Thee Fuzz Warr Overload help

[ShoeHaze]

Hey guys,

Does anyone here own a Fuzz War Overload? I am interested in finding out what treble booster is used in this pedal and if the fuzz differs from normal. However I cant find the schematic or gut shot anywhere else so I have come to you guys for help. So I was wondering if anyone here owns one and could provide a gut shot of it so I can trace it. As its a discontinued pedal I would of course post the schematic and my results from trying to build one. Thanks in advance for the help.

[indiandysummer]

Hey- I think this uses a rangemaster and a standard fuzz war. I could be wrong, but that's what i recall. and i think the rangemaster is after the fuzz war.

[ShoeHaze]

That sound uncharacteristically straightforward for DBA. I was half expecting some reverse biased transistor monstrosity that only works with some precise range of hfes. Of course now I've got the whole can of worms for transistor choice in a range master to explore.

[jorri]

That sound uncharacteristically straightforward for DBA. I was half expecting some reverse biased transistor monstrosity that only works with some precise range of hfes. Of course now I've got the whole can of worms for transistor choice in a range master to explore.

Fuzz War is basically a Supa Tonebender clone to start with but just a more BM style tone knob.

[fuzzjunkie]

^^^ that is what I understand as well. The Colorsound Supa Tonebender is very similar to a Big Muff and they made a hybrid of the two by tweaking circuit values to get the best parts of both.

[indiandysummer]

http://www.brooklynvegan.com/thee-oh-sees-jo/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


here's a description, says it's a "hot-rodded" treble boost. Not sure what that means really, but likely a modded rangemaster.

[dminner]

I had one. AND, I think I did take gut shots! I sold my DBA collection and wanted to be able to rebuild if I missed anything

I will try to dig through some phone pic folders and find them tonight.

[ShoeHaze]

I had one. AND, I think I did take gut shots! I sold my DBA collection and wanted to be able to rebuild if I missed anything

I will try to dig through some phone pic folders and find them tonight.

Any luck with the digging?

[indiandysummer]

I just bought one of these on reverb, haha. Total impulse purchase. I'll take gut shots when it gets here, but could be a week or so.

[MayTheFuzzBeWithYou]

so? any news/gut shots or more from thee fuzz war overload?
I always wanted to build two pedals into one enclosure... a fuzz war and a perfectly matched booster seem just fine to me!

may the fuzz be with you,... always!

[MayTheFuzzBeWithYou]

While further researches of Thee Fuzz War Overload and whether it would be a good Fuzz for my effectboard I came across a guy at Reverb.com who is building clones of various DBA machines. I ordered one of his "War Dance Overkill" Pedals - and it just arrived!

From what I can say now (just my small set up though, with the Fender Vaporizer and it's 2x10 Speakers) the Fuzz sounds awesome, while I'm not yet convinced by the treble-booster section...
It is more like a volume drop and killing all the bass frequencies (again, it's just a Vaporizer, more tests within the next days) than a "booster" - it sounds great when "boosting" another fuzz pedal coming after - but in combination with the fuzz war it sounded a bit too harsh and super thin to me...

So my dear fellow Fuzz War Overload Owners: how do you perceive your treble boost modes? Is it just my clone or is this intended to sound that way ear piercing/volume dropping?

[indiandysummer]

The treble boost on mine cuts volume unless it's basically maxed out. I even emailed DBA to ask if this is weird and they said that's how it's supposed to work, and Dwyer uses his every show.

I think that is supposed to be the "cleaner" sound into a "big" sounding amp. So, I can't really comment on minor tonal differences between the real thing and the clones, but functionally, that sounds right.

[MayTheFuzzBeWithYou]

Okay then my Clone should be fine too! Good to hear!

Today I tested it with my "bigger" setup - Fender Super Sonic 60 and a vintage 2 15 Bassman Cabinet! It sounds waaaay better than with the 2 10 Vaporizer.

The "cleaner" thing you mentioned might work wonderful when playing really loud. not at living room volume... a bit too ice-picky for me!

my perception of the boost is that when it's put in front of any other fuzz pedal (and put to max) it does something similar to the strangler/Basskill-Switch from my Jaguar! A sound I really dig and always wanted to have in a pedal-version because these little switches are way harder to activate while playing than a Toggle would be.

A before/after switch to change the position of the booster would make it a real versatile pedal!

[indiandysummer]

I agree with you on bedroom volume vs "big" amps. I think this pedal is best suited for fender style amps turned up loud and on the edge of breakup. I feel like the amp and application is important here.

The treble boost (aka clean sound? Haha) sounds quite nice when used to tame a distorted fender. It's weird to use a treble booster as a thin-cut-clean switch after a fuzz but it's interesting. Kinda like using a jaguar with the bass cut/strangle switch going INTO a fuzz- totally agree there.