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ibmorjamn

ibmorjamn

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Anyone use a Fuzz face? If so how and why?
I ask because they seem to be buzy to me on the lower strings. Of course I am probably using it wrong.
 
I've tried, but like you I have had varied success with it, the variation ranged from "wow that was bad" to "that kinda sucked".
That's a rabbit hole I haven't really explored yet, but I'm interested too.
 
ibmorjamn said:
Anyone use a Fuzz face? If so how and why?
I ask because they seem to be buzy to me on the lower strings. Of course I am probably using it wrong.
Click to expand...
No you aren't using it wrong.
It does sound like poop.
If you want an effect from 1968 that sounds good: get a Rotovibe (Univibe).
It just goes to show that people will buy anything, based on advertising hype.
 
I think I did use it wrong.
I had to start with a clean amp.
That thing is bad azz with single coils 2nd position.To bad it's out of tune. Cheap guitar. Just tune it but I usually drop the high strings a touch just enough to make triads work. It tends to not work on open cords as well.
 
ibmorjamn said:
I think I did use it wrong.
I had to start with a clean amp.
That thing is bad azz with single coils 2nd position.To bad it's out of tune. Cheap guitar. Just tune it but I usually drop the high strings a touch just enough to make triads work. It tends to not work on open cords as well.
Click to expand...
I'm on my phone, but that sounded good.
 
ibmorjamn said:
I think I did use it wrong.
I had to start with a clean amp.
That thing is bad azz with single coils 2nd position.To bad it's out of tune. Cheap guitar. Just tune it but I usually drop the high strings a touch just enough to make triads work. It tends to not work on open cords as well.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Fuzz Face seems to work best with a clean amp, or right on the edge of breakup.

I have a Boss Waza fuzz now and I find that it works best in the modern mode into a crunchy but not-too-gained-out amp. It does a really great Stoner Rock tone like that.
 
gball said:
Agreed. Fuzz Face seems to work best with a clean amp, or right on the edge of breakup.

I have a Boss Waza fuzz now and I find that it works best in the modern mode into a crunchy but not-too-gained-out amp. It does a really great Stoner Rock tone like that.
Click to expand...
I have a super fuzz which is a clone of the original Boss fuzz. I'm gonna try it out.
 
I imagine that you are talking about a germanium fuzz face. The thing is, all germanium fuzz face's (& other germanium fuzz pedals) are far from equal. It's just the nature of germanium transistors. It is said that famous users like Hendrix would go to stores & try literally as many as possible in order to find the few "good" sounding examples. It is possible to "tune" the circuitry, but that's a whole 'nother rabbit hole. As has been said, they do seem to prefer single coils & respond well to the guitars volume control. Especially with humbuckers, they sound better with the guitar's volume backed off at least a little (as many germanium fuzz's do).
Hendrix would set the fuzz control very low & the level control high (or maxed), though YMMV. Cheers
 
ivan H said:
I imagine that you are talking about a germanium fuzz face. The thing is, all germanium fuzz face's (& other germanium fuzz pedals) are far from equal. It's just the nature of germanium transistors. It is said that famous users like Hendrix would go to stores & try literally as many as possible in order to find the few "good" sounding examples. It is possible to "tune" the circuitry, but that's a whole 'nother rabbit hole. As has been said, they do seem to prefer single coils & respond well to the guitars volume control. Especially with humbuckers, they sound better with the guitar's volume backed off at least a little (as many germanium fuzz's do).
Hendrix would set the fuzz control very low & the level control high (or maxed), though YMMV. Cheers
Click to expand...
I mostly have HH setups with 1 guitar that can split coil and my Jackson which is HSS.
So would those two guitars sound better?
 
ivan H said:
I imagine that you are talking about a germanium fuzz face. The thing is, all germanium fuzz face's (& other germanium fuzz pedals) are far from equal. It's just the nature of germanium transistors. It is said that famous users like Hendrix would go to stores & try literally as many as possible in order to find the few "good" sounding examples. It is possible to "tune" the circuitry, but that's a whole 'nother rabbit hole. As has been said, they do seem to prefer single coils & respond well to the guitars volume control. Especially with humbuckers, they sound better with the guitar's volume backed off at least a little (as many germanium fuzz's do).
Hendrix would set the fuzz control very low & the level control high (or maxed), though YMMV. Cheers
Click to expand...
The guy I work with builds these in Portland.
This one is not Germanium, it is silicon.
He also builds a tone bender/treble booster. I believe he uses Germaniums on those. I am going to try yo get my hands on one to try.
Interesting read here:
reverb.com

Germanium vs. Silicon

reverb.com reverb.com
 
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For me, the beauty of a classic FuzzFace is that amazing cleanup when you roll back, those iconic semicleans.
It dates from an era before amps had a lot of gain available - long before master volume knobs.
Hendrix had pretty clean preamp tone by modern standards.
In those days you got sustain (and a bit more breakup) by virtue of playing really loud.
And by using either a fuzzbox or a treble booster.

Through a cleaner amp the FF is just epic. Through any gained-up amp it's likely to sound buzzy and/or tubby.
Kinda the opposite of a TubeScreamer, which was designed for amps that're already breaking up.
People who try a TS out through a clean amp often say, "I don't get what all the fuss is about."
The real TS magic only heppens goosing an amp that's already cooking to begin with.

PS: According to Roger Mayer, Jimi switched to silicon fuzzes as soon as they became available.
In those days Ge pedals could vary a lot from one to another, and also got weird whenever their temperature changed.
 
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