Those Analog man fuzz’s are awesome and from what I remember from an interview with Mike Piera (owner/builder of Analogman) he only has/had so many of that particular transistor and once they’re gone thats it.Gorgar wrote: ↑Fri Feb 19, 2021 5:30 pmI had no idea this forum was still going. Glad to see it! This was always my favorite music-oriented forum.
I am a big germanium fuzz fiend. I especially love distortion into fuzz.
My main fuzz is still an Analogman Sunlion (white dot NKT). It's got that beefy, creamy, Kyuss-like sound, and it's the most interesting of all my fuzzes to listen to the texture of. Everything sounds good through it. Battery only, would never take it anywhere now that they're so hard to come by. I've also got a red dot, which sounds more ZZ Top. It's pretty good too, but I don't use it as much. It's one pedal I can run in front of the white dot without issue though.
I've tried a bunch of other fuzzes looking for something less valuable and more pedalboard friendly that'll run off normal power, and for me the clear winner was BAT Son of Pharoah. Nice small pedals, very friendly to other pedals run before them. I have two with no silicon option, mine are symmetrical and asymmetrical germanium instead. Mark at BAT was great to work with. Also have a Pharoah Supreme. For me, the Pharoahs are the gold standard of modern fuzz. If I want fuzz in a spot in the chain and just want it to work and sound good, I'll use a Pharoah.
Also really like some MXR fuzzes: Sub Machine, Sub Octave Bass Fuzz, Blue Box. The SOBF is really usable with bass.
My favorite sound is an old Distortion+ into the Sunlion. Horribly noisy, but sounds glorious. A pedal that gets surprisingly close to that (without the noise) is the Catalinbread Katzenkoenig. If I had to take just one dirt pedal somewhere, that would be the one. It's no substitute for the beef of a Fuzz Face, but it adds a pleasant heft without losing the top end. Good if you like a controlled searing somewhat fuzzy lead.
Also have tried and liked: OBNE Alpha Haunt, SVISound GeFuzz (Bulgarian!), Occvlt Old Hag (Polish!), EQD Dream Crusher. These are generally fiddlier but they do have some great sounds in them.
Tried and just not gotten on with: Red Witch Fuzz God, Catalinbread Sabra Cadabra, BAT Black Sheep. Not bad pedals, just didn't work for me. Might be just the thing for different guitars and amps.
Now I’m thinking I need a Pharoh again!!
Not too surprised you didn’t get on with the Fuzz God. I owned two and one was better than the other, didn’t get on with the one at all really, was strange.
Blue Box is one of my favourites too.