Analogman Silicon BC108 Sun Face Soundclips

Mark Olson · #1 10-18-2009, 05:37 PM

For you purists out there I thought I'd try something a little different and plug some fuzz pedals directly into a power amp and mic up the speaker and record it that way. Definitely lacks some of the fatness a preamp can add, but this particular fuzz is pretty thunderous anyways.

So to start off with I have a 24 bar blues with the Sun Face which you might find a little confusing at first because I didn't start it off on the one. My old reggae playing habits die hard:

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page...songID=8236692

So yeah, heavy, creamy, raw and ballsy fuzz. For this clip I've got the fuzz maxed on the pedal but my guitar (cheap shortscale SX P/J sparkly purple girl bass I bought for my fiancee) volumes are rolled back to somewhat. I am using both pickups. Well check it out, let me know what you think, and buy some Analogman pedals, he really makes great stuff!

MAMMOTHvolume · #2 10-18-2009, 05:39 PM

sounds mint! didn't know silicon sounded so great in fuzz faces!

selfblessed · #3 10-18-2009, 11:03 PM

So people avoid their preamps when using Fuzz Faces? Or am I misunderstanding what you are trying to say.

I love the sound though. I think micing cabinets is the way to go.

Gotta love Analogman. Wish I could afford his stuff!!!

jucas · #4 10-19-2009, 12:03 AM

Clips sound good, thanks for making them. A while ago I came to the conclusion that a silicon fuzz face is pretty much my favorite fuzz pedal... that congested, choked out sound is amazing. This sunface sounds like it does an allright job of it.

Mark Olson · #5 10-19-2009, 12:11 AM

Thanks!

By purists I'm referring to people who are mistakenly under the impression that tube amps always necessarily provide some extreme coloration to the signal and therefore interfere with the "true" sound of a pedal. I guess I'd be under that impression too if I'd only played sansamps, never played a tube amp, and assumed that that's what tube amps sound like.

By going straight from the pedal into the power amp, I'm bypassing all the coloration of the preamp, which's presence or lack thereof, as I might have asserted, doesn't seem to matter at all in this clip anyways and really isn't a big thing to be worrying about anyways.

So in short, no, Fuzz Faces, and I'd say pretty much anything that isn't a preamp, an amp emulator, or something that you'd put in an effects loop would intelligently go into the preamp of your amp for general applications, where the real "true" sound of the pedal lies, when the pedal is being used as intended.

nad · #6 10-19-2009, 12:29 AM

Very nice. I'm thinking about picking up a Dark Peppermint Fuzz to go along with my NKT 275.

jetofuj · #7 10-19-2009, 01:42 AM

Yeah, as always Mark

I've ordered BC-108 a month ago, but I'm still waiting. I'd love to try germanium version as well.

gnasher1993 · #8 10-19-2009, 05:14 AM

Sounds good. I'm gona see if I can find one now...

rratajski · #9 10-19-2009, 08:05 AM

The more I hear this pedal, the more I like it! Thanks for the clips!

Mark Olson · #10 10-19-2009, 02:31 PM

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page...songID=8239887

Another clip with the Sun Face, this time with the Fuzz Knob rolled back a bit, and starting with a low volume setting on my guitar using only the P Bass pickup. I play a bit, raise the volume a bit, repeat for four different settings. You can see how you can get anywhere from some overdrive to some really thick fuzz with the bass I'm playing. And notice how much it really thickens up as I raise my guitar's volume to max.

selfblessed · #11 10-20-2009, 01:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Olson

Thanks!

By purists I'm referring to people who are mistakenly under the impression that tube amps always necessarily provide some extreme coloration to the signal and therefore interfere with the "true" sound of a pedal. I guess I'd be under that impression too if I'd only played sansamps, never played a tube amp, and assumed that that's what tube amps sound like.

By going straight from the pedal into the power amp, I'm bypassing all the coloration of the preamp, which's presence or lack thereof, as I might have asserted, doesn't seem to matter at all in this clip anyways and really isn't a big thing to be worrying about anyways.

So in short, no, Fuzz Faces, and I'd say pretty much anything that isn't a preamp, an amp emulator, or something that you'd put in an effects loop would intelligently go into the preamp of your amp for general applications, where the real "true" sound of the pedal lies, when the pedal is being used as intended.

Ok. So you are saying you did that to show more of the true sound of the pedal. That most likely you would most likely not do that on stage. But I can see it as a great tool in the studio if one was having problems getting a sound they were after.

Sorry for me being a little slow lately. I think I need to get some sleep.

Mark Olson · #12 10-26-2009, 06:11 PM

The only reason I'd ever do that in reality is if my preamp blew up during a gig and i had no back up amp and couldn't plug into the PA or whatever. I'm just trying to show the extreme yet controlled power, balls, and bassiness of this pedal even without a preamp. There's probably a lot of people that think Fuzz Faces are going to suck out your bottom end... that's clearly not the case, in fact with the Fuzz Faces I've played they have tons of bottom unless you're too much a sniveling coward to turn the volume knob up, which I guess is the case with about every pedal that has a volume knob that doesn't begin at unity gain.

Anyways, enough of that. I have another clip recorded the same way but with the volume cranked up to induce a thicker, creamier tone. Check it out:

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page...songID=8239877

That's the guitar volume cranked, neck pickup, fuzz at less than full.

Mark Olson · #13 12-04-2009, 12:05 AM

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page...songID=8427830

SG Bass Bridge Pickup (Full Volume) -> Analogman Sun Face with Silicon BC108 Transistors (internal volume trimmer rolled down) -> Fender Hot Rod Deluxe (Clean Channel, bass rolled down a lot) w/ Voodoo Lab Tremolo in FX Loop -> Eminence Swamp Thang which has yet to be broken in in the Hot Rod's cab (open back)