Trying to decide on another fuzz (silicon)

Yes, another fuzz thread :lol:

I already have a Russian Big muff for smooth fuzz, an older version of the MJM Britbender (2 knob) for Germanium fuzz, but now i'm looking for a fuzz of the nastier, silicon variety. I'm considering:

Wattson Superfuzz
Fulltone 70
Swollen Pickle Jumbo Fuzz (MkII)

It's for mostly chord playing on single coils (bridge). Think Dinosaur Jr or the Stooges type thing. Oddly, i kind of like the fuzz face preset on my POD 2.0. It has an insane buzz to it. I liked the Dunlop Hendrix Fuzzface sound, but i don't like the fact it's battery only, huge and the I/Os are the old (wrong) way round (like my Russian Muff).

I can't test all pedals out, but i do find places like proguitarshop videos helpful. Any thoughts or recommendations appreciated. :razz:

I have the MXR Classic 108 Fuzz and love it to death. The buffer button eliminates the oscillation that sometimes occurs when you use fuzz and wah together. It's reasonably priced and sounds terrific.

It's also a much smaller footprint than the Fuzzface and isn't battery only.

I have a Tele and a Strat and it works well with both guitars.

If you like the darker and softer tones of the Russian Muff, you'll probably dig it as you turn up the wick, as well.

The Swollen Pickle is a cool pedal indeed, but is mainly chapter and verse Muff (higher gain variety). The tone stack has been exaggerated a bit more, but otherwise fairly similar. The MkII adds trimpots and minipots, but I don't think that they take the Muff circuit to a truly higher level - they just make it into a knob tweaker's dream - JMO.

Your best bet IMO would probably be a Muff with higher gain transistors. Since this is the equivalent of the Muff golden age, you're in luck. There are Muff kits for less than $100, they're very easy to build, and you can socket stuff to swap out different parts until you get a winner. Or you could buy a new Muff that you could tweak with some minimal changes.

I personally don't dig the 2 stage fuzzers that are silicon stuff based off the Fuzz Face. They're nasty alright, but at the expense of any sort of compromise of softer clipping. That endless ripping velcro sound can get old really fast. And with no tone knob, it can become a problem.

Another really cool fuzzer IMO is the Foxx Tone Machine. It has a few other charming characteristics or features. First, there is the obvious octave function. It is much more rude and fun than an Octavia, IMO. Second, it has a ton of gain like a Muff, so you can really crank up the rudeness. Third, it has a tone control. Fourth, even in non octave mode, you can get some great fuzz tones - very rude and cutting. Fifth, it has some interesting phase cancellation going on which makes it stand out. And finally, due to a quirk of it's circuit, it has a bit of an accidental "noise gate" in it's design. As you turn up the distortion, the peaks have a tendency to go more into total cutoff, and it mutes the pedal, preventing oscillations and other horrid noises. I love my FTM clone (Danelectro French Toast) so much that I'm hand building a proper clone to last me a lifetime.