Germanium Fuzz Clean Tone Equivalent?

D

Dr. Dipwad

Experienced
Hello,

You know how you can put a Germanium Fuzz first in your pedals chain, and it sort of interacts with your pickups so that you get fuzz when your volume is at 10, but when you roll the volume knob back, it gives you that Jimi Hendrix clean thing? (Let's presume for the sake of argument you're playing a Strat or something similar, not EMGs or whatever.)

(For those unfamiliar, it's discussed here...


...and here...

)

I understand how to get a normal Fuzz-sh sound with the Axe FX; but, is it possible to do the same Hendrix-y clean tone? I've had folks say that this is impossible because "pickup interaction, no, you shouldn't have a buffer 'cause it won't work right."

NOTE: Of course I could stick an actual, physical, Germanium Fuzz Face physical pedal in front of the Axe.
But that's obvious; I wouldn't bother asking a question on the forum about that.

I'm asking: How would this be done in the Axe III? (Or simulated, or approximated.) Would the result even sound close?

Thanks!
 
Follow-up:

Yikes, I just noticed there's a similar thread about "glassy cleans" here:
https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/what-are-some-tips-and-tricks-for-glassy-cleans.152685/
...and it even references one of the YouTube clips above.

Okay, my bad for not realizing that. (Don't jump down my throat please.)

BUT,
as that thread says, there are lots of definitions for "glassy cleans" and not all of them are quite the same as, specifically, the Germanium Fuzz sound. Some are more like 80's direct-to-the-board stuff...which may sound similar, but feels totally different.

In particularly, the Germanium thing seems clean when you're playing one note, but when you play the same note really loudly, or do a double-stop, you suddenly get a hint of the fuzz adding "crispyness" to the high frequencies. You don't get that going direct-to-the-board.

SO, for the sake of this thread, please assume that what I'm after is the "one note, glassy clean, two notes/loud notes, crispy slight top-end-fuzz" sound...and wondering whether the volume knob would still factor in (like it does with a Fuzz pedal), or whether Axe will effectively act like a buffer, producing a very different sound if I roll the volume knob back.
 
No, you can’t get the same volume knob cleanup.

You can however dial in a cleaner fuzz tone like what you get with the volume knob rolled back, but, you will need to change drive block channels, just not do it all from the guitar volume pot
 
lqdsnddist:

Let me see if I've got this right. Presume for the sake of argument that I don't care about the actual super-saturated Fuzz sound; I just want the clean.

Do you mean that I would do that by arranging blocks this way...
[ Input ] --> [ EQ ] --> [ Fuzz (Drv) ] --> [ Amp ] --> [ Cab ] --> [ Rvb ] --> [ Output ]

...or, this way...
[ Input ] --> [ Fuzz (Drv) ] --> [ EQ ] --> [ Amp ] --> [ Cab ] --> [ Rvb ] --> [ Output ]

...?

It seems like putting the EQ before would be a way of lowering the level of the signal that was feeding into the Fuzz, thereby simulating (in the digital realm) the same kind of lowered output levels that a volume knob rolled back to 4 has when feeding a real Fuzz.

But, maybe you just meant putting EQ after the Fuzz?

Thanks.
 
If I remember, fuzz must be the first block after input, impedance in input block set to auto. No wireless system allowed!
 
lp59 said:
If I remember, fuzz must be the first block after input, impedance in input block set to auto. No wireless system allowed!
Click to expand...

I wouldn’t see it to auto, I’d set it to where it sounds best, I like around 90 personally. Cool trick is the input block can have channels so with scenes you can change the impedance and the drive block settings via channels so it can act a bit more dynamically.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom