Onboard boost into a fuzz pedal?

thqm3

New member
Hey all, I'm toying with the idea of putting an active boost circuit into one of my guitars but have a concern that it will react unfavourably with the octave fuzz pedal that sits first in my chain - it's a tychobrahe clone that needs to see an unbuffered input otherwise it sounds awful. Anybody have experience with this type of setup and found a suitable workaround?

Many thanks!
 
Re: Onboard boost into a fuzz pedal?

chances are the active circuit will mess with the fuzz but i dont know for sure
 
Re: Onboard boost into a fuzz pedal?

Was hoping for something a little more specific. Anybody with, for example, an EMG SPC or EXG in an active pickup system use a fuzz?
 
Re: Onboard boost into a fuzz pedal?

OK, final bump - perhaps someone who's used a Clapton Strat (with its onboard mid-boost) into a Fuzz-Face? I found a video of that combo on Youtube but the sound was terrible, even by Youtube standards.

Cheers all.
 
Re: Onboard boost into a fuzz pedal?

active system = low impedance.
Not ideal for fuzz faces or octavias. You will get a thin, buzzy weak sound when the fuzz is engaged.
I cant say ive used a clapton circuit, but i have run my guitar thru a nice low impedance buffer from t1m, also tried using the buffer in my morley wah and have also run a tubecreamer type thing ahead of it. The fuzz faces that i own all sounded anaemic after all of these buffers.

If you really want to use the onboard stuff for boost, you might find that a big muff style of fuzz because they are pretty forgiving with any input. Obviously its not going to sound the same as an octavia based fuzz tho. Something like the MI neo fuzz (if you like germanium) or GI fuzz (if you like silicon) might suit you because they have onboard buffering and a LOAD control that allows you to use any style of pickup with it or place it anywhere in the chain. Perhaps one of those MXR classic fuzzes will do the job because they have a buffer built in that keeps the fuzz circuit happy even with a a low impedance signal.

Another way to do it would be to use one of those foxxrox fuzz friendly buffers installed into a wah, or perhaps a one of the teese wahs with a fuzz friendly buffer. There are various options.

Another option is to eschew the installation of the onboard boost, and use an old skool boost like a rangemaster or similar from analogman or keeley etc. These work fine with fuzz faces or octavias and you can get the benfit of it with all your axes.
 
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Re: Onboard boost into a fuzz pedal?

Yeah I've had the same experience running most fuzzes after any other pedal. The Octavia is definitely my favourite of the bunch, and I really don't want to mess with the interface between it and the guitar's controls... never hurts to have more flavours of gain though. Shopping time!

Just for sh!ts and gigs, I sense passive reamping experiments in my future. Thanks for your help!
 
Re: Onboard boost into a fuzz pedal?

Active pickups and active on board boosts and old school fuzz pedals don't mix...

Same overall effect as running a buffered pedal before the fuzz...ruins the overall tone and kills the dynamics...
 
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