Which fuzz pedal to get

Every minor tweak of the knobs jolts you into a new world of aural aggression. Now, however, EHX has revived the pedal in compact form, and it even enlisted Mr Corgan to ensure that this new model delivers all those classic 90s alt-rock sounds — and a whole lot more besides. And check out our picks for best reverb , overdrive and distortion pedals, too.

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To achieve this, the Erupter has a buffered input section plus a transformer-based pickup simulator to ensure no tone loss across any guitar in your collection, tearing through any impedance mismatches that classic fuzzes are famous for.

At the component level , the Erupter contains a full palette of the highest quality components , including two low-gain specially-matched NOS silicon transistors, new-stock half-watt carbon composition resistors, Sprague and BC capacitors.

The Erupter contains only one Bias control , with the fuzz level internally dimed and the Volume pre-set to a universal unity level. This single knob confines a great power, capable of delivering an incredible range of vintage fuzz tones. Here is how it works:. If you are a fan of the tones of the players like David Gilmour or Eric Johnson, then this could be the pedal you are looking for. Welcome to a new world of thick as a brick, wall crumbling and window shattering fuzz.

Velvet Fuzz. Looking back through the Fuzz tone history, there have been some truly outstanding examples, especially those achieved by running a fuzz into a screaming stack, characterized by their depth, aggression and smoothness. With two completely different clipping options not just the basic silicon or germanium option like most you can achieve those classic fuzz big tones that compress massively across the bottom or you can tighten them up and have it respond more like a distortion.

You can toggle between the two modes with the Voice switch. Some people say it sounds like a fuzz but feels like a distortion.

Get ready to experiment a new kind of fuzz! It is the heir to the throne of the classic Germanium fuzz boxes of the past, still using New Old Stock Germanium transistors from the sixties. The controls are highly interactive and encourage hours of sonic exploration. The Z. From this basic concept Mr. Vex went nuts and added all the knobs he could to customize all aspects of the tone:.

It could almost be self-powered from the residual electrical waves from the environment…. When I first searched for this pedal on the internet I got a little confused because every pedal image I saw was different from the previous. So I asked myself: are these different versions?

Do they have some different features one from each other? Which one is the latest? Answer: this pedal is hand painted and they change the design every year or two, but they keep the internals intact. The Fuzz Effect How it works, the different reverb types and how it compares to echo and delay.

Comparison Table Quick overview of the pedals covered in this guide. The Fuzz Effect. Fuzz Origins The fuzz effect stands as one of the most important and vital guitar effects in history. Where to put it in the signal chain? Behringer Super Fuzz SF Youtube Demo Buy at Amazon. Donner Stylish Fuzz. As does the Motherlode ToyotaCorona Please note, comments must be approved before they are published.

Do you love dirt as much as we do? Learn the rich history behind all the overdrive and distortion pedals you know and love. Download our free ebook, The History of Guitar Distortion. Featured Pedals In Development.

Contact scott sirenpedals. Singling out the best overdrive or distortion pedal is of utmost importance to every electric guitar player. But while some may enjoy standard pedals, a portion of the guitar playing population just can't get enough of that rich and sweet fuzz effect.

Who would have thought that the sound of a broken old amp would somehow capture the hearts of music lovers worldwide? Billy Gibbons, Jimi Hendrix, and David Gilmour are just some of the famous names that come to mind at the mention of these pedals. In case you want to get into the wonderful world of fuzz, here are some of the best fuzz pedals of all time. Maestro FZ-1 Fuzz Tone What better way to start this list off than with the pedal that started it all?

Being the first ever commercially produced distortion device, it initially had some poor sales results despite its quality and innovativeness. However, when Keith Richards used it on the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction," the Maestro FZ-1 went down in history as one of the most important guitar pedals of all time.

Read about our review process. Equipboard is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more. It works well for most genres, and is a great first fuzz or a lifetime keeper. For such a choice pedal, it's offered at an "Are you kidding me?? Read more. Based on a Green Russian Big Muff, but far from a mere clone - the Shift knob drastically affects the mids.

Less intuitive to use than other fuzz pedals, but once you learn it it might quickly become your favorite. Based on the Big Muff, but really a different animal. Delivers a 5 star fuzz tone with only one giant knob to control it and your guitar's volume knob. After the somewhat steep learning curve of the knobs, you'll be dialing in amazing fuzz tones with this boutique pedal.

Emulates a Fuzz Face pushing an Marshall stack. Larger than life fuzz pedal produces a bass-heavy wall of fuzz yet still somehow remains clear and articulate. Based on a Big Muff with more pronounced mids.

Great way to get Big Muff style fuzz on your pedalboard on a budget. Very wallet-friendly way to get that tone on your board.

From Jimi Hendrix to Jack White , if you want that larger than life untamed sound you need a fuzz pedal. The only downside is, how do you choose a top fuzz pedal?

There are hundreds of models from dozens of manufacturers. It's not always necessary to know the history of an effect before jumping in and using it, but in the case of fuzz, the history is fascinating. It starts in , when Marty Robbins recorded his track "Don't Worry" with a faulty preamp in producer Glenn Snoddy's console. They decided to keep the faulty recording, and here's how it sounded.

It's a far cry from today's fuzz tones of Jack White or Muse, but this truly was the genesis of the effect. Way before YouTube was a thing, in Gibson released this video to market the Maestro Fuzz Tone, comparing the sounds it made from bass and electric guitar to those of a sousaphone or cello.

In Keith Richards put the Fuzz Tone on the map in a big way by using it to record the riff of the Stones' hit "Satisfaction". From that point onwards, manufacturers went on to copy the relatively simple circuit of the Gibson Maestro Fuzz Tone, ending up with iconic fuzz units of their own:.

Overdrive, distortion and fuzz are all part of the "drive" pedal family. You can think of overdrive and distortion as two sides of the same coin; many pedals marketed as overdrive are able to cross over into distortion, and likewise many distortion pedals can be dialed back to more subtle overdrive.

Fuzz is a different beast altogether. The effect is achieved by clipping the signal extremely hard, also called square wave clipping.

The sound of fuzz is raunchy and untamed. It's often described as a "velcro" sound, or "bumble bees," or "fuzzy" as the name itself implies. What's great about fuzz is that it's very non-genre specific, meaning players of all types - and both electric and bass guitar - will enjoy it in their pedal arsenal. With fuzz pedals being a pretty simple circuit, the main differentiation between different fuzz sounds comes down to what transistors are used - germanium vs.

Without getting too much into chemistry, both germanium and silicon are semiconducting materials and are found on the same row of the periodic table meaning they have similar chemical behaviors. Germanium transistors: Originally used in fuzz pedals like the Fuzz Face, and as such today we call them more "vintage-voiced.

Germanium can be finicky as the tone changes depending on the ambient temperature. In time, it was discovered that silicon could be used in place of germanium for 1 cost savings and 2 less variation between the quality of units not to mention it solved the temperature issue.

Fuzz is a finicky effect. As you're reading reviews, watching demo videos, or testing them out for yourself, here are some things to consider when shopping for your fuzz pedal:. As we discussed above, the transistor used greatly influences the character of the fuzz. Do you prefer more vintage germanium or more modern silicon? A fuzz box can make take your lead playing to new levels of hugeness , but some fuzz pedals are ill-equipped for chords. In all honesty some fuzz pedals lose all articulation and sound like trash when you max them out and attempt to play more than one note at once.

Really this is good advice for any type of pedal, but don't base a fuzz pedal's tone on what it sounds like maxed out to 11, since that result can be plain bad. Most fuzz pedals shine somewhere in between. Also related, how many tone-shaping options do you want?

The usual suspects. Make sure the fuzz pedal you choose can withstand whatever you put it through, and look for nice features like true bypass, and a pedalboard-friendly enclosure. Fuzz is such a unique effect that pedal manufacturers have a lot of fun with the name and graphics adorning their pedals. It's always important that the gear speaks to you! And finally, as you can see in our list, you don't have to break the bank to own a great fuzz.

With any sort of drive pedal, the signal chain can greatly affect the tone. That's particularly true with fuzz, since it's an effect that can get a bit The neck pickup of a Les Paul can make a fuzz tone coming out of the Big Muff unusable, while the bridge pickup of a Strat can make it sing.

We tested our best fuzz pedal shootout with most of the guitars and amps available to us - from headphones to tubes, from single coils to humbuckers. When we talk about the tone each of these great fuzz pedals produces, we mostly refer to the pedal as it sounds running into a clean amp.

Is that always the best way to use a fuzz? Certainly not. You can read more about our review guidelines and testing rig here. There are thousands of guitar pedals out there, but very few reach legendary status like the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi. By owning a Big Muff Pi, you join a club of legendary musicians that have sculpted their sound around it.

This pedal has undergone many incarnations and reissues since its inception in To the casual listener the differences in tone between models might seem minor, but communities of enthusiasts beg to differ. Here are the four versions we tested, and how they differ from each other:. While the original is a large pedal that takes up a lot of real estate on the pedalboard, the Nano Big Muff Pi fixes all that with a small enclosure that requires 9V of power to operate if you want to use a 9V battery, simply unscrew the bottom plate.

So what does the triad of knobs actually do? The Tone knob drastically changes the brightness. Setting it all the way down darkens the tone and adds bass, almost giving it a low-fi growl quality to it while maintaining great sustain.

The Tone control helps to not get lost in the mix if playing with other musicians. Last but not least the Sustain knob lets you adjust the amount of sustain and distortion. In fact, for Billy Corgan and The Smashing Pumpkins fans, this pedal is absolutely key to get that tone. Bring the Sustain to 9 o'clock, and things start getting interesting. The pickups in your guitar will noticeably change the results you get out of your Big Muff.

Single coils, as opposed to humbuckers, will definitely bring out more clarity in the pedal. Rolling back the volume knob on your guitar will clean up the sound a bit, while still maintaining that singing sustain. A reissue of the mids Green Russian Big Muff. We didn't have an original on hand for our review, but by all acounts a faithful recreation.

Very close in sound to the Nano Big Muff Pi, but with a more booming low-end, and more warmth. A reissue of the original Big Muff. The "Triangle" in the name refers to the layout of the knobs on the original unit. It's definitely louder, and more aggressive than the other Muffs. The knobs appear to have more range on this version. The Triangle would likely cut through a mix better than the other variants. In addition to the 3 tone controls common to all the versions, the Op-Amp Muff has a toggle switch to bypass the tone circuit.

It doesn't add low-end as compared to the Nano Big Muff, but it does sound a little more focused and present in the mid-range. If getting as close as possible to the Smashing Pumpkins sound is what you're after, this is definitely the Big Muff Pi for you.