FZ-3?

[Thisisricha]

Looking to buy a fuzz pedal... never had one and have read that the fz-3 by boss was pretty good. I like boss so I started looking for one and found a ton on ebay... I have no idea how much they are worth or if there are better options for a first fuzzer, if you have any opinions as always I would love to hear them! thanks you guys rock.

[k tone]

I like my EHX Little Big Muff Pi. Pretty classic fuzz sound. I have a Fuzz Face clone on the way for something different.

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Originally Posted by Thisisricha

Looking to buy a fuzz pedal... never had one and have read that the fz-3 by boss was pretty good. I like boss so I started looking for one and found a ton on ebay... I have no idea how much they are worth or if there are better options for a first fuzzer, if you have any opinions as always I would love to hear them! thanks you guys rock.

I LOVE FUZZ . . .


. . . i have many fuzz boxes, incl. the FZ-2 & FZ-3.


I would not get the FZ-3 as a first fuzz though. Just imho.
Saying that, it also depends what type of fuzz sound YOU want.

I bought my FZ-2 & FZ-3 for $80.00 each about 2 1/2 years ago, when they where jacked up, price wise, by an unexpected mini fuzz-boom.
I then paid $80.00 each in utter MINT cond.
I like them BOTH, but they are not my go-to fuzz boxes.

It really depends which fuzz tone(s) you are after.


I place them in these 5 generic cat's :


* Muff style
* Fuzz Face Style
* Tonebender style
* SuperFuzz style
* Maestro style
* Modern day style - both the FZ-2 & FZ-3 falls in this cat, because according to me, they are not based on any previously known vintage style circuits.

[don jon]

My favorite all around versatile fuzz is the Screaming Panda by Stomp Under Foot pedals. You can find them on the SUF website here: www.stompunderfoot.com/

These pedals are hand built with top notch components by Matt Pasquerella who is also a forum member. I own two of his fuzzes two of his muffs and his take on an 808. The Screaming Panda is probably the best all around fuzz he makes because of its versatility and its ability to combine well with any guitar/amp combo. It can go from barely noticeable grit, to a grinding crunch, to a smoother grungy fuzz, to blankets of thick wooly fuzz. I also love the way the circuit sounds so much that I leave it on quite often as a buffer/clean boost.

Just go check out his website and You Tube videos on the Screaming Panda. He offers MANY other fuzz/muff options. But for a single fuzz box that covers a lot of sonic territory beautifully and is not picky about style and other gear you use it with, the Screaming Panda is the perfect choice IMO. It's the white pedal in the pic.

[zombuswoof]

I love fuzz, too, but I was a little disappointed - thought it was Zappa related! :-)

[Uma Floresta]

Some FZ-3 mods:

http://www.freestompboxes.org/viewto...p=94650#p94650

[11 Gauge]

Originally Posted by Uma Floresta

Some FZ-3 mods:

http://www.freestompboxes.org/viewto...p=94650#p94650

And someone who saw the schematic of the FZ-3 in that thread remarked this:

"it looks like a fuzz face/tone bender design with BM tone control"

...With BM standing for Big Muff. This might actually make it a decent fuzz for someone just dabbling in them, and not really having a hard core jonesing for one classic circuit or another. And another advantage of the FZ-3 is that it uses buffered bypass, so you can insert it anywhere in your signal path and it should sound the same. Some designs such as a Fuzz Face require that they go first in the chain - your guitar's pickups actually load their low impedance inputs.

It might also be good to narrow down your specific desires, because different fuzzes are:

- mild
- severe
- buzzy
- smooth
- dynamic
- saturate early
- very rig dependent (i.e. single coils, clean amps, dirty amps, loud amps)
- virtually rig independent
- types with tone controls
- types with almost no controls
- types with octave functions that can't be switched off
- types with octave functions that can be switched off
- unusable with standard D.C. power
- performance fluctuates with temperature changes (germanium transistors)

....Since you're new to the world of fuzz, I'd concentrate on the features above that are appealing, and see what's available within your budget. Or start with the FZ-3 or some other dirt cheap deal that would at least serve as a frame of reference.

[11 Gauge]

Originally Posted by SirJackdeFuzz

* Modern day style - both the FZ-2 & FZ-3 falls in this cat, because according to me, they are not based on any previously known vintage style circuits.

This is not really accurate - they are a combination of existing fuzz type circuits.

...It's actually hard to find many fuzzes using transistors that are either purposefully or accidentally based on a previous design.

For a modern design, one might consider the Frantone Peach Fuzz. While it has been discontinued, there are other fuzzes that now copy it, the Dano Cool Cat Fuzz V1, being one of them. The Peach Fuzz uses op amps (IC chips) in place of transistors.