Which Fuzz?

[CoatedCrimson]

I need help picking a fuzz pedal. I was looking at getting the big muff but i saw Joe Bonamassa's fuzz face and it sounded awesome. Now i want to get a fuzz face. Which one? Or are there even better ones out there? I need one that is less than a hundred.

 

[guitar_slinger8]

I need help picking a fuzz pedal. I was looking at getting the big muff but i saw Joe Bonamassa's fuzz face and it sounded awesome. Now i want to get a fuzz face. Which one? Or are there even better ones out there? I need one that is less than a hundred.

well at your budget you should be able to get any muff curently in production

, but the joe bonammassa is at 200$ bucks and thats if you can still get one...they are hot.

ive actually purchased the same type of transistors theyve got on the joey b fuzzes, if your handy with a soldering iron you could build ur own for a fraction of the price.

 

[lank81]

It really depends on the type of fuzz sound you want. What are you looking for sound wise?

White Stripes - NYC Reissue
Siamese Dream - IC Muff reproduction probably like a Stomp Under Foot
Black Keys - Mastero Clone or Earthquaker Hoof Fuzz
Hendrix or SRV - Fuzzface - Germanium
Hendrix Band of Gypsys - FuzzFace - Silicon

There's a ton of choices. Give us some tone ideas and we can better give you a recommendation.

 

[snaredrum]

well at your budget you should be able to get any muff curently in production

, but the joe bonammassa is at 200$ bucks and thats if you can still get one...they are hot.

ive actually purchased the same type of transistors theyve got on the joey b fuzzes, if your handy with a soldering iron you could build ur own for a fraction of the price.

what transistor does it use?

 

[CoatedCrimson]

I really want that dark tone that you get with the les paul. The siamese dream is an awesome tone. Joe Bonamassa's tone is awesome too.

 

[Hamtone]

Keep in mind not all FF are les paul friendly

 

[guitar_slinger8]

what transistor does it use?

it uses russian germs Q1 mp39b and Q2 gt308b, built a fuzz with those and im getting the tone. his fuzz seems to be pretty low gain gain and dark, it really shines when being used as a booster for a mildly overdriven amp.

 

[CoatedCrimson]

Keep in mind not all FF are les paul friendly

Which ones are les paul friendly?

 

[Hamtone]

I know the joe Bonamassa is, thats what was modified for him. The capacitance of a humbucker and a fuzz face is a tricky thing. They will all work but your volume will be on 10 all the time. Someone with more technical knowledge will answer this better than I.

 

[guitar_slinger8]

I know the joe Bonamassa is, thats what was modified for him. The capacitance of a humbucker and a fuzz face is a tricky thing. They will all work but your volume will be on 10 all the time. Someone with more technical knowledge will answer this better than I.

yes joey B's fuzz face is modded a few resistor and cap values were changed to make it more compatible for his les pauls.

 

[PMcG No.6]

If you can, do what guitar_slinger8 suggested and build one. Fuzz Faces are extremely easy to build and tweak to your own liking. The Joe B Fuzz Face is WAY overpriced for how little goes into it. Check out jonesy's thread asking about transistors for fuzz pedals. He built a Muff Fuzz and it's been downhill from there.

If you don't want to go the DIY route then you might want to see if you can find a retailer that has a few fuzzes you can test to see which one strikes your fancy. Finding that right pedal is a neverending pain. That's how I got into building .

 

[lank81]

If you can, do what guitar_slinger8 suggested and build one. Fuzz Faces are extremely easy to build and tweak to your own liking. The Joe B Fuzz Face is WAY overpriced for how little goes into it. Check out jonesy's thread asking about transistors for fuzz pedals. He built a Muff Fuzz and it's been downhill from there.

If you don't want to go the DIY route then you might want to see if you can find a retailer that has a few fuzzes you can test to see which one strikes your fancy. Finding that right pedal is a neverending pain. That's how I got into building .

I agree - Boutique Pedals are just outrageously priced. There are some builders which have proper pricing but others I believe just skyrocket their prices because they can. One of the most overpriced pedals I've owned is the Analogman Sunface. I know, it's one of the most beloved but it wasn't nearly worth the price.

A guy I've come across that's a good builder and priced pretty decently is Rich of Monsterpiece. Here's a link to his Myspace. You can check out all his stuff on there including pricing.

MonsterPiece Fuzz

Also, Smitty makes some interesting fuzz clones such as the Maestro series of Fuzzes and it's even better pricing.

Smitty Pedals

Finally, one more builder is John of Basic Audio. He doesn't do exact replicas. He takes fuzzes such as the FuzzFace, ToneBender, Muff, etc. and adds his own twist. They run 140-160$ generally.

Basic Audio

 

[guitar_slinger8]

I just built a Joe b inspired fuzz last night , will post vid when I can

 

[PMcG No.6]

I agree - Boutique Pedals are just outrageously priced. There are some builders which have proper pricing but others I believe just skyrocket their prices because they can. One of the most overpriced pedals I've owned is the Analogman Sunface. I know, it's one of the most beloved but it wasn't nearly worth the price.

Yes, if you have the right name you can charge whatever you want and people will eat it up just so they can say "I have a <blank>". Even if it's just another Fuzz Face or slight variation of the same circuit you've been marketing for years. The Sunface is basically a Fulltone '69 with a few value differences. And the '69 is basically just a Fuzz Face with a few extra pots.

I have a hard time pricing my pedals higher than $150(that includes shipping). Check out mine if you'd like. Would like some more feedback. I have just one fuzz right now, but I'm thinking about adding a germanium fuzz to the mix. I have a few demos coming from Brett Kingman (Bugerman666 on YT) also. There's a short one from him for my fuzz out right now.

John Lyons at Basic Audio is great. He's really cool on the DIY forums and he makes some gorgeous pedals.

 

[lank81]

So let me start off by saying Bret has some of the best demos out there. I'm a gearmanndude fan too but his demos really never sound like the pedal does in real life. I feel like Brett captures a much truer signal.

Anyways, The Fat Foot is wicked sounding. It might be too crazy of a fuzz for me but damn you can get some good sounds out of it.

Aces High is probably my favorite of your demos. The others are good as well but Aces High has some nice tonal variety and you can't go wrong with Aerosmith, at least in my book .

Really, the thing I enjoyed with the ODs you have are the ability to get a few tones out of each. There's really a lot fiddling you can do to gain a variety of overdrive sounds. Very cool, not just your regular vanilla Distortion in a Box.

Also, nice prices on everything. Really dug the Starshine as well.

As for creating a GeFuzz I'm sure it would sell like hotcakes but what about making a hybrid or a switchable Fat Foot where you can go between Ge/Si like a Keeley FuzzHead? Its not the best example of that type of switch circuitry but you get my drift

 

[PMcG No.6]

So let me start off by saying Bret has some of the best demos out there. I'm a gearmanndude fan too but his demos really never sound like the pedal does in real life. I feel like Brett captures a much truer signal.

Yeah, Brett is great! He has a lot of styles to pull from to showcase the peadals. Gearmanndude has his good qualities, but lately his demos have been a little lackuster.

Anyways, The Fat Foot is wicked sounding. It might be too crazy of a fuzz for me but damn you can get some good sounds out of it.

Aces High is probably my favorite of your demos. The others are good as well but Aces High has some nice tonal variety and you can't go wrong with Aerosmith, at least in my book .

Really, the thing I enjoyed with the ODs you have are the ability to get a few tones out of each. There's really a lot fiddling you can do to gain a variety of overdrive sounds. Very cool, not just your regular vanilla Distortion in a Box.

Also, nice prices on everything. Really dug the Starshine as well.

Thanks! When I'm trying to develop something I really try to stay away from making a re-hash of a Fuzz Face or Tube Screamer etc.... Too many out there already. There's a well known builder who's made good on tweaking two different circuits for a lot of his line. I try to make mine versatile and not some one trick pony. I think I've done good so far. Everyone I've had use the Aces High has showered it with praise. Brett seemed to really like it. Can't wait to see his demo.

As for creating a GeFuzz I'm sure it would sell like hotcakes but what about making a hybrid or a switchable Fat Foot where you can go between Ge/Si like a Keeley FuzzHead? Its not the best example of that type of switch circuitry but you get my drift

I've thought about it, but I have so many other ideas to try first. Never satisfied. LOL

 

[CoatedCrimson]

i am a newbie with a fuzz pedal. I want a good pedal but i cant build my own. I want a good dark tone with les paul. Is the Big Muff good with dark tones? Or should i go with the fuzz face?

 

[DrakeZero]

I give one vote for the Big Muff Pi, very inexpensive at around $80 bucks brand new. $50 used, and has monster tones out of it. I use it alot with my les pauls and stratocaster as it gives off it's own unquie high gain sound through a clean channel of an amp. Couple with a Tube screamer in front of it and you can get a nice tight high end tone to cut the mix.

The only fuzzface I have ever tried out where the Dunlop Hendrix versions. It's a nice pedal, but doesn't drastically change the tone as much as a Big Muff Pi does, and the Big Muff Pi can usually get really close to a fuzzface sound.

What was a deal breaker for me on the fuzzface is the high cost of the pedal. They usually run you nearly $150-$170 new or $100 used. And no AC adapter port. While the Big Muff Pi has one with a special pigtail adapter that is easily found at a guitar store.

I would suggest checking out Proguitarshop's demos on youtube for both of these pedals. Their guitar player, Andy does a good job of showing all the tone options each one has.

Personal since you are new to the Fuzz pedal, I would go for a Big Muff. Cheap, but a well sounding pedal that can get those dark tones your seeking.

 

[CoatedCrimson]

What was a deal breaker for me on the fuzzface is the high cost of the pedal. They usually run you nearly $150-$170 new or $100 used. And no AC adapter port. While the Big Muff Pi has one with a special pigtail adapter that is easily found at a guitar store.

I would suggest checking out Proguitarshop's demos on youtube for both of these pedals. Their guitar player, Andy does a good job of showing all the tone options each one has.

Personal since you are new to the Fuzz pedal, I would go for a Big Muff. Cheap, but a well sounding pedal that can get those dark tones your seeking.

Sounds good. I think i will give it a try and see from there. Thanks

 

[4nd3h]

If you like Muffs, you'll want to check out the Blackout Effectors Musket fuzz - totally tweakable Muff clone/enhancement.