Best Fuzz Pedal Ever - an absolutist, empirical question.

Rikki · Post by **Rikki** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 12:31 pm

thats a super sweet figurine

Lanark · Post by **Lanark** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 2:49 pm

Here's my Fuzz collection.
(back row l-r)

Rosac Nu-fuzz - very insane fuzz. tone goes from deep growl to mosquito in your ear. great for solos, turns chords into sonic washes of white noise.

Maestro Fuzz-Tone - the original (and an original). I've never gotten a sound out of it that I liked. I keep it anyway. No sustain. good for single note stuff on low strings. prefers humbuckers to single coils.

two Maestro MFZ - My favorites. big fat and Sabbath sounding. built like tanks. the one with the missing wheel fell of the roof of my car. replaced the battery thing and it fired right back up. Ooodles of sustain. (but I still want the Fuzz-Tain version...) It's just an all around great distortion pedal.

(front row l-r)

Waleco Fuzz - a few years back somebody found a warehouse full of cheap Woolworth's guitar effects and they were all over Ebay. I got this one (and a trem that didn't work.) This is the ultimate "band aid tin full of bees" fuzz sound. Engineers laugh when you pull out a tiny pink box, but it sounds totally bad ass.

Jax - I've seen this same box branded with several different names. Mine is Jax. It's two fuzzes in one. a wild and wooly standard kind of fuzz and a much smoother more highly compressed one that's really cool and very modern sounding. Something is loose inside it though. it occasionally freaks out with white noise and needs a swift kick to sort it out.

Heathkit - This one's got a sound very similar to the big Maestros only perhaps a tad darker but unfortunately it lacks the volume boosting capabilities. It actually drops a little volume when you engage it. bad live. great recording. bottom is covered in some kind of sticky black goo that's supposed to keep it from sliding, but has a low melting point and gets all over everything at anything slightly above room temperature. If it weren't for the volume drop and the goo, it'd be a contender.

UMI Buzz Tone and Volume Expander - For all your buzzy, nasal rattle fuzz needs. It buzzes and boosts. Not particularly versatile but it has it's uses on occasion.

ElCapitan · Post by **ElCapitan** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 8:21 pm

awesome collection. i've used a fuzz factory before and I couldn't get any standard fuzz sound of it at all without it buzzing like crazy, it's fucking off the wall. i still love it though.

Sublimedo · Post by **Sublimedo** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 8:26 pm

i hate muse. but i love the zvex fuzz factory. Also good fuzzes i've heard were there zvex wooly mammoth and the dunlop fuzz face

jcyphe · Post by **jcyphe** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 8:50 pm

Lanark wrote:

That Rosac Fuzz you have is closely related to a Mosrite fuzz. It's made/designed by the same guy Eddie Sanner, who designed the Mosrite Fuzzrite.

The Jax is one of the many label brands of Shin-ei/Univox fuzzes. Judging by your description it is probably a Univox Superfuzz circuit. Really cool pedal.

Your fuzz collection is niiiiiiiiiiice.

luke · Post by **luke** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 9:31 pm

That EH Graphic Fuzz can't be that bad can it? Lots of EQ on anything is awesome. It shouldn't just be bass amps that get the 9 or 12 band EQs.

euan · Post by **euan** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 9:36 pm

EH GF = great, though not quite most people think of as a fuzz. It's always my first or second pedal I put down.

Tweez · Post by **Tweez** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 9:37 pm

euan wrote:EH GF = great, though not quite most people think of as a fuzz. It's always my first or second pedal I put down.

People have said it's more like a distortion than a fuzz, the EQ and the Envelope control seem pretty cool though.

superfuzz · Post by **superfuzz** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 10:30 pm

jcyphe wrote:
Lanark wrote:
That Rosac Fuzz you have is closely related to a Mosrite fuzz. It's made/designed by the same guy Eddie Sanner, who designed the Mosrite Fuzzrite.

The Jax is one of the many label brands of Shin-ei/Univox fuzzes. Judging by your description it is probably a Univox Superfuzz circuit. Really cool pedal.

Your fuzz collection is niiiiiiiiiiice.

+1 nice stuff!

Will · Post by **Will** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 10:43 pm

That fuzz collection is sweeeeet. I almost bought a Maestro FZ1 a few months ago, but I couldn't justify $110 for something that horrible sounding. Still, it was fun to play Satisfaction in the store. Some manufacturer should really bring back integrated cables - it would be the ultimate in retro accuracy.

inscho · Post by **inscho** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 2:40 am

lovetone big cheese

i got a clone of one for a little over $100....has big muff, fuzz face, and tonebender-esque tones in one box.

James · Post by **James** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 11:28 am

I have a zooom ultra fuzz, I like it quite a lot. Like Doog said most of the tones arent that fuzzy. You can get some typical fuzz type sounds out of it on more extreme settings, but its not your typical fuzz sound usually.

I'm a fuzz noob though. I havent tried pretty much anything else mentioned in this thread.

Tweez · Post by **Tweez** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 11:43 am

The only Fuzz I've got is a Boss Hyper Fuzz which is pretty cool, although I don't really use it that much. I also modded my Big Muff into a fuzz by taking the diodes out which was actually really good.

theshadowofseattle · Post by **theshadowofseattle** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 11:44 am

The NYC Big Muff is a fuzz and anyone who says otherwise is a fucking idiot.

Tweez · Post by **Tweez** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 1:15 pm

There is a technical difference. It's all semantics anyway because fuzz and overdrive is technically distortion anyway.

euan · Post by **euan** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 2:15 pm

Technically every effect is some for of distortion as you are changing the sound wave. Even your amp is a distortion generator.

aen · Post by **aen** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 5:31 pm

theshadowofseattle wrote:The NYC Big Muff is a fuzz and anyone who says otherwise is a fucking idiot.

I imagine if it sounded like a fucking fuzz, I would agree with you, but since it osunds like distortion, I'm inclinded to call it a distortion.

Post by **Doog** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 5:53 pm

AEN: MAKE A BIG CHEESE FUZZ CLONE I WULD BUY ONE

euan · Post by **euan** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 6:04 pm

Big Cheese is the fuzz I want the most.

theshadowofseattle · Post by **theshadowofseattle** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 6:07 pm

aen wrote:
theshadowofseattle wrote:The NYC Big Muff is a fuzz and anyone who says otherwise is a fucking idiot.
I imagine if it sounded like a fucking fuzz, I would agree with you, but since it osunds like distortion, I'm inclinded to call it a distortion.

n-jack you are out of your mind. It probably sounds like a distortion because you spraypainted and carved holes in it.