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Fuzz not distortion

#4
pLewis said:
Anyone have a decent warm fuzz pedal they recomend? All I find seems more like a distortion to me!
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Soz but could you clarify your question please? I’m not sure what you mean by distortion. Fuzz is a type of distortion. Any muff with a treble control will be warm. Overdrive, that’s a type of distortion too. That can also be called “warm” if you turn down the treble a bit. A muff is an overdrive circuit that is heavily driven into fuzz. In fact any circuit that clips is a type of distortion.
 
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#5
Check-out this lil darling...
productpagecarousel-kingmakerfront_orig.png

You can really get a VERY wide range of Fuzz, Distortion and OD with this one. It has an EQ, Noise Gate and can use channel #2 as an effects loop. $199

Can't beat it!
 
#9
pLewis said:
Fuzz not distortion
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GMC said:
Fuzz is a type of distortion.
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+1 @GMC

Apologize for the soapbox rant, but I frequently get bent out of shape about the hyper-niggling bordering on cork-sniffing that goes on in some conversations about Fuzz/Distortion/Overdrive pedals. As I wrote over on the GearSlutz forum the last time this topic came up there:

My pet peeve is the hairsplitters who insist that "fuzz" and "distortion" and "overdrive" pedals are three completely different things.

Hey, I'm all about getting granular in one's evaluations and categorizations, and I understand the value in being able to identify and refer to sounds in a way that narrows down the available options, and maybe even achieves consensus on what sound a room full of musicians are talking about.

But to not be able to recognize that "fuzz" and "distortion" and "overdrive" are three sounds along the same spectrum is to be willfully ignorant of both how those effects are generated, and what the resulting sound actually is relative to the unprocessed signal.

In short:
fuzz is fuzz ...which is distortion.
overdrive is distortion.
distortion is distortion.
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#11
I guess where I am confused is how to manipulate any fuzz/distortion/overdrive pedal in a way that results a warm fuzz.

I picked up a big muff back in the day from a bassist that was tossing it out because a know broke during his set. So the only sound I can get out of it now is like a heavy 90s grunge sound.

I appreciate everyone's insight and patience.
 
#12
pLewis said:
I guess where I am confused is how to manipulate any fuzz/distortion/overdrive pedal in a way that results a warm fuzz.

I picked up a big muff back in the day from a bassist that was tossing it out because a know broke during his set. So the only sound I can get out of it now is like a heavy 90s grunge sound.

I appreciate everyone's insight and patience.
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Someone can correct me on this, but, I expect that a Germanium Fuzz (Fuzz Face) is not likely your thing. I believe that a Big Muff Pi is also Germanium. I think that a Silicone chip is potentially "warmer" by description. However, this could be different in different pedal offerings.

I've been listening to a bunch of Fuzz pedals over the last week or two. I found that I wanted to try an MXR (Octivo) SIETE Santos 7 - Billy Gibbons Fuzz, oddly an MXR Overdrive (it really sounds more like a warm Fuzz to me?) and a custom single knob Fuzz from Scotland.

I have a Source Audio Aftershock so I can go that way. But, I'm looking for an analog pedal...
 
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#13
pLewis said:
I guess where I am confused is how to manipulate any fuzz/distortion/overdrive pedal in a way that results a warm fuzz.

I picked up a big muff back in the day from a bassist that was tossing it out because a know broke during his set. So the only sound I can get out of it now is like a heavy 90s grunge sound.

I appreciate everyone's insight and patience.
Click to expand...

What you seek is exactly how I landed on the AmpTweaker tight fuzz on a recommendation from Tim Lefev. You can select between Slicone and Germanium fuzz as well as between a 60's style or 70's style. 60's Silicone is nice and warm. The Tight Fuzz control lets you control the break up and the dry low adds in as much or little of your original signal in. Check out the TightFuzz or look for pedals with similar controls. Being able to add in some of your original signal to the final output is what will keep your end result warm and rich instead of just thin and fuzzy. I ditched my two drive pedals once I get the TightFuzz because it nails everything along the spectrum from light overdrive and fuzz to full blown fuzz tones.

For me this pedal does everything from a warm slight B15 style breakup to full on fuzz. It's the best sounding overdrive pedal and best sounding fuzz pedal that I've found.
 
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