The new Fuzz Thread

TheLuckyOnes

so, as stated elsewhere, i'm going fuzz shopping. Waiting on my favorite online store to get OCD's in stock, and will then be ordering an OCD and a fuzz. Choices are most likely one of these three: Soulbender, 69, fuzz factory.

i guess my question is mostly about the soulbender. i know what to expect from the other two, and i just haven't settled on if i want a noisemaker (FuzzFactory) or something a little more traditional.

will be running with strat and LP, mostly thru a Hiwatt 50.

if ya want the whole pedal list, let me know. i just picked up a ChoralFlange and Distortion Pro last week, tho the Dist pro may not last long. I'm going to finally put together a fully wired pedalboard this week, and its getting down to crunch time with all these damn distortion/fuzz/Od pedals.

thanks
aaron

Pacomc79

I think you're going to have to try them all. When I think of the tonebender style fuzzes, I think Jimmy Page. It's a darker smoother fuzz, very legato with 3 germ transistors. It could be perfect since HW's can be bright.

none of those are bad choices.

I haven't had a chance to play the soulbender in a while. I wasn't a big fan of the 69, it wasn't my sound (turns out I'm a Band of Gypsy's freak) so the octafuzz and 70 tend to be somewhat more to my liking.

It can depend a bit on your speakers too, what kind of cabinet and speaker setup are you running?

Greenbacks? If so my first choice would probably be the soulbender too.

The Fuzz Factory is cool as hell, but it's going to take a while to learn and is a bit odd and some people find it not all that useable.

xtremehardy388

The only fuzz's I have are the DS-1(which has a fuzz setting) and the Fender Blender.IF you want something to sound crazy and loud, take a look at the flender

TheLuckyOnes

i'm running a no-name closed back 2/12, w/Greenbacks. I would not consider my hiwatt bright, at least thru this cab, especially compared to my other amps (DRRI, AC15cc). Next to those two, my Hiwatt is practically an SVT.

i definitely am leaning soulbender, especially if Zvex FF can't hang with the more traditional sounds.
I would love to try all 3, but i try to stay away from the buy/demo/return cycle, and am also getting sucked into but trying to avoid the buy/trade/trade ad infinitum cycle.

speaking of which, anybody want to trade a soulbender for a FDII??

TheLuckyOnes

fenderblender and Ampeg scrambler are both intriguing.....just dontknow

exhausted

the fender blender is pretty ugly sounding but i've never been a big fan of octave up fuzz anyway.

i tend to like ehx muff type fuzz. i liked the duncan tweak fuzz (silicon fuzzface-ish).

currently i covet a boss FZ-3.

i'm totally off boutique right now.

the fuzz factory is just so loud and saturated that there is no way to clean it up. it's just balls out all the time.

Pacomc79

exhausted wrote:

the fender blender is pretty ugly sounding but i've never been a big fan of octave up fuzz anyway.

i tend to like ehx muff type fuzz. i liked the duncan tweak fuzz (silicon fuzzface-ish).

currently i covet a boss FZ-3.

i'm totally off boutique right now.

the fuzz factory is just so loud and saturated that there is no way to clean it up. it's just balls out all the time.

I still think the cheap russian big muff is a great pedal, I just wish it had metal jacks and a solid stomp switch.

have you owned a Rat yet? I miss my keeley Rat, what a great pedal I semi underappreciated, oh well, it was a BJF casualty.

exhausted

yeah, i had an early 90s rat for a while. liked it but it got sold for something else that i can't remember.

exhausted

Pacomc79 wrote:

I still think the cheap russian big muff is a great pedal, I just wish it had metal jacks and a solid stomp switch.

just get that new little big muff. pretty close to the russian and it's solid if not a little too high gain.

TheLuckyOnes

oh say it aints so Ex. the boss? i played a buddy's Hyper fuzz way back when, and all i can say is No, don't.

played the tweak in a GC, and the US Muff also, recently. think i've got to go a different direction from a Muff.

exhausted

TheLuckyOnes wrote:

oh say it aints so Ex. the boss? i played a buddy's Hyper fuzz way back when, and all i can say is No, don't.

played the tweak in a GC, and the US Muff also, recently. think i've got to go a different direction from a Muff.

apparently, there is quite a difference between the FZ-2 and FZ-3. we'll see.

i mean, i've owned an analogman NKT275 sunface. i paid like $225 for something with like ten parts. i've owned two fuzz factories which are dead simple as well. for me personally it's no longer worth it to buy the super high grade stuff.

TheLuckyOnes

well, the only fuzz i own now is the Dunlop reissue FF, and its not too bad , but, not great. too muddy and bassy for me. so if the soulbender's tone control can get me out of that realm, i'll be ok. And a buck-fifty for the fulltone stuff or a vexter zvex isn't outrageous, tho 250 for the handpainted is too high, really.

that zvex would fit perfect on my pedalboard, right below my wah. thats reason number one its so tempting.

exhausted

buildyourownclone.com might be an interesting option if you decide on a fuzzface or tonebender type pedal.

TheLuckyOnes

you ever done one??


i'm not great with soldering irons.
or painting/design.
and i'm also not good with motivation.

what i am good at is buying something someone else built, and then hoping it doesn't break down, so that i won't have to cluelessly stare at it and wonder, "what's wrong with this thing?".


i was fairly interested in the byoc treble boost, but i'm not sure they do that one anymore.

Novawind

I'm in the "poor" catagory as well as college student/engineer so whenever I get other stuff out of the way (attenuator, delay, Epi LP?, chorus?) I'll probably do a BYOC of a fuzz. Sounds fun to build.

xtremehardy388

I only bought the flender for NAIS. There's one note that I want to replicate but never can-after the first chorus and right before the solo, Mike hits it. The note is easy to hit iself but to get the sound=---oh my

Pacomc79

TheLuckyOnes wrote:

well, the only fuzz i own now is the Dunlop reissue FF, and its not too bad , but, not great. too muddy and bassy for me. so if the soulbender's tone control can get me out of that realm, i'll be ok. And a buck-fifty for the fulltone stuff or a vexter zvex isn't outrageous, tho 250 for the handpainted is too high, really.

that zvex would fit perfect on my pedalboard, right below my wah. thats reason number one its so tempting.

check out http://www.retroman-music.com for the Lola and Tone Zilla (tonebender Mk2 and 3 respectively) too and there is some other cool stuff there too.

Pacomc79

Effector 13 Shoe Gazer:
The Effector 13 Shoe Gazer is a fuzz that is more along the lines of Jack White meets Frank Black with a bit of Machina from the Smashing Pumpkins and noise chaos that hisses and sputters to beautiful fuzz that roars and sings with clarity. Second footswitch engages second layer of fuzz. Second layer fuzz controls creates endless texture combinations. Scrambled, Octavia, Blended, Disharmonic, Noise, Muff-like, Low Fi, Dieing Battery, Huge, Weak, Fat Sustain, Quick Decay. Specializing in DISTINCTIVE fuzz sounds hardly found anywhere else.


^ great marketing, for whatever reason though, I can't get into E13

Pacomc79

http://www.lovepedal.com/believepedal.htm


I forgot Karl....ooops.

TheLuckyOnes

thanks guys...

Efx 13 i think might be too insane for what i need, as of this moment that is. (god knows in some bands i've been in, it would have been just another part of the wallpaper)

retroman looks interesting, tho i'm not too familiar with 'em, don't hear the name pop up on the forums that is.

Lovepedal i know fairly well by rep, tho i've never played any of the pedals. i've always been interested in Cot and E, tho the karl gets less love from users it seems. Sean (thebuilder) is a Detroiter, like myself, and i'd love to give a local builder some love. good suggestion, for sure. i'm going to have to get out of the house and find a way to demo his pedals.

Pacomc79

TheLuckyOnes wrote:

thanks guys...

Efx 13 i think might be too insane for what i need, as of this moment that is. (god knows in some bands i've been in, it would have been just another part of the wallpaper)

retroman looks interesting, tho i'm not too familiar with 'em, don't hear the name pop up on the forums that is.

Lovepedal i know fairly well by rep, tho i've never played any of the pedals. i've always been interested in Cot and E, tho the karl gets less love from users it seems. Sean (thebuilder) is a Detroiter, like myself, and i'd love to give a local builder some love. good suggestion, for sure. i'm going to have to get out of the house and find a way to demo his pedals.

he's also got some older fuzzes like the Fab 50 that should be up your alley and an I believe out of production but easily found Balance Black Beauty or (BBB) that is essentially a rangemaster crossed with a fuzz face kind of animal very cool. it never hurts to e-mail and as you are in the D, I can imagine he might have something around you might be able to play with.

JofZ had one I know and he probably still does, you might PM him if you are interested in talking to Sean.

TheLuckyOnes

hey, thanks! very helpful post. and the BBB sounds very interesting, i've been wanting a treble boost to demo for awhile. that sounds right up my alley.
i'm on a demobox of JofZ's over at a different site, so i'll be bugging him in the future, might as well as bug him right now too!