Fuzz pedals? Explain?

Gaetano Paul · 08-26-2010, 11:56 PM

Hey guys, I have never had a fuzz pedal, always drives and distortions. I have one now and I really like the diversity of having it, I just dont understand what it is? Does that make sense? It sounds like a distortion pedal too me, maybe a little more organic, some how. Could you guys explain to me the difference and why these are called "fuzz" pedals.

Also I got the Cool Cat v2 Fuzz that Ax uses.

Stratopastor · 08-27-2010, 02:42 AM

Others may correct me on this, but it seems to me that drives and distortions are trying to sound like "good" amp distortion, ie they're trying to simulate something else.

And that's where fuzz boxes started out, but they weren't very good at it. Back when I was a lad, they were mostly crude 2-transistor preamps with the second transistor deliberately overdriven. Very little attempt to shape the tone. The hope was that they would sound roughly like a nice amp being overdriven, but they never did. They just squared off the guitar' signal - at extremes they just turned the guitar into a square-wave generator and made a nasty tizzzzzzz sort of noise. Hendrix played a Fuzz Face, but that sounded terrific because the sound started from his heart and fingers, and emerged from a wall of Marshalls.

However, as much better drives and distortions came along, people started using fuzz as a deliberate effect in its own right without pretending that it simulated something else (a bit like the Rotovibe, which was originally meant to simulate a Leslie cab; it didn't really, but got adopted as an effect in its own right). Example - Steely Dan , 1972, Reelin' in the Years... the guitarist could have used any kind of amp or distortion he wanted, but chose fuzz.

Modern fuzzes are probably all trying to sound, not like an amp, but like a Fuzz Face.

If you really want to hear where the difference is coming from, try listening to your various pedals through something really hi-fi, as opposed to a guitar amp.

I dont like fuzz, but that's probably a bias from my youth when they promised more than they delivered. If you're enjoying yourst, great.

I hope this helps.

**akaukal** · 08-27-2010, 06:27 AM

Well, fuzzes aren't trying to sound like Fuzz Faces, unless that's the type of circuit they're based on. Fuzz Faces, Muffs, Tonebenders, Super Fuzz.. they all sound pretty different from each other.

I'd say the main difference between fuzz and od/distortion is that it clips more, the waveform is a little crazy, and it's not trying to emulate tube distortion or something. I don't really know any technical differences, I'm just saying what I hear.

Really though, what is fuzz? It's an amazingly awesome yet nasty sound. I used to think there was a lot of choice out there in the od/distortion department, then I started listening to and trying more fuzz.

davidguitar · 03-28-2011, 11:27 PM

Fuzz sound is the by product of a overloaded transistor. Fuzz is probably the most organic distorted sound found in a pedal, mainly because of its simplicity and the fact the amplitude of the signal typically higher than compressed sounding pedals.

Gaetano Paul · 03-29-2011, 06:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidguitar

Fuzz sound is the by product of a overloaded transistor. Fuzz is probably the most organic distorted sound found in a pedal, mainly because of its simplicity and the fact the amplitude of the signal typically higher than compressed sounding pedals.

Amplitude? uhm...