Really vintagey fuzz...on a budget?

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Fac 50
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Really vintagey fuzz...on a budget?

Post by Fac 50 » Wed Mar 31, 2010 4:51 am

Anyone have any recommendations for a 60's sounding fuzz that gets that really nasal honk that you'll find on lots of british and american psych and garag recds. I'm thinking Yardbirds (Heart Full Of Soul), Electric Prunes (Too Much To Dream), Satisfaction etc. I'm not interested in big woolly fat fuzz, more nasal and reedy, but tameable so it's not too harsh. Is there a pedal out there than can get close for not more than £100-120 UKP? Thanks!!

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Re: Really vintagey fuzz...on a budget?

Post by PorkyPrimeCut » Wed Mar 31, 2010 6:33 am

BYOC 2 Knob ToneBender perhaps?

I've got one. It sounds ace!
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Re: Really vintagey fuzz...on a budget?

Post by Shane110111 » Wed Mar 31, 2010 6:44 am

You can't get more garage-y than one of these, and it's in the right price range. Dew it!
http://ashbass.com/Library/FUZZbrite/index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Re: Really vintagey fuzz...on a budget?

Post by Superfuzz » Wed Mar 31, 2010 7:21 am

if you have some friend wich is good enough at DIY you can pic a GGG shin-ei FY2 clone..

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Re: Really vintagey fuzz...on a budget?

Post by Sonic » Wed Mar 31, 2010 7:43 am

The Behringer Vintage Distortion, is a cheap really good big muff nock-off, and if you have the ability to mod it into true bypass (cause the build in bypass sukcs a lot of tone), it would defenelty be a pedal you should consider buying. I bought mine at a music store for 35$, you can probably get it even cheaper on the net.

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Re: Really vintagey fuzz...on a budget?

Post by shadowplay » Wed Mar 31, 2010 7:53 am

There's that guy at Burford Electronics, I've not tried his Fuzz pedals but I know someone with a ring mod who swears by it (rather than at it).

D
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Re: Really vintagey fuzz...on a budget?

Post by StevenO » Wed Mar 31, 2010 7:55 am

The MK II Tonebender seems like it'd be good for you. If it's too harsh and sputtery, you may like the MK III Tonebender.

Check out the clips of the Britbenders (2 knob and 3 knob versions) here:
http://www.mjmguitarfx.com/soundfiles.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Re: Really vintagey fuzz...on a budget?

Post by devnulljp » Wed Mar 31, 2010 8:36 am

nah! He said Satisfaction, garagey and honky. None of those are tone benders, especially not a MkII, which is socks down the front of tight jeans cockrock rockstar territory. You wants a Maestro FZ-1 or maybe a Fuzzrite for that. (OK, Yardbirds, you want a MkI Tone Bender, which is similar to the FZ-1 but with more sustain and a lot more balls to it).

On a budget? Ashbass is a cheap Fuzzrite clone, or build your own. I hear the Mahoney Fuzzrite is good, but he's run out of enclosures so he's selling the populated boards on ebay for $15 -- just add a box, jacks and pots (but he won't ship outside the US, so fuck him I say!)
The only Maestro clones I can think of offhand are the Creepy Fingers Fuzz Nugget, which is $200+, and Ian Sherwenmakes one. I bet John Lyons would build you one if you asked though. Mary Kelly too probably.
MkI? Can't think of any cheap clones; they're hard to build right too apparently -- DAM 1965 (ha!), Skinpimp, Lumpy, jerms (this is my favourite fuzz), Paisley, Montgomery, Ian Sherwen/Ghost/Happy Robot ... none of those is "budget" (Although Ian just sold a prototype for $75 on ebay I should have snagged).

EDIT: YOU said UK and GBP1~200 -- drop Ian Sherwen a note. He'll do you up a good un.
http://www.happyrobotmusic.co.uk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://happyrobotmusic.blogspot.com/2010/03/fz-1.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Image

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Re: Really vintagey fuzz...on a budget?

Post by skip » Wed Mar 31, 2010 10:45 am

foxx tone machine? they sell clones of them too
i like the tonebenders a lot
I'm glad there are a lot of guitar players pursuing technique as diligently as they possibly can, it leaves this whole other area open to people like me.
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Re: Really vintagey fuzz...on a budget?

Post by bipedal » Wed Mar 31, 2010 11:26 am

Build yourself a Fuzz Face. Seriously. From scratch, it easily could be done for less than $40, and you could tweak to match your needs.

Lots of great how-to information online, and the fuzz face consists of maybe a dozen components max. Germanium transistors are a bit more expensive, but more vintagey sounding than silicon transistors. This article is a great overview of the circuit; some technical info may be beyond what you need/want, but there's great fundamentals about it too. (Scroll down, you'll see the ToneBender mentioned too. Almost the same thing!)

Easy circuit to mod -- for example, lots of FFs are pretty bassy, but decreasing the value of the input and/or output capacitors will dial back the low end.

It's a fun project -- good entry to DIY.

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Re: Really vintagey fuzz...on a budget?

Post by skip » Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:35 pm

Shane110111 wrote:You can't get more garage-y than one of these, and it's in the right price range. Dew it!
http://ashbass.com/Library/FUZZbrite/index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
these things sound great me thinks
I'm glad there are a lot of guitar players pursuing technique as diligently as they possibly can, it leaves this whole other area open to people like me.
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Re: Really vintagey fuzz...on a budget?

Post by devnulljp » Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:39 pm

Guys, he said …
Fac 50 wrote:Anyone have any recommendations for a 60's sounding fuzz that gets that really nasal honk that you'll find on lots of british and american psych and garag recds. I'm thinking Yardbirds (Heart Full Of Soul), Electric Prunes (Too Much To Dream), Satisfaction etc. I'm not interested in big woolly fat fuzz, more nasal and reedy, but tameable so it's not too harsh. Is there a pedal out there than can get close for not more than £100-120 UKP? Thanks!!
That’s not a Foxx Tone Machine, not a Tone Bender MkII or III, not a Fuzz Face. (Not a muff either before someone mentions it).
Heart full of Soul is a Tone Bender MkI
Satisfaction is a Maestro FZ-1
I’m pretty sure the Electric Prunes used a Maestro as well.
Those are your best bets: TB MkI, Maestro, Fuzzrite.

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Re: Really vintagey fuzz...on a budget?

Post by comtrails70 » Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:45 pm

musikding.de in germany has a silicon fuzz for 17EUR and a Germanium for 23 EUR i think.boxes and knobs extra(kobs are expensive there).its a fairly easy build if you have the basic tools.you can also switch out the transistors later for other ones to fit your tastes.i built the germanium and like it alot ecxept that it wont work with a regular boss/onespot style power supply.bansai.de in berlin might have kits too.

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Re: Really vintagey fuzz...on a budget?

Post by StevenO » Wed Mar 31, 2010 1:37 pm

devnulljp wrote:Guys, he said …
Fac 50 wrote:Anyone have any recommendations for a 60's sounding fuzz that gets that really nasal honk that you'll find on lots of british and american psych and garag recds. I'm thinking Yardbirds (Heart Full Of Soul), Electric Prunes (Too Much To Dream), Satisfaction etc. I'm not interested in big woolly fat fuzz, more nasal and reedy, but tameable so it's not too harsh. Is there a pedal out there than can get close for not more than £100-120 UKP? Thanks!!
That’s not a Foxx Tone Machine, not a Tone Bender MkII or III, not a Fuzz Face. (Not a muff either before someone mentions it).
Heart full of Soul is a Tone Bender MkI
Satisfaction is a Maestro FZ-1
I’m pretty sure the Electric Prunes used a Maestro as well.
Those are your best bets: TB MkI, Maestro, Fuzzrite.
Maybe he should try a big muff? ;)

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Re: Really vintagey fuzz...on a budget?

Post by Johno » Thu Apr 01, 2010 3:54 am

comtrails70 wrote:musikding.de in germany has a silicon fuzz for 17EUR and a Germanium for 23 EUR i think.boxes and knobs extra(kobs are expensive there).its a fairly easy build if you have the basic tools.you can also switch out the transistors later for other ones to fit your tastes.i built the germanium and like it alot ecxept that it wont work with a regular boss/onespot style power supply.bansai.de in berlin might have kits too.
This, you could build a few different fuzz pedals from their list & still have change from £100

http://www.musikding.de/index.php/cat/c ... -Kits.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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