I have both the 33 and Grind. The 33 sounds amazing into my JCM 2203, and into my Fortin Kali. It actually does not sound good into my Orange RV50 Mk2.
The Grind is almost built for the Orange. It chops the sludge bottom out and tightens it up incredibly and actually eliminates a lot of the Orange fizz fuzz sound and makes it way more direct and Marshall sounding.
The 33 into the Orange is boomy and seems to exaggerate the fizz.
The Grind into my 2203 kills the bottom and adds a snarl that can be a bit tiresome. The 33 on the other hand makes the JCM tight, immediate, and adds a bit more bottom end but really adds drive to the mids, in a good way big time.
The 33 and Grind both work well in the Fortin Kali but you have to remove a gain stage and decrease violence mode to use either or it is just all too much. I noticed the Grind makes EMG's sound less sterile and gives them more snap. The 33 just adds a lot of extra nuances to PAF-ish style pickups.
As far as noise goes I don't hear an excessive amount of noise from either, certainly not as bad as my Rat2.
I like Fortin stuff that's obvious because I like how his stuff makes a Les Paul and my hands sound. But it's not a tone for everyone I guess as witnessed by this thread.
If someone was to want to have the "Fortin tone" in a pedal neither the 33 or Grind is that. They are boost pedals for people who want to tighten up a loose amp or push an already tight amp into gain distortion.
