What Fuzz you have so far?

In my life I have had:

Maestro Fuzz tone.
Jordan Boss Tone.
Arbiter Fuzz Face.
Vox Tone Bender.

(all gone.)

I am looking at the Wampler Velvet Fuzz in case I build another board.
 
I use the apparently much maligned Boss FZ-5 which is a digital COSM pedal.
It has three different 'models' to play with but for my band I use the 'F' model (fuzz face) for a couple of songs and it sounds perfectly fine for what I need.

Here's Andy giving it a go.
BTW, Andy's AC15C1 video is what convinced me to purchase that amp. And this video made me think this pedal might be useful despite the negative reviews. It works fine!
 
Boss stuff is good for the most part. Sounds good, built tough and easily replaceable on the road.
What more do you want?
I still have my "all Boss" pedal board even though I built the 2 new ones. (Tuner OD Chorus Delay.)
 
Currently I have the following:

Analogman Sunface NKT275
Analogman Sunface 2SB
Analogman Sunbender
Jim Dunlop Jimi Hendrix Fuzzface
Big Muff Pi
Custom fuzz pedal made by a friend of mine.

If I turn the drive knob all the way up on my Crowther Hotcake, it sounds pretty much like a fuzz too (but I never really do). I Mostly use the NKT275. It's fairly low gain but gives me all the juice I need at the moment. I'm thinking about selling the Big Muff and the Fuzzface. They are excellent pedals, but I just don't use them.

I sold a Fulltone 69 and Soulbender recently.
 
Fuzzed that I currently have (all homebuilt) are an Octavia, which aside from the purple haze solo thing, I have found is good in front of an amp driving a talkbox. A tonebender Mk1 modified with a bias control on the 1st & 3rd transistor which makes it more than a one trick pony. A tonebender Mk2 (with OC75's), a Baldwin Burns Buzzaround which was, I believe, a Gary Hurst design & forerunner of the tonebenders mk 3 & 4. More aggressive sounding than the tonebenders & can go from vintage fuzz to almost a modern distortion. Also is quite gainy. Also the fuzz section of a Roland AD-50 double beat (fuzz wah), which is a savage sounding silicon job that produces a full on "wall of fuzz". Has 3 position frequency switch, high, mid or bass. Oh, I also have a tonebender mk1.5 with OC75 that I haven't got around to putting into an enclosure yet. I only keep one on my board so swap them around occasionally. I like fuzz but its like a wah, must be used sparingly, very sparingly. Cheers
 
I've got a mini germanium Fuzz Face (got it immediately after it was released), a Boss Fuzz 5 (not super great. One setting nails Satisfaction), a Little Muff (love that damn thing), a horrible Joyo fuzz (I should just chuck it).
I think I'd like a Fulltone 69. I've had other cheap fuzzes that all pretty much stunk.
 
What I don't understand with all the chatter about fuzzes on various forums/fora is that all the 'experts' proclaim that fuzz is a cheap circuit to make. If that is the case, then why do fuzz pedals cost so much?
I get it that R&D costs money as does marketing and pretty enclosures, but c'mon, surely nothing has really changed since the '60's with this effect so if they really are that cheap to make then a run of the mill, good sounding, no bells and whistles fuzz pedal should cost almost nothing to buy apparently.
:boobpoke:

Surely the most abundant and costly thing is the fresh air inside?:hide:
IMG_4572.JPG
 
83 blazer said:
What I don't understand with all the chatter about fuzzes on various forums/fora is that all the 'experts' proclaim that fuzz is a cheap circuit to make. If that is the case, then why do fuzz pedals cost so much?
I get it that R&D costs money as does marketing and pretty enclosures, but c'mon, surely nothing has really changed since the '60's with this effect so if they really are that cheap to make then a run of the mill, good sounding, no bells and whistles fuzz pedal should cost almost nothing to buy apparently.
:boobpoke:

Surely the most abundant and costly thing is the fresh air inside?:hide:
View attachment 4399
Click to expand...
Gee, who's a bit grumpy today? :rolf:
 
With the vintage type fuzz's, I think that finding NOS germanium transistors that are suitable drives the price up. Different transistor types can "sound" very different. They also need to work together as a set in most fuzz circuits. Having built several I know how time consuming it can be to sit there with a heap of transistors that are in the right hfe & leakage range, auditioning them & taking notes of their performance in each transistor position, paying close attention to how they interact with the other transistors in the circuit. Some circuits aren't too hard (tonebender mk2, fuzz face), while others can be extremely difficult, like the Tonebender mk1. Spending the time to get it right though makes it all worthwhile. They're expensive because you're paying for the builder's time, & more importantly, experience in getting it right. Cheers
 
I have an MXR classic distortion that I traded two cheap guitar stands for. Didn't work when I got it home. All three pots were sheared clean from where they mounted to the circuit board. They couldn't be saved and I couldn't find any on the web, so I contacted MXR. They said they'd send me new ones for free and asked for my address (mighty cool of MXR/Dunlop). I gave them my address, still waiting on the pots, but if they make it in I'll try to do a before/during/after thing with it. To be honest I don't know if it'll even work with new pots - lol.

UPDATE...................................

The free pots from MXR/Dunlop came in today. Very cool of Dunlop for sure. I've got 'em installed and all is working fine. I even had a power supply that works with it. Here are a couple pics for the hey of it:

Old and New Pots - notice the old pots missing their lugs
MXR Old & New Pots.jpg
New Pots Installed
MXR New Pots Installed.jpg
All back together
MXR All Together.jpg
I know, exciting right...
 
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