Fuzz & Amps?

[station_2_station]

An effect of mine I used often find myself gravitating towards picking up a Fender Amp and running different Fuzzes through it.
Any input on better amps to handle fuzz pedals? In the past I was naive and ended up putting off a purchase because I hesitated.
I lean towards a Princeton 68 RI but am not sure considering all of the options out there. I like a clean canvas, I don't play horrifically loud.

[somanytoys]

I use a version of the Deluxe myself, it's a Frenzel (also does a Marshall Plexi).

I'm not a Fender amp expert by any means, so maybe someone else will be able to give you better information. I've heard good things about the Princeton, but haven't played one. I did have a solid state Princeton Reverb (I think it was) for a while, did not like it much, but I don't care for solid state amps. One thing I can say is that it makes all the difference playing fuzz through tube amps, whether it's Fender, Vox, Marshall or whatever.

After a couple of years, I finally converted all of my small amps to tube amps to play at home, and I've been very happy with them.

In case you're at all interested and don't have your mind set on a bigger Princeton or whatever, here's what I ended up going with:
2 Vox AC4TV (10" speaker versions), and a couple of Bugera Infinium T5 heads, that I use various speaker cabs with, depending on what I want each amp to do.

The Voxes had already been upgraded (better speakers & tubes) when I bought them, I love the sounds but each is just a little different. In the Bugeras, I changed out the 12AX7 preamp tubes for 12AT7s for somewhat less distortion and more headroom, because engaging the phat switch really made it scream all by itself with no pedals, and I wanted more headroom to let the pedals do some of the work.

They're small and great for home use, and each of them have a switch to choose from full wattage, 1 watt and I think 1/4 watt. But they'll put some serious sound out for 4 and 5 watt amps. The other cool thing was the prices - I think the Voxes were around $200-250 each, and the Bugeras are like $150 now new. You could probably find one of the Vox amps for cheaper than that, and swap the speaker and tubes out yourself, if you're interested at all.

Just info to chew on, if you're not set on getting something else.

Edit: one thing, though, the Vox AC4TV only has one knob for volume, and gets more distorted the higher it goes. No reverb or anything.
The T5 has a gain and main volume switch, along with the phat switch and reverb, so it's much more controllable.
Also, these are both single gain stage amp, not multiple, but that doesn't matter as much if you're not chasing the amp breakup sound.
I wanted to throw all of that in there, because it sounds like you lean towards cleaner and more controllable, and don't necessarily need a 15 - 30 watt amp.

[popvulture]

I think it all really depends on what kind of music you're playing, and what kind of fuzz you like. If you're going for something wooly and stonery like maybe a Big Muff or some of EQD's offerings (countless others too, of course), I think harshness will be less of an issue. If you're wanting something more biting, you might run into a little trouble getting it to work with a Fender, but it's totally achievable.

A lot of people's comment is that running a fuzz into something typically a little cleaner like a Fender leads to glassy/spiky/harsh tones. I haven't had TOO much trouble with this myself, but I've definitely noticed it... with my Twin, putting an EQD speaker cranker after fuzz softened that sound a little. The idea is that slightly breaking up amps jive a little better with a lot of fuzzes, vs laying it on top of something totally clean. Even with a Princeton it's not gonna break up too much until you're pretty damn loud, so doing something like this might be a must for you at low volumes. Depends!

My favorite kinds of fuzzes are ones that are very interactive with your guitar's volume knob, Fuzz Faces being the best example. I typically do it with everything, though—tone benders, muffs, weirder bosstone type things, gated fuzzes, etc. I'd almost say that you won't have much problems mating fuzz with amp if you just mess with the volume knob... in my experience the nastiest interactions have occurred with fuzzes full up. Something like a fuzz face can get a little bright and harsh when you roll the volume back, but nothing you couldn't tame a little with the guitar's tone knob.

Not sure what kind of fuzzes you're planning on starting with, but I'd recommend some kind of germanium fuzz face, and also maybe a muff.

I hope that helps?

[station_2_station]

I think it all really depends on what kind of music you're playing, and what kind of fuzz you like. If you're going for something wooly and stonery like maybe a Big Muff or some of EQD's offerings (countless others too, of course), I think harshness will be less of an issue. If you're wanting something more biting, you might run into a little trouble getting it to work with a Fender, but it's totally achievable.

A lot of people's comment is that running a fuzz into something typically a little cleaner like a Fender leads to glassy/spiky/harsh tones. I haven't had TOO much trouble with this myself, but I've definitely noticed it... with my Twin, putting an EQD speaker cranker after fuzz softened that sound a little. The idea is that slightly breaking up amps jive a little better with a lot of fuzzes, vs laying it on top of something totally clean. Even with a Princeton it's not gonna break up too much until you're pretty damn loud, so doing something like this might be a must for you at low volumes. Depends!

My favorite kinds of fuzzes are ones that are very interactive with your guitar's volume knob, Fuzz Faces being the best example. I typically do it with everything, though—tone benders, muffs, weirder bosstone type things, gated fuzzes, etc. I'd almost say that you won't have much problems mating fuzz with amp if you just mess with the volume knob... in my experience the nastiest interactions have occurred with fuzzes full up. Something like a fuzz face can get a little bright and harsh when you roll the volume back, but nothing you couldn't tame a little with the guitar's tone knob.

Not sure what kind of fuzzes you're planning on starting with, but I'd recommend some kind of germanium fuzz face, and also maybe a muff.

I hope that helps?

Hey definitley appreciate the reply, I have no idea why I didn't see it until now. However I'm really glad I did because you really broke it down a bit more simply for me, I was worried about having some of those issues listed above. Super good points, I wish there was some alternatives to Fender amps, for using fuzz as its the only effect I really wish to employ, haha. Ah for what its worth I do have a Big Muff, but I'm looking at the Hoof-Reaper, or possibly some of the EQD stuff, love the Bit Commander, hard to rationalize its purchase haha. Also dig the new one they just dropped "Black Ash" though I think its more suited for HBer's from the sound and design.

[station_2_station]

I use a version of the Deluxe myself, it's a Frenzel (also does a Marshall Plexi).

I'm not a Fender amp expert by any means, so maybe someone else will be able to give you better information. I've heard good things about the Princeton, but haven't played one. I did have a solid state Princeton Reverb (I think it was) for a while, did not like it much, but I don't care for solid state amps. One thing I can say is that it makes all the difference playing fuzz through tube amps, whether it's Fender, Vox, Marshall or whatever.

After a couple of years, I finally converted all of my small amps to tube amps to play at home, and I've been very happy with them.

In case you're at all interested and don't have your mind set on a bigger Princeton or whatever, here's what I ended up going with:
2 Vox AC4TV (10" speaker versions), and a couple of Bugera Infinium T5 heads, that I use various speaker cabs with, depending on what I want each amp to do.

The Voxes had already been upgraded (better speakers & tubes) when I bought them, I love the sounds but each is just a little different. In the Bugeras, I changed out the 12AX7 preamp tubes for 12AT7s for somewhat less distortion and more headroom, because engaging the phat switch really made it scream all by itself with no pedals, and I wanted more headroom to let the pedals do some of the work.

They're small and great for home use, and each of them have a switch to choose from full wattage, 1 watt and I think 1/4 watt. But they'll put some serious sound out for 4 and 5 watt amps. The other cool thing was the prices - I think the Voxes were around $200-250 each, and the Bugeras are like $150 now new. You could probably find one of the Vox amps for cheaper than that, and swap the speaker and tubes out yourself, if you're interested at all.

Just info to chew on, if you're not set on getting something else.

Edit: one thing, though, the Vox AC4TV only has one knob for volume, and gets more distorted the higher it goes. No reverb or anything.
The T5 has a gain and main volume switch, along with the phat switch and reverb, so it's much more controllable.
Also, these are both single gain stage amp, not multiple, but that doesn't matter as much if you're not chasing the amp breakup sound.
I wanted to throw all of that in there, because it sounds like you lean towards cleaner and more controllable, and don't necessarily need a 15 - 30 watt
amp.

Hey I didn't see your reply until now, thank you a lot for taking the time to share your set up and break things down. I definitley am on a similar wavelength, checked a lot of Bugeras, and even the Vox AC10. I do like the way you have your set-up going thats extremely resourceful I'll give them another look.

[popvulture]

Also dig the new one they just dropped "Black Ash" though I think its more suited for HBer's from the sound and design.

I bet that Black Ash would actually sound pretty good with single coils... the humbucker clips I heard sounded way too dark for my own personal taste, so maybe some singles would help that.

Muffs are great—I think they sound good through all amps. Make sure to try some weird stuff, though! Dime the treble and keep the gain low, see what happens. I think people's tendency with those things is to keep em rolled off and gainy, when they can really cover a lot more. Also fun to roll the guitar vol down—won't clean up the same way a Fuzz Face does, but it'll definitely give you some cool, usable sounds.

[MayTheFuzzBeWithYou]

Hey there!
I do (and did) own various Fuzz pedals
(Blackout Effectors Fuzz Bear (~modded Tonebender), DBA Super Fuzz War, a Fuzz War Clone, Surfadelic Soundwaves MindFuzz (~modded Fuzzfaze), Voodoolab Superfuzz, Germanium DIY Fuzz, Fuzzrite DIY, EQD Acapulco Gold,...

And I almost exclusively play them through Fender Amps (Super Sonic 60, Vaporizer, Silverface Bandmaster - and through two borrowed Silverface Bassman (50&100) last year.

The spikyness depends on the channel (if available a Bright-Switch) and the EQ you running it through (and of course of the guitar you're playing). But there is nothing wrong with using a Fuzz with a Fender. Small or big. Head or Combo. These amps eat almost anything.

Can't say much about Voxes.
But the only Amp I ever had troubles to use a Fuzz with were two Orange amps - a tiny terror and a Rocker30 I think. Could have been the fuzz though (it was the Voodoo Lab Superfuzz) - it just lost its character.
I hope this helps!

[station_2_station]

Hey there!
I do (and did) own various Fuzz pedals
(Blackout Effectors Fuzz Bear (~modded Tonebender), DBA Super Fuzz War, a Fuzz War Clone, Surfadelic Soundwaves MindFuzz (~modded Fuzzfaze), Voodoolab Superfuzz, Germanium DIY Fuzz, Fuzzrite DIY, EQD Acapulco Gold,...

And I almost exclusively play them through Fender Amps (Super Sonic 60, Vaporizer, Silverface Bandmaster - and through two borrowed Silverface Bassman (50&100) last year.

The spikyness depends on the channel (if available a Bright-Switch) and the EQ you running it through (and of course of the guitar you're playing). But there is nothing wrong with using a Fuzz with a Fender. Small or big. Head or Combo. These amps eat almost anything.

Can't say much about Voxes.
But the only Amp I ever had troubles to use a Fuzz with were two Orange amps - a tiny terror and a Rocker30 I think. Could have been the fuzz though (it was the Voodoo Lab Superfuzz) - it just lost its character.
I hope this helps!

Thank you so much for the through run down! Yeah I've been eyeing the 68 Reissues; Princeton & Deluxe literally into the same kind of fuzzes you are in deep which is awesome. Right now I'd rather get the Silverface Princeton, or Deluxe neither have bright caps, and apparently a "bassman circuit". However the Super Sonic isn't a bad idea either! Dude thanks again!!

[MayTheFuzzBeWithYou]

Glad I could help!
Actually the Bright switches aren't the problem. Actually I even like them...sometimes. On the Vaporizer I always use the "Bright" Input because with the normal one even my Jag doesn't get trebly anyhow.

On the older Supersonics like mine you get a Vibrolux channel as the "bright" switch.
Somehow there is a huge volume difference between them (at least on mine) so that I need to use the FX-loop as a booster (patch cable between seend/return) to balance them.
It's great for Surf-Clean-tones - but the Fuzz War sounds weird!
Great amp! I'm using it live since 2008 with only one tube change! So reliable!