What would be a good old school fuzz for shoegaze

[Alex!]

I’m getting ready to buy a kit off of general guitar gadgets and I’m debating on the Tone bender mk2 kit or the Shin Ei fuzz and the Univox Superfuzz kit
What should I do?

[marqueemoon]

I feel like the MK2 Tone Bender would be better for playing chords.

[fuzzjunkie]

Are you looking to play melody or rhythm?

The Superfuzz would be fine for the octave fuzz melody lines that MBV used, but I think it falls apart as a rhythm fuzz.

Really none of the above as far as what most OG shoegaze bands used back in the day. That would have been Rat, HM-2, OD-2 or whatever the Boss Turbo-overdrive is called, and the occasional Tonebender. But not the Mk-2. It would have been a fuzz that leans towards distortion like the Mk-3 or a Tonebender Jumbo, or a distortion that leans towards fuzz like a Rat or MXR Distortion +.

The Shin Ei fuzz was something the Jesus and Mary Chain or Echo and the Bunnymen used, but I don’t recall it being popular with shoegazers even though both those bands were heavy influencers.

That’s the OG - late ‘80s early ‘90s bands though. Modern shoegazers seem to like the Superfuzz/Big Muff sounds.

I used a Roland Bee-Baa (Superfuzz variant) a Rat and a Colorsound Tonebender Jumbo back in the mid ‘90s. Today I like a Tonebender Mk-4 and a Colorsound Overdriver clone.

[Jan Deal]

Are you looking to play melody or rhythm?

...Modern shoegazers seem to like the Superfuzz/Big Muff sounds...

+1 for a Big Muff for rhythm.

[Alex!]

The Shin Ei fuzz was something the Jesus and Mary Chain or Echo and the Bunnymen used, but I don’t recall it being popular with shoegazers even though both those bands were heavy influencers.

I plan making music like Jesus and the Mary Chain as well I guess I can’t really say shoegaze if the stuff I’m making kinda lies more in the early grunge territory or experimental alt

[TagoMago]

The Shin-Ei was the first pedal I owned, in 1981. It was great for riffs (and uncontrollable feedback) but for chords it was just a mess of white noise. And uncontrollable feedback. Everybody I played with hated it

Owned a Superfuzz later and that was at least more versatile, and had a Tone Bender Mk II at one time as well. Neither were particularly shoegazey though.

Loads of the OG shoegaze folks used whatever they could find cheap, like used Boss pedals or Dod or EHX if they could find / afford them. The Rat pedals were everywhere for a while. They were great, totally useable and more versatile than folks gave them credit for. I had a Pro-Co one and it was ace.

Now I have a Maestro, and it's about as un-shoegazy as it comes. Sounds like dying batteries, but I love it.

Good luck with yr quest!

[TagoMago]

The Shin-Ei was the first pedal I owned, in 1981 (£8 from the classifieds ads in the local newspaper) - It was great for riffs (and uncontrollable feedback) but for chords it was just a mess of white noise. And uncontrollable feedback. Everybody I played with hated it

Owned a Superfuzz later and that was at least more versatile, and had a Tone Bender Mk II at one time as well. Neither were particularly shoegazey though.

Loads of the OG shoegaze folks used whatever they could find cheap, like used Boss pedals or Dod or EHX if they could find / afford them. The Rat pedals were everywhere for a while. They were great, totally useable and more versatile than folks gave them credit for. I had a Pro-Co one and it was ace.

Now I have a Maestro, and it's about as un-shoegazy as it comes. Sounds like dying batteries, but I love it.

Good luck with yr quest!

[TagoMago]

The Shin-Ei was the first pedal I owned, in 1981 (£8 from the classifieds ads in the local newspaper) - It was great for riffs (and uncontrollable feedback) but for chords it was just a mess of white noise. And uncontrollable feedback. Everybody I played with hated it

Owned a Superfuzz later and that was at least more versatile, and had a Tone Bender Mk II at one time as well. Neither were particularly shoegazey though.

Loads of the OG shoegaze folks used whatever they could find cheap, like used Boss pedals or Dod or EHX if they could find / afford them. The Rat pedals were everywhere for a while. They were great, totally useable and more versatile than folks gave them credit for. I had a Pro-Co one and it was ace.

Now I have a Maestro, and it's about as un-shoegazy as it comes. Sounds like dying batteries, but I love it.

Good luck with yr quest!

Try out some of the old Boss Overdrive-Sustainers or Turbo Distortions, or any of the Rat pedals you can find. Another good one might be the Guyatone OD-2 or their Fuzz variant. Those pedals aren't super roadworthy (or cheap anymore) but absolutely sound great, IMHO.

Bugger. I only meant to post once. I'm tireder than f***

[muffonrat]

Fuzzface with silicon transistors.

[MechaBulletBill]

fuzz face with bias control gives a lot of different textures
i think many more people should try the dizzy tone circuit. many various sounds and textures in that thing

[B.T.]

Lots of layering guitars, fuzz, distortion. I’d reach for a Big Muff to get in that ballpark.

[i love sharin foo]

There’s not much that couldn’t be accomplished with a Rat, Big Muff, and a Fuzz Face. I think those are 3 of the cheapest, easiest to use, and most widely available dirtboxes out there. All are great for chords as well as single note stuff.

[del]

There’s not much that couldn’t be accomplished with a Rat, Big Muff, and a Fuzz Face. I think those are 3 of the cheapest, easiest to use, and most widely available dirtboxes out there. All are great for chords as well as single note stuff.

It would be hard to give more succinct or on-point advice!

I think this could be the answer to a large portion of "what fuzz/distortion should I buy?" questions that have ever been posed!

[therizzla]

I really like my Barber Exacta fuzz, lots of useable tone shaping options.

[Alex!]

What about octave fuzz? Would that be a option?