It’s a Fuzz-off, aka: an entirely subjective shoot-out

[sal paradise]

What happens when Matt has too many fuzz pedals? Before just selling anything not getting used, I thought it might be fun to A/B a few sets to see what’s what.

EDIT: I made a crappy, rushed video. But you can hear the differences. Maybe... Fuzz shoot out youtube

All tests conducted with a Les Paul standard into clean-ish JCM800 2205 with Torpedo Live (Brit vintage cabinet) & Rode NTH-100 headphones.

PART 1: NORMAL? FUZZES

1. Analogman Sunface Bart
2. DRV 1981
3. 1990s Rat 2
4. Balls Effects Galaxian
5. EHX Nano Big Muff
6. Balls Effects Big Balls
7. EQD Bellows clone
8. Way Huge Swollen Pickle mkiiis


Professionally connected & beautifully presented test subjects

The results were really interesting…

1. Analogman Sunface has a lot of treble but sounds the most organic. I still need to tweak the internal gain & bias settings a little to really make this pedal do its thing. Regardless it’s just cool & big and it has a vintagey thing that the others don’t, yet still having more gain on tap than a lot of other drive pedals

2. DRV 1981 kinda sounds great at almost any setting, except anything past 11 o’clock is too much gain. I loved this pedal, until I properly A/B’d it with the Rat…

3. ProCo Rat 2 at first sounded really scooped and compressed compared to the 1981. A better volume match & a bit of tweaking and get them sounding really similar both at low & higher gain. The 1981 might sound a touch more alive with my setup, but I don’t think that’s enough to save it. The Rat wins.

4. Balls Galaxian is a Big Muff on steroids. Sounds way more open than the big muff nano, so the stupidly high gain sounds are still usable. It’s a fun pedal that will be used for overdubs. Plus it looks awesome inside & out. All hail the doctor

5. This was the first fuzz that I liked, many moons ago. It still sounds cool at lower gain settings & given this test it’s passable covering the sounds of the two Balls pedals. Sadly, it’s massively outclassed at lower gain by that dastardly doctor…

6. Balls Big Balls is a tamed Big Muff. That’s what it says on the tin, and that’s what it does. It sounds great form low gain to mid settings, and sounds better than the nano at both imo. It can sound a little compressed, but dropping the gain & some fine tuning of volume and tone makes a huge difference. Would seriously recommend one of these if you want a muff sound & don’t have the £££ for a vintage EHX.

7. Bellows clone has been a surprise & a revelation. When I first used it with a single channel amp, I thought it sucked. I was wrong. This thing sounds great & the tone is just right. The surprising part is I expected it to be in the Analogman kind of world. And it is, sort of. Yet at low gain, this thing is a Rat. And it works. Go to noon and you’ve got a big muff thing going on. My setup is quite bright, so it doesn’t quite sound as pleasing as the muffs but it does have that slightly vintage germanium sound so it works. I’m going to test this on my board where my rat usually sits before I make any decisions on this little marvel.

8. Swollen Pickle. Oh dear. I’ve lusted after one of these ever since they were first released. Some cool bands used them & the reviews sounded great. I thought it would be more big muff, and it’s not. Got a far more abrasive tone, edging towards Steve Albini’s kinda Shellac sound. It’s actually more similar to the Analogman in sound. Yet despite all the tweakable elements, it never quite manages to sound as good. Maybe I should spend more time with it, not impressed when directly compared to these other pedals.

[marqueemoon]

Nice. Being a Rat lover I’ve always been curious about the 1981, but these days I use a Rat for the mid gain amp pushing job it does best.

I’ve never been into Muffs. I recognize there are some big differences between the versions, but it’s just not my thing.

I like spitty and I like sparkly cleanup in a fuzz. The big thick wall o’ fuzz thing is not for me.

[sal paradise]

Nice. Being a Rat lover I’ve always been curious about the 1981, but these days I use a Rat for the mid gain amp pushing job it does best.

I’ve never been into Muffs. I recognize there are some big differences between the versions, but it’s just not my thing.

I like spitty and I like sparkly cleanup in a fuzz. The big thick wall o’ fuzz thing is not for me.

The 1981 is like a Rat for dummies. It just works and it has that sound but easier to dial in. If you know how to get sounds you like from a Rat, I wouldn’t recommend blowing $200+ on one. If it were cheaper than a flat box rat, I’d tell everyone to buy one.

Also have to agree on the muff. I can only get usable sounds from it at low gain. I do need to play around with rolled-off volume on the fuzzes, thanks for the reminder!

[Fuzzbuzz]

What happens when Matt has too many fuzz pedals?

There’s no such thing as too many fuzz pedals!

[BoringPostcards]

I’m curious about the 1981. That’s my birth year. I’d buy one just for that. I love fuzz anyways, so what’s to be lost?
Are they still being made?

[sal paradise]

I’m curious about the 1981. That’s my birth year. I’d buy one just for that. I love fuzz anyways, so what’s to be lost?
Are they still being made?

They’ve just done another batch I think. $250 in white or black.

[MrShake]

Love this post, Matt. Seems like only yesterday you were thinking about making the move from digital, lol. But thanks for these writeups, good info and comparison to have.

Obviously, I love Rats, but the only pedal here I have any thoughts on is the Swollen Pickle. I had one for about a week when I went in for a Big Muff with Tone Wicker. Got the Pickle, thinking it was going to be a Muff Plus, but it was, at the time, too much pedal for me. Too tweakable to easily get me to the basic NYC Muff sound I was looking for. Great pedal, tons of sounds, just not what I thought I was biting into.

Ended up taking it back for the BMTW I'd wanted, but have always wondered about what could have been.

And people REALLY seem to love the 1981. Which seems to be for a number of factors. But I've read it called a "tamer Rat". Your descriptions are good, but I'm curious, is the gain/tone structure pretty similar as far as what you can expect to hear at "common Rat settings"?

[Dr Tony Balls]

4. Balls Galaxian is a Big Muff on steroids.

FYI the circuit for these is not Muff-based, though I could see the possible sonic comparison.

[sal paradise]

FYI the circuit for these is not Muff-based, though I could see the possible sonic comparison.

iiiinteresting, what kind circuit is it? I'm going to take it to practice soon & melt everybody's faces with it at full volume

Love this post, Matt. Seems like only yesterday you were thinking about making the move from digital, lol. But thanks for these writeups, good info and comparison to have.

Obviously, I love Rats, but the only pedal here I have any thoughts on is the Swollen Pickle. I had one for about a week when I went in for a Big Muff with Tone Wicker. Got the Pickle, thinking it was going to be a Muff Plus, but it was, at the time, too much pedal for me. Too tweakable to easily get me to the basic NYC Muff sound I was looking for. Great pedal, tons of sounds, just not what I thought I was biting into.

Ended up taking it back for the BMTW I'd wanted, but have always wondered about what could have been.

And people REALLY seem to love the 1981. Which seems to be for a number of factors. But I've read it called a "tamer Rat". Your descriptions are good, but I'm curious, is the gain/tone structure pretty similar as far as what you can expect to hear at "common Rat settings"?

I think you were the inspiration with all the mini comparisons you do! I'd totally forgotten that I was using the MS-3 a couple of years ago... having too much fun wit pedals again

I made a crap video so you can (maybe) hear for yourself how the 1981 compares to the rat. At low gain it definitely has something. But at higher gain the rat just becomes a monster: Fuzz shoot out youtube

[Dr Tony Balls]

FYI the circuit for these is not Muff-based, though I could see the possible sonic comparison.

iiiinteresting, what kind circuit is it? I'm going to take it to practice soon & melt everybody's faces with it at full volume

Its akin to a Roland Bee Baa but with some edits.