French Fuzz Factory Killer : NITROGEN 21 !

[zhivago]

i'm sure these are all great pedals, but i'd rather have 3 spearate fuzzes and be able to have different sounds by just engaging them instead of tweaking settings on just one box between songs. anything with more than 3 knobs overburdens my brain completely.

I must say, I agree...three knobs must be the magic formula, all pedals on my board have three knobs or less

(EQ pedals exempted!)

[fuzzking]

(on stage)

"hey on to the next song!"

"no no wait i gotta adjust the q of this resonant filter for max impact in the upper registers when i play the bridge of the next tune ..."

"done?"

"no no wait has anyone seen my extended setlist with all the knobsettings?"

(thinking) "man i need expression pedals for all the parameters on these things, then i could change everything on the fly, wicked! or a midi controller ...")

"hey they're all leaving!"

(confused): "wut? we haven't even tuned yet!" (heading for the amp, adjusting the reverb...)

i once had a guitar player like that.

[Superfuzz]

(on stage)

"hey on to the next song!"

"no no wait i gotta adjust the q of this resonant filter for max impact in the upper registers when i play the bridge of the next tune ..."

"done?"

"no no wait has anyone seen my extended setlist with all the knobsettings?"

(thinking) "man i need expression pedals for all the parameters on these things, then i could change everything on the fly, wicked! or a midi controller ...")

"hey they're all leaving!"

(confused): "wut? we haven't even tuned yet!" (heading for the amp, adjusting the reverb...)

i once had a guitar player like that.

Yeah! I agree those things are more a toy made for home playing rather than something made for real stage usage..All these knobs are so dangerous to me..think if you hit the gate knob while you're playing..

[ech0es]

so I sold them, and most other fuzzes I've owned.

So, maybe you're not a fuzz-guy, so why are you interested by this topic ?

the FF has lifetime warranty (which is better than three years), is also hand made, more knobs don't necessarily make a better pedal...interesting to hear that it might be an improved FF...have you got a schematic for it?

I agree: more knobs don't necessarily make a better pedal, but these knobs are really useable.
I guess it's an improved fuzz factory because the old version was a fuzz factory like.

I hear all sorts of claims of improved pedals, or clones of pedals and I hardly ever see schematics, that's the only reason I ask..there's always so much hype involved in pedal building (especially on forums like Harmony Central, where I was a regular for years)

If you want to see schematics of pedals, go on freestompboxes.org

The paintjob (which is a lot nicer on the FF) costs more to produce...if you like plainer looks, the Vexter is also available for pretty cheap - but then again you've made obvious you hate the FF

I loved the fuzz factory at the beginning...The vexter is not hand made and is not lifetime warranty, it's only a 2 year warranty.

which amps in particular though? Were they decent amps? or were they practice amps?

Tube amp for marshall & fender. You can't judge a fuzz pedal on a practice amp in my opinion.

how does this new pedal sound with a full band (competing with another guitar included?)

It sounds really nice. Compared with a big muff for example, which have scooped mids and you can't sound good with an other guitarist (smashing pumpkins syndrom, read the tablature book of mellon collie or siamese dream i don't remember but corgan tallked about that)
the tone on the N21 help you to place your sound according to the other guitarist (for example you play low register and he plays high register).

All these knobs are so dangerous to me..think if you hit the gate knob while you're playing..

You have more chance to hit the knobs on a fuzz factory than this. The FF is MXR-sized, the N21 use a 1590B enclosure.

[zhivago]

so I sold them, and most other fuzzes I've owned.

So, maybe you're not a fuzz-guy, so why are you interested by this topic ?

Just for encyclopedic purposes, nothing more..I found the title of the thread pretty adventurous, so I clicked it

I hear all sorts of claims of improved pedals, or clones of pedals and I hardly ever see schematics, that's the only reason I ask..there's always so much hype involved in pedal building (especially on forums like Harmony Central, where I was a regular for years)

If you want to see schematics of pedals, go on freestompboxes.org

is there a schematic of this new pedal on there? cool...I haven't been on that site for ages

The paintjob (which is a lot nicer on the FF) costs more to produce...if you like plainer looks, the Vexter is also available for pretty cheap - but then again you've made obvious you hate the FF

I loved the fuzz factory at the beginning...The vexter is not hand made and is not lifetime warranty, it's only a 2 year warranty.

Isn't the Vexter made by people, but abroad to keep the price down? I guess warranty-wise, we can't have everything if we want to pay the cheapest price...happens sometimes

how does this new pedal sound with a full band (competing with another guitar included?)

It sounds really nice. Compared with a big muff for example, which have scooped mids and you can't sound good with an other guitarist (smashing pumpkins syndrom, read the tablature book of mellon collie or siamese dream i don't remember but corgan tallked about that)
the tone on the N21 help you to place your sound according to the other guitarist (for example you play low register and he plays high register).

interesting...so it has an effective mids control?

[ech0es]

is there a schematic of this new pedal on there? cool...I haven't been on that site for ages

Not of this new pedal, but if you're in DIY kind of stuff, you can design your own fuzz pedal with your own needs.

Isn't the Vexter made by people, but abroad to keep the price down? I guess warranty-wise, we can't have everything if we want to pay the cheapest price...happens sometimes

Yes you can have everthing in my opinion with the N21: a hand made improved fuzz factory.
On the N21 you can find the fuzz factory typical sounds (stab feedback for example) but many others, thanks to the other knobs.

interesting...so it has an effective mids control?

Yes, the knobs tone, and texture are very helpful to design your own sound, more than any other fuzz pedal.

In addition,

- Protection from electronmagnetic pollution : radio etc... (just like cornish stompboxes)
- The creator use New Old Stock Germanium AC128 and keep only 20% of his stock, he keeps the better to build the N21.
- The transistors are matched (like analogman does.)

And the best: i put a whammy in front of it and it doesn't change the sound, germanium fuzz pedal sounds different with a buffered pedal in front of them, but the N21 sounds exactly identical.

[zhivago]

coolness, thanks for all the info

[peculmile]

I have try the devil inside which was the predecessor of the nitrogen, killer fuzz! A billion sound under the feet, hard to understand but in oneor two hours you begin to find some excellent sounds and it's done, you can't stop. Honestly i am not a fan of pedals that cost very much but in this one you have for what you pay.
And it's not a fuzz factory, it is more complet (the tone control is the big plus), even if you can have the same sound you'll have many more in this one. I have opened one and there is much more component.

[warreng]

i gotta go with zhivago on this one.

and yes three knobs four tops.