Does anyone actually prefer a Fuzz Face over a Big Muff?

[Pacafeliz]

So outta curiosity I ended up picking up an old (1993 reissue Dunlop) Fuzz Face. I have had a Wells Amp 3 o' clock shadow (boutique FF copy) and a blue Hendrix FF before but ended up selling them. So it was time to give it another chance.

It sounds good, but it just doesn't have the power of a BM. I miss a treble/tone control too.
It has its own pair of balls, if you know what I mean, but it can't compete with a muff.

Is it the Germanium? Or what?

Does someone here actually prefer a FF over a BM? And if yes, why?

Just curious.

PS: my FF is missing the rubber pad on the face. Anyone happen to have one laying around? On the analogman page they sell 'em for around $12 but the shipping here is like $16!
Or... Would someone be willing to get one for me and send it to me in a cheap envelope please please?!

[MechaBulletBill]

i'll take most things over a big muff these days, and i love a good fuzz face. much more versatility than a muff, all in the guitar volume knob. they really only work when run into something compressed/clipping, like a good overdrive or cranked amp.

[del]

I prefer a silicon Fuzz Face to most Big Muff circuits (though there are so many that I've definitely not tried them all). And I have a germanium tone-bender MkII style fuzz - a Prescription Electronics Yardbox - that's also a winner in this contest.

That said, Big Muffs are top notch pedals and when they tilt to the brighter/sharper/less-creamy side, I like them most.

[Arthon]

Fuzz Face for me. Big Muff dont cut that well in the mix.

I play "If 6 was 9" by SolidGold Fx. The Bias knob is very usefull.

[Sweetfinger]

They are completely different fuzzes. The big Muff has several gain stages with clipping diodes. The FF works by overdriving the transistors themselves and if you aren't familiar with the one thing a FF does that nothing else will, you're about to experience something wonderful. Take a guitar with standard passive pickups (no preamps or active) and plug it directly into the Fuzz Face. Nothing in between.
Turn the fuzz all or most of the way up. Fuzz!
Roll your volume control off just a bit. Your distorted sound should clean up dramatically.

[adamrobertt]

Fuzz Faces are not particularly loud or aggressive fuzzes. They can sound downright "polite" if you want them to. Most people use a boost pedal after it to get enough volume to use live. Or just crank your amp up real loud I guess?

[MechaBulletBill]

might be worth asking around the DAM forum is anyone knows another source of rubber panels

[marqueemoon]

I have a hot silicon FF variant I’ve been digging. Never tried a Muff I liked. Just kinda too full sounding for me.

[jvin248]

.

While you are searching for an exact replacement ... find thin black rubber sheet and cut your own.
kitchen store might have a place mat or hardware store has something.

Clean up some of the residue goo and then just use black paint.

.

[countertext]

I kinda moved over to a Fuzz Face-type a while back when I realized that 1) there are a lot of variations on the circuit out there, and B) the official, name brand Fuzz Faces available over the years varied widely on quality of components and build. That means that if you play one FF (official, clone, or inspired-by), it isn’t representative of others, necessarily. Sometimes the pedals from the same production run sounded really different.

I got ahold of a 404 Fuzz by Moreland Magnetics out of Atlanta. It’s a direct copy of the original FF circuit with an added internal bias trim pot, It’s got germanium transistors, and besides just sounding amazing, the reason I love it is that it has a broad range of gain and tone just based on the volume and tone control settings of the guitar. I can leave it on through a whole song and significantly change my sound for different parts with just my volume and tone knobs.

I had a Sovtek muff for a long time in the ‘90s, and an original ‘73 rams head muff for years, and I felt like they were all-or-nothing pedals. If they were on, you had the Big Muff sound; if you didn’t want the Big Muff sound, you turned it off. That’s why I kinda faded away from them. They took up too much space and only did one thing... one thing that I needed less and less as my tastes changed.

Moreland Magnetics makes AMAZING fuzz pedals. Look them (really just one guy) up. Small runs, but not ridiculous prices; serious research into the circuits, hardcore component testing and matching; faithful to original design intent but willing to improve when there are issues with original circuits.

[stilwel]

I went through a serious Big Muff phase about 10 years ago. I think I was up to 8 different variants at one point. It was a problem.
EHX NYC Muff
EHX Muff w/ Tone wicker
EHX late 70's Opamp Muff
Sustain Punch Creamy Dreamer
El Musico Loco Siamese Scream
EHX Little Big Muff
90's Green Russian
OLC Whisker Biscuit
BYOC Little Triangle Muff clone
Barber TriFecta

My main inspiration for BM love is/was Siamese Dream , which is a very specific sound from a very specific BM model (opamp).
It's a hard sound to love unless you can quadruple track all the time.

Lately I'm more into the FF, particularly silcon FF. I think partially because that idealized sound is more possible with a single guitar. It's fat and mid-focused and doesn't require much to cut through.
I dig the EJ FF, Berkos Third Stone Fuzz and my collection of modified Duncan Tweak Fuzzes. Tsakalis also makes a killer FF variant with an octave.

Berkos Third Stone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyuJCQ0NfR4

Tsakalis Experience Pedal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbWWRpjiHkM

[tune_link]

So wait, above poster is able to get Pumpkins tones from a FF? Is that what I read?

I’ve been a muff fan thru and thru for years. I’ve never heard a FF I like and basically associate them with blooz lawyer types. I dig a fuzz for “the one thing” it does and if I wanted something clean I wouldn’t try to back off the volume on a fuzz to get it (hot take sorry). So y’all go ahead and yell at me or tell me I’m wrong. I’d do anything to get the Siamese Dream tone even ughhhh tryna fuzz face I guess. I feel like I get really close with the muff and super fuzz variants I have.

Long time shoegazer, long time FF hater. I’m okay with being wrong so if y’all know a FF variant that’ll get me “that sound” link plz.

[countertext]

I think you may have misread a post. If you want the Siamese Dream sound, get an op-amp Muff or four. A Fuzz Face won’t do it. Sounds like you are already on the right track!

[MechaBulletBill]

I’ve never heard a FF I like and basically associate them with blooz lawyer types

yer what mate

[fever606]

Big Muff* > Superfuzz > Fuzz Face
* before, and subsequently in spite of, Smashing Pumpkins

Not that there's anything wrong with the FF sound, it's just not the sound that I prefer when playing...