Re: I know I've gotten Fuzz Face Crazy!
I want to get clips up soon, but will have to go to my rehearsal studio and get my buddy to record it on his board, since my recording rig is at a storage unit at the moment. I needed to turn my recording room into another bedroom for awhile.
But I have to say that I'm pleasantly surprised that there wasn't a clear winner, and I love them all for what they sound like. I won't know what will stay on my board till I hear it in a band mix honestly.
I cranked them all up with my Stratelly Gib tonight.....a tele that looks like the SD 35th Ann. tele, only it's a splittable C5/strat/tele config. It went into my Bogner XTC's blue channel on a slightly gainy plexi tone.
It goes JB, JH, EJ in order of gain, but they all sound great. And another cool thing is that my T Rex Mudhoney has the gain of the EJ, but is denser in mids, so all 4 fuzz's sound different. The Mudhoney is a killer pedal, and probably the most overlooked modern classic out there. Stoner/doom guys should be clamoring for that pedal. It's not as scoopy as FF's, but more like a wall of sludge when maxed out.
JB - fat, smooth, more OD-like. You can max the gain.
JH - Snarly, cutting, controllable, and pretty much the definitive FF sound. Sounds best with the gain pulled back to 8-9.
EJ - Amazing sustain, buzzier, and has the blatty 'amp ready to explode' sound when maxed, but probably sings best backed off from 7-9. It's got no lack of gain, so you can cop most of the Hendrix FF, and then go over the top with gain. Really sings for soloing, just like you'd expect Eric Johnson to want.
Overall, if you could own 2, you'd probably choose the JB and EJ, but the JH splits the difference good enough that if you had to buy one, it'd be the JH.....and that's cool because it's the most available and cheapest of the 3. The JH is no less a FF because it's $150 rather than $200. It's voiced nice and has a nice gain range. The JB is fatter and smoother. The EJ is fuzzier, sustaining, and blats out in a good way.....like when Hendrix's tone sounded like complete meltdown.
Really a fun experience to play all three, unplugging and plugging, going back and forth.
