I am considering getting a Fuzz Pedal and would appreciate some guidance on what is good and what to avoid please. I am into Blues, Blues/Rock, Prog and Classic Rock, not so much HM although I love Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Tool and early Metalica and some others
This is my current set up below, which goes into a PRS DGT15 Combo valve amp which has great Tremelo. The 69 Vibe is a bit redundant, as I can get good chorus from the Memory Man and Tremelo from the amp, so I could sell it, the only reason to keep it would be to quickly switch to a different chorus sound if playing in a band I suppose.
I believe the EHX Fuzz pedal is good but know little about them, any other suggestions welcome.
You could talk about (fuzz) pedals all day, but in the end, the result will vary, depending on your setup.
I have the EHX green russian. Why? I liked the review of JHS pedals and the sound it makes.
It’s my first, but i’m afraid, not my last fuzz pedal. (Just waiting for gas to kick in).
I’d say, take a look at some reviews, go to a store and try some.
Or, if you have a good reseller, order one, test it, and if you don’t like it, send it back and try another one.
You can not go wrong getting info from Josh. He literally wrote the book about EHX and the fuzz curcuits and how the Big Muff came to be. Very good and very Interesting book for nerds. I am actually a member of his little nerd club or whatever for a couple of years now. I think membership has been closed for a while unfortunatly. TBH I am not sure how I got in because I didnt even play electric really when I joined. but I was trying to build pedals and guitar electronics. Anyway to the point. Out of any fuzz pedal I could have had this is the one that was picked for me by them as a gift.
A EHX big muff Pi. I really dig it a lot so far. I just received it a couple of months ago right before my surgery, so I have only just really started playing with it, I am starting to also to mix and match stacking it with other pedals too. Basically I am still running it through its paces. I just hooked up my compression pedal to see how it sounds with it the other day, still messing with that in the mix but it does sounds sweet.
Using this Fuzz has really been the first time I have been able to get some of the sounds of many of the bands I like. Far better than my old one. It is really a good feeling when you go from sounding, “sort of like someone” to sounding “just like” them.
I have my compressor first. Then I have distortion pedal with the Gain way down so it acts as a overdrive to drive the the signal into the Big Muff. It really sounds so good.
I have gotten a number of different tones from it so far and using my distortion as an overdrive was a cool sound also. I have not even started to play with the wicker control yet.
They also have a mini version with the same circuitry but I sort of like this big oldschool sized pedal. There is a new Big Muff Pi 2 out as well as the Big Muff Pi 2 Deluxe that looks really nice.
Edit
Brain Wampler is a really good guy also. Nice pedals. Josh has said many times if it was not for Brian there would not be a small boutique pedal industry. And there would be 0 home builders.
I firmly believe that everyone needs to try the Behringer SF300 Super Fuzz at least once. IMO this little box of joy holds its own against fuzz pedals costing hundreds of dollars more.
I agree in the sense that you don’t really need to break the bank to get good fuzz tone. I’m happy with the TCE Honey Pot fuzz (Big Muff clone) $32 on Amazon right now. I also like the fact that it’s a top loader.
I have several fuzz pedals. The Big Muff J Mascis, combined with the Jam RetroVibe, is a nice combination for playing songs like Summer Breeze by the Isley Brothers. However, I do think fuzz has a learning curve. The settings I have in the photo sound nice, but controlling the sounds on the strings—even just by moving the right or left hand—creates a lot of unwanted sounds.
I also have the Okko Holy Grit, which I find to be a very accessible fuzz pedal; it also has an overdrive.
I often hear that the Wamper Velvet Fuzz is also very accessible.
But the gray Boss fuzz pedal is also highly praised.
It depends a bit on what you want to do with it; you can also use a fuzz pedal as an always-on pedal and work with the volume on your guitar—no need to refer to Jimi Hendrix here. Also nice for Blues.
The range of Fuzz pedals is endless.
Of course, you also have Octave Fuzz, e.g. the Argo from Mythos Pedals and the Octave Fuzz pedal by Scott McKeon …
There are also pedals that aren’t exactly Fuzz but look like them and are very accessible, such as the EQD Special Cranker.
I’ve been paying attention to this fuzz pedal discussion. Starting to wrap my head around the sounds they do and how they differ from what I have. Keep up the good stuff.
Interesting side note. I was taking a look at local music shops last night in search for who has what cases/gig bags for sale. I’m going to be taking the guitar I’ve built out to test it in some bags/cases soon (probably just nicely padded gig bags).
I was browsing a local music shop which deals mostly in used gear but also sells a fair bit of new stuff. Taking a look at their pedal stock and they’ve got a V1 Big Muff Pi. $1200 is just nuts. I guess it’s priced this way for the pedal collector instead of the person who’s going to plug it into their board and play through it, eh? Though it looks like it’s been well used.
Just a a change of transistors, clipping diodes and you can really change the profile of a pedal. Both Josh and Brian has a series of videos on how to start doing it from the ground up. Really cool stuff, even if you are not a builder and just want to understand what fuzz, distortion and overdrive is and how they are related.
Thanks for all your really helpful replies, it has helped me through the maze of Fuzz.
Bu coincidence my friend Jef has just written about Fuzz pedals, he has been exploring pedals for many years you might firn this interesting GuitarBomb Fuzz Tone digest
and I also discovered he reviewed this Behringer Fuzz Bender on youtube.
Having listened to various reviews I have these in my list now, so do I start at a lower price or go higher end? What I have realised is some Fuzz pedals can be on the sonic edge of extreme distortion which is not my bag, so maybe the Wampler Cryptid could be the one that will give the biggest flexibility. I am certainly impressed with the pedals from him I have.
Electro-Harmonix J Mascis Ram’s Head Big Muff £149
Dunlop Jimi Hendrix Fuzz Face oor the Mini version ÂŁ169 - ÂŁ189
Heads Up, I am sure many of you many have seen this, but for me it was an ear opener using pedals, I have had pedals on and off for many years but never really got how to stack them and how they interacted. It is well worth a viewing.
but I was trying to build pedals and guitar electronics. Anyway to the point. Out of any fuzz pedal I could have had this is the one that was picked for me by them as a gift.
I am certainly impressed with the pedals from him I have.