In a world, full of click bait titles claiming to reveal a so called "secret", one man rises up and makes a video with actually useful information that not everybody already knew... and not only that, he does it in under 10 minutes!!
And then it won't sound the same because you don't have his rig. When you back off the volume knob on most stock guitars, you lose a lot of the tone. The cheaper the guitar, at least with the pickups and electronics, the more it happens. There is a little cap or something you can add to the wiring that will fix it to where you keep the same tone, or sound, at all volumes. Costs like 2 bucks for the part, but of course you'll get charged $70,00 in labor if you have a shop install it. I imagine Thorn has the wiring that remedies the tone drop, whether stock or modded later. Unless you have that wiring, or something higher end, and even with high end guitars it's not guaranteed to have the most ideal wiring, you'll probably have tone drop when you back off the volume. Then there's the pickups. Chances are Thorn doesn't have stock pickups in that Strat, unless they are high end, or it's old and has vintage Fender pickups. Either way, it's not what you have. Then there's the amp, Thorn's "old" Marshall may be stock, but it's just as likely to have been modded. Either way, it's not what you have. And you'll have to get the exact fuzz he has. They all sound different, regardless of their build quality. Then there is the sound of this video. You won't have his mic, if he's using one, and beyond that you won't have whatever processing he uses to make a UA-cam video sound good. Whatever it is, however slight it may be, it can and probably does affect the sound of Thorn's guitar (which I think sounds amazing here). This is not a knock on Thorn, and you may well get the same results. All I'm saying is, with all the variables involved don't be disappointed when you bring home a germanium fuzz, even the one Thorn is using, and you don't get the same magical results (and I do have to say, when he rolled off the volume that first time, the effect it had was magical). I will end with one slight, tongue in cheek dig at Thorn. Don't be flattered he hearted your video. He's probably hoping you buy the pedal he used, so he can get his kickback for promoting it. This isn't really a knock, promoting gear is part of his livelihood, and if this isn't the case for that pedal, I do apologize ; - ).
@@stevejackson2986 - Of course, it won't sound identical, but does the concept work? Yes, it does. and very well. I picked up a used mini germanium fuzz. Standard Dunlop. I have an ENGL Ritchie Blackmore signature head going into a Mesa 4 X 12. I have a Squier strat with a David Gilmour EMG set and a PRS Torero with EMGs. I have to roll back further with those as the active pickups are hotter, but that glassy tone is there. On my Jackson, SG, and Standard Strat rolling back midway on the volume and it's there. Same effect running through amp models on my HX stomp as well. The fuzz pedal cost me $80 CDN. I absolutely love Pete's tones in his demo videos and the tones on his last album make me drool with envy, that said, I have my own amps and guitars which I am also absolutely in love with. You don't need to have what they have to get what you love. In fact, if you played through Pete's exact rig I doubt you would sound anything like him. (me included).
@kenneth Davies- agreed 100%. I’ve done this with a Dunlop Hendrix fuzz face, a stock mim Strat and an ac30c2, same great glassy tone. The playing just wasn’t as good LOL. Thanks for the vid Pete, keep on keeping on man. Cheers
@@stevejackson2986 You make some very good points. I got the Way Huge Havalina Germanium fuzz and don't really love the sound when I roll down the volume, I was thinking about putting a treble bleed in anyway, maybe I'll try that this week and see if I like it any better.
Is anyone else always excited to get another video from this man? Classy cleans is a huge goal of mine. Never thought to look towards a fuzz. Thanks Pete!
Great job! Hendrix used to say in interviews that he prefers his clean sound with the fuzz ON and volume down, rather than fuzz off and a straight clean amp tone. 🤙🏼
Thank you Pete... I nearly bought new pickups and started disliking my VoxAC15c1...my mim stock Strat sounded muddy...but after I bought the big muff Germanium Pi4 I had the glassyness Strat tone I always wanted. My volume knob is now my clean channel overdrive/distortion/fuzz channel all in one ,at the disposal of my pinky finger. Thanks again Pete... would love to see more Pro-tips from you. Great video. You rock! I almost went down that tone Rabbit hole looking to change my amp or guitar or pickups...as my normal Tubezone pedal only amplified the muddy pickups, even the amp to when directly plugging into it/them
That reminds me of a little trick during a recording session where the engineer put the signal from the piezzo of the acoustic guitar through a TS808, adding just the tiniest bit of nearly inaudible dirt to it, and a lot of girth while the sound of the acoustic guitar was a mix of the piezzo and a microphone in from of the sound hole. The resulting mix was beautiful.
This is actually exactly what I do with my Seymour Duncan La Super Rica Fuzz pedal! I then use my Seymour Duncan Pickup Booster to kick the signal level up to be even with the distorted sound and people never understand how I do it. All glassy gorgeous-ness!
@ Yes it uses silicon. I'll have to try the "glassy tone" volume knob trick with it, as all silicon fuzz pedals can of course sound different. Some can be "warmer" like germanium, based on everything about the design/circuit and what makes up the pedal. Since Arthur Gonzales says he can do it with the pedal, I have no reason not to believe him.
@@RokDAWG1 I don't have the SD Pickup Booster, but have other boost pedals. Btw, you really need to try the Foxpedal Defector Fuzz silicon pedal - it sounds incredible, has a lot of controls, and even an extra clean boost footswitch - all in compact form! The clean boost can also be used in your chain independently, when the fuzz is bypassed!
Great explanation and demo. Initially we would think doing this is counterintuitive. Rolling down volume on Strat normally reduces some of the highs, but the Fuzz brings it back up. BUT in a different focus of high frequencies as you clearly show. Thanks!
Dang, I would have never thought how much a pedal can make a difference on a tone with the volume rolled down. This opened a ton of new tone doors for me thanks Pete 👏🏼
I just received this pedal from Greece today. Every sound is amazing but especially the clean sound he describes here which is absolutely incredible! This video saved me years of frustration and probably thousands of dollars. THANKS PETE!
This works best if you don't have a super clean setting to compete with, in which case the super clean setting will always sound more pleasing nd glassy and louder than a fuzz turned down, in a live situation. If you use only a dirty marshall amp, or similar thing going, the fuzz trick will work better than the straight signal from the amp, as demonstrated in the video. But if you have a big fender tube combo with a lot of clean headroom, I doubt you will choose the pale thin half-fuzz tone over the straight sparkly clean sound with a touch of OD for rhythm goodness in a live environment where you have to compete with bass, drums and a sound guy trying to erase you.
Silicon transistors work for this too, as Hendrix used silicon FF units later in his career. It's the very low input impedance of the FF that responds to a guitar's high impedance pickups which gives the FF its thick tone. When you turn your guitar's volume pot down, this puts resistance in series between the pickup and the input of the FF circuit (improves impedance mismatch) and it gets brighter as you lose gain, the "Hendrix clean sound". Also, If you have a "volume kit" on your guitar it can mess up the low impedance mismatch FF effect when you turn down the guitar's volume. RG wrote a nice article on the FF, including the input impedance effect years ago, read it and enjoy the free knowledge RG offers! www.geofex.com/article_folders/fuzzface/fffram.htm
Terrific! Do you think one can achieve the same results with just a treble bleed mod (without the fuzz) or do you think that the Fuzz is paramount to the desired results in this instance?
I use a germanium mini Hendrix fuzz to do that. It gives the strat a more dynamic sound or something really cool. Especially when I’m playing at home at lower volumes it just feels like you’re playing an amp at a louder volume or something with the harmonics
This just blew my mind. I built a germanium fuzzface clone in a DOD fuzz enclosure a while ago. I've never used it like that. I can't wait to give it a shot. Thanks, Pete!
Pete: I bought a Dunlop germanium fuzz because of the info you put out here. Man, it's been a revelation! Thanks so much for all you do. I've picked up a lot from you over the years. Keep on doing what your're doing!
I love doing that with my fuzzes! To me a fuzz is almost a instrument all in itself! Definitely my favorite effect! I too have the constellation & love it!
This works with silicon fuzz too. How clean it gets is a matter of ho much gain the fuzz has. In generl, silicon FFs have more gain, but they absolutely clean up too. They sound different, a bit more fizzy. I pefer germanium but silicon cleans up too.
You hit the nail on the head Pete. Many people waste too much time losing some great amps and gear out of pure frustration of not getting that enhanced "glassy" highs that come from a good Germanium Fuzz Face. I think the NKT275's will get more in the ball park for that clean tone thing you are showing off than the OC45's. Valvo OC45's are more like what's in the Dallas Rangemaster and the roll off is very similar to one. I think the NKT's have a different gain structure when they are paired right. However, for recording... hot damn this is well worth having one pedal on a travel board that can do it all, and analog! Thanks for showing something really cool that can change player's lives. Getting a proper NKT Fuzz Face in the last few years really blew the door wide open for me and my playing, and I'm happy to see someone who really understands the journey of guitar playing share what was a very long road for me to be tonally satisfied. I can attest I was one of those unhappy, unsatisfied guitarists chasing that enhanced clean tone. Hopefully others will get inspired from their playing in a much more timely manner than I was (10 years of a long hard tone search) That's why you get paid the big bucks. Cheers mate.
Stack this into a transparent OD!!! Also use this pedal trick to verify the "transparency" of your transparent OD. If your OD is transparent, you can retain the magic in the germanium and get that overdriven amp sound at lower volumes. The OD can also help balance the volume between the full on fuzz and volume knob rolled down clean sound.
Thanks Pete! I learned this trick from the boys on “That Pedal Show”, and it’s amazing! People don’t believe me when I tell them, but I plug in my Analogman Sunface, turn down the volume... and voila! Instant glassy cleans that sound incredible!
@@PeteThorn just to make this totally clear to me: Does the strat in the video have a Treble Bleed circuit installed or not? If so, would that be "detrimental" to the effect, i.e. with the treble bleed mod would there be to much glassy highs? ;-) Thanks
Well shoot. I wish I saw this before, but glad I also discovered this for myself on the germanium side of the MXR Hendrix fuzz. It has a switchable buffer kept off, but using as an over unity boost With clean 'volume down' on a 2010 mim sss standard burst. Thick sound but with a sparkly bark. Almost 'kxxx' sound. Some Gilmore stuff can happen there as well.
I am building a Germanium Treble Booster pedal as we speak based off your other video. Germanium transistors are a must have in the signal chain. Next I'll build a fuzz pedal.
I feel like a silicon fuzz would do the same thing...I have used a Dunlop reissue silicon Fuzzface that I bought in 1987 and it gets the same effect. At the time I was trying to cop Hendrix's Monterey tones and rolling off the Volume to around 7-8 as he did (and as you do here Pete) worked. Great clip as usual Pete...there is definitely some magic going on with this rolled down Volume knob/Fuzz combo!
Not to redirect off of Pete's awesome video here- but Philip Sayce has a really good example on this- just search UA-cam for Oxfuzz: Germanium Fuzz Face Style W Charlie Axle Strat Tones- that's Philip playing and it shows the amazing cleanup of a Germanium fuzz super well- that's what first turned me on to the glass tones- and no surprise Philip was doing it. That video made me get an Oxfuzz it sounds so good- but to Pete's point here - any good Germanium fuzz will do this wonderfully! Awesome tip Pete!
I can't tell if it takes away or adds something to the overall sound but the result is I guess 3 dimensional for lack of a better word. I personally love it. Thank you Pete!
"Pickup and fuzz working together" is a little bit inexact, it's more the volume pot that's buffering the input of the fuzz while the low input impedance of the fuzz makes the cleanup really effective. So easier cleanup plus more highs. But great tones as always Pete!!
More than buffering, he was talking about signal loading, which actually is much like connecting the pickups/vol&tone pots with the pedal to make a larger circuit.
You can also do this with an overdrive pedal. A transparent overdrive works better I think but I was able to do this with a treble booster and overdrive. The key is that the overdrive cleans up well when you lower the volume.
Perfect result for I was looking for. As you said, I was looking to replacing my fat 50's pickups and another nonsense options, I just tried with my Dunlop Hendrix Fuzz and I've got what I was looking for. Thanks man, great video.
Fuzz is the most amazing effect there is once you learn how to use it. With a good fuzz you can get complete fuzz chaos at full volume, back off just a little bit to get fuzz with definition in your chords, back off a little more and get a nice overdrive sound, and even more for those glassy cleans showed in this video. The key is putting the fuzz in front of an amp right on the edge of breakup. I always loved the sound of fuzz when other great players used it but could never get it to sound right until I found out about using the amp right and the guitars volume knob. Now I’m in fuzz bliss.
I have a question for all of you Pete Thorn fans. A while back, Pete had show where he talked about humbucker pickups, and he made the point that it's better to get pickups that are less hot / more classic in their strength - - because you can always crank the gain on a classic pickup, but you can NOT un-hot a hot pickup, it's already hot and overwound. Okay . . he said something LIKE that. I thought it was a very valuable point. // If anybody remembers that show, and can let me know which show it was, I would appreciate it.
WoW!!! As a clean player for over 30 years~ !! I did'nt know this trick!!! I use boosters and eq with killer modded Fender Deluxe (High Headroom- No break up).. Thanks Pete!! You're the man!!
Great video, Pete! I recommend the Pedal Pawn Fuzz. Amazing recreation of the Texas Square Face. Gets amazing Hendrix / SRV tones. The Pedal Pawn Texan Twang is also a great recreation of the Texas Ranger
I´ve learned a lot from great guitarrists like you to explore all the nuances from the pedals. I´m only using a mxr badass dist (borrowed from a friend) and more and more I love how its sounds! Sometimes getting clean tones with low distortion and vol swaps like you show in the video, sometimes punching a good amp like a treble boost. Thanks for inspiring us!
Thanks for this. I have been chasing that Hendrix "Axis Bold as Love" sound. I just picked up a germanium fuzz, octave fuzz actually, and a line driver with an unbuffered effects loop. I just didn't get to the volume turned down far enough I guess. Any way this is timely. Praise God! He always seems to show me what I need to know when I need it.
I suspect what is happening isn't magic but the attack peaks getting fuzzed, adding high frequencies in the attack, giving it that brightness, quickly going into a clean(er) sustain. That's where the bell-like tone comes from. Just my thoughts
I've got one ehx Germanium4 about a year ago and I am using it's overdrive section always on to get this slightly bright clean edge of break up sound with 50% gain on it and use the volume pot to adjust the amount of dirt in conjunction with other OD/ dist pedals! This trick really works like charm and bring life to the cleans specially!
Germanium pedals have been used for a very long time in those settings. Thanks Pete from highlighting it. Sometimes people need to hear it for someone particular. Thanks Pete 👍🏻😎
not only, i think that any good sounding fuzz face type circuit should do the job, but yeah germanium is the best and this. I just use a silicon fuzz face mini to get crunch at low volume knob settings and full on fuzz with the volume all the way up.
so I'm not really a "fuzz guy". There have been so many Fuzz pedal demo's on YT lately. They don't do anything for me. Now, THIS fuzz used the way you do Pete, has a great sound and the only Fuzz pedal I've heard that I like. Well done!
In a world, full of click bait titles claiming to reveal a so called "secret", one man rises up and makes a video with actually useful information that not everybody already knew... and not only that, he does it in under 10 minutes!!
Georg Figél seriously!
Literally known from here
Under 5 minutes!
@@PanamaJack666 it's because everyone makes their videos 10 minutes long, usually fully of filler
10/10
Pete is the man! 🇨🇦🤘
He is isn’t he
I'm actually a big fan of your love and enthusiasm of electric guitars! 👑
Wow...Who woulda thunk it. a Germanium Fuzz is the key to awesome glassy clean Strat tones. Thanks Heaps Pete
Awesome! Awesome! Awesome!. I have been searching for that kind of tone for a very long time. Off to buy a fuzz pedal! Thank you X 1 Million.
And then it won't sound the same because you don't have his rig.
When you back off the volume knob on most stock guitars, you lose a lot of the tone. The cheaper the guitar, at least with the pickups and electronics, the more it happens. There is a little cap or something you can add to the wiring that will fix it to where you keep the same tone, or sound, at all volumes. Costs like 2 bucks for the part, but of course you'll get charged $70,00 in labor if you have a shop install it. I imagine Thorn has the wiring that remedies the tone drop, whether stock or modded later. Unless you have that wiring, or something higher end, and even with high end guitars it's not guaranteed to have the most ideal wiring, you'll probably have tone drop when you back off the volume.
Then there's the pickups. Chances are Thorn doesn't have stock pickups in that Strat, unless they are high end, or it's old and has vintage Fender pickups. Either way, it's not what you have.
Then there's the amp, Thorn's "old" Marshall may be stock, but it's just as likely to have been modded. Either way, it's not what you have.
And you'll have to get the exact fuzz he has. They all sound different, regardless of their build quality.
Then there is the sound of this video. You won't have his mic, if he's using one, and beyond that you won't have whatever processing he uses to make a UA-cam video sound good. Whatever it is, however slight it may be, it can and probably does affect the sound of Thorn's guitar (which I think sounds amazing here).
This is not a knock on Thorn, and you may well get the same results. All I'm saying is, with all the variables involved don't be disappointed when you bring home a germanium fuzz, even the one Thorn is using, and you don't get the same magical results (and I do have to say, when he rolled off the volume that first time, the effect it had was magical).
I will end with one slight, tongue in cheek dig at Thorn. Don't be flattered he hearted your video. He's probably hoping you buy the pedal he used, so he can get his kickback for promoting it. This isn't really a knock, promoting gear is part of his livelihood, and if this isn't the case for that pedal, I do apologize ; - ).
@@stevejackson2986 - Of course, it won't sound identical, but does the concept work? Yes, it does. and very well. I picked up a used mini germanium fuzz. Standard Dunlop. I have an ENGL Ritchie Blackmore signature head going into a Mesa 4 X 12. I have a Squier strat with a David Gilmour EMG set and a PRS Torero with EMGs. I have to roll back further with those as the active pickups are hotter, but that glassy tone is there. On my Jackson, SG, and Standard Strat rolling back midway on the volume and it's there.
Same effect running through amp models on my HX stomp as well.
The fuzz pedal cost me $80 CDN.
I absolutely love Pete's tones in his demo videos and the tones on his last album make me drool with envy, that said, I have my own amps and guitars which I am also absolutely in love with.
You don't need to have what they have to get what you love. In fact, if you played through Pete's exact rig I doubt you would sound anything like him. (me included).
@kenneth Davies- agreed 100%. I’ve done this with a Dunlop Hendrix fuzz face, a stock mim Strat and an ac30c2, same great glassy tone. The playing just wasn’t as good LOL. Thanks for the vid Pete, keep on keeping on man. Cheers
@@stevejackson2986 You make some very good points. I got the Way Huge Havalina Germanium fuzz and don't really love the sound when I roll down the volume, I was thinking about putting a treble bleed in anyway, maybe I'll try that this week and see if I like it any better.
A good carpenter never blames his tools.
Is anyone else always excited to get another video from this man?
Classy cleans is a huge goal of mine. Never thought to look towards a fuzz. Thanks Pete!
Me either
I lucked out with my Mim 50s Fender Strat it just has the quacks there its my favorite guitar .
Great job! Hendrix used to say in interviews that he prefers his clean sound with the fuzz ON and volume down, rather than fuzz off and a straight clean amp tone. 🤙🏼
Christopher Mafnas yep , and germanium is the one for that
3:11 So that's the magic of a sophisticated player and musician sharing secrets with the commons right there and what it can do for your tone.
Volume Knob!! Most forgotten tonal device on the guitar =) =)
Man! Sounds just like very early live Gilmour-era Floyd. Like on Ummagumma. Such a great clean tone! Love it
Thank you Pete... I nearly bought new pickups and started disliking my VoxAC15c1...my mim stock Strat sounded muddy...but after I bought the big muff Germanium Pi4 I had the glassyness Strat tone I always wanted.
My volume knob is now my clean channel overdrive/distortion/fuzz channel all in one ,at the disposal of my pinky finger.
Thanks again Pete... would love to see more Pro-tips from you.
Great video. You rock!
I almost went down that tone Rabbit hole looking to change my amp or guitar or pickups...as my normal Tubezone pedal only amplified the muddy pickups, even the amp to when directly plugging into it/them
This is the tone I've been looking for. It would make for an interesting pedal shootout for best clean.
That's it. My next pedal is going to be a Germanium Fuzz. Thanks Pete!
That reminds me of a little trick during a recording session where the engineer put the signal from the piezzo of the acoustic guitar through a TS808, adding just the tiniest bit of nearly inaudible dirt to it, and a lot of girth while the sound of the acoustic guitar was a mix of the piezzo and a microphone in from of the sound hole. The resulting mix was beautiful.
This is actually exactly what I do with my Seymour Duncan La Super Rica Fuzz pedal! I then use my Seymour Duncan Pickup Booster to kick the signal level up to be even with the distorted sound and people never understand how I do it. All glassy gorgeous-ness!
I have the La Super Rica Fuzz, and it's one of the most amazing fuzz pedals anyone could own.
@@jasonfrey805 It's definitely underrated.
@ I don't know.
@ Yes it uses silicon. I'll have to try the "glassy tone" volume knob trick with it, as all silicon fuzz pedals can of course sound different. Some can be "warmer" like germanium, based on everything about the design/circuit and what makes up the pedal. Since Arthur Gonzales says he can do it with the pedal, I have no reason not to believe him.
@@RokDAWG1 I don't have the SD Pickup Booster, but have other boost pedals. Btw, you really need to try the Foxpedal Defector Fuzz silicon pedal - it sounds incredible, has a lot of controls, and even an extra clean boost footswitch - all in compact form! The clean boost can also be used in your chain independently, when the fuzz is bypassed!
Never in a million years would I have thought of trying this. Pete Thorn, delivering the GOODS.
Great explanation and demo. Initially we would think doing this is counterintuitive. Rolling down volume on Strat normally reduces some of the highs, but the Fuzz brings it back up. BUT in a different focus of high frequencies as you clearly show. Thanks!
Def. a "secret", cause I never would have considered a fuzz for that tone - many thanks!
Dang, I would have never thought how much a pedal can make a difference on a tone with the volume rolled down. This opened a ton of new tone doors for me thanks Pete 👏🏼
I just received this pedal from Greece today. Every sound is amazing but especially the clean sound he describes here which is absolutely incredible! This video saved me years of frustration and probably thousands of dollars. THANKS PETE!
How did I miss this video when it came out two years ago?? Holy cow this is exactly the information I needed.
This works best if you don't have a super clean setting to compete with, in which case the super clean setting will always sound more pleasing nd glassy and louder than a fuzz turned down, in a live situation. If you use only a dirty marshall amp, or similar thing going, the fuzz trick will work better than the straight signal from the amp, as demonstrated in the video. But if you have a big fender tube combo with a lot of clean headroom, I doubt you will choose the pale thin half-fuzz tone over the straight sparkly clean sound with a touch of OD for rhythm goodness in a live environment where you have to compete with bass, drums and a sound guy trying to erase you.
Silicon transistors work for this too, as Hendrix used silicon FF units later in his career. It's the very low input impedance of the FF that responds to a guitar's high impedance pickups which gives the FF its thick tone. When you turn your guitar's volume pot down, this puts resistance in series between the pickup and the input of the FF circuit (improves impedance mismatch) and it gets brighter as you lose gain, the "Hendrix clean sound". Also, If you have a "volume kit" on your guitar it can mess up the low impedance mismatch FF effect when you turn down the guitar's volume. RG wrote a nice article on the FF, including the input impedance effect years ago, read it and enjoy the free knowledge RG offers! www.geofex.com/article_folders/fuzzface/fffram.htm
Excellent!
Awesome info! Is a 'volume kit' the same as a treble bleed mod?
@@rodrigosanchez1545 Correct, and treble bleed is probably a better way to say -t too!
Terrific! Do you think one can achieve the same results with just a treble bleed mod (without the fuzz) or do you think that the Fuzz is paramount to the desired results in this instance?
I have one doubt, is connecting to a multi effect after have the fuzz going to mess all up?
I use a germanium mini Hendrix fuzz to do that. It gives the strat a more dynamic sound or something really cool. Especially when I’m playing at home at lower volumes it just feels like you’re playing an amp at a louder volume or something with the harmonics
Thanks Pete. That is exactly what I have been fighting with my first strat. Been a humbucker guy forever. Just picked up a strat recently.
This just blew my mind. I built a germanium fuzzface clone in a DOD fuzz enclosure a while ago. I've never used it like that. I can't wait to give it a shot. Thanks, Pete!
That's amazing, Pete! Who would've thought it? Thanks!
Pete: I bought a Dunlop germanium fuzz because of the info you put out here.
Man, it's been a revelation!
Thanks so much for all you do. I've picked up a lot from you over the years. Keep on doing what your're doing!
I love doing that with my fuzzes! To me a fuzz is almost a instrument all in itself! Definitely my favorite effect! I too have the constellation & love it!
Awesome and with Jimmy over your shoulder looking on.
In a world...where men are men and tasty tone is on tap 24x7, Pete Thorn keeps the "gnarly" goodness alive. Shine on you Crazy Diamond...
Consider my mind blown! Thanks for that information and congratulations on your US citizenship
I especially enjoy Hendrix when I'm "glassy high." ; - p
Sounds great! I think I even saw Jimi smiling in the background . . .
My friends love em but I'd LOVE em if only they Loved Hendrix.
Thank you, finally some video really telling something useful for a strat sound other than "buy expensive components"
This works with silicon fuzz too. How clean it gets is a matter of ho much gain the fuzz has. In generl, silicon FFs have more gain, but they absolutely clean up too. They sound different, a bit more fizzy. I pefer germanium but silicon cleans up too.
You hit the nail on the head Pete. Many people waste too much time losing some great amps and gear out of pure frustration of not getting that enhanced "glassy" highs that come from a good Germanium Fuzz Face. I think the NKT275's will get more in the ball park for that clean tone thing you are showing off than the OC45's. Valvo OC45's are more like what's in the Dallas Rangemaster and the roll off is very similar to one. I think the NKT's have a different gain structure when they are paired right. However, for recording... hot damn this is well worth having one pedal on a travel board that can do it all, and analog! Thanks for showing something really cool that can change player's lives. Getting a proper NKT Fuzz Face in the last few years really blew the door wide open for me and my playing, and I'm happy to see someone who really understands the journey of guitar playing share what was a very long road for me to be tonally satisfied. I can attest I was one of those unhappy, unsatisfied guitarists chasing that enhanced clean tone. Hopefully others will get inspired from their playing in a much more timely manner than I was (10 years of a long hard tone search) That's why you get paid the big bucks. Cheers mate.
Stack this into a transparent OD!!! Also use this pedal trick to verify the "transparency" of your transparent OD. If your OD is transparent, you can retain the magic in the germanium and get that overdriven amp sound at lower volumes. The OD can also help balance the volume between the full on fuzz and volume knob rolled down clean sound.
AND THERE IT IS
...who doesn't love some all out gnarly goodness coming out of a stratocaster? Thanks again Pete. Trying this out now !
Thanks Pete!
I learned this trick from the boys on “That Pedal Show”, and it’s amazing!
People don’t believe me when I tell them, but I plug in my Analogman Sunface, turn down the volume... and voila! Instant glassy cleans that sound incredible!
Yes that's a great one! The Sun Face
@@PeteThorn just to make this totally clear to me: Does the strat in the video have a Treble Bleed circuit installed or not? If so, would that be "detrimental" to the effect, i.e. with the treble bleed mod would there be to much glassy highs? ;-) Thanks
Well shoot. I wish I saw this before, but glad I also discovered this for myself on the germanium side of the MXR Hendrix fuzz. It has a switchable buffer kept off, but using as an over unity boost With clean 'volume down' on a 2010 mim sss standard burst. Thick sound but with a sparkly bark. Almost 'kxxx' sound. Some Gilmore stuff can happen there as well.
I am building a Germanium Treble Booster pedal as we speak based off your other video. Germanium transistors are a must have in the signal chain. Next I'll build a fuzz pedal.
I noticed this with my Hartman Germanium fuzz but totally forgot about it! Tks!
Thank you Pete! 2023, and I just ordered a Germanium Fuzz to do this and more!
1:48 - Fuzz!! | Glassy Tone (Love Vol Germanium Pedal) - 2:29
What a simple and clear demonstration, I never knew this- thanks!
WORD!!! And oh... with a touch of compression 💥😍
So helpful and after decades of searching while not being at all interested in fuzz, totally news to me! Thanks Pete!
So many cool tips I've learned from you Pete, you are UA-cam's best kept secret for the working class guitarist
I feel like a silicon fuzz would do the same thing...I have used a Dunlop reissue silicon Fuzzface that I bought in 1987 and it gets the same effect. At the time I was trying to cop Hendrix's Monterey tones and rolling off the Volume to around 7-8 as he did (and as you do here Pete) worked. Great clip as usual Pete...there is definitely some magic going on with this rolled down Volume knob/Fuzz combo!
Not to redirect off of Pete's awesome video here- but Philip Sayce has a really good example on this- just search UA-cam for Oxfuzz: Germanium Fuzz Face Style W Charlie Axle Strat Tones- that's Philip playing and it shows the amazing cleanup of a Germanium fuzz super well- that's what first turned me on to the glass tones- and no surprise Philip was doing it. That video made me get an Oxfuzz it sounds so good- but to Pete's point here - any good Germanium fuzz will do this wonderfully! Awesome tip Pete!
Sounds awesome on the bridge pickup too if you roll the tone knob
Super awesome ! thanks for this video ! Pete rocks !
Pete - That clean made me think of SRV's "clean" right off! I wonder if he used the same trick!? :D . Thanks for the video! Great content! :)
The clean tone on SRV's "Tin Pan Alley" is the greatest Strat clean I have ever heard.
This is exactly what I needed. Thank you so much Pete, you're awesome and such an inspiring player !
Only a million times better than plugins.
Plugins sounds solid.
Pete sounds alive.
I have my first germanium fuzz pedal coming on the mail tomorrow....good timing. Now I am even more excited!
I can't tell if it takes away or adds something to the overall sound but the result is I guess 3 dimensional for lack of a better word. I personally love it. Thank you Pete!
"Pickup and fuzz working together" is a little bit inexact, it's more the volume pot that's buffering the input of the fuzz while the low input impedance of the fuzz makes the cleanup really effective. So easier cleanup plus more highs. But great tones as always Pete!!
More than buffering, he was talking about signal loading, which actually is much like connecting the pickups/vol&tone pots with the pedal to make a larger circuit.
You can also do this with an overdrive pedal. A transparent overdrive works better I think but I was able to do this with a treble booster and overdrive. The key is that the overdrive cleans up well when you lower the volume.
Beautiful Strat
This kind of changed my life. Thanks, Pete.
Well explained, in a few words, good demonstration. Bravo!
Awesome info... Years and Years of unsuccessful pickup changes explained. You rock Pete 🤘
Perfect result for I was looking for. As you said, I was looking to replacing my fat 50's pickups and another nonsense options, I just tried with my Dunlop Hendrix Fuzz and I've got what I was looking for.
Thanks man, great video.
Fuzz is the most amazing effect there is once you learn how to use it. With a good fuzz you can get complete fuzz chaos at full volume, back off just a little bit to get fuzz with definition in your chords, back off a little more and get a nice overdrive sound, and even more for those glassy cleans showed in this video. The key is putting the fuzz in front of an amp right on the edge of breakup. I always loved the sound of fuzz when other great players used it but could never get it to sound right until I found out about using the amp right and the guitars volume knob. Now I’m in fuzz bliss.
Oh, you mean THAT tone. My fav.
For me, Pete could sell water to a well, but this was the best 4 minute demo ever.
I have a question for all of you Pete Thorn fans. A while back, Pete had show where he talked about humbucker pickups, and he made the point that it's better to get pickups that are less hot / more classic in their strength - - because you can always crank the gain on a classic pickup, but you can NOT un-hot a hot pickup, it's already hot and overwound. Okay . . he said something LIKE that. I thought it was a very valuable point. // If anybody remembers that show, and can let me know which show it was, I would appreciate it.
Fuzz Face type pedals do this the best! Worth mentioning..
WoW!!! As a clean player for over 30 years~ !! I did'nt know this trick!!! I use boosters and eq with killer modded Fender Deluxe (High Headroom- No break up).. Thanks Pete!! You're the man!!
Great video, Pete! I recommend the Pedal Pawn Fuzz. Amazing recreation of the Texas Square Face. Gets amazing Hendrix / SRV tones. The Pedal Pawn Texan Twang is also a great recreation of the Texas Ranger
I´ve learned a lot from great guitarrists like you to explore all the nuances from the pedals. I´m only using a mxr badass dist (borrowed from a friend) and more and more I love how its sounds! Sometimes getting clean tones with low distortion and vol swaps like you show in the video, sometimes punching a good amp like a treble boost. Thanks for inspiring us!
I kept a certain germanium fuzz on my board for years for exactly this, that glassy clean tone! Best clean tone I ever got was with a fuzz pedal.
Thanks for this. I have been chasing that Hendrix "Axis Bold as Love" sound. I just picked up a germanium fuzz, octave fuzz actually, and a line driver with an unbuffered effects loop. I just didn't get to the volume turned down far enough I guess. Any way this is timely. Praise God! He always seems to show me what I need to know when I need it.
I suspect what is happening isn't magic but the attack peaks getting fuzzed, adding high frequencies in the attack, giving it that brightness, quickly going into a clean(er) sustain. That's where the bell-like tone comes from. Just my thoughts
A lot of what's being said here only applies to germanium Fuzz Face type pedals. Not all germanium pedals share the same characteristics.
2:15 thats sounds heavenly
Thank you Pete!
Great, not only did I want to buy a strat but now I also want it with a germ fuzz pedal in the bundle.. :)
I was today years old when I learned this crazy awesome tip. I’ve never been a fan of fuzz pedals, but now my mind is *blown*. Thank you Pete!
I've got one ehx Germanium4 about a year ago and I am using it's overdrive section always on to get this slightly bright clean edge of break up sound with 50% gain on it and use the volume pot to adjust the amount of dirt in conjunction with other OD/ dist pedals! This trick really works like charm and bring life to the cleans specially!
Germaniums have a lovely character and responsive sound. I always carry one , since 1989 !!
This does help....a lot. I have been searching for a fuzz pedal, now the search is on full throttle. Thanks Pete!
Can’t say I’ve ever been searching for it... but now that I know it exists I must use it. Thanks Pete.
Woah.. I never would have thought a fuzz would enhance the clean tone that much. Thanks!
Awesome tone trick Pete thorn
Never would have thought of that. Cool
Cool cool cool cool. And the difference when you pop in and out the fuzz makes it really clear the sonic difference. Great video!!
Germanium pedals have been used for a very long time in those settings. Thanks Pete from highlighting it. Sometimes people need to hear it for someone particular. Thanks Pete 👍🏻😎
great idea! Thanks!
not only, i think that any good sounding fuzz face type circuit should do the job, but yeah germanium is the best and this. I just use a silicon fuzz face mini to get crunch at low volume knob settings and full on fuzz with the volume all the way up.
Trying this tonight. Thanks Pete
So generous with your knowledge thanks
Awesome suggestion........I'm gonna try it right now. 👍👍👍
so I'm not really a "fuzz guy". There have been so many Fuzz pedal demo's on YT lately. They don't do anything for me.
Now, THIS fuzz used the way you do Pete, has a great sound and the only Fuzz pedal I've heard that I like.
Well done!
Pete is one seriously switched on guy , i don't think their is anything about tone he does not know . Always a education listening to Pete .
Awesome Pete!!! Thanks for sharing so useful tips!!!
Thanks Pete! Great tip
Now that's cool! Thanks Pete.
Damn it. Now I have to start searching for a great germanium fuzz. Thanks Pete. Love your videos.