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DasBeef
Gold Member
United Kingdom
704 Posts |
 Posted - 05/15/2009 : 11:13:47
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Thanks for all your replies.
I have my FZ-2 now, and have to say, on first play about with it, I'm not convinced. It sounds awful when I play chords in Fuzz modes 1 and 2. The boost mode sounds pretty good all round though.
So am I missing something here? Are chords not supposed to sound good? It also doesn't sound that good in the fuzz modes when I'm playing high up the neck either?
Anyone care to share their settings with me?
red_riviera - I shall be checking out that site! |
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MullyFX
Gold Member
Germany
753 Posts |
Posted - 05/15/2009 : 12:20:35
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| well Fuzzes are not really chord lovers.... the good ones are if you back of the volume though. |
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Laurie
Double Platinum Member
Canada
4854 Posts |
Posted - 05/15/2009 : 14:38:53
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quote:
Originally posted by DasBeef
Thanks for all your replies.
I have my FZ-2 now, and have to say, on first play about with it, I'm not convinced. It sounds awful when I play chords in Fuzz modes 1 and 2. The boost mode sounds pretty good all round though.
So am I missing something here? Are chords not supposed to sound good? It also doesn't sound that good in the fuzz modes when I'm playing high up the neck either?
Anyone care to share their settings with me?
red_riviera - I shall be checking out that site!
That's interesting... I spent a while playing with mine before storing it and it likes chords OK. Can't recall the settings though. What pickups/guitar are you using - makes a difference to fuzz. Mine seems to like my strat. |
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Sixbladeknife
Bronze Member
69 Posts |
Posted - 05/16/2009 : 09:36:26
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quote:
Originally posted by MullyFX
well Fuzzes are not really chord lovers.... the good ones are if you back of the volume though.
Fuzzfaces, specifically germanium, clean up really well and can cop some great overdrive sounds/handle chords like a champ- listen to some old/early Jimi for proof. Tonebenders can also, but won't get sparkly clean like a fuzzface. Forget about Big Muffs w/ complex chords, won't clean up well at all... |
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strat714
Silver Member
USA
156 Posts |
Posted - 05/22/2009 : 16:04:16
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| Foxx Fuzz Wah Volume pedal of the 70's. These are actually fuzzy (red or blue material) and can sound really good, but differ quite a bit from one to the next. I had one long ago and used an EH booster (LPB-1) in front of it to get a real screaming devil boogie woman sixties tone. |
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DasBeef
Gold Member
United Kingdom
704 Posts |
Posted - 05/25/2009 : 02:25:23
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quote:
Originally posted by The_Doc
DB - I second what Dr.Bob said about the boost mode on the FZ-2 - caught me out at a rehearsal and nearly took our bass players head off - he happened to be closest to my amp at the time - be careful - could be a speaker shredder or a bass player deafener!
Just thinking - what guitar and amp set up are you using? If you could let us know, I could try and replicate it and try out a few of my fuzzes with it for you. Happy to jot down a few mini-reviews.
Got the Britt Face plugged into a Line6 Guitar Port as we speak and an Explorer with high output pickups in my hands. I think I might have been a bit harsh with my previous post - right now it sounds the dogs b's with Fuzz on about 3 o'clock, Voice on the same and Level at about 4 o'clock. Winding the Voice back to 7 o'clock is sounding really dirty - just how I like it! Foxy Lady sounds pretty well as it should! 
How does the Britt Face handle chords? |
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The_Doc
Gold Member
United Kingdom
509 Posts |
Posted - 05/26/2009 : 22:42:36
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DasBeef – a summary of our off-forum fuzzy deliberations for the forum members  . The Britt Face:-
I do like the way it handles chords with humbuckers, although I do get best results by backing off the volume. As you use a strat, I've tried to replicate your set up with a modelling amp using a Vox AC30 sim through an 8" speaker. I used my relic strat (the one that's my avatar) and the Britt Face set up with: Fuzz on about 3 o'clock, voice on the same and level at around 4 (as per the post). Back pu on the strat, vol & tone both on full.
I've put a couple of mp3s together so that you can hear the results – simple muted chords and strummed chords against a slowish drum loop, so that you can here the difference. The Britt Face is definitely not as aggressive and in your face as many fuzzes I've heard but it can get pretty gutsy and tight if set up properly. I have found it good for riffing - that's what I was thinking about in the thread - I was just mucking around, hit record and was happy with the results - a crap version of Foxy Lady but an accurate tone I thought. Here is the link to the files (thanks again for the uploading advice DB  ):
http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=c02eab47f37d74826b21be4093fab7accae38473a0776597ce018c8114394287 |
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FRANZONI
Double Platinum Member
Ireland
3543 Posts |
Posted - 05/27/2009 : 01:05:56
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Listen to eric Johnson or early Clapton with Cream ...they get some great chord sounds with fuzzfaces although they use them into a marshall thats already starting to break up..your amp and speakers play a big part in the end result i think...a lot of people go on about the type of valves in the amp but i think speakers play an equally important part....
P.S in case your wondering the relevance of the fuzzface...i read somewhere that Boss based the FZ-3(and possibly the FZ-2)on the silicon fuzzface sound... |
Edited by - FRANZONI on 05/27/2009 01:06:27 |
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DasBeef
Gold Member
United Kingdom
704 Posts |
Posted - 05/27/2009 : 17:05:05
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Cheers again for all your responses. Extra kudos to The_Doc for 'above and beyond the call of duty' advice and effort. It's much appreciated.
I am really quite impressed with the Britt Face. Shall now be mulling over whether or not I'm going to go for one.....
I shall keep you all posted. |
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Dr. Bob
Moderator
Australia
6593 Posts |
Posted - 05/27/2009 : 18:13:54
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Hi The_Doc
Nice sound clips, & playing.
I might have to ask you for some internal pics of that pedal? 
Regards Dr. Bob. |
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FRANZONI
Double Platinum Member
Ireland
3543 Posts |
Posted - 05/27/2009 : 18:42:19
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| That brittface sounds great........nice playing Doc....let me know the next time your in Dublin and we will try organise a jam plus this..... |
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The_Doc
Gold Member
United Kingdom
509 Posts |
Posted - 05/28/2009 : 19:23:20
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Thanks for your comments on my noodlings guys - much appreciated 
In the spirit of this fuzzy thread, I thought you might be interested in my collection of fuzz. DasBeef inspired me to put this list together and I've added a one-liner for each of them - just to give you a flavour of what I thought of each one, when I last used it. These are just my simple thoughts and will probably change the next time I fire one up but this is what my guts tell me right now.
This is a reflection of a seriously mis-spent youth, life-long bad GAS and far too many mates in the music biz willing to offload pedals to me and, oh, discovering ebay! 
Thanks again to DasBeef - I've now got the capability to upload sound clips and stuff and I'll try to get more material on there over time - probably a long time! (then I'll do the same for overdrives, distortions, wahs and the rest of it..)
For now, hope you find my ramblings of interest...
Boss - FZ-2 (see forum), FZ-3 (see forum) & FZ-5 (ugh...)
MXR - JH-2S Classic Fuzz (Fuzz Face clone - ok and useful tones if you work at it with this pedal)
DOD - Classic Fuzz FX-52 (a bit dull - not inspiring me at the moment)
EH - Big Muff (EH 3003 circuit - 70's), Double-Muff, Little Big Muff and Metal Muff (all typical muffs - the 70's one knocks spots off the rest – but I really do need one of the big foot-switch Russian ones)
Burford Electonics - Fuzzrite (a prototype built by Alan Exley – muffles up a bit too much for me at high fuzz settings but has a unique tone and more useable at lower fuzz settings and with the guitar volume backed off a touch. Unusual and nice)
Fulltone - OCD (maybe more of a distortion but in my rig as my goto fuzz for any Hendrix in our set - very versatile - can get a good overdrive tone out of it too - great note definition)
Fulltone - Octafuzz (very specialised – does the Purple Haze thing very well but not my favourite tone – always sounds best with anything played at 12th fret and above)
Fulltone - Soul - Bender (very good note definition - 3 tranny Tone Bender clone - pretty good. Will have a tone bender built to original spec soon and be able to compare)
Fulltone - 69 Fuzz (accurate take on a germanium fuzz face – needs some fiddling to get a good tone but I like the guts this one has when cranked. Definitely not harsh and in your face)
Fulltone - 70 Fuzz (same as the ’69 really but stocked with silicon trannies – harsher but, again, not too in yer face)
Seymour Duncan - Tweak Fuzz (struggling to find much love for this one at the moment...)
Retroman - Sybil (a silicon / germanium hybrid – mine's the simple old version and you can cascade one side of the circuit into the other - nice mayhem and versatile – great for Sunday night, nothing to do mucking around sessions to take away the pain of return to work on Monday…I tell Mrs_The_Doc that Sybil understands me…)
Frantone - The Sweet (sounds a bit girlie but this one is pure evil - a fat tone & designed by a lovely lady)
Bixonic - Expandora 2000R (ZZ Top / Billy Gibbons uses it but difficult to set up well. He has one of those tones that I want to nail but I haven't got close enough to it yet. Luckily, mine has the fiddly dip-switches on the outside)
D.A.M - Meathead Custom (love it - one knob = brutal beastly tone)
Deviever - Never Drive (weird and approaching Fuzz Factory self-oscillating territory - limited use for me but fun to get experimental with. Must get into Zvex one day soon)
Top Gear - Fuzz (an old english fuzz - needs to be driven by a booster before it but a rare beauty. Gutsy, pure fuzz tone when pushed by a pre-amp boost into a breaking up amp channel – I used this for years and it's housed in a black wooden enclosure – very environmentally friendly for the 70’s. I think mine has got a resistor in the circuit that it shouldn’t have but I’m no expert & I need to get it checked out. A tech once said to me that it was a very simple DIY circuit, so it should be easy to find out)
Kay - Fuzz Tone (a cheap yellow wah wah pedal type affair that I got from a mail-order catalogue when I was about 16 years old - ancient then! Brittle but unusual and they sell for mad amounts on ebay because The Edge has one)
Baja Tech Custom - Bone Bender (Tone Bender clone - a bit one dimensional but has a great sweet spot - if you can find it! Best driven really hard through a slightly overdriven amp)
Burford Electonics – Britt Face (see this thread). Dr.Bob - it will be a pleasure to get photos of the internals for you - please watch this space.
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zestystrat
Silver Member
USA
283 Posts |
Posted - 05/29/2009 : 03:29:43
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I would seriously look into the Skreddy stuff for some fuzz/muff
Also MJM makes some great fuzzs as well as one of the best TS variants.
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nathanscribe
Silver Member
United Kingdom
376 Posts |
Posted - 05/29/2009 : 20:50:52
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The Doc: wow, that's a collection!
I've been working on something provisionally called the Fizzog, of which a friend of mine is testing s/n 001 at the moment... given your interest in fuzz, I wonder if you'd mind me dropping you a message and pick your brain a bit..? It would really help. |
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The_Doc
Gold Member
United Kingdom
509 Posts |
Posted - 05/29/2009 : 23:19:51
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Hi nathanscribe - that would be fine - happy to help in any way I can - just PM me - sounds like an interesting project and what a stonkin' name for a pedal!
I'm on the lookout for the MJM London Fuzz zestystrat - that's one hell of a pedal from what I've heard - will have to be evilbay though and I've missed a couple already - still...it's the thrill of the chase I guess 
Hope you are well Dr.Bob and here is the internals picture of the Britt Face for you but I don't think it will be much use because the guts look to be covered in the epoxy stuff:
and for the record, here is a very fetching full frontal...
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Recommend me some fuzz...
