Are Fuzz Pedals Better In A Clean Or Dirty Amp?
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- Опубліковано 5 вер 2024
- Some people love fuzz pedals, some pedal don't like them at all. Some love them through dirty amps, some prefer fuzz faces, big muff pi's, tonebenders, (etc) through a clean amp.
Me personally? I prefer them through dirty amps generally. I love the raw gnarly fuzz tone and "feel" when it's running right into a cranked tube amp, be it a plexi-style, bassman style, or even blackface style amps. Personally, I'm not a fan of them through "Vox" style circuits generally.
That tone can be hard to get if you are playing at home, a club, church, or most gigs where you simply can't turn your amp up that loud; this is why I created the Velvet Fuzz, but that's not what this video is about.
I wanted to show you the differences between running a fuzzface pedal or a Big Muff Pi Fuzz pedal, and show them into a dirty amp and a clean amp. Comment below which one YOU like best. Also, comment what your favorite fuzz is - I'd love to your hear thoughts on it!
Equipment used is a Dunlop germanium fuzz face, An Electro Harmonix / Sovtek Russian Big Muff Pi, a Whitfill Stratocaster, and a Deluxe Reverb (reissue). Speaker is a WGS Veteran 30 which is similar to a Celestion Vintage 30, and mic'd with a MXL ribbon mic and a Shure SM57.
I love both, as well as stacking various fuzz, octave-fuzz, overdrive, and distortion pedals. It depends entirely on the sound you want to get. If you want there to be NO mistaking that you've stomped on a buzzy vintage-sounding fuzz pedal, going into a clean amp is the way to go; if you want it smoother and warmer, going into an overdriven or distorted amp, particularly a good tube-amp, is a good way to go, as is experimenting with stacking into other pedals. The Wampler Velvet Fuzz sure looks to be a solid, great idea and I'm sure that I'll eventually get one.
The Deluxe Reverb just earned some more points..
I 'm thinking if sell it or not. Better changeing speaker inside that sound like crap
I’ve searched for decades for the perfect overdrive/distortion pedal. While I have many keepers, I always come back to my 74 Thomas cry baby into my fuzz face, direct to an early 70 100 watt metal panel Marshall. Volume somewhere around 5 1/2. That combo and a few tweaks here and there yields blistering, stellar tones with nothing but a twist of the volume knob.
I like an MXR Diſtortion Plus into a Tech 21 GT2.
I like how the Fuzz Face is almost as big as the whole Pedal Train it's sitting on, haha!
😂
Damn, Brian plays the guitar! He must be the second pedal builder that actually plays guitar since kirk Hammett is the first one, cool cool!
That remark Hammet made amazed me by just how out of touch with reality he is. Of course judging by his tone(or lack there of), a Boss Metal Zone is the only pedal he knows about, besides a super cheesy chorus.
No doubt! Brain has much better tone id imagine. Never listen to the guy who made the statement but Brian knows tone.
Hilarious how omitting a single word changes the context of the statement... Perhaps he should have put "famous" before "guitar player", which I hope was what he meant, it would not have been the fiasco it turned into. Lol but, yeah, he chose the words he chose and made himself look like the biggest jerk in music since Lars not only took on Napster, but also tried to go after individual fans who merely were using a digital version of the tape trading network that got Metallica famous to begin with.
+thisdyingsoul76 well said
The guy who made the mad professor pedals is a GREAT player.
Man, with the tone going straight into that first "dirty" amp, I don't even know why you'd need to throw more fuzz on it. It sounds beautiful. I wouldn't even mess with that.
I agree. My main amp is a 1965 Princeton Amp - the non reverb model - which are notorious for clean headroom. Really hard to get any breakup at all with single coils, but I always run a mild overdrive after the fuzz, which I find is pretty much the same effect as running into a dirty amp. My personal reason for doing so however, is that I find a mild overdrive after the fuzz tames the brittle edges of the fuzz sound. Confession though; I don't actually have a fuzz right now, but I achieve a good fuzz sound by stacking a really dirty distortion into a medium gain distortion, and then that resulting "fuzz" into the mild overdrive. This way I have a variety of levels of drive from mild drive, to crunchy distortion, to pure sagging fuzz depending on which pedal or combination of pedals I have on. :)
with this kind of "constructed" fuzz from non fuzz pedals I'd imagine, you may even more successfully try to palmute and chug with fuzz sound, which would be very cool and satisfying
I actually think both sound lifeless thru clean, and muffled thru dirty.
.
My "sweet spot" is in the _very narrow edge between clean and dirty,_ when the amp naturally *compress* the sound with a _BARELY noticeable soft clipping_ (no evident clipping as in this video), or in short: *when the amp behaves just like a tube compressor.* This helps to:
.
1. Reduce harsh overtones and warm-up the tone.
2. Keep clarity and dynamics, especially with a Fuzz Face.
3. Add some mids and presence, especially with a Big Muff.
.
I've found this trick also works with OD pedals (at zero gain), preamps, and even good digital amp/cab sims.
>tube
Lmfao
Great Vid. Love the Fuzz Face's dynamics. I bought a red script 'Muff in the mid '70s because it was the next step to the LPB-1.
Raged with a '75 Strat and an Estey era Magnatone. UFO and Trower . Now have a Holy Stain which the fuzz selection brings a Randy Hansen tone,,,,,in the right setting ;)
Had to watch this about three times so far. The first time, I had become distracted by how gnarly the fuzz tone(s) sounded through headphones hahaha In a good way, though! Actually tried to learn something the second way through. I need to see about grabbing a fuzz face pedal one day (Even though I'm a huge fan of the fuzz feature in the Triple Wreck's "Boost" feature).
As always, Great video!
It’s all preference. I really like using a clean tone for the fuzz because you get the actual sound of the pedal itself. Then again fuzz on dirty is good for that sludge stoner rock sound
great video! I love fuzz in front of a dirty amp too.
thanks to all the guitarist who helped put out the fuzz, love it
the clean channel of fender does not have enough mids, thats why it sounds like crap
running muff or f fuzz into a middy amp's clean channel sounds very nice to my ears
a middy pedal between the fuzz and clen of fender amp would help the sound quite a bit
Very informative video. This just solidified my reasoning for "needing" the Velvet.
I think the fuzz pedals both sounded like great distortion pedals when going into the dirty amp, but they ounded more like fuzz (especially the muff) in the clean amp.
David Gilmour used his fuzz through clean hiwatts and the tone he got was clear and articulate but it was also powerful enough to rip your face off. I think through a dirty amp, fuzz faces sound too muddy. All in preference I guess.
I think Gilmour primarily uses big muff circuits though?
And he usually goosed his muffs with a Color Sound Overdriver, EQ and gobs of delay.
No, from the time he joined Pink Floyd up to wish you were here he used fuzz faces. Germanium fuzz faces from when he joined till meddle, and silicon fuzz from there to wish you were here. He didn't get a big muff till 1976.
If you listen to solos like Time, compared to Dogs, you can hear the difference in the fuzz and the muff. The muff being a bit smoother
You are correct, but most frequently people associate him with the Muff. I was only commenting towards his live use of Muffs. The boost and overdrive add a mid hump and compression to the circuit. It's similar to running a fuzz into a slightly dirty amp.
I actually run my silicon Fuzz Face first. Sometimes I run it into my Xotic AC Booster set to a mild low gain drive. Why not have both options? Works for me. I run a high headroom clean amp and use pedals for dirt.
the big muff into the dirty amp is definitely what I'd go with, but you need something like a ts9 to bring some high end into it
Apart from the title question - I think all the fuzz sounds in this vid are superb! In Brian's hands everything seems to turn into good sound.
I found I could get an awesome feedback as well as great overdrive sound from running a Dyna Comp in front of a Big Muff.
Honestly clean or dirty they both sounded great. Definitely different but i actually don’t know which i prefer. I think it depends on the situation. My all time favourite are big muffs and super fuzz pedals but i love a good fuzz face as well. I wish there were designs that allowed you to get that cranked amp sound with the fuzz face.
That’s what I designed the velvet fuzz to do actually! I love that sound of a fuzzface through a cranked amp
Honestly I enjoy the sound of a Russian Big Muff with the volume dimed and and the fuzz minimal, with the tone a little past noon on the treble side. When I run that through a clean amp, I get a nice balance between distortion, creamy leads, and cool tone when the guitar volume is rolled back. But at the end of the day, nothing beats that exhilarating feeling of soloing with a dimed amp/dimed fuzz roaring together
Nice video, I tend to see the 3 things differently:
OD: I rock my amp so hard, my lamp are are creating a distortion
Distortion: I wana rock so hard, I need to be heavy AF
Fuzz: I want a "circuit" vibe
I feel the fuzz more like an effect than a tone ellement. Kinda like you'd use a chorus, kinda like you'd want to create a "Broken circuit" effect. So I tend to use the saturation level on a Fuzz to the max, for desired effect.
OD, in my head, need to have the "clean tone" in the sound somehow
Distortion is highly saturated but without the "broken circuit" effect
Fuzz is, as the name implies, to create a "fuzz" sound, like a broken circuit.
OD: Hey, your tone is pretty cool! Let me pick the most unique part about it and amplify it!
DS: Your tone is cool. Let me just add this saturation.
FZ: *SCREW THAT TONE MAN, CHECK THIS OUT!*
This is why I bought a Catalinbread dirty little secret. It really smoothes out a Fuzz Face. I tried the velvet and loved it, however it didn't clean up enough for me and I like to run a vibe after a fuzz and into some dirt/hot amp like Jimi. But that velvet HAS the tone!
+Brian Gingras The DLS is a great pedal!
I like to put an amp sim pedal with a bit of crunchiness in front of my fuzz pedal then into a clean amp. I prefer it to putting the pedal into a dirty amp.
Big Muff + Deluxe Reverb = Big Scoop. Need an amp with some mids to smooth that out.
Funk 49 ........ Your point is well taken .
Both. All of the above.
Thanks Brian! I agree with you on the dirty amp...
I find my fuzz pedals do sound best when put into either an overdriven amp or an overdrive pedal. The only problem is they seem temperamental. Anything above bedroom volume and I find myself struggling to find a balance between how much OD, how far above unity gain I can get, and how much fuzz is in the signal. If it's off by any amount I either have a volume drop or screeching feedback when I stop playing. Typically, if I want just a hair above unity gain, the fuzz cannot have its gain past 9 o'clock. I don't have these issues when stacking OD and distortion so together, just when a fuzz enters the equation.
i think you just solved my problem with fuzz.. can never make em sound right..using the wrong fuzz on the wrong channel..
Thanks a bunch. Happened upon this and learned something!
Ive always just used a Big Muff but I didn't like it last time I tried it thru a Bassbreaker 45. I need to try a Fuzz Face I guess! Sounded way better and I like how its more of a distortion at lower guitar volumes.
sounds like the demos into a clean amp were lower in volume. that's always gonna sound worse.
The Fender Deluxe Reverb doesn't have a dirty channel. You dirty it up by raising the volume. You clean it up by lowering the volume.
I love my velvet. It does give you smooth gone through a clean amp although I find stacking it to be somewhat troublesome but it's probably just my setup. Sounds great though with a compressor and some delay for leads!
my velvet always sounded slightly weird at the beginning of my dirt chain, i switched it to the end of my dirt chain, and it stacks amazing well, especially with the tumnus!
Clean amp and Fuzz Face sounds better to me.
Great info. Thanks.
my favorite fuzz though is the Univox super fuzz, I don't think theres anything nastier lol
Fuzz Face into an already overdriven amp, yes of course. Alex Clay's old Sovtek Big Muff into a clean, high-headroom amp, bliss. All is subjective of course.
+Gary Jarvis Whatever way you choose you can usually find a use for the sound. Noise is great.
dude can play em and build em - nice work
I really need to get my hands on an old green muff
The newer EHX reissues sound just as good and can be powered by adapter etc. If you can, fork out the extra coin for the JHS Moscow modded EHX Green Russian Muff reissue.... It is insaaaaane!
Great video, some very tasty tones.
I just got my first fuzz pedal, Orange Fur Coat. Trying to figure out why the overall volume was louder on the clean channels compared to the dirty on my amp?
I have the BlackStar ID:260 TVP. I had the volume, fuzz and eq between 9-12 o'clock into the Clean Bright channel with gain about 1 o'clock and volume about 11 o'clock. It sounded awesome. I changed just the channel to the crunch and then the OD channels and the overall volume dropped.
Guitar was an Elite Strat on the neck pickup. Guitar volume about 8.
Mmmm, when you said "dirty amp" I thought you were talking about a Marshall with EL34 tubes or at least and ac30 with EL84 tubes. Fender's dirty sound is much cleaner than on one of those.
Fuzz boxes were not created to be played in front of dirty amps, they were actually created to achieve the sound of amps with defective transformers, and were supposed to be used as a way to emulate the sound of trumpets and trombones. The Fuzz + dirty amps became a thing after Hendrix.
Thanks, Brian!
I set the tone on my Big Muff at around 9 o'clock and run it through the dirty channel on my Peavy Bandit 112 Silver Stripe. Personally, I think it sounds better than running it though the clean channel.
Es curioso, pero hice la prueba en mi amp Laney digital, viene con modelos de amplificador, y suena mejor en la emulación de un amp limpio que un amp Crunch. En el "Crunch amp" gana cuerpo, pero no suma volumen. En el "Clean amp" Gana mucho volumen, tremendamente fuerte, mucho cuerpo y gran sonido.
I do have a hard time finding the correct batteries. It was borrowed and my pal put a copper top in when it was returned. I thought it was sick. The wrong battery does make it off the beam a bit. Yeas the jacks are backwards and the knobs are on wrong! Don't tell anyone because they will think you're crazy. I often wondered why they did that.
Buy the cheapest one you can get - see other answer why.
I've noticed that the fuzz face is very sensitive to input volume compared with a big muff cct. I'm using a Crowther hotcake into a bass big muff pedal then into a slightly driven amp. If I want chaotically filthy I replace the bass big muff with a silicon fuzz face. Nasty!
Thanks Brian!
Love it! What transistors are in this fuzz face?
Personally I prefer my Wampler Velvet Fuzz 😋
I must be one of the only people that like Fuzz Faces into a Vox. Been using a germanium FF(Silktone Fuzz) into the normal channel of my AC15 and it rips, especially with the amp just starting to break up.
You really need to try a Vox Distortion Booster from the late sixties... Not the chrome one... The square black plastic one that plugs into your guitar input jack... I have a nice collection of Fuzz pedals and the Vox DB sounds 10 times better than all the old or new fuzz pedals...
I just think when dirty tube amp or tuning volume high enough to over drive a tube amp is reducing the treble. a lot it solved by rounding back on the treble tone knob on the guitar.
Have you modded that Deluxe? I have been playing a stock one for years and never got that sound out of the dry channel? Very curious, tnx
I play mine through a Marshall. When I want clean, I roll off the volume on the guitar & don't use any pedals except for a compressor.
Yaashh!! Big muff with clean deluxe reverb. I jizz. Thank you sir
Brian is the man!
How about if you demo the Fuzz Face through a clean amp, then one with gain.. to show the difference and the best way to get the best huge Hendrix style tones?
I have the full size band of gypsies fuzz superb!
What dont you like about fuzzes into Voxes? Too much high mid not enough clarity? Im keen on getting a Valvetech Hayseed 30 as I grew up playing a 70s AC30 and love the tone but I do use alot of fuzz tones and distortion (mainly BOSS FZ-2, Big Muff as well as a Pinnacle and a few other distortions and overdrives).
5 minutes of Brian with a Strat and not one time did he use the gear shifter...that's just sad. ;)
The Velvet Fuzz rocks with a clean amp! I love mine. Also, were Big Muffs created for people who want a fuzz pedal but are also deaf? ;)
big muff did sound pretty poor, but some people do put them to good use
thank you wampler!!!!
yes they are
Hendrix loved his Fuzz Face through a dirty amp.
Thanks!
How did you get a fuzz face to sound like that into a clean blackface amp?! Every time I try that combo I'm left with a super harsh spitty sound
Run a good OD after our fuzz if you can't crank the amp at apartment levels. I've been doing this for years - it's the key. Not all ODs respond well though. The Wampler PLexidrive works well...
randle guill the key to the sound yer after is a dying 9v battery , fuzz at lowest setting, crank up level and add a treble boost [preferably a Rangemaster] in front and voilà spitty psych madness
Acho q se colocar um od depois do fuzz da na mesma
What is that riff at 1.40? I've heard SO many people play it. I swear it's the riff from Footloose. It's been driving me nuts!
Funk 49 - James Gang
Dude. You da man!
Joe Walsh w/the James Gang... "Funk 49" is song...
I love my old germanium packed red Fuzz Face. Like yours it is battery only. First may I asked what type of battery is best for it? I was told some place not to run it with a 9v power source cause they don't like it. True? Thanks for the good show!
It's said that carbon zinc 9v batteries give the best sound to old germanium fuzz face circuits. I believe that it's because of the sagging, sputtery sound associated with it. I use a carbon zinc battery in my Fulltone 69 (germanium fuzz circuit) and I think it sounds great.
It is because a battery has an impedance = a reluctance to deliver power, and the cheaper batteries have higher impedances.
Some powersupplies emulates that, but I am not sure how good they do it.
A little nod to Solodallas on his t-shirt!
Both.
Hey Brian...was that a totally stock Fuzz Face or did you mod it in any way?
I usually think Fuzz faces sound like crap....but your sounded great!
What do you think of the new Band Of Gypsies mini Fuzz face?
+rich655 Nope, it is stock - I bought it from a guitar center a while back. I don't see any changes on the pcb, but as I mentioned for some reason the controls are switched around (and always have been). I haven't played the band of gypsies mini fuzz face.
Great demo & sound. Question: how to use a fuzz *before* a Fuzz Face, and still have it scream like it should?
that's just a square waveform slamming another square wave and is toooo much fuzz and your amp input will just cave in with a ton of compression basically pushing the attack on the signal straight into the noise floor! It can work at lower fuzz settings on the controls for a sound, but once the amp is turned up and starts working, not the greatest basic fuzz sound to be able to cut through. Oh I've tried it in isolation and sounds massive (like the amp is about to explode) with endless sustain , but not usable once in a band setting without the initial guitar sound just being lost in a wall of noise. Maintaining clarity and dynamics while still making it sound massively explosive is my priority when it comes to that. Try the Dunlop Band of Gypsys Fuzz Face or the smaller square box with tone control Dunlop Auth. Hendrix line Gypsy Fuzz for an all inclusive package of clean-up capability, dynamics, crazy amounts of fuzz and volume on tap to push your amp, with the most mids and guitar signal intact!
Nice..so nice.
Is your Deluxe stock or did u mod it? I haven't spent much time w one but it sounded really good!
+wreckoningday Stock, except I have a WGS HM75 speaker in it
If you want to keep your clean tone not to be cranked, but your fuzz tone to be big, then just put an overdrive in front of it ?
Appreciate the demo, Brian. maybe I missed it, but when you were running the amp clean with the fuzz face, where was the volume know set to? Cheers.
+1986strat On the amp or the pedal? I'm going to guess the amp was at about 2-3 or so? It was super clean.
+Wampler Pedals Thank you, sir, and yes, I did mean the amp's volume knob. Still sounded pretty good clean, but agree dirtier amps make fuzzes sound better .
hmmm yeaaa thaaaank's ♥️👏🏻🤟🏻😪🍺
Thanks for posting. This was a great comparison of the tones you can get through the different channels.
I liked your Fuzz Face into the dirty channel, and Big Muff into the clean. My favorite fuzz is the Big Muff Pi, Op-Amp Reissue.
Have you ever used this pedal/amp combo with a Telecaster?
A Fuzz Face sounds great into a JCM800.
@Wampler pedals
So, to clarify, you made the Velvet to sound like a Fuzz Face(not a Muff) into a dirty amp, when actually played into a clean Deluxe Reverb? Did I understand that correctly? I'm asking because I've always had trouble using Fuzz pedals through 6L6 or 6V6 amps because they seem to go straight to the "Spirit in the Sky" tone, rather than the smooth guitar volume reactive Jimi tones. Is this the pedal I want for this?
correct
Hi!!! Which period is your fuzz face whith no smile?
Have a Jimi Hendrix fuzz face and it has such a harsh sound. If you turn down the volume it will get clean. But still has a hard sound to it. It doesn't sound good at all. Is the red fuzz face the one I should be looking at for a smoother sound. I get much closer to the Jimi Hendrix clean sound with a Boss super Overdrive.
In short: Yes :-)
From a person who hates fuzzes... it's like they need the amp pushed to round out some of that hard clipping. The sound though the clean amp made me want to throw may computer out a window. Through the dirty amp, it only made me want to kick the computer over and not throw it out of a window.
+The Guitar Geek it like the treble in guitar signal. since the strings are metal there significant treble when plucked. I found that tuning down the tune knob on the guitar helps a lot with high gain fuzzs also fuzzs have very little Torrance for you guitar being out of tuned compared to the clean tone
All good points. I know it is just a preference thing, as I tend to always gravitate to softer clipping.
At some point, after doing a lot of work to make a fuzz sound like an overdrive... I just use an overdrive.
play to some backing tracks ! encore !
Depends on the fuzz.
never heard the deluxe reverb or any 6l6 amp called a dirty amp but whatevs.
you've obviously never turned one up to 10
Peavey 5150 has 6l6....
6l6 amps have the best dirt
Clean
how do I get this exact tone at 0:50? Just cranking up the deluxe reverb with no pedals or anything?
What kind of Big Muff is the one he is using? Sorry for the silly question , I'm quite new
Is he using an attenuator? My deluxe reverb can barely go past 3.
I've tried and tried to like fuzz pedals. I've owned all kinds in trying to find the right one, but I can never find one that sounds good or feels right to me. :(
I feel ya! I haven't tried the velvet fuzz yet though.
They are better on a high gain 2000 watts amp
Muff, Dirty. Hehe. That's my preference from this video, anyway.
I never liked any kind of fuzz. Too muddy for me. I have a Mojomoj pedal that is a sort of a fuzz pedal that sounds great with my bass guitar though.
The fuzz face doesn't even sound like a fuzz to me...
Velvet rocks. :)
Were you playing Foot Loose? dirty amp is best.