a lot, doesnt clean up like a ff due to being three transistor but a great pedal for sure. ive played a mk1.5 copy and it was very much like a ff but a little less bottom, which isnt usually a bad thing

 

[Erlend_G]

I got a Joyo Ultimate Drive in present from a forumite;

(welcome to the forum, bro! :friday::approve

I found it sounds amazing running on 4,5 volts, using a switchable power supply. Great fuzz tone,

I opened it up while drunk, to look how it was composed. It has two transistors, which I guess are used for the overdrive. Still haven't gotten to put it back together-

my point is; a distortion pedal (transistor) can be "voltage sagged" to deliver other sounds. I also have ran my EHX Octavix on 6V, sounds real voltage gated; smoother with less headroom.

peace out!!

-E

 

[elelpe]

I think you need an EQ pedal.