Fuzzy drive pedals that are not fuzz pedals

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elektrovac
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Re: Fuzzy drive pedals that are not fuzz pedals

Post by elektrovac » Tue May 26, 2020 10:43 pm

marqueemoon wrote:
Tue May 26, 2020 10:10 pm
I just watched the Double Standard demo.

Then I checked out the Wine & Roses.

Really like the germanium sound a lot on both, but the left side/stacking on the R&W is more to my taste. That and a clean boost would cover a lot of territory for me. Damn nice sounding pedal.
Thanks a lot :-)

The only difference between the left side at the Wine and Roses and the Double Standard is the opamp (LM308 in the W&R versus LM741 in the DS). Same difference at the germanium side (right), but at the DS I removed the extended low-end frequency response from this side because I found it could be a little muddy sounding. Personally I prefer the sound of the Double Standard. But then again, all these things depends so much on the guitar and amp you are using - and personal preference/taste.

Btw. the left side (Old Black Show) can easily be set-up as a clean boost, just dial the dirt control down. It's a very flexible pedal that sounds good at both subtle overdrive and big distortion settings

(Both circuits are evolutions of the MXR Distortion+, the LM741 being the "correct" opamp)
Last edited by elektrovac on Wed May 27, 2020 9:03 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: Fuzzy drive pedals that are not fuzz pedals

Post by Johno » Wed May 27, 2020 2:58 am

I like the end of the dial on MXR Dist + / Dod 250 for fuzzy overdrive.....
I'd also recommend the Deluxe Big Muff as it has loads of eq options.

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Re: Fuzzy drive pedals that are not fuzz pedals

Post by marqueemoon » Wed May 27, 2020 8:03 am

elektrovac wrote:
Tue May 26, 2020 10:43 pm
marqueemoon wrote:
Tue May 26, 2020 10:10 pm
I just watched the Double Standard demo.

Then I checked out the Wine & Roses.

Really like the germanium sound a lot on both, but the left side/stacking on the R&W is more to my taste. That and a clean boost would cover a lot of territory for me. Damn nice sounding pedal.
Thanks a lot :-)

The only difference between the left side at the Wine and Roses and the Double Standard is the opamp (LM308 in the W&R versus LM741 in the DS). Same difference at the germanium side (right), but at the DS I removed the extended low-end frequency response from this side because I found it could be a little muddy sounding. Personally I prefer the sound of the Double Standard. But then again, all these things depends so much on the guitar and amp you are using - and personal preference/taste.

Btw. the right side can easily be set-up as a clean boost, just dial the dirt control down. It's a very flexible pedal that sounds good at both subtle overdrive and big distortion settings

(Both circuits are evolutions of the MXR Distortion+, the LM741 being the "correct" opamp)
Cool. On closer listening I do slightly prefer the germanium side of the Double Standard. The Germanium Dirt is too much bass for me.

All really nice sounding in their way though. You’ve got great ears for this stuff.

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Re: Fuzzy drive pedals that are not fuzz pedals

Post by pj » Tue Aug 11, 2020 2:21 am

The Catalinbread Katzenkonig is distortion/fuzz/pocket fisherman all in one.

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Re: Fuzzy drive pedals that are not fuzz pedals

Post by stevejamsecono » Tue Aug 11, 2020 8:03 am

Glad to see this thread still goin'! The Rat ended up being the ticket for me after some experimentation, but all of these suggestions are great.
And you find out life isn't like that
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Re: Fuzzy drive pedals that are not fuzz pedals

Post by ElephantDNA » Tue Aug 11, 2020 8:25 am

sessylU wrote:
Thu May 21, 2020 3:40 pm
Another shout for Red Llama. Weird how it's fuzzy and harsh, but still hi-fi and clean sounding.

I suppose drive but not fuzz is what distortion is? That middle ground between the two.
Ha yeah Red Llama and Rat were my immediate thoughts as well. Good to hear it worked out!
DarnWeight wrote:
Fri May 22, 2020 1:16 am
Agree with the Red Llama all day. I use mine as a full-time low-gain fuzzy drive...never have the drive above about 9 or 10 o'clock. Great pedal.

The Mid Fi Demo Tape Fuzz is another good one. Definitely a drive/preamp rather than a fuzz, but which happens to go super fuzzy and blown out in the last 10% of the dial. The bass and treble controls are dialled in really well on this one too. Easy DIY build, and kits are readily available.
I actually picked up a clone of this Demo Tape fuzz off of reverb for $40. It has a very cool sound a little hard to explain in the context of other pedals. Fuzz that's really distortion is I guess one way to put it. I really like it, it's just not on the board right now because it doesn't quite fit with my current band. I have been using the DOD Classic Fuzz instead which is similar but more compressed sounding which is working better on our current stuff somehow. The name of that pedal really isn't accurate to what it does. Definitely more of a fizzy distortion than a true fuzz but heavily compressed which is working with some "stoner metal" type riffs we've been working on lately.

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Re: Fuzzy drive pedals that are not fuzz pedals

Post by mazzjaster » Mon Nov 30, 2020 3:08 am

Hudson Broadcast
Caroline Guitar Co. Haymaker

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Re: Fuzzy drive pedals that are not fuzz pedals

Post by s_mcsleazy » Mon Nov 30, 2020 4:47 am

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'Are you trying to seduce me Mrs Robinson? Or do you just want me to solder a couple of resistors into your Muff?'

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Re: Fuzzy drive pedals that are not fuzz pedals

Post by tune_link » Fri Dec 04, 2020 10:43 am

I think these qualify but more importantly this is a question for the board regarding the SSBS Mini and Fuck drives. Are these the same pedal? I watched a demo of the Fuck where it was demonstrated that it can do a super cool blown speaker/blown tube sound and I know the Mini is sort of a similar/based on the Fuck pedal but in a smaller enclosure. Anyone know if it can also do this same effect or if that's something specific to the Fuck. I know the Mini has a bias knob but I'm tempted to believe that won't do the full on chaos of what the Fuck's one sheet says it will do.

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Re: Fuzzy drive pedals that are not fuzz pedals

Post by shoule79 » Sat Dec 05, 2020 9:56 am

Can’t believe we’re 3 pages in and no one has mentioned the Bixonic Expandora/JHS Kilt. It goes from boost to spitty fuzz with the flip of a switch. The OD and regular distortion sounds can be really spitty on their own too.


Other than that, I like the DOD 250 too.

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Re: Fuzzy drive pedals that are not fuzz pedals

Post by HazBen » Wed Dec 16, 2020 9:00 pm

yo mentioned running through a cracked AC15 nd I think that's one of the things.
casecading or "stacking" stuff
like a fuzz face by itself is pretty thin and reedy...but it was designed at a time when it was sort of assumed you were getting some amp overdrive/tone which rounded it out


the ada app-1 can do some neat stuff with the bloom control so that might be an option, but I think you'd want to stack it.

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Re: Fuzzy drive pedals that are not fuzz pedals

Post by øøøøøøø » Thu Dec 17, 2020 8:00 pm

For years I kept it a secret but one of my favorites is the old Multivox Big Jam Distortion.

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Re: Fuzzy drive pedals that are not fuzz pedals

Post by Nick and the Noise » Fri Dec 18, 2020 7:38 am

EQD Grey Channel
Based on 2 DOD 250s in series with various clipping options. I like it's more bass focused that most overdrives, but I'd probably miss a tone knob.

JHS Crayon
Simulates a direct line-in setup which used to be a thing in studios. Very unique but can also sound a bit gnarly.

Fulltone '69
A good germanium fuzz face can sounds very overdrivey if you dial in the correct settings. The 69 is one of the better, more consistent ones.

Edit: I thought the forum crash deleted my last post but apparently not so there are my suggestions again...
Last edited by Nick and the Noise on Tue Jan 12, 2021 7:42 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Fuzzy drive pedals that are not fuzz pedals

Post by fuzzjunkie » Fri Dec 18, 2020 9:32 am

øøøøøøø wrote:
Thu Dec 17, 2020 8:00 pm
For years I kept it a secret but one of my favorites is the old Multivox Big Jam Distortion.
Ohhh that’s a good one! A friend used one back in the early to mid-90s until it died. He tried a couple of pedals suggested here to replace it, but eventually settled on an Ibanez Sonic Distortion, which hasn’t been mentioned yet.

The Ibanez Sonic Distortion is basically a gnarlier Tube Screamer. It sits somewhere between a low gain Rat and a Tube Screamer. I wouldn’t call it a fuzzy drive though, at least not my definition of one, but it’s a great underrated pedal that can add some nice crunchy goodness.

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Re: Fuzzy drive pedals that are not fuzz pedals

Post by Gavanti » Fri Dec 18, 2020 10:54 am

tune_link wrote:
Fri Dec 04, 2020 10:43 am
I think these qualify but more importantly this is a question for the board regarding the SSBS Mini and Fuck drives. Are these the same pedal? I watched a demo of the Fuck where it was demonstrated that it can do a super cool blown speaker/blown tube sound and I know the Mini is sort of a similar/based on the Fuck pedal but in a smaller enclosure. Anyone know if it can also do this same effect or if that's something specific to the Fuck. I know the Mini has a bias knob but I'm tempted to believe that won't do the full on chaos of what the Fuck's one sheet says it will do.
I've had both. Their core tone is really similar—the Fuck is a bit airier and the Mini a little tighter. Both respond well to pick dynamics, etc. The Fuck does the extremely broken thing and can get some really cool breakup textures at less extreme settings. The Mini has much wider eq control, and the bias knob provides its own range of sounds that the Fuck won't replicate. Because of its flexibility the Mini would be on my short list of dirt pedals if I could only have one.

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