How Many Dirt (OD, Fuzz, Dist.) Pedals Live On Your Board?

[ziess]

Loads!



Klon KTR, ‘81 TS-808, Nano Bass Big Muff, ‘81 OD-855, ‘00 Fuzz Factory, 4MS Noize Swash and a BoR! I quite often run something like a Fender Blender ahead of the Lehle volume pedal too as they work a bit better up front.

Tommy.

[Zork]

That Gretsch is just

[ziess]

1954, it’s a beast.

[somanytoys]

Haha. Fine of you to notice! Thank you!
Well, to quote the guy in our former rehearsal-room complex, who asked me about my new band's name (which is called TENTACULA) and them tear it our of context:
"I see, the name is concept!"
I think this is also valid for my user name here.

Honestly I'm already trying to reduce my board to a smaller one - but everytime I think one Fuzz could possible go - it sounds absolutely killer next time I play it... and so it's indispensable again!

Haha - hard not to notice, that's a badass fuzz list, and holding 5 out of 8 spots on your board shows some real dedication!

I'm a fuzz freak as well, but most of them are just not on my boards, I keep most of them stashed. I have a lot of other fun stuff that crowds out having too much fuzz and distortion on the boards at any one time. But the fuzzes are all pretty different, and often keep getting switched out because they're all so damn beautiful. I have a lot of OD's and distortions as well, but fuzz is almost a different category.

Yes, it is very valid for your user name here. Without trying to swerve it into a religious context - "And also with you."

[somanytoys]

I just managed to ditch a Timmy clone, and I have a dual Broadcast on the way that I’m hoping will shake things up a bit more. In the meantime, it’s four: Acid Fuzz with bias adjust and tone switch > Rm-1n > SSBS Mini > Catalinbread DLS III. Though it was previously in place as a pre-dirt ambient reverb, I recently figured out I really like using the gain on the RM-1n as my main light-mid drive, and it’s easy enough to bring back the reverb with the mix control. That does mean I have some extra noise that, unfortunately, isn’t compatible with the DLS, but the Rm-1n sounds great with the other two. The end of the chain is a Caroline Icarus boost, which I use at practice to kick my NR Princeton into a place where I can hear it against my bandmate’s 2x12 Music Man.

I have a hard time figuring out where to use my RM-1N, mostly because it's a little big to be on one of the guitar boards, where space is precious, so I'm currently using it with one of my bass rigs. I go back and forth between dialing it in from the RM-1N's distortion and the Rusty Box's distortion, sometimes some of both, but always with the reverb.

It really is a great pedal, so much fun stuff. It might be my desert island pedal. The main competition it would have would probably be the Loomer, except that I'm just not that big on Muffs, personally, which might be the type of equipment that I use.

[somanytoys]

I quite often run something like a Fender Blender ahead of the Lehle volume pedal too as they work a bit better up front.

Yeah, that's the only real problem I find with those really nice germanium fuzzes (especially the versions with the old Mullard OC's - 44, 75, 81), they are prima donnas about being first in the chain. Although I don't have an OC-75 version. Not yet anyway.

I know that's a big reason why they make silicon versions, but I love that germanium sound.

[ziess]

I quite often run something like a Fender Blender ahead of the Lehle volume pedal too as they work a bit better up front.

Yeah, that's the only real problem I find with those really nice germanium fuzzes (especially the versions with the old Mullard OC's - 44, 75, 81), they are prima donnas about being first in the chain. Although I don't have an OC-75 version. Not yet anyway.

I know that's a big reason why they make silicon versions, but I love that germanium sound.

Absolutely, although some sound great after a buffer too, just a bit different. I run my Fuzz Factory pretty late on but I prefer my Fuzz Probe up front despite the identical transistors in both.

Tommy.

[somanytoys]

Absolutely, although some sound great after a buffer too, just a bit different. I run my Fuzz Factory pretty late on but I prefer my Fuzz Probe up front despite the identical transistors in both.
Tommy.

Interesting, I've personally never found it to better after, at least with germanium, falls flat. Tried many times, many ways, but it's never quite as good.

The fuzz probe is an entity unto itself. I had a friend that had that one, really cool but very finicky. Never had one myself.

It's all subjective, I guess...

[s_mcsleazy]

nowadays. only 3 on my main board.

madebymike saltbooster, klone, fet rat.

[Gavanti]

I have a hard time figuring out where to use my RM-1N, mostly because it's a little big to be on one of the guitar boards, where space is precious, so I'm currently using it with one of my bass rigs. I go back and forth between dialing it in from the RM-1N's distortion and the Rusty Box's distortion, sometimes some of both, but always with the reverb.

It really is a great pedal, so much fun stuff. It might be my desert island pedal. The main competition it would have would probably be the Loomer, except that I'm just not that big on Muffs, personally, which might be the type of equipment that I use.

I hadn't paid much attention to the Loomer. I like the look of the control layout though, and the options seem useful. It might be interesting to give a try. How do you like it? Right now, the Acid Fuzz into the other pedals covers most of my fuzz needs.

With the Rm-1n, I'm surprised I hadn't figured out before that I would find it more practical for general use if I thought of it more as a dirt box with a reverb mix knob than as a reverb with a couple of dirt knobs. The drive is nice and warm and crunches responsively. The main challenge (other than the DLS amplifying noise) has been tuning the balance between the pre-gain, which introduces more clock noise, and the post-gain, which introduces more hiss. So far a 8-9 o'clock pre, 10:30-11 'clock post mix seems to be about right. I also use a Meteore, which is super musical and a little easier to dial in. I have that later in the chain as an always on reverb, but its drive is better for adding texture than for straight up overdrive I think if I ever wanted to go minimal and was less lazy about changing settings between songs, the Rm-1n and my Kilobyte would have me mostly covered, and a reasonably versatile tremolo pedal would do the rest.

[Chip Korea]

Haha - hard not to notice, that's a badass fuzz list, and holding 5 out of 8 spots on your board shows some real dedication!

I'm a fuzz freak as well, but most of them are just not on my boards, I keep most of them stashed. I have a lot of other fun stuff that crowds out having too much fuzz and distortion on the boards at any one time. But the fuzzes are all pretty different, and often keep getting switched out because they're all so damn beautiful. I have a lot of OD's and distortions as well, but fuzz is almost a different category.

As a another fuzz freak I have to say that surely it is possible to justify a lot of fuzz pedals on one board? If fuzz is your thing, and you want to be able to create a variety of fuzz sounds, then you need lots of different fuzz pedals. Or am I missing something?

[somanytoys]

I hadn't paid much attention to the Loomer. I like the look of the control layout though, and the options seem useful. It might be interesting to give a try. How do you like it? Right now, the Acid Fuzz into the other pedals covers most of my fuzz needs.

With the Rm-1n, I'm surprised I hadn't figured out before that I would find it more practical for general use if I thought of it more as a dirt box with a reverb mix knob than as a reverb with a couple of dirt knobs. The drive is nice and warm and crunches responsively. The main challenge (other than the DLS amplifying noise) has been tuning the balance between the pre-gain, which introduces more clock noise, and the post-gain, which introduces more hiss. So far a 8-9 o'clock pre, 10:30-11 'clock post mix seems to be about right. I also use a Meteore, which is super musical and a little easier to dial in. I have that later in the chain as an always on reverb, but its drive is better for adding texture than for straight up overdrive I think if I ever wanted to go minimal and was less lazy about changing settings between songs, the Rm-1n and my Kilobyte would have me mostly covered, and a reasonably versatile tremolo pedal would do the rest.

I like the Loomer a lot, I've had it since they first came out, I've been a big Keeley fan for a long time. I find that there are a lot of uses for the 3 settings (hall with shimmer option, soft focus and reverse with pitch bend option), especially using multiple effects chains & amps. Some people think that the Kevin Shields style pitch bend on the reverse is kind of gimmicky, which it can be, but it can also be cool going into only 1 amp, while the others stay in tune with their effects. I think it's all in the application, just like using the SPX90 style reverse/gated reverb could be too MBV, it all depends on how you use it. But it's still only 1 of 3 reverbs, there should be at least one of those that almost anyone could find interesting and useful. And the pitch bend is totally optional, dialed up or out with a knob.

I've never really used too many Muffs, and don't find the muff in the Loomer particularly great for my tastes, so I don't really use it. I usually use other pedals for dirt, but I should probably try to work the Muff side in more, maybe alone, and see if I like it any better like that - I mean, hell, it's already on the board. Keeley also just came out with the Realizer, which is only the reverb side of the Loomer. If you don't want/need the Muff side, it's the way to go, smaller and $100 less. I wish they had been available from the beginning, but maybe I'll come to have more love for the Muff side.

Yes, I believe that I need to think about the RM-1N that way more myself, I always have it last in the chain and maybe I shouldn't. Sometimes things make a big difference in how you think about an effect , where you put it and how you use it. On Christmas Eve, I ended up putting together a Jext Telez Range Lord, a Dude Incredible and the RM-1N into a small amp. I spent some time dialing in each of the sounds, and it all sounded really good together. I think that I ended up having the pre & post near about where you said above, although maybe a little less with that setup when the others were on. I find the same thing, pre introduces more heartbeat and the post starts to hiss after a point. It really is a nice pedal, though, and can easily be one of very few pedals on a board. That's probably going to end up being its destiny, a major player on a smaller board setup.

[somanytoys]

As a another fuzz freak I have to say that surely it is possible to justify a lot of fuzz pedals on one board? If fuzz is your thing, and you want to be able to create a variety of fuzz sounds, then you need lots of different fuzz pedals. Or am I missing something?

Oh yes, it totally is easy to justify, actually. But there are a lot of other pedals that I like to use, and there's only so much room on the board. I also don't have too vast a collection of different fuzzes, they're mostly transistor variations of the same pedals, like Keeley's Black Glasses, Jext Telez Range Lords, Dizzy Tones and the UniDrive (which probably isn't even considered a fuzz). So I don't feel that I need too many somewhat similar things with limited space. I also have a Frantone The Sweet (which is a wall of fuzz) and a Karma Suture, but I'm probably going to pair the Karma Suture with an IVP clone pedal that I have coming, which will be sort of an expanded Dude Incredible. I'm hoping, anyway.

I'm also finally trying to get my boards neater lately, instead of the jumbled spaghetti monster mess they become when I constantly move & swap pedals around. I think I have them mostly the way I want them - which I always say, then move stuff and it becomes a mess, which is why I rarely bother setting them up really neatly. So I'm hoping the small board stays neat bow that I've set it up, and I can get my larger board redone and neat soon, it's still a big, beautiful mess. Although, I may put a fuzz back on at the beginning of the small board, I just ran out of inserts in the expanders. But if that goes first, so that makes it pretty easy - I just have to decide which one I want to use there.

[MayTheFuzzBeWithYou]

But the fuzzes are all pretty different, and often keep getting switched out because they're all so damn beautiful. ...

Yes, it is very valid for your user name here. Without trying to swerve it into a religious context - "And also with you."

Hell yeah!
I kept doing the same!
It was a long quest... but I'm more then content with the three remaining main candidates!

Well, it's way more than an ancient religion!
...The FUZZ (Force) is what gives a guitarist (Jedi/Sith?) his power. It's an energy field created by all kind of transistors (living things). It surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds the galaxy together. (Based on Yoda's words in Ep.V)

[fuzzjunkie]

It’s strange looking back on the old posts of a thread that’s been resurrected twice and recognizing old names that no longer post here, but also seeing those that are still around! It’s also strange that I never replied before now?

I have a few fuzz pedals and dirt boxes, the ones on my board are:

Basic Audio Gnarly- a primitive, raw, woody early 60s style fuzztone.
Fairfield Circuitry Four Eyes- provides fuzzy overdrive to total sonic annihilation levels of fuzz wah and filter sweeps.
Basic Audio Scarab Deluxe- Tonebender Mk2-Mk4 style ripping (not creamy) fuzz tones.
Throbak Overdrive/Boost- a Boost to fuzzy overdrive to low-gain Germanium fuzz. Does early Zeppelin, T-Rex, Beck-ola, and a host of other late 60s-early 70s tones. Will even mimic a Fuzz Face if you need it to.

Those four cover all my dirt needs, I add other things to the chain if I want octaves or glitches with my dirt.