Poll: Improving the Fuzz - Fuzzface Model

Poll: Improving the Fuzz - Fuzzface Model

  • Total voters
    40
Most days I prefer a fuzz going into a echorec into a slightly pushed clean tone, rathern than tube distortion.

Think Floyd's Live at Pompeii, Echoes tone. IMHO one of the best guitar tones ever.

Hoping Cliff chimes in here.
 
VintageGearGuy said:
Great website Java! I find I prefer silicon fuzzes...
Click to expand...


More of a germanium person myself, but I have a couple of silicon fuzzes. That Maestro sounds sounds pretty nice.
 
I recently had the chance to work with Adrian Belew on the process of working out how to replace his favorite pedals with the Axe-Fx. We began experimenting with a range of fuzz tones and all I can say is that by the end of the sessions he pulled his fuzz pedals from the rig in favor of the tones we got from the Axe-Fx. I've had similar experiences with other artists.

Some tips:

1) Lots of later model fuzz circuits use a lowpass filter out front for woman-tone qualities. Try this and boost the output to hit the fuzz hard.

2) Try following the above with a second fuzz for classic Univox disgustingness

3) A PEQ after the fuzz(es) gives you a world of tones. Notch or Peak filters also have a lot of use here.

4) You can get into low battery or circuit-bent territory by pushing slew and bias to extremes.

5) Try a cleaner amp
 
Matman said:
I recently had the chance to work with Adrian Belew on the process of working out how to replace his favorite pedals with the Axe-Fx. We began experimenting with a range of fuzz tones and all I can say is that by the end of the sessions he pulled his fuzz pedals from the rig in favor of the tones we got from the Axe-Fx. I've had similar experiences with other artists.

Some tips:

1) Lots of later model fuzz circuits use a lowpass filter out front for woman-tone qualities. Try this and boost the output to hit the fuzz hard.

2) Try following the above with a second fuzz for classic Univox disgustingness

3) A PEQ after the fuzz(es) gives you a world of tones. Notch or Peak filters also have a lot of use here.

4) You can get into low battery or circuit-bent territory by pushing slew and bias to extremes.

5) Try a cleaner amp
Click to expand...

#1, why didn't I think of that?

The FF sound I really want can be heard on a late, live rendition of Life Without You by SRV (forgot the actual date and venue). It's played into a clean amp but when he kicks it on it's thick, nasty, woody, and has a distinctive woman tone sound to it. I don't know why it never occured to me to try a LP filter in front of the hard fuzz. That will probably get it pretty close honestly.

On another note, it's one of the most classic and widely used pedals in history, and it should be one of the models in the Axe-FX IMO, but in the meantime I'll continue to look for a workaround.

Thanks!
D
 
dk_ace said:
Matman said:
I recently had the chance to work with Adrian Belew on the process of working out how to replace his favorite pedals with the Axe-Fx. We began experimenting with a range of fuzz tones and all I can say is that by the end of the sessions he pulled his fuzz pedals from the rig in favor of the tones we got from the Axe-Fx. I've had similar experiences with other artists.

Some tips:

1) Lots of later model fuzz circuits use a lowpass filter out front for woman-tone qualities. Try this and boost the output to hit the fuzz hard.

2) Try following the above with a second fuzz for classic Univox disgustingness

3) A PEQ after the fuzz(es) gives you a world of tones. Notch or Peak filters also have a lot of use here.

4) You can get into low battery or circuit-bent territory by pushing slew and bias to extremes.

5) Try a cleaner amp
Click to expand...

#1, why didn't I think of that?

The FF sound I really want can be heard on a late, live rendition of Life Without You by SRV (forgot the actual date and venue). It's played into a clean amp but when he kicks it on it's thick, nasty, woody, and has a distinctive woman tone sound to it. I don't know why it never occured to me to try a LP filter in front of the hard fuzz. That will probably get it pretty close honestly.

On another note, it's one of the most classic and widely used pedals in history, and it should be one of the models in the Axe-FX IMO, but in the meantime I'll continue to look for a workaround.

Thanks!
D
Click to expand...

I agree. I can not think of another unit that models drives that doesn't have a fuzz face.
 
Matman said:
I recently had the chance to work with Adrian Belew on the process of working out how to replace his favorite pedals with the Axe-Fx. We began experimenting with a range of fuzz tones and all I can say is that by the end of the sessions he pulled his fuzz pedals from the rig in favor of the tones we got from the Axe-Fx. I've had similar experiences with other artists.

Some tips:

1) Lots of later model fuzz circuits use a lowpass filter out front for woman-tone qualities. Try this and boost the output to hit the fuzz hard.

2) Try following the above with a second fuzz for classic Univox disgustingness

3) A PEQ after the fuzz(es) gives you a world of tones. Notch or Peak filters also have a lot of use here.

4) You can get into low battery or circuit-bent territory by pushing slew and bias to extremes.

5) Try a cleaner amp
Click to expand...
I agree with Matt on this. The Fuzz sim in the Axe is not modeled on anything specific, but, like I said in one of my previous posts, it's a fantastic blank canvas. I'm a total Fuzz head and love my real pedals, but I've equally come to love the Axe's Fuzz for being exactly what it is...a great blank canvas. It can be as clean and transparent if you want and also as nasty and broken at the same time. A lot more versatile than most of my real pedals.

The funny thing is...I do use PEQs with Fuzz, but right after my real ones, to overcome their, IMHO, design flaws...like too much bass etc.

Any new real models Cliff could put in there are of course welcome, but simply out of pure lazyness ;)
 
Matman,

Must have been great fun to work with Adrian! Very cool. And great tips that I'll try.

I would however love it if Cliff added a faithful Fuzz Face model :)

The unit just seems incomplete without it.
 
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