Please Help Me Pick A Fuzz For My Rig!!!!

yeltneb · Mar 3, 2018

Hi guys!

I have a Les Paul with Montys Paf pickups that I run into a Cornell Romany Plus / 10 w Vintage tweed style amp. I’m looking for a vintage-style low-medium gain fuzz that will work well with this rig. Nothing too aggressive, I think I tend to prefer creamy germanium type sounds. Have been looking at tonebenders and fuzzfaces but I know not all of them play nice with humbuckers and get muddy etc.

Ideally id take my gear to a shop and try a few but I live out in the sticks and it isn’t really practical

Everything is subjective etc but ideas appreciated

Standard58 · Mar 3, 2018

I really like the Joe Bonamassa germanium fuzzface with my Les Paul. It's very creamy and not too sharp. But if you turn the fuzz all the way up you also get quite an angry fuzz sound. It reacts very sensitive to the type of humbuckers in your guitar, IMO it sounds much smoother and defined with custombuckers than with burstbuckers. You'll never get that real clean Hendrix response with it but it cleans up quite well too.

It feels kinda awkward to praise signature gear with my first post

Xpensive Wino · Mar 3, 2018

ourmaninthenorth · Mar 3, 2018

Have a word with Stu of this very parish.

Castledine Electronics....

http://www.wah-wah.co.uk/

renderit · Mar 3, 2018

I really like the Wampler Velvet Fuzz. It is the creamiest I have found. I have a pile of fuzzes and the germanium ones are atrociously unpredictable. But I also find that not unlike boosters each persons taste in fuzzes is different.

Middle bottom row.

Stephens · Mar 3, 2018

Standard58 said:
I really like the Joe Bonamassa germanium fuzzface with my Les Paul. It's very creamy and not too sharp. But if you turn the fuzz all the way up you also get quite an angry fuzz sound. It reacts very sensitive to the type of humbuckers in your guitar, IMO it sounds much smoother and defined with custombuckers than with burstbuckers. You'll never get that real clean Hendrix response with it but it cleans up quite well too.

It feels kinda awkward to praise signature gear with my first post
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+1

I've had the Bonamassa Fuzz Face since they were first released. Absolutely the perfect Fuzz for a Les Paul. Smooth/Medium Fuzz that is really expressive and pairs well with single coils too.

yeltneb · Mar 3, 2018

Thanks guys some really useful information here for me
to check out

P.Walker · Mar 3, 2018

For me personally, I would never do traditional fuzz faces with Les Pauls. Strat yes, les pauls no. About the only acceptable one for me was an analogman bc183 silicon.

A civil war muff on the other hand...and I'm not even a big fan of muff.

Has the fuzzy, but the bottom is tighter than the smiley face. Cuts better than the ff too.

The only reason JB fuzz faces work well is because the gain is criminally low even for a germanium fuzz. Analogman and others would typically discard those transistors for how low gainy they are. Works well into a loud marshall because it's low gain, not because it's a germanium fuzz face.

Thundermtn · Mar 3, 2018

Last spring I went on a fuzz pedal shootout in a place the stocked probably 700+ pedals.

I was using a rig that very closely mirrors what you are running. I played A LOT of fuzz pedals from what those guys suggested as the best in stock for two hours and these were my two favorites. None of the stuff I went in there wanting to try from reading about on the net even made the top 5.

https://www.earthquakerdevices.com/spires/

https://www.matthewseffects.com/products/the-whaler

P.Walker · Mar 3, 2018

Thundermtn said:
Last spring I went on a fuzz pedal shootout in a place the stocked probably 700+ pedals.

I was using a rig that very closely mirrors what you are running. I played A LOT of fuzz pedals from what those guys suggested as the best in stock for two hours and these were my two favorites. None of the stuff I went in there wanting to try from reading about on the net even made the top 5.

https://www.earthquakerdevices.com/spires/

https://www.matthewseffects.com/products/the-whaler

That is the best way.

Normally I'd be very conflicted because I'm a sucker for traditionalist setups and pedals done "right," but in this case, since traditional fuzz faces and les pauls is well...a combination that sometimes needs help, a frankenstein-tuned fuzz such as those you tested might be best for the tone

Classic · Mar 4, 2018

The BMF Electric Sunshine sounds great with humbuckers. Scott makes a good range of fuzzes that work well with Humbuckers. Marc Ford is an avid fan.

yeltneb · Mar 4, 2018

Thanks again everyone I will be checking all these out! I just borrowed a DOD Carcosa from a friend which isn’t what I originally had in mind but the controls seem so versatile that I’ve been able to get quite a few tones out of it that I really like so that’s another contender :yah

Monroe · Mar 5, 2018

I'll bet Analogman has a SunFace that would fit your needs.

yeltneb · Mar 5, 2018

Monroe said:
I'll bet Analogman has a SunFace that would fit your needs.

I can dream but my wife would divorce me if i dropped that kind of cash on a pedal ;-)

Xpensive Wino · Mar 5, 2018

yeltneb said:
I can dream but my wife would divorce me if i dropped that kind of cash on a pedal ;-)

You say that like it's a bad thing. :hee

TM1 · Mar 6, 2018

I've tried a bunch and ended up with the Ramble FX "Twin Bender" and Stu's unit.

Triburst · Mar 6, 2018

TM1 said:
I've tried a bunch and ended up with the Ramble FX "Twin Bender" and Stu's unit.

I like that one, too, Don. It's on my board.

Renderit mentioned the Germainium ones were unpredictable, but the little trim pot on the side of these (made to be turned by a guitar pick) makes it "predictable" to bring the Russian-made Germanium transistors into perfect tone. The only downside is that mine likes to be first in line on the pedalboard. Like the original Tonebenders it copies, it does not like a buffered signal, like if it's after a Boss pedal (even my TU2 tuner).

My second favorite is the Big Muff Pi Germanium. It sounds almost as good, can go anywhere on the board, and has a "distortion" side as well as a "fuzz" side. But it's a double-wide pedal. I didn't care for the "Germanium Distortion," so the RambleFX made the cut since it's smaller and allows me to have another pedal.

Please Help Me Pick A Fuzz For My Rig!!!!

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