Fuzz roundup

Orange Amps General Forum

Moderator: bclaire

Bentfinger
Orange Master
Posts: 3809
Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2005 5:11 am
Location: USA

Re: Fuzz roundup

Post by Bentfinger » Fri Oct 01, 2021 12:22 am

I like the Wampler Velvet Fuzz over my EJ Fuzzface with the RV100. They both work well with my Super Reverb. The Wampler sounds a lot like my old gray Univox super fuzz but plays well with other pedals.
http://www.myspace.com/fragilexrock
www.reverbnation.com/fragilex

"I Wanted To Be A Rock Star, But I Must of Been Standing In The Wrong Line"

bclaire
Forum Moderator
Posts: 17905
Joined: Thu May 02, 2002 9:19 pm
Location: Outside Boston MA, USA
Contact:

Re: Fuzz roundup

Post by bclaire » Fri Oct 01, 2021 10:31 am

Bentfinger wrote:
Fri Oct 01, 2021 12:22 am
I like the Wampler Velvet Fuzz over my EJ Fuzzface with the RV100. They both work well with my Super Reverb. The Wampler sounds a lot like my old gray Univox super fuzz but plays well with other pedals.
I still want to get a Tone Bender clone someday...

Bentfinger
Orange Master
Posts: 3809
Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2005 5:11 am
Location: USA

Re: Fuzz roundup

Post by Bentfinger » Mon Dec 20, 2021 7:05 pm

Try the Velvet Fuzz. Get from Sweetwater and 30 days to return if not happy. The EJ fuzz face is however really cool with this setup: Gtr / Wha / Boost or OD (Tube screamer ) Fuzz / mod pedals in loop or last in line. Clean amp tone set nice and warm on the edge but still clean. Adjust all pedals for correct volume and tone comparing with dry amp volume. Works for me..
http://www.myspace.com/fragilexrock
www.reverbnation.com/fragilex

"I Wanted To Be A Rock Star, But I Must of Been Standing In The Wrong Line"

Wylde Horses
New Member
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Dec 11, 2018 2:17 am

Re: Fuzz roundup

Post by Wylde Horses » Thu Dec 14, 2023 11:39 pm

Back from the dead!

After decades of not really understanding fuzz, I started to come around on it a few years back. While the splatty, spitty, velcro fuzz sound really works for some, I never connected with it. I liked the smoother fuzz sound, but I kept running into the more extreme fuzzes, so I never really connected with them. Until I heard the JHS Bender. I picked one up, and sure enough, it was much more my style. Then I gradually started exploring other circuits, until finally settling on the following four:

Fulltone ‘69 - a two-transistor, fuzz face-type circuit with germainium transistors and a whole lot more control than your typical 2 knob fuzz faces.

JHS Bender - a three-transister circuit based off of the MkIII Tone Bender. Sounds excellent with humbuckers and nails Led Zeppelin tones.

JHS Crimson - a clone of the four-transistor Big Muff fuzz built in Russia in the early 90s. It’s the Smashing Pumpkins pedal.

Fender Pelt - this is a three-transistor fuzz which seems to be based off of the MkI Tone Bender, but which has a number of tweaks to the circuit including a tone control, bloom (basically a bias knob), a three-position mid switch which can boost or cut the midrange or leave it untouched, and finally a thick switch which can boost the low-end frequencies. This is a super-versatile, modern fuzz with lots of tone shaping options - if I can’t get quite the right sound with one of the other fuzzes, this one usually does the trick.

I’m still not a fan of octave fuzz - they can sound interesting, but just not very musical to me. They always sound low-fi to me, and not in a good way. While I absolutely appreciate the creativity in manipulating the waveform to create the higher octave, the final signal just doesn’t seem to stand out. Instead, it seems to take more away from the guitar than it actually adds.

I have found that I really like fuzz pedals where you can control bias (Fulltone ‘69 & Pelt’s bloom control) to tame some of the harshness out of it. I also like fuzzes where the mids can be boosted. I find it can be easy for the guitar signal to get muddy or even lost in the fuzz, and boosting the midrange really helps keep it from getting buried. All four of these fuzzes have a way to make the mids stand out a little more (JHS mode on the Crimson and Bender, mid switch on the Pelt and contour knob on the ‘69).

Wylde Horses
New Member
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Dec 11, 2018 2:17 am

Re: Fuzz roundup

Post by Wylde Horses » Thu Dec 14, 2023 11:49 pm

Jondog wrote:
Fri Apr 23, 2021 8:15 pm
I’m not a huge JHS fan for particular reasons and this pedal is one of them, but at least it’s a copy of a discontinued pedal, that makes me feel more comfortable :oops: . They make great pedals, but sure wish he’d get permission first on these clones. One of the original builders of this pedal was not too happy about it. I could build a clone, but not sure I have the time and even then it’s basically the same thing as buying a clone. This one came up at a decent price, would of cost close to the same to build my own after parts and shipping.
With regard to JHS, I totally get the criticism: it seems Josh’s whole catalog is made up circuits other people created. But I look at it slightly differently. My first exposure to JHS was through their YouTube channel, which was all about discussing the nuances of guitar pedals, where they originated, how they have changed over the years, and what makes them unique - and usually all done without mentioning his own pedals. This is a guy with a ton of knowledge and passion for guitar pedals. He made “pedal historian” a thing, and that’s what he is.

And it’s through this lens that I view the pedals JHS puts out. Sure there are a few original designs, and JHS’ take on a few common pedals like the Tubescreamer or Rat, but they are also producing circuits that would otherwise be unobtainium for most of us. I mean, look at the recent expansion of the Legends of Fuzz line: I had never even heard of the pedals that were the origin of the Mary-K, Berkeley, and Plug-in, let alone know where to find any pedals with those circuits. they could easily have just been lost to time. Or consider the Notaklön. Sure, Klons are “available,” but Bill Finnegan could never keep up with the demand and didn’t explore other options to boost supply, so the price just kept going up. Now thanks to JHS, anyone can buy (and assemble) a Klon for $99 - what is that, 1% of what the original Klons are going for now?

I appreciate that JHS is making these circuits easily available. It levels the playing field for the musicians and inspires experimentation. Sure, some of the original designers might not be happy that someone else is capitalizing on their design, but if they were really that concerned about that, they could have partnered with an established pedal builder for a little “quantitative easing” as Analog Man did with MXR and the Duke of Tone.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 78 guests