Fuzz Always On

[my bloody television]

I have an older big box fulltone '69 that I keep on nearly all the time. I don't have it set for full on fuzz, everything is set a little right of noon. I use a volume pedal to ride the gain but usually just keep my volume pedal at about 3/4 open. I have no problem with my clean tone and will often revert to no pedals whatsoever, but I just like the sound of the fuzz with the volume pulled back...it seems to sit in an ensemble a little nicer.

[VPO]

Yep. I have this Finnish Fuzz Face style pedal (it's germanium and AC127) always on. I also have pretty much always ProCo Rat on. Sound is quite raunchy and furious.

[somanytoys]

The main one I've been playing with lately has been the Throback OD/Boost. It's not exactly a fuzz, but it does have a germanium and silicon chip in it, that will definitely get you there. I can dial back the gain and it's a beautiful clean or slightly distorted boost, or turn it up and get a very nice distortion up to a fuzz. I assume it would work well either way with a volume pedal, it reacts nicely with the volume knob.

It seems a bit different than most ODs and fuzzes, though, in that it still retains a lot of the original sound's character. I don't know if it's a set internal blend or what exactly, but it gives a really nice and full combination of the true sound and whatever the distorted signal is set to. This is with the germanium side, I don't really use the silicon side much, because I'm pretty much a germanium fanboy.

[del]

I have a Red llama - which is an IC-based fuzz - that is almost always on. It's low intensity setting is just great to add a scuzzy edge to my playing. I sometimes switch it out with a DOD 250, which sounds VERY similar.

I love my other fuzzes - especially those based on silicon fuzz faces or octavia styles - but they respond so differently to my different guitars that it's hard to have them as "always on" pedals.

As a question to you all: those ocativia fuzzes often add a TON of hum to single coil pickups. Is there a solution to that problem or a particular pedal that is less prone to it? Thanks!

~del

[MC3]

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. I found a Fulltone '69 for super cheap on Reverb. I'm out of town atm but when I get back I will report my findings

[somanytoys]

Cool. I've read good things about those, but I've only tried Fulltone's supatrem and True Path AB/Y pedal. They do make good stuff.

Let us know how it turns out.

[somanytoys]

I have a Red llama - which is an IC-based fuzz - that is almost always on. It's low intensity setting is just great to add a scuzzy edge to my playing. I sometimes switch it out with a DOD 250, which sounds VERY similar.

I love my other fuzzes - especially those based on silicon fuzz faces or octavia styles - but they respond so differently to my different guitars that it's hard to have them as "always on" pedals.

As a question to you all: those ocativia fuzzes often add a TON of hum to single coil pickups. Is there a solution to that problem or a particular pedal that is less prone to it? Thanks!

~del

Does it do the same with humbuckers, maybe just less? It could just be a nature of the beast thing, some things are just noisy, especially with single coils. I don't use octavias so I don't have any experience.

[mijmog]

MC3, I've been through the same process as you, trying to downsize my pedals and get down to just a fuzz and a tuner at times. I often play with the fuzz on all the time and with the right pedal, its heaven.

I get really stuck in ruts with pedals, all it takes is to see a pic or clip of Hendrix with just a wah and a fuzz face and it reminds me how much you can do with so little.

I find it depends a lot on the physics of the amp. One of my favourite sounds was a Germanium Fuzz Face into a reissue Marshall JTM45. The lowish headroom allows the fuzz to push the amp into natural overdrive, making sure to cut the bass to tame the "flubbiness" - the valve rectifier added to the spongieness too (I moved to a solid state rectififed brownface Concert to add extra edge and stiffness). The natural valve compression from the power amp stage stops any harsh volume spikes and allows you to dig in more. You can then ride the guitar volume to clean up as others have said.

Using just a fuzz into something with high headroom, such as a Twin, and the level is harder to control, as the signal doesn't clip, the extra volume causing huge spikes that can be hard to tame. The pay off is you get ripping fuzz at loud volume if done right, your hearing more pedal alone, rather than pedal pushing the amp's input and driving the output. A pre-amp such as a tape echo or even a good overdrive left always on too can help, working like an extra gain stage to soak up any harsh edges.

Another thing to try is this, players of old would often run fuzzes with the volume wide open, and the fuzz all the way down, using it as a crude boost, to add hair to their loud amps in the days before PA. Hendrix and Beck would do this. Sounds good and stops the fuzz being too squelchy and getting lost in the mix.