Calling All Fuzzheads...

[Boppy]

Does anyone know how to get the lead tone on this track?

The Pusher - YouTube

The Pusher - YouTube

Fuzz Face and reverb sounds close, but not quite?

[TeaForTwo]

Yeah, you need velvet pants, a shirt with ruffles, long hair, longer sideburns,

a Triumph motor bike, groovy socks, and funky glasses........

.....

[ledzepp2122]

Way Huge Swollen Pickle should do the trick!

[StandingWave]

It may have been a homemade fuzz. Supposedly even Michael Monarch doesn't know. Maybe you could try a Fuzzrite or a Merkin.

[Kalz]

sounds closer to a pushed amp with a little bit of fuzz to push it a bit more. Could be a arbiter fuzz and a tad of reverb

[Nicky]

Originally Posted by StandingWave

It may have been a homemade fuzz. Supposedly even Michael Monarch doesn't know. Maybe you could try a Fuzzrite or a Merkin.

Well, in 2006 he kind of knew:

Here ya go, this is from Michael Monarch's own message board...

Fuzz Pedal On The Pusher
Nov 6, 2006
"Hey Michael,
What type of fuzz box did you use on the song called "The Pusher" from the first album? If you have the answer, please let me know as soon as possible. Thank you very much."

"Hello Robert, I wish I could remember. I had an old prototype distortion box called "Distorto" which I may have used. It was a silver homemade looking box with a big red footwitch button and the word Distorto on it. I don't know where I got it or what happened to it. I also used FuzzFace and ColorSound pedals but they may have come later. The amp was a Fender Concert Amp (similar to a Super Reverb without the reverb). Guitar was a Fender Esquire (a Tele with just the bridge pick-up). I hope that helps.......mm

[StandingWave]

Catalinbread Merkin Fuzz Pedal Guided Tour Through the 60s - YouTube

[Boppy]

Originally Posted by Nicky

Well, in 2006 he kind of knew:

Here ya go, this is from Michael Monarch's own message board...

Fuzz Pedal On The Pusher
Nov 6, 2006
"Hey Michael,
What type of fuzz box did you use on the song called "The Pusher" from the first album? If you have the answer, please let me know as soon as possible. Thank you very much."

"Hello Robert, I wish I could remember. I had an old prototype distortion box called "Distorto" which I may have used. It was a silver homemade looking box with a big red footwitch button and the word Distorto on it. I don't know where I got it or what happened to it. I also used FuzzFace and ColorSound pedals but they may have come later. The amp was a Fender Concert Amp (similar to a Super Reverb without the reverb). Guitar was a Fender Esquire (a Tele with just the bridge pick-up). I hope that helps.......mm

Uggh. Not much to go on there. Thanks for the info though.

[Boppy]

Originally Posted by StandingWave

Catalinbread Merkin Fuzz Pedal Guided Tour Through the 60s - YouTube

I heard that one. It sounds too "hi-fi" which I think is one of the main reasons why it's so hard to duplicate the fuzz sound from the sixties.

Anyways, I hear that Steppenwolf kind of tone all over recordings from the psychedelic-era. It's not so much the basic fuzz-tone, it's that weird fiery cloud-like SHHHHH-sound around every note that I'm trying to duplicate.

Maybe I'll try velvet-pants next...

[snaredrum]

Originally Posted by Boppy

I heard that one. It sounds too "hi-fi" which I think is one of the main reasons why it's so hard to duplicate the fuzz sound from the sixties.

Anyways, I hear that Steppenwolf kind of tone all over recordings from the psychedelic-era. It's not so much the basic fuzz-tone, it's that weird fiery cloud-like SHHHHH-sound around every note that I'm trying to duplicate.

Maybe I'll try velvet-pants next...

maybe it sounds too hi-fi as it wasn't recorded in 196x...

seriously, any of the more aggressive, raspy fuzzes - the Stone Benders or maestro flavoured ones of the world, for starters - can get that sound, as much as that sound is made by a pedal. it's a lot more than just the pedal though, obviously. a lot of that sound is the complete setup and the reverb applied to it.

and the noise you're trying to get sound more like tape compression/limiting, the way you describe it.

[tonebone]

Jordan Bosstone?

[Nicky]

Originally Posted by Boppy

Uggh. Not much to go on there. Thanks for the info though.

It contains everything you need. He used a cheap fuzz box and an even cheaper guitar. Talent played it, not a circuit.