Fuzz boxes?

[Platypus]

Can anyone recommend a good fuzz box for balls to the wall tear your face off fuzz yet still has some classical textures in it for hendrix/zep like tones?

I've been reading about the Fender Blender and the Euthymia Crucible Fuzz...

 

[Kyle]

Homebrew Electronics UFO.
Don't know what tear your face off tones you're looking for but this is a quality pedal with great tone and personality (in my opinion, of course). It's quite scary also running in front of a "tube screamer" type pedal. I have the UFO and Power Screamer. Both are excellent pedals and Joel at Homebrew responds very quickly to emails and is very courteous.

 

[Platypus]

Homebrew Electronics UFO.
Don't know what tear your face off tones you're looking for but this is a quality pedal with great tone and personality (in my opinion, of course). It's quite scary also running in front of a "tube screamer" type pedal. I have the UFO and Power Screamer. Both are excellent pedals and Joel at Homebrew responds very quickly to emails and is very courteous.

As in psy or doom metal style sounds. I have a TS9 as well which I was planning on pairing it with.

The essential sound I want is classic 60s fuzz but also the ability to go ultra modern 'industrial' style wall of sound.

How does the UFO handle that?

 

[Platypus]

Checked out the site, sounds decent but the price tag is very salty.

 

[cvansickle]

With HomeBrew Electronics, you get what you pay for and then some. My main board uses two HBE pedals now, soon to add a third, and I have four more on my backup board. The wah, the fuzz and the treble booster are outstanding.

 

[Kyle]

Hi cvansickle! I agree. You do definitely get what you pay for with Homebrew. Have you tried Homebrew's Psilocybe? I've been wanting to try it but haven't had the opportunity. Any comments welcome.

 

[cvansickle]

Hi cvansickle! I agree. You do definitely get what you pay for with Homebrew. Have you tried Homebrew's Psilocybe? I've been wanting to try it but haven't had the opportunity. Any comments welcome.

Haven't tried that one, and most likely won't anytime soon. I've got a Shannon Phaser and an MXR EVH Phase 90 that I had modded for true bypass, so my phaser needs are set.

I bought one of the last Germacides a couple months back. In the next few weeks, I'll be rebuilding my pedalboard to accommodate it.

Do I know you? What part of Georgia are you?

 

[Kyle]

Hi cvansickle! I agree. You do definitely get what you pay for with Homebrew. Have you tried Homebrew's Psilocybe? I've been wanting to try it but haven't had the opportunity. Any comments welcome.

Haven't tried that one, and most likely won't anytime soon. I've got a Shannon Phaser and an MXR EVH Phase 90 that I had modded for true bypass, so my phaser needs are set.

I bought one of the last Germacides a couple months back. In the next few weeks, I'll be rebuilding my pedalboard to accommodate it.

Do I know you? What part of Georgia are you?

I grew up and live in the Athens area. I don't think we know each other unless we met at a music store in Athens or Atlanta. Where do you play? I have played some at Athens Church which is a partner with Northpoint Community Church. Other than that I play with friends and in my little studio upstairs. I know some old musicians in the Athens area and try to introduce myself to musicians who come from the Atlanta area to play at Athens Church. I don't think I remember your marvelous rig that's posted on your website at Athens Church though. They've made comments about my love of gear and I don't own near that much! For my audition, I just brought my amp, g-major, 1 guitar, and pedal board. I thought I was traveling light.They thought I was crazy for just playing 2 songs! Hey! It was an audition! :lol:

Actually, if I remember correctly, one of your post turned me on to the UFO. I went to the purple house near the train tracks (you probably know which music store I'm talking about), tried it out and bought it on the spot.So...thanks!

 

[cvansickle]

Actually, if I remember correctly, one of your post turned me on to the UFO. I went to the purple house near the train tracks (you probably know which music store I'm talking about), tried it out and bought it on the spot.So...thanks!

That's where I bought both of mine, not to mention the majority of my guitars and amps since 1985!

 

[X-1]

I am going to be rebuilding my old fuzz. I have an original Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face that has seen better days. It is basically dead, but I have just ordered all new parts for it from Small Bear Electronics and I am going to try to bring it back to life (I can hear the thunder in the background and the sound of the jacobs ladders as eegore is running around the lab.) I am going to try a small modification that I found here http://www.geofex.com/Article_Folders/fuzzface/fffram.htm that is from Mike Fuller (it looks to be a simplified version of his '69 pedal).

I will let you know how it comes out when it is finished.

For some stupid reason a long time ago, I put it in a small box and I have lost the original round case for it. Those old round boxes are awkward but it would have been quite the conversation piece to have it in the old grey round Dallas Arbiter box. Oh well, I will be putting it in to a new white powder coated box that I purchased from Small Bear that will fit much better in my pedalboard.

 

[dmt]

The Zvex Fuzz Factory. Balls to the wall fuzz. Comes in many flavors. Be sure to get one of the older ones, I've been told that the newer batches can vary in quality. Mine is from 2000 and it sounds fucking amazing. My Boogie likes it, but my solid state ampeg does not.

 

[cander328]

Do yourself a favor and try the Love Pedal Karl Fuzz. Not the one with the LED and Ac Adapter connection but the older blue one. It is a very warm and responsive fuzz that has a bloom to it that is really inspirational to play. I really enjoy having it go into my my Keeley Compressor and then into my Mojo Vibe. Still trying to tune my FoxRox modded Picture Wah to give me a nice range at the front of this chain however.

 

[X-1]

I am going to be rebuilding my old fuzz. I have an original Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face that has seen better days. It is basically dead, but I have just ordered all new parts for it from Small Bear Electronics and I am going to try to bring it back to life (I can hear the thunder in the background and the sound of the jacobs ladders as eegore is running around the lab.) I am going to try a small modification that I found here http://www.geofex.com/Article_Folders/fuzzface/fffram.htm that is from Mike Fuller (it looks to be a simplified version of his '69 pedal).

I will let you know how it comes out when it is finished.

For some stupid reason a long time ago, I put it in a small box and I have lost the original round case for it. Those old round boxes are awkward but it would have been quite the conversation piece to have it in the old grey round Dallas Arbiter box. Oh well, I will be putting it in to a new white powder coated box that I purchased from Small Bear that will fit much better in my pedalboard.

I assembled the pedal. I built it with a negative ground arrangement (the original PNP fuzz faces used a positive ground arrangement, but that means that you have to use a dedicated supply for it.)

It sounds fantastic when using a battery but is noisy when using an external power supply. After doing some more research, I have decided to try flipping over to a positive ground arrangement. It supposed to be a bit more stable in that old circuit and with the old school Germanium transistors. Man I hope I don't screw up the sound because it does sound good. I just need to have it powered by an external source to make it viable in my pedalboard.

 

[eldi]

I'd recommend a EH Big Muff Pi (Made in NYC) reissue. In my opinion, I think it sounds even better than the original (less noisy too) and sounds warmer than the Russian made ones as well. It's very rude and raw sounding, me likes it

 

[screamingdaisy]

The essential sound I want is classic 60s fuzz but also the ability to go ultra modern 'industrial' style wall of sound.

Boss FZ-2.

It has two fuzz modes. Mode I is a mediocre 60s style fuzz, but it's passable in a pinch. Mode II is a scooped sounding industrial fuzz that sounds awesome when fed into an amp with a classice V shape on an EQ......though without a graphic EQ it sounds kinda boring.

 

[cander328]

I am struggling with this one as well. I even ordered a Karl with LED and AC jack and the sound was so different from the battery powered one that I realized I would just have to figure out away to make the battery powered version work on my board. Guess I will be stocking up on 9 volts!

 

[Platypus]

I think I settled on the Z-Vex Fuzz Factory

 

[musicbox]

The byoc fuzz kit I just assembled does this perfect. Comes with 2xsi and 2xge so you can mix and match. Took about 6 hours to build, and sounds incredible. Big output, nasty tones. Only $75 direct.

 

[Friedmett]

The ultimate Fuzz box??

Everyones different but I'm a Hendrix nut so I bought years ago a reisue Jim Dunlop Fuzz Face.

Using a bit of drive on the Marshall sounded ok but just ok. Not wild and powerfull like Jimi's best recorded tones.

In the summer 2000 I was in London. I saw a grey Fuzz Face in a store which turned out to be from the '70 ties with BC transistors. I also bought a Marshall 2187 50 watt combo amp EX Thin Lizzy but that's another story.

The grey FF was way different and more like Jimi so I started to modify the red FF.
I found a Jimi schematic on the internet and that helped a little. I knew that the transistors should be measured for the right gain in the right places and AC transistors would be the ones to try.

My repairman actually did find the AC transistors so the FF ended up sounding right on the money. Dropping the PnP ones was the way to go.
Comparing it to the grey FF the tone is the same but less noise.

Use the original drive from a turned up Marshall Major just perfect for Jimi.

 

[X-1]

The ultimate Fuzz box??

Everyones different but I'm a Hendrix nut so I bought years ago a reisue Jim Dunlop Fuzz Face.

Using a bit of drive on the Marshall sounded ok but just ok. Not wild and powerfull like Jimi's best recorded tones.

In the summer 2000 I was in London. I saw a grey Fuzz Face in a store which turned out to be from the '70 ties with BC transistors. I also bought a Marshall 2187 50 watt combo amp EX Thin Lizzy but that's another story.

The grey FF was way different and more like Jimi so I started to modify the red FF.
I found a Jimi schematic on the internet and that helped a little. I knew that the transistors should be measured for the right gain in the right places and AC transistors would be the ones to try.

My repairman actually did find the AC transistors so the FF ended up sounding right on the money. Dropping the PnP ones was the way to go.
Comparing it to the grey FF the tone is the same but less noise.

Use the original drive from a turned up Marshall Major just perfect for Jimi.

The early Dunlop Jimi Hendrix Fuzzes are known for not great sound. They are easily modified though and you can get replacement parts (including matched Germanium Transistors with the correct gains) at Small Bear Electronics (.com)