I Found the Holy Grail!

[OtroRob]

The Holy Grail arrived at my house in a box yesterday and it looks just like a Fuzzrocious Grey Stache.

I have been on a quest for eight months to find a fuzz pedal that could make the sound I was hearing in my head. It was definitely a Russian Big Muff sound, but I was not interested in the price, noise, size, unpredictability, and reliability of an original. In my mind I could get that straight, gnarly Big Muff sound, but could also dial it back a bit to a warm, fuzzy, almost bowed instrument sound.

My first stop was the Aguilar Fuzzistor, not a muff, but I got a good price and it seemed flexible. Even without clean signal blended in there is full-on bottom end with this pedal, which creates a sound where the fuzz always seems to sit on top or wrap around the low end, but never really affect it. The fuzz tone itself is kind of electric or static, which I actually like, but it didn't achieve what I was after. However, the pedal might be a keeper for what it can do.

The next up was the Mojo Hand FX BMP-1, a true Russian Muff clone. Also, great bottom end, but was able to get warmer and woolier than the Fuzzistor. It is a relatively low gain pedal and came close to what I was after, but lacked that wonderful harmonic content that can really make the tone I wanted. This pedal made its way to my son's guitar pedal board where it sounds awesome.

I heard lots of good things about the Blackout Effectors Musket, so I gave it a shot. Definitely not my thing. No matter how much tweaking I did I could not get it to not sound harsh. Maybe there is too much interplay between all of the dials and I just couldn't find the right combination. This one got sold.

Which brings me to the Grey Stache. I bought a used stock model and right away knew I was on to something special. I was so close to the sound I wanted, but it was still a little too raw (with the ability to get way too raw - this boy has some gain). So I contacted Fuzzrocious (Ryan) about adding the diode mod (1n914 Silicon & Germanium) and momentary oscilliation (just for fun). Well, in his awesomeness, Ryan received my pedal last Friday and had it on its way back to me by Monday! What I received blew my socks off!

This is it! With no diode selected I can get a raw, gnarly fuzz that makes me want to play louder and louder. The Germanium option is wicked quiet, but with the sustain, mids, and volume turned up it sounds like my Beta drive on steroids. The golden ticket is the Silicon diode -- there's my tone. The ability to get warm and fuzzy with harmonics and sustain for days. I never need to buy another fuzz. My quest is complete.

 

[Bodeanly]

No pics, no grail.

 

[sub-commandante]

No pics, no grail.

Tough room....

 

[Bodeanly]

Tough room....

And lo, I came into this thread in search of said grail. Upon my arrival, all I found were words and scriptures of one who claimed to have found it.

 

[sub-commandante]

I say unto thee, thats all that exists of the actual "supposed" grail too. There aren't pics of it either..so it too must never had happened.

 

[Bodeanly]

I say unto thee, thats all that exists of the actual "supposed" grail too. There aren't pics of it either..so it too must never had happened.

 

[sub-commandante]

View attachment 839992

Clearly a re-issue.

 

[el murdoque]

I do envy thee ,for your quest hath cometh to an end. As soon as you have proven yourself to this board by showing pics.

 

[OtroRob]

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."

But, to encourage the truly earnest pilgrims, here is picture of the pre-modded Grail. I was too busy making a joyful, fuzzy noise last night for new pictures.

 

[Bodeanly]

*heavens open*

*angels singing*

 

[sub-commandante]

Behold !!... an exalted 'stache...

 

[MGR]

Now, if he had found it on Oak Island I really would have been impressed!

 

[Callused Finger]

Bubble wrap makes the nicest background.
Modern with a hint of tranquility.

 

[Billybladez66]

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."

But, to encourage the truly earnest pilgrims, here is picture of the pre-modded Grail. I was too busy making a joyful, fuzzy noise last night for new pictures.


View attachment 839997

You chose wisely....

 

[stringthrough]

Never understood the love for bass fuzz. I get the love for a good bass grind, but not fuzz. Seems to me it's the guirarist's job to provide the "hair" and the bassist's job is to provide a full, round foundation for all that hair. To my ears fuzz just sucks the bottom out of the bass sound and has the bass and guitarist fighting for the same frequencies and hair. Of course my comments are limited to grunge and 18 million types of metal... Wait, this just in, an 18,000,001 sub-genre of metal has been identified and sanctioned.

 

[Nev375]

Ah yes. Ze grey stache. We've already got them. It's a very nice.

 

[TripleDouble]

Clearly a re-issue.

Yup, only took half a second to see that its a fake relic job.

 

[blindrabbit]

Never understood the love for bass fuzz. I get the love for a good bass grind, but not fuzz. Seems to me it's the guirarist's job to provide the "hair" and the bassist's job is to provide a full, round foundation for all that hair. To my ears fuzz just sucks the bottom out of the bass sound and has the bass and guitarist fighting for the same frequencies and hair. Of course my comments are limited to grunge and 18 million types of metal... Wait, this just in, an 18,000,001 sub-genre of metal has been identified and sanctioned.

Clearly you've not tried a good bass fuzz before. The right bass fuzz can make your tone sound massive and huge, or it can do a better job of adding "grind" and warmth than any OD can. In fact, I typically prefer low gain fuzz tones than straight up "overdrives" as an always-on.

 

[stringthrough]

Clearly you've not tried a good bass fuzz before. The right bass fuzz can make your tone sound massive and huge, or it can do a better job of adding "grind" and warmth than any OD can. In fact, I typically prefer low gain fuzz tones than straight up "overdrives" as an always-on.

OK, you got me curious. Which fuzz pedal do you use and how do you dial it up?

 

[blindrabbit]

OK, you got me curious. Which fuzz pedal do you use and how do you dial it up?

Well I have quite a few fuzz pedals.

But, let me talk about two in this context. First off is the ss/bs TAFM. It is a fuzzface at it's heart. It has a blend and a mids control. Set to low gain, this pedal is easily one of the best OD sounds I've ever heard. You want to get old-school, 1960s Jack Bruce type tones? This will nail it for you. You get this warm, fat, soft around the edges tone that takes up more sonic space on the low end. With the TAFM specifically, I love setting it as a low gain OD, because it has a second footswitch that kicks on a) a gate, and b) it maxes out the fuzz gain, so I can turn the TAFM from mild into wild with a single stomp. It is like having two pedals in one. Anyway, that's off topic, but the TAFM gets used more as an OD for me than a fuzz, even though it is a "fuzz".

Secondly, the Wounded Paw Attack Goat. This is a superfuzz, but with a blend and again a mids control. I used to run it with the gain relatively high and the mids fully present, but I would blend in only a little bit of this sound, like maybe 75% clean/25% fuzz. I found that this gave my tone a nice edge to it that would help cut through when I needed to, gave some nice aggression to my sound, but at the same time I kept a hefty bottom end.

I'd often alternate between those two fuzz pedals set as ODs during my sets. Stacking them was also nice.

Another pedal to consider would be some sort of green russian muff. Those can make really nice OD pedals when set to low gain. Gobs of low end.