Fuzz issues/which to buy?

simonbeckwith

could do with a fuzz for a few tracks we play in the covers band, but every fuzz ive borrowed or owned just gets lost in the mix. Band consists of drums bass and 2 guitars. (Both of us have marshall-ish type tones, classic rock vibe). 

Any tricks/tips or advice on a particular fuzz that doesnt get lost. Recently had the fulltone 70 which has been the best so far bit still wasnt enough in terms of cut.

doesnt need to have masses of gain, crunchy preferred.

maybe an od with fuzz qualities?

help!

ICBM

ZVex Fuzz Factory. It can do 'conventional' fuzz as well as the weird squealy stuff, and it will not get lost in the mix.

Or if you want something more controllable - Boss FZ-2. It's based on a Shin-Ei/Univox Superfuzz but has active EQ so you can fine-tune it to sit in the mix better. It also has a useful clean-boost mode for when you don't need it as a fuzz.

simonbeckwith

Nice one - cheers dude @ICBM ;

Strangely enough one of the tracks is a muse track so that would suit that nicely 

do you know if they play ball if sat after a wah?

ChrisCox1994

have you checked out the "that pedal show" videos on fuzzes? 

Theres a few, one on different fuzzes and two more on specifically muffs and fuzz faces. 

ChrisCox1994

personally tonebender variants tend to work for what you're describing, nice midrange bite, not overly saturated but just a nice classic fuzz tone

simonbeckwith

I shall take a look at those as well then, many thanks @ChrisCox1994 ;

think if watched every TPS at least 15 times lol!!

VJIves

Magnetic Effects White Atom or Smallsound/Bigsound's Team Awesome Fuzz Machine are both really versatile. Both Available from Joe's Pedals.

bbill335

EQ the amp with lots and lots of mids and reduce the bass. Also, set it to be louder than you usually are.

ICBM

simonbeckwith said:

Nice one - cheers dude @ICBM ;

Strangely enough one of the tracks is a muse track so that would suit that nicely 

do you know if they play ball if sat after a wah?

If you don't use both at once it shouldn't matter - at least if the wah isn't buffered. Although I have mine before my wah, I actually prefer the sound of it there - different from my normal wah-into-distortion sound.

timhulio

I'm not too sure the FY6 / Boss FZ2 sort of sound would sit too well with a classic rock vibe.

OD with fuzz qualities suggests something like the venerable MXR Distortion +. It's crunchy in nature too. Or if you want something a bit grittier have a look at Harmonic Percolators.

simonbeckwith

Sweet, cheers all!

xSkarloey

ChrisCox1994 said:

personally tonebender variants tend to work for what you're describing, nice midrange bite, not overly saturated but just a nice classic fuzz tone

This. 


If you wanted to experiment with ICBM's Boss suggestion for less wonga, one of the Behringer fuzz pedals is a clone of the FZ2. 

Of the two I'd go Tonbender as I think it's got more cut and bite. 

simonbeckwith

Okie dokie

FYI
 current pedals on the board in a true bypass looper are : 

Klon KTR
Xotic AC Boost
Barber Gain Changer
TC HoF mini

wah of choice that sits before the looper is a Dunlop Crybaby Classic

Amp is a Cornford Roadhouse 50 2x12 set to acdc ish type of gain, boosted by aforementioned pedals depending on the track.

one of the above would probably be sold to fund the fuzz

DarnWeight

Red Llama might work.  Always thought of it as a fuzzy OD rather than a low-gain fuzz, but tons of level and bite if you need it.

simonbeckwith

Ill check that out too

Fez

Thorpy FX Fallout cloud.

juansolo

JTB 76

timmysoft

Diamond Fireburst is the best thing I've found for this, especially into a crunchy amp. Used to sound awesome into my VC30, the mid focus switch really helps to cut through a heavy mix.

meltedbuzzbox

Tonebender!!!

Beexter

Mojo Hand Crosstown fuzz works really well for this. The combination of tone and body controls really help to dial in the amount of "cut-through"  you want. Cleans up well to for a Fuzz. It's predecessor,  the Huckleberry is a good shout too.
Failing that a Rat does a pretty good fuzz type effect that can really cut through along with a wide variety of other tones.

guitargeek62

I've got a Way Huge Swollen Pickle mkiis for sale if you're interested? It's big muff-based but covers a lot more ground with the additional controls.