I'm a huge fan of Fuzz Faces and I spent a few years sniffing solder building my own. I got deep into testing transistors and circuit mods. Pretty fun stuff. But since I got into the Axe-Fx I haven't spent as much time with the real pedals. I have a Fuzz Face on my main Marshall patch that I use for live playing. I will use it to go huge for a solo. But I am not getting some of the more nuanced / detailed interactions. My experience with the Axe-FX thus far has been extremely positive and it has had an uncanny ability to deliver on pretty much any sound, so I'm guessing it has to be user error.
I'll start by explaining how I set the Fuzz Face in the Axe-FX right now. I run the Fuzz Face as the only pedal in front of a Marshall Plexi set to about 5. Bass on 2, Mid and Treb maxed, bright switch off. Factory 59 cab. Its set for a pretty light / moderate crunch. Lots of range on the volume pot. Then on the Fuzz Face I set the level to 9.5 and the gain is at about 4. Tone at 5.5. The main thing is the gain knob. I find that 4 is about the place where it gets somewhat raging with the guitar full on, but it still cleans back if you roll down. If you set the gain higher than 6 or 7 it doesn't clean up past a solid crunch.
Now to talk about what I feel is lacking. On the real circuit I find you have to dime both the level and gain knobs. Then you set the bias of the Q2 transistor to the right voltage so it has the right balance of gain, sag, sustain, and clean up. I'm just not sure where how / if this same interaction occurs on the Axe-Fx's model. I find I can't run the gain and level on 10 and still get it to clean up. But if I set the gain lower it will clean up, but it isn't as intense when full on.
For some sound reference I'll point to this video that I was just watching tonight and it sparked my memory of those old circuits I built. He's running a strat into a Dunlop mini Germanium Fuzz Face ending with a vintage Bassman.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiygPyyjgvk
Skip ahead to:
7:04 - Clean guitar at 3
7:12 - He rolls it up to about 7, starts to thicken and sustain, still articulate
7:17 - Really saturates at 10, overpowering with huge sustain
7:35 - You can hear how drastically it changes throughout the sweep
After spending some time with the Axe on my Marshall preset I just couldn't get that same interaction. If I set the gain at 4 then I can get a pretty good clean, but not quite as clean as the real thing. But then roll the volume up to 10 and it isn't as intense as the real thing on 10. It also doesn't have that sweet spot at about 7. The Axe-Fx smoothes out the curve to be very linear, while the real Fuzz Face is much more extreme in its sweep.
I tried experimenting with the Bias control in the advanced section. Similar story. It was a pretty subtle effect. Having a bias knob on the real Fuzz Face would drastically alter the sound and feel depending on what value pot you used. But it could realistically go from sputtery and gated to bloated and oversaturated. Then there was some magic in finding that perfect sweet spot in the middle.
I tried some different clipping types, but still didn't have much success. In the real Fuzz Face choosing Germanium Transistors vs Silicon is very impactful. In the Axe the closest I could tell was Germanium Diodes. I'm guessing this refers to clipping Diodes, in which case that's not what I'm after. The transistors have a lot of character and I'd love to be able to accurately go from Jimi Germanium to David Gilmour Silicon.
I'd appreciate any insight as to how I can get that same experience with the Fuzz Face in the Axe-Fx.
I'll start by explaining how I set the Fuzz Face in the Axe-FX right now. I run the Fuzz Face as the only pedal in front of a Marshall Plexi set to about 5. Bass on 2, Mid and Treb maxed, bright switch off. Factory 59 cab. Its set for a pretty light / moderate crunch. Lots of range on the volume pot. Then on the Fuzz Face I set the level to 9.5 and the gain is at about 4. Tone at 5.5. The main thing is the gain knob. I find that 4 is about the place where it gets somewhat raging with the guitar full on, but it still cleans back if you roll down. If you set the gain higher than 6 or 7 it doesn't clean up past a solid crunch.
Now to talk about what I feel is lacking. On the real circuit I find you have to dime both the level and gain knobs. Then you set the bias of the Q2 transistor to the right voltage so it has the right balance of gain, sag, sustain, and clean up. I'm just not sure where how / if this same interaction occurs on the Axe-Fx's model. I find I can't run the gain and level on 10 and still get it to clean up. But if I set the gain lower it will clean up, but it isn't as intense when full on.
For some sound reference I'll point to this video that I was just watching tonight and it sparked my memory of those old circuits I built. He's running a strat into a Dunlop mini Germanium Fuzz Face ending with a vintage Bassman.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiygPyyjgvk
Skip ahead to:
7:04 - Clean guitar at 3
7:12 - He rolls it up to about 7, starts to thicken and sustain, still articulate
7:17 - Really saturates at 10, overpowering with huge sustain
7:35 - You can hear how drastically it changes throughout the sweep
After spending some time with the Axe on my Marshall preset I just couldn't get that same interaction. If I set the gain at 4 then I can get a pretty good clean, but not quite as clean as the real thing. But then roll the volume up to 10 and it isn't as intense as the real thing on 10. It also doesn't have that sweet spot at about 7. The Axe-Fx smoothes out the curve to be very linear, while the real Fuzz Face is much more extreme in its sweep.
I tried experimenting with the Bias control in the advanced section. Similar story. It was a pretty subtle effect. Having a bias knob on the real Fuzz Face would drastically alter the sound and feel depending on what value pot you used. But it could realistically go from sputtery and gated to bloated and oversaturated. Then there was some magic in finding that perfect sweet spot in the middle.
I tried some different clipping types, but still didn't have much success. In the real Fuzz Face choosing Germanium Transistors vs Silicon is very impactful. In the Axe the closest I could tell was Germanium Diodes. I'm guessing this refers to clipping Diodes, in which case that's not what I'm after. The transistors have a lot of character and I'd love to be able to accurately go from Jimi Germanium to David Gilmour Silicon.
I'd appreciate any insight as to how I can get that same experience with the Fuzz Face in the Axe-Fx.
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