Your favorite tele fuzz?

I know this may be in the wrong forum, but I really wanted the opinions of all'round tele players on their favorite wool box (heh), not a great deal of stomp box aristocrat opinions on the merits of germanium transistor polarity. Not that that's not fun, but lets just hear what your favorite tele fuzz is and why.

Currently I use a NY big muff pi with my highway 1 tele into a Peavey classic 30 and I love the sound its not to fuzzy but it offers a thick creamy fuzz I know it doesnt sound like the old rams heads but I love the tone its just classic.

nyc reissue big muff/fender blender reissue/proco rat vintage reissue all with a few mods into a vox ac4tv combo

lots of fun :D

big muff + fender blender + neck pickup = jackhammering your ear and tons of sustain but no chording allowed unless you only want to hear mush

muff+rat = can get some nice heavy palm muting, plays nice with chords

i love the big muff

Sunface NKT 275

Oh, I do like the Big Muff Russian with my tele. . .just velvety fuzz, crushed velvety fuzz. Tried lots of others, but nothing else I like better. .

My favorite all around fuzzes are the Frantone Peachfuzz which covers light to heavy fuzz needs and always has plenty of bass and the Prescription Experience which covers octave and normal fuzz sounds and has a bit of ring mod whackiness in either normal or octave modes to keep things interesting.

PJ

I like this and this....she builds my favorite units around, hand made by the lady herself in Portland.

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I have a bunch of OD pedals and gas'd for this for a while. To be real truthful it suits higher output p/u's better - I have a CIJ 52 RI with TexMex pickups which do it justice.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v157/HootieGB/FF02.jpg

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I bought a fuzz face clone on ebay about a year ago. I never really got along with it after trying it out for a few weeks. To industrial sounding for my taste. I put it away until about two weeks ago. I found a small bag of parts that came with the pedal. Inside the bag were two trim pot diodes (I guess you call them) with three legs. I took out the two large ones and replaced them with two smaller ones. Plugged the pedal in and WHOA! It was a lush, warm, Early ZZ Top, Beano, 60's fuzz tone.

Now I can't find any information on the maker, but its a DIY box. It had a demo on youtube when I bought, but I can't find it anymore. Now I really like the fuzz tone once in awhile and switch out my phase pedal for the fuzz when I'm in the mood.

I realize this post is useless without sound clip.

I picked up a used Seymour Duncan Tweak Fuzz at my local guitar center last year, practically on a whim. And I couldn't be happier. Dial the tweak low and you can get a clean'ish grit, and dial the tweak high and it's all out sustained fuzz o'rama.

I usually keep the tweak on "3" position and the gain about 2 or 3 o'clock. That setting is good for playing Yo La Tengo's take on the Beach Boys "Little Honda".

I went through a long and painful (for the shop owner) test of more than 10 fuzz pedal to come to the conclusion that AC/DC, Yardbirds, Zeppelin, Sabbath and all the "early fuzz years" tones can be achieved with this pedal:

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The clip doesn't do it justice. The sputter knob it the key and it gets you where you need to be.
The "wrath" knob and button are useless to me (continuous noise) but for some stuff it might be appropriate.

Currently I'm running D*A*Ms for my Fuzz needs, excellent hand made British Fuzz boxes.

I use one of their Tonebender Clones called the Proffessional MKII that is a three Germanium transistor Fuzz. It does that classic heavy british fuzz tone. Think early Led Zepplin, I'm sure that there is a lot of Tonebender on those recordings.

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I also have one of their Fuzz Face types called the Drag'n'Fly that is a modern hybrid Germanium and Silicon transistor Fuzz. It falls more into the Hendrix fuzzy stuff and can be turned into an overdrive by varying the volume control on your guitar.

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That covers my Tonebender and Fuzz-Face bases, but still leaves me looking for a Mosrite (on the waiting list for a D*A*M Fuzz-Rong) for Ventures stuff and the Super-Fuzz type. Anyone have any suggestions about a good Super-Fuzz sounding pedal?

Pro Co Rat, an old one, a Big Muff Pi. Both sound awesome in there own way.

The MKII Tonebender is my favorite fuzz by far. I went with a Sweet Sounds ProBender MKII, which sounds...sweet!

....she builds my favorite units around, hand made by the lady herself in Portland.

I thought that the guy who builds the "Great Destroyer" pedal is handling all of the Devi Ever builds now. I could be mistaken, though.

Someone was complaining of poor solder joints and stuff wrapped in electrical tape. Apparently that is the calling card of this particular builder (is it Dwarfcraft or something like that?).

I will admit that I appreciate Devi's tenacity for all things fuzz, even if some of them are waaaayyyy out there. There was some analysis of one of her pedals that used a joystick mechanism in regards to it's effectiveness, and even Devi herself commented that it was a bit of a compromise to get it to function okay.

...And Devi was the one OTR stating that someone else builds the pedals now. Like I said, it could have been awhile ago though (things change so fast in the world of pedals).

But back to the OP - i REALLY like a good SILICON fuzz that has some germanium properties to it, like a 65/35 split. The gain and bandwidth of germanium are a touch too timid for my tastes, and 1:1 silicon Fuzz Faces and the like create too much ear fatigue. Besides, there's better choices than the BC108, IMO.

I don't like messing with PNP/obsolete/temperature dependent/potentially leaky transistors. Typically, the critical tranny with the FF/TB is the FINAL one. The Joe Gagan Easy Face is a nice hybrid compromise, but newer "soft silicon" fuzzers with a low gain epitaxial for Q2 or Q3 is sweeeeeeet!

I use a Yardbox 'cuz it sounds a lot like a Yardbirds record.

I love my Devi Ever Aenima Murderdeathkill fuzz.

I thought that the guy who builds the "Great Destroyer" pedal is handling all of the Devi Ever builds now. I could be mistaken, though.

Someone was complaining of poor solder joints and stuff wrapped in electrical tape. Apparently that is the calling card of this particular builder (is it Dwarfcraft or something like that?).

I will admit that I appreciate Devi's tenacity for all things fuzz, even if some of them are waaaayyyy out there. There was some analysis of one of her pedals that used a joystick mechanism in regards to it's effectiveness, and even Devi herself commented that it was a bit of a compromise to get it to function okay.

...And Devi was the one OTR stating that someone else builds the pedals now. Like I said, it could have been awhile ago though (things change so fast in the world of pedals).

But back to the OP - i REALLY like a good SILICON fuzz that has some germanium properties to it, like a 65/35 split. The gain and bandwidth of germanium are a touch too timid for my tastes, and 1:1 silicon Fuzz Faces and the like create too much ear fatigue. Besides, there's better choices than the BC108, IMO.

I don't like messing with PNP/obsolete/temperature dependent/potentially leaky transistors. Typically, the critical tranny with the FF/TB is the FINAL one. The Joe Gagan Easy Face is a nice hybrid compromise, but newer "soft silicon" fuzzers with a low gain epitaxial for Q2 or Q3 is sweeeeeeet!

Dwarfcraft builds the Manglers but the other Single and Double pedals are still hand built by her and some trusty assistant. Apparently she stated that she had gotten tired of building the joystick boxes.

Just got a Devi Ever Ruby. Haven't tried it much yet. I'm also interested in a Fuzzy Lady. Some nice tones on the website. My standard is a Fulltone '70. I think it's got a nice middle-of-the-road fuzz sound for some chunky rhythm. The question with fuzz is always how much is too much which I think makes a great case for something like the Fuzz Factory that gives quite a few options.

the other Single and Double pedals are still hand built by her and some trusty assistant.

That's great to hear. I know that a lot of users don't care much, but I like when someone who offers something different doesn't hand the production over to someone else, or shifts a hand built design over to quasi mass production.

I really appreciate her bravery with trying something different.

Apparently she stated that she had gotten tired of building the joystick boxes.

I seem to recall an issue of finding any more joystick mechanisms - I thought she bought a ton of surplus, and used them up.

That's great to hear. I know that a lot of users don't care much, but I like when someone who offers something different doesn't hand the production over to someone else, or shifts a hand built design over to quasi mass production.

I really appreciate her bravery with trying something different.



I seem to recall an issue of finding any more joystick mechanisms - I thought she bought a ton of surplus, and used them up.

She still has the joystick mechanisms available for sale as DIY mod kits...something like 70 left. From what I gather, she is making moves to expand her designs ands business in some pretty exciting directions. Right now she is the only one assembling her output (outside of the Mangler?, I suppose).
People like Devi and 11 gauge, who make their stuff by hand and obviously put a lot of care into their stuff...I find it amazing that they are also willing to show you how they work,and how to help yourself expand knowledge and capacity to build...just plain generous with their time and ideas. You guys kick a$$!:grin:

I find it amazing that they are also willing to show you how they work,and how to help yourself expand knowledge and capacity to build...just plain generous with their time and ideas. You guys kick a$$!:grin:

I think it's long overdue, personally.

There's lots of folks who will show you the ins and outs of guitar design, like how to make the classic Tele bridge work better, for instance (or how to consistently wind pickups to get a certain "classic" sound). Better setup, stainless frets, etc.

There's lots of folks building amps that are twists on classic designs, and many of them share, as well (at least certain aspects of it).

So why not pedals, too? And I don't mean writing a book (although that can be done, too!). I think that part of the "problem" is that even a hand built pedal (in many instances) is still relatively cheap compared to hand wound pickups, hand built guitars, and hand built amps. It requires a bit of bravery (or maybe it's just a lack of business sense) to set that aside.

Either way, I enjoy sharing, and I appreciate that I'm not the only one.

Who knows if it's my *favorite*, but I need to mention the Wilson 4-knob (now the 5-knob) fuzz. I've tried many-a highly-touted boutiquer fuzz, modded fuzzes, and otherwise....this fuzz is absolutely impressive and a fuzz in the truest definition.

Plum Crazy Fuzzy Lady

Stonebender......Led Zep style fuzz (I love my Sunface too but the Throbak is edging it at the moment.)

Burford Britt Face

Has both Germanium and Silicon transistors via a blend knob.
And a 'Voice' knob which can add a lot of thick bottom end.
Huge variety of tones from warm vintage 'overdrive' to all-out ringy fuzz.

great stuff.

Also have a Double Muff and a Big Muff Pi
Dont use the Big Muff so often, only when I have Gilmour-esque craving and goose it with an OD.

Double Muff is my daily pleasure - it is nothing like a Big Muff at all - more like a vintage OD.
It cleans up so dramatically, I have it in the chain always, usually by itself. Most of the time with the guitar vol rolled back a third or so, where it not adding any noticable fuzz/OD tones unless I dig in, until a quick twist up of the guitar vol knob, and .. whoa .. it kicks off like a crazy thing.

Whatever Norman Greenbaum used...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59pdUzOwipM&feature=related

I'm not a major fuzz guy but I really like the sound out of the JHS Mini Foot Fuzz. Played a friends & now I'm Jonesing for one. It's not as thick as some most (which I like). I'm really excited to try out the JHS All American (pretty much a highly modded rat) for some of those OD type fuzz sounds.

My MIM Tele w/ Rio Grande Muy Grande pickups into my Fulltone Soul-Bender (or the Z.Vex Fuzz Factory if I want to conjure up some crazy fuzz.)

Who knows if it's my *favorite*, ........


The most honest Fuzz statement ever posted anywhere.

I love the combination of my Coffin Blood Drive and Behringer VD-1 but the Behringer is too big for my pedal board so I use a Little Big Muff instead. Doesn't sound as good as the VD-1 but it's close.

I had a VD1 that I got from a pawn shop for $5! Great pedal actually. I agree about size tho, I gave mine to a slide player friend who just puts 1 or 2 pedal on top of his amp & engages them by hand. He loves it & uses all the time for fuzzy sustaining slide stuff & it sounds incredible!!

Greer Black Fuzz... more snarl than wool:

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Hey Nub - liking that Greer.

Seems like a great 'OD' style snarly, dynamic fuzz - especially liked it when rolled back a hair there.
You gave it some beans too ;)