For fuzz sakes

[CS]

I think it's a fuzzface with various transistor options. I bought the 109 in a whim not expecting much and its amazing.

[JSett]

Is a Sunface basically a Germanium Fuzz Face/Tonebender mk. 1.5?

At its core, yes. But definitely has its own special sauce going on - which I know a lot of people say about boutique pedals but in this instance it's true

[HarktheUmpire]

Fortunately, my journey in fuzzland has been short and relatively cost-efficient. My first fuzz was an excellent Woolly Mammoth clone, which I found to be a great one-trick pony. I sold it because I didn't find myself using it much. Then I foolishly bought into the hype and got a DBA Germanium Filter, which costs way way way more than it should and has about two great-sounding settings that are impossible to use in any context outside of ****-everyone-with-ears-now-bow-before-my-collosal-ego mode, because the ****ing thing has no volume control. So I sold the Germanium Filter and bought a Behringer Super Fuzz for 1/10th of the price. And that's the end of my fuzz journey: the €27 Behringer SF300 Super Fuzz. It sounds just as wonderfully awful as any fuzz pedal, but it's far far far more usuable than that DBA abomination, as it actually lets you control the volume. I guess I just don't care about fuzz enough to want anything fancier.

[Zork]

Alright, fellow fuzz fiends, time to show off my humble collection!

On the shelf, used mainly for recordings:



The big green one:
A Mark III Tonebender I build from NOS Parts. It sounds phenomenal with dual humbucker guitars with gain and level cranked. The transistors don't have a ton of gain, though, so it's still a tight and not overly compressed sound. Kind of like the perfect distortion pedal.

Catalinbread Merkin:
I had in on my live board for quite a while. It's basically a Fuzzrite on steroids and nails that psychedelic east coast 60s sound. In a live situation where subtile nuances don't count too much I have quite a similar sound with my Rat and MXR 10 Band I use for solo boosts, though, so it's off the board currently.

JH-F1 Fuzz Face:
Love it for the big synthie square wave with neck pickups of all sorts. Also great on bass.

Fender Blender:
I really want to find a space on my live board for it. It's just instant mayhem. Sometimes a bit hard to control, too.

Rehoused Ibanez Standard Wau Fuzz:
This is probably my favourite fuzz of all times. Raw, violent and the upper octave is so sweet. Unfortunately it produces a ton of white noise. I might look into a '76 fuzz by SolidGoldFX and put it on my board.

OneTwo:
DIY Green Russian Muff and Wooly Mammoth with clean blend. I used it for years on bass in a Dub/Psychedelic/Stoner band and mangled the fuzz through lots of filters, pitch shifters and modulations, preferably the Boss PS-3 in a faux chorus/detune setting for emulated synthesizer tones. The foot switches say "fuck" (on/off) and "yeah" (toggle Muff/Mammoth).

Bigger golden one in the back row:
A kit built Foxx Tone Machine. Great distortion-like fuzz tone with the most pronounced upper octave I know of. It was my main "distortion" for some time until it got replaced with a Rat.

Smaller golden one in the front row:
Fuzz Factory clone by Z-Cat. I have to admit I mostly use it as an oscillator with nothing plugged in but it's great for that, so what can I do?

Blue one:
Into The Unknown by Parasit Studio. I really don't know who could seriously use this for anything remotely musical. It's by far the craziest pedal I own. I wonder if it will ever make it on a record.
It is a synth like squarewave fuzz with upper and lower octaves (+1,+2,-1,-2), squarewave and triangle modulation and controls for tracking the tone. I guess it's somewhat based on a Schuhmann PLL and can sound like a theremin on a bad acid trip.

Danelectro Fab Tone:
Slightly modded, quite nice and with tons of bass. Reminds me a bit of my Big Muff.

On my live board:





Black Russian Big Muff:
What can I say? I absolutely love this pedal. There's nothing that comes close to stepping on that pedal and falling in a slow, heavy doom part with the band.

...and then there's a few more drive pedals:

T-Rex Møller:
A Tube Screamer derivate with a dry/wet mix control. Perfect for driving a bass sound.

Proco Rat:
Works always. It just sits in the mix, no matter what. I play a Bass VI and most drive pedals work much better with guitars or "true" basses, but not so much with a Bass VI. The Rat delivers.

Caline Pure Sky:
A Timmy clone. Replaced my Blues Driver for gently driving my amp. It's a "transparent overdrive", so it's boring but functional.

...and even more on another shelf:



Boss DS-1:
I don't know. I mainly have it because it's the prototypical pedal for me. There will come a time I will actually use it. But it is cool for synths!

Boss HM-2:
Has been my main distortion pedal for a few years (not in the swedish chainsaw setting...). It works great with the Bass VI, but the Rat works better. Something about stepping on a pedal that says "Heavy Metal", though...

Boss BD-2:
Was my first pedal ever and I used in in every band and on every board for 25 years. I use the Caline Blue Sky atm because of the two band EQ, but honestly, the Blues Driver is the best drive pedal in existance.

Honorable mentions:



EHX Micro Synth:
Has a great square wave fuzz tone built in and looks sooo lovely.

Boss OC-2:
I modded it with the infamous "synth mod" and it rips pretty hard. The mod switches off the envelope follower and the low pass filter and is really very aggressive.

Line 6 FM-4:
Lots of unique fuzz tones in this box. You can see I used it extensively.

[fuzzjunkie]

The EHX Micro Synth does provide a cool fuzz tone. The EHX Attack Decay is another less obvious choice for dirty tones, but it’s closer to a Big Muff style fuzz.

I have a Lovetone RingStinger, which is a very versatile ring modulation pedal, and it also has one of the best octave fuzz tones I’ve heard.

The other less obvious noise box is a Yamaha 4-track cassette recorder. They’re not intended to record guitars directly, but they generate a ridiculous amount of fuzz when you dime the preamp fader. Brad Laner from Medicine used a Portastudio in a similar fashion and so did Sune Rose Wagner of the Raveonettes.

[UlricvonCatalyst]

The other less obvious noise box is a Yamaha 4-track cassette recorder. They’re not intended to record guitars directly, but they generate a ridiculous amount of fuzz when you dime the preamp fader. Brad Laner from Medicine used a Portastudio in a similar fashion and so did Sune Rose Wagner of the Raveonettes.

I've used this technique too, but I'm a bit concerned that feeding a too-hot signal into a channel could damage the machine somehow with prolonged use. Can anyone allay my fear?

[marqueemoon]

I forgot to mention my Bananana Matryoshka. It’s a bass synth pedal, but the octave down sounds are massive and chaotic fuzzy awesomeness.

Taming the madness live is tough due to the shit ton of controls, but if you can just go with it in the spirit of fuzz it’s very cool.

[fuzzjunkie]

The other less obvious noise box is a Yamaha 4-track cassette recorder. They’re not intended to record guitars directly, but they generate a ridiculous amount of fuzz when you dime the preamp fader. Brad Laner from Medicine used a Portastudio in a similar fashion and so did Sune Rose Wagner of the Raveonettes.

I've used this technique too, but I'm a bit concerned that feeding a too-hot signal into a channel could damage the machine somehow with prolonged use. Can anyone allay my fear?

It’s probably not the best thing for it. Tascam and Yamaha would have overbuilt things a little bit to take account of occasional abuse, but not for extended intentional abuse.

I know Brad Laner had a stockpile of Portastudios when they were cheap to cannibalize for parts. A working unit isn’t as cheap nowadays.

Of course, to get a decent sound quality from those old 4-tracks it was best practice to bypass the built in preamps and use an external device into the line level inputs instead. Then it wouldn’t matter if the built ins failed. I know one on my deck needs a new jack or has a loose solder point.

[UlricvonCatalyst]

Yeah, at one point cassette decks were cheap and plentiful enough to use one of those for this purpose, but home taping has undergone a bit of a renaissance lately and prices of hi-fi separates have gone through the roof. Probably still a better option than potentially damaging a portasudio, though.

Alternatively, there are also guitar FX pedals you can use for this sort of thing.

[jorri]

Yeah, at one point cassette decks were cheap and plentiful enough to use one of those for this purpose, but home taping has undergone a bit of a renaissance lately and prices of hi-fi separates have gone through the roof. Probably still a better option than potentially damaging a portasudio, though.

Alternatively, there are also guitar FX pedals you can use for this sort of thing.

If you don't need the multitrack then i am sure plenty of hifi or walkman recorders are about. Or cheaper? Get a VHS machine, which incedentally has a very hifi option for sound recording when they introduced the hi fidelity video tape mode.

[UlricvonCatalyst]

Yeah, at one point cassette decks were cheap and plentiful enough to use one of those for this purpose, but home taping has undergone a bit of a renaissance lately and prices of hi-fi separates have gone through the roof. Probably still a better option than potentially damaging a portasudio, though.

Alternatively, there are also guitar FX pedals you can use for this sort of thing.

If you don't need the multitrack then i am sure plenty of hifi or walkman recorders are about. Or cheaper? Get a VHS machine, which incedentally has a very hifi option for sound recording when they introduced the hi fidelity video tape mode.

Saddo that I am, I already have most of these things, but last time I looked recording walkmans were a bit on the dear side. Mine's a bit knackered, but I intend to service it at some point....after which I'm NOT planning on overloading the input.

[fuzzjunkie]

Another interesting way to make fuzz that’s not destructive, like slashing a speaker cone, is guitar treatments.

Sonic Youth and other experimental music scenesters got me experimenting years ago and 2 resulted in unexpected fuzz tones:

1) I had 2 vintage Jaguars. One with a new foam pad on the mute, and the other with an old dried out pad. I was trying various techniques to get a sitar buzz sound. Some were more successful than others. The newer pad was easier to use and get consistent results, but the dried out pad would get a full fuzzy buzz going on certain strings and frets. It wasn’t consistent enough for regular use, but I could get a 2-3 note riff going that I could have used for an intro or something that no one else would be able to replicate.

2) I had an Old Kraftsman arch top that someone had turned into a rockabilly guitar with P-100s and dice control knobs. It wasn’t a great guitar, but it looked sharp and I would get offers to sell it quite often. I used it mostly as my couch guitar and I would play slide on it because the neck was bowed and the truss rod was too rusty to alter it.

I would often take the slide and put it on the E or A string tuner. That created a nice rattle and buzz when I played. Different harmonics and overtones would come out depending on whether it was on the E or A tuner. It didn’t work as well on the D.

While the results were consistent and repeatable, the cool thing to me was that it would only produce fuzz when playing the lower E, A or D strings. The G, B, and high E strings would ring clear, whether played as single notes or chords. I really liked the sound of buzzing bass strings and clean highs.

Craig Anderton built a fuzz box that split the guitar into 6 frequency ranges that you could then fuzz individually, and there have been attempts at guitar pickups with 6 individual outputs that you could affect individually, but this was 100% organic.

[jorri]

Yeah, at one point cassette decks were cheap and plentiful enough to use one of those for this purpose, but home taping has undergone a bit of a renaissance lately and prices of hi-fi separates have gone through the roof. Probably still a better option than potentially damaging a portasudio, though.

Alternatively, there are also guitar FX pedals you can use for this sort of thing.

If you don't need the multitrack then i am sure plenty of hifi or walkman recorders are about. Or cheaper? Get a VHS machine, which incedentally has a very hifi option for sound recording when they introduced the hi fidelity video tape mode.

Saddo that I am, I already have most of these things, but last time I looked recording walkmans were a bit on the dear side. Mine's a bit knackered, but I intend to service it at some point....after which I'm NOT planning on overloading the input.

saddo? Do people over a certain age bracket not have these things lying around? I think i have VHS and a full hifi cassette deck, which due to not being used is the only part other than amp that works, given the CD and turntable broke. I got it for free in 2005 as apparently it was 'obsolete'...I still bought VHS around then as i was a broke teenager and thus films could be found for 50p without the frustration of Limewire and Torrent issues.

Also, i didn't mention dictaphones- i used to have the mini tape version which was so mashed up in sound- i took the cover off the deck and you could even mess with the time by putting pressure on the drivers, as well as the recording speed switch and just how much wobble old tapes have anyway (or possibly what i had done to the motors?). Vibrato and distortion in one with those!

I had a charity shop camcorder as well. The analogue magnetic tape 8mm variety. Similar audio destruction possible. I wonder if those have ever come back as a fad? I mean surely you'd get an actual super-8 film camcorder if using it for the video nostalgia. Or are there people wanting the terrible 90s 'you've been framed nostagia' video quality? (its quite possible that there are i suppose...)

[GreenKnee]

To save starting a new thread I feel like this fits here and you're all the right people to ask.

I have GAS for an Analog Man Sun Face. Since playing JSett's one very briefly I've decided I need one. Yes, NEED.

I currently have option paralysis from the long list of transistors on the AM site.

The sound I am after is fairly heavy, but without too much bottom end (which I have found quite a few fuzzes have) and cleans up nicely. Something that stacks with my rat nicely too, either before or after.

I've used the Death by Audio Germanium Filter for over a year now with great results through my Twin and with a JAM Lucydreamer as the stacked overdrive. With the Bassman and rat it sounds as though it's a little too much, even with unity volume, and it's making the rat and Bassman fart out. Fart out is a technical term, yes.

From the description, the BART sounds up my street. But how big is the bigger enclosure that it comes in?
Do I need the clean blend pot on top?
Do I need the bias pot on top?
The DBA has a master volume trim pot inside which is annoying, any time I need to tinker with it I have to unmount it from the board, take the back off and then have a fiddle. I'd like to avoid this in the Sun Face.

Looking at used prices I'm much better going straight to the source I think? I'm UK based btw.

Thanks Wise Fuzz Lords for your input

[Gav Haus]

To save starting a new thread I feel like this fits here and you're all the right people to ask.

I have GAS for an Analog Man Sun Face. Since playing JSett's one very briefly I've decided I need one. Yes, NEED.

I currently have option paralysis from the long list of transistors on the AM site.

The sound I am after is fairly heavy, but without too much bottom end (which I have found quite a few fuzzes have) and cleans up nicely. Something that stacks with my rat nicely too, either before or after.

I've used the Death by Audio Germanium Filter for over a year now with great results through my Twin and with a JAM Lucydreamer as the stacked overdrive. With the Bassman and rat it sounds as though it's a little too much, even with unity volume, and it's making the rat and Bassman fart out. Fart out is a technical term, yes.

From the description, the BART sounds up my street. But how big is the bigger enclosure that it comes in?
Do I need the clean blend pot on top?
Do I need the bias pot on top?
The DBA has a master volume trim pot inside which is annoying, any time I need to tinker with it I have to unmount it from the board, take the back off and then have a fiddle. I'd like to avoid this in the Sun Face.

Looking at used prices I'm much better going straight to the source I think? I'm UK based btw.

Thanks Wise Fuzz Lords for your input

there's actually a TPS vid comparing a whole bunch of them with Mike himself. (I looked after reading all the gushing on here, but decided that I just much prefer Muff-based Fuzz, so to speak)