Found THE Fuzz tone, Blues Saraceno'esque Under $500

[WizardSouth-JP]

I love the demos that Blues Saraceno does for the Dirty Boy pedals, but I just haven't ever found a deal on one and didn't want to pay $400 - $500 for a fuzz. Found this demo online and so I pulled the trigger. The squishy fuzz tones are just fantastic judging by the sound of these. Will be running into a Marshall 4-Holer

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Why not get a duncan tweak fuzz? Saraceno demo'd those and raved about them ..... oh wait! this just in... Saraceno will demo just about anything and make a 5 watt transistor radio from the early 80's sound incredible.

 

[glassjaw7]

Sounds good, but there are literally hundreds and hundreds of great fuzz boxes out there worth considering. Spend a couple hours digging around on ilovefuzz.com and you'll find fuzz pedals you never knew existed, and many of them sound awesome.

 

[WizardSouth-JP]

figured the WTF was pretty versatile and not too pricey at $200, sure $100 Tweak Fuzz would be ok but I've heard some folks say they're not loud enough depending on which amp and setting you use. If I had unlimited funds I'd probably have about 50 fuzz pedals. As for Blues Saraceno's tone - he makes whatever he demos sound great

 

[stephen sawall]

Thanks for the link glassjaw7....

I have been into fuzz myself lately. It seems most of the fuzz pedals are just a variation of some other fuzz pedal. What I would like to know is what are all the originals / origins ?

When checking out various fuzz pedals often I find little difference between the originals & the rebuilds / remakes. Other times it is huge differences. The majority of them do not sound that great. Often way over-priced..... One thing I have learned in life is just because something cost more it does not mean it is better. Too be honest when I really check things out ...it rarely is the case the more expensive thing is the best.

Some of the people building these just put them together without spending much time getting the voicing right. As far as I can tell this is the majority of the builders. With all gear .... you have people that can build it. You have people that have a good ear (much more rare) .... and the last group being people that can build it & have a good ear (extremely rare).

I have played on several of the Dirty Boy pedals .... they sound good. But I did not feel I needed or even really wanted any of them.

I thought the Duncan tweak fuzz sounded about as good .... & seen them on sale at GC for $35. Even at that price I skipped it....because I have others I like a lot better & would about never use it.

"SEMYOUR DUNCAN "Tweak Fuzz"

The "Afro Fuzz" and the "Tweak Fuzz" are of the same design. The "Afro Fuzz" is hand wired and uses both a Silicon transistor and a Germanium transistor and are costly. The "Tweak Fuzz" uses 2 Silicon transistors and is only a fraction of the cost. The pedals were identically tuned and the "Tweak Fuzz" was created for a more cost conscious player thanx to the magic of mass production. Go to the Seymour Duncan Website for more info and a videos of Blues talking about and demonstrating the "Tweak Fuzz"."

Like all gear .... It is about finding what works best for you.

 

[WizardSouth-JP]

good observation...more $$$ doesn't mean better, hence why I didn't/haven't bought a Dirty Boy anything. Was either this WTF fuzz (for the tweakability) or HBE UFO as I've had good results with those. Like all gear, there is no "be all end all" anything, just whatever sounds good. Like with most pedals...has to fit with the guitar and the amp.

 

[stephen sawall]

You can take any decent fuzz & put a EQ before & after and get a huge variety of sounds. It also can really help getting any fuzz to work with about any guitar & amp. The problem being many EQ pedals tend to soften the sound (I guess this could be good or bad) & take away from the raw sound. I have been doing this about 25 years. The EQ pedals I use most for this at this time is a THD Quintet / before & blue MXR 6 Band GEQ. These pedals seem to keep more of the raw sound than many. Also note the EQ that comes after the fuzz has the biggest effect on the tone shape & the one before will effect how the fuzz reacts and sounds. So if you only have a single EQ try both spots & see what it does for you.

Personally I like overdrive & distortion from my amps .... so when I use fuzz I tend to want something that is over-the-top & gets into the more crazy sounds ..... like the Fuzz Factory.

I have a good friend that was a roommate years ago that has a large pedal collection. About 300 pedals.... more than half are fuzz. So I borrowed all of his pedals (a few at a time) & checked them out with my gear. It was great because I was able to try them extensively before buying them.

There are several good builders around .... lately I have been into Quinn ( http://www.quinnamps.com/effects.htm ) he builds what I consider great sounding pedals (taste) at very good prices. Right now he has the FUZZ PETAL on sale for $100 / it is one of my favorites for a modern voiced variation of a Arbiter Fuzz circuit. Shad has a great ear & spends the time to get the pedals to sound right. The website is being redone & kind of a mess right now. The PROPHET is based on the Uinvox Super Fuzz ... it is a huge sound & I like it better than the originals I have used (these go for around $800). He has a few more in the works that are not on the website yet. Including one of my favorites KYKEON.