This video should be required for anyone buying an electric guitar! Wish I'd seen it 50 years ago! Just got my first fuzz last week. It's like a remote control effect with the volume knob, and helps keep volumes reasonable from clean to a "higher gain" clipped distortion. Without a fuzz, the guitar's volume seems like an on/off switch!
Love your explanations, knowledge, and understanding of guitar and guitar equipment and how you break it down to 54yr old Newby like me. Thank you, and as my Welding instructor use to day, keep sharing the knowledge.
Great video - the most basic fuzz lesson but the most instructive. And love the SRV/Hendrix towards the end!!! Brilliant Mike. And love the sarf Londern accent...
Not that I'm claiming anything, but as a sucky guitarist into shoegaze back in the late-80s-early-90s, I was chasing fuzz back in...well, the days when folks in my town were still hung up on scooped mids. Despite having learned to dial back the gain and volume knob, I still LOVE a mutagenic cranked fuzz sound dripping with the judgment of obscured temples, and hope to get a Life soon cuz of its versatility. I traded in a Boss Hyper Fuzz for a DOD Classic Fuzz, which became my King's Measure for decades--never found better, but found a few different that I liked. I now have an Effectrode Helios (Ge fuzz into a mini tube), and aside from the aforementioned Life, I also want an Unpleasant Companion, a La Super Rica, and any decent Tone Bender clone (the Classic Fuzz covers the Face and Muff sounds). The rest is about modulation...and...um... learning to play better...🙄...but yeah, gotta get those tones that are equally inspiring to my creativity as they are telling of my flaws.
Always find myself loving the volume knobs when I'm practicing or jamming, but since I play for a church I often default to just my pedals like so many of us church guitarists do. Great video, I'll be testing out my poor neglected fuzz pedal with some volume knob work this Sunday, thanks for the inspiration! Gotta get that t-shirt too...
Hi mike . I found out that my band of gypsies hendrix fuzz going into the clean channel of my mesa with the gain rolled off but volume up gives me swesome tones . Then i click the the drive channel i get instant santana tones . I love it . Its my go to boost pedal now .
Great Demonstration of what’s possible with a fuzz pedal and using the guitars volume tone and pickups!! Thanks for the demo and I learned a few things from it. Also great playing on your part Mike!
I love fuzz and use the Fulltone Octafuzz as my always (almost) on pedal. I use it with the octave switch off, so it's just in fuzz mode. This was an awesome video for use of volume and tone knobs. IT would be cool to see a video on guitar controls if you haven't already.
I would say, other than me and Hendrix, you are the ONLY guy who knows how to use a fuzz pedal properly, as an OD boost.. Perfect.. Well done... (I figured it about by mistake 12 years ago) Nice one.. George
Mike you just confirmed that I did a good thing a few months back when I bought a Green Russian Big Muff Pi reissue. Now I just gotta figure out how to use it! I suspected it could do all the genres I wanted (blues, rockabilly, psychobilly, punk, garage, grunge, metal). Now I know it can! Also, brother, this is my first time watching a video from you. Love your laid back, we're hanging out in your practice room attitude. So cool.
Have you managed to clean the russian muff up yet? I bought fenders the pelt two days ago but am unsatisfied with the clean up, and i am thinking of swappig it for the green russian i saw in the same guitar shop. So i would love to hear your input!
arvidedor I’ve been able to get pretty good clean tone with loads of sustain from it. I’m still tweaking and dialing though. Haha. Never ending I suppose. I have a Fender 65 Princeton Reverb Reissue so beautiful foundational clean tone already. Guitars I’m using are Jazzmaster, Stratocaster, and Gretsch semi-hollow. I would say that all guitars are able to work with the pedal for a clean but high octane tone. The Gretsch is probably hardest to clean up since it’s pickups are a bit throatier than the single coils in the Fenders. Overall, great pedal and this video really showed me how versatile it can be.
MIKE BRADLEY Have you experimented with all different types of fuzz pedals when turning down the guitars volume control to get that "SRV glassy tinny metallic tin pan alley texas tone? Because each fuzz pedal has a different front end section that has different resistor and capacitor values that will give you more or less more SRV glassy tinny metallic tin pan alley texas tone. Other guitar players I have talked to about this subject have told me that analog mans sunface BC183 gives MORE of that SRV glassy tinny metallic tin pan alley texas tone compared to the other analog mans sunface BC109, BC108, NTK275 transistors Cesar Diaz square face fuzz pedal used Germanium NTE 103 Transistors or Silicon NTE 123 or NTE 128 transistors
i love FUZZ pedal sounds ... but i'm always afraid to buy one ... cause they all "sound" so different ... that one seems "simple" and with very useful range of tones ... really cool ... great vid ... greetings from Portugal ....
WOW!!! just one (other) thing .... what or how you diid that last note on the Hendrix-o'Style play ?!?!?!?! that was sick !!!!! wow .... amazing .... :o
I’ve been afraid of buying a fuzz since I don’t particularly like the heavy fuzz tone but this video kinda has convinced me. Just a question, isn’t it hard if you have your guitar volume that low when you have to switch effects during a song?
Depends how you use your effects and how you have your amp set up. I've been using single channel amps for years so I'm very comfortable riding the volume knob.
Суппер !!!!! Отличный обзор отличный Fuzz. Вы подключали Fuzz в чистый канал усилителя или в перегруженны. Вы добовляли немного кранча или нет. Спасибо.
I got a pedal pawn fuzz it's really thick I am trying to figure out how to get more low end definition I am using a wire less .don't think it likes it.i have been playing for years but always was a hard rock lespaul Marshall guy. Last few years my taste has changed and I am in love with the whole fender blues vibe so ya fuzz is new for me
@@MikeBradleyofficial yup I used a cable and a battery ...it actually sounds even better with my od pedal on after it seems to tighten it up ... thanks Mike....
I'm wondering if you have a Jimi Hendrix fuzz pedal. I've been looking at that one just because it's Jimi and it has a cool graphic on the pedal, but I haven't really seen much on UA-cam demonstrating it. Nice Musicman guitar Mike!
Fuzz is distortion is overdrive. It’s just a quantitative difference about how much compression and clipping you add before you hit the pre amp tubes. It’s all very mushy and I’ll defined but for me The thing that makes fuzz fuzzy is that there is so much compression that you can hit the amp with similar level while varying the amount of clipping created by the pedal before the amp overdrives. To my ears that’s the difference at least and part of the reason you need to match the volume of yr other pedals to what the fuzz puts out and why compression pedals don’t always play well with a goos sounding fuzz.
Also if you want the real little wing sound you need a real Leslie cab, there’s a cool interview out there with Jimi talking about how Eddie Kramer reamped the lead track through a Leslie where he said it sounded like “jelly bread” that I always thought was a glorious way to describe it.
Hi Mike! Thank you for the vid!! My amp is a fender hot rod deluxe... do you think it's possible to get close to that tone with it? (strato too). Thanks!!
Hi Mark, I’ve done a couple of videos on fuzzes, be sure to check them out on my channel. 2 of my favourites are the pedal pawn here and the haze 67 by isle of tone.
Nice... Do you find the buffer and silent circuit in the MM affects fuzz pedals? I heard it can cause some problems as fuzz doesn't normally like anything other than the guitar signal. Cheers
Hi Mike , I am an OD boutique pedal lover for 2 decades now, but all my guitar masters ( like you) have fuzz on their gear ! Which one would be a first step in the fuzz world ? Mythos Chupacabra seems OD/FUZZ perfect pedal...Let me know please Mike. Thanks a lot for your answer and help, take care, kind regards from France, Belo
That’s a tough one to answer as fuzz pedals react differently with each amp. If you can go to your nearest shop and try a load out with the same amp you have. If you can’t enjoy the journey of the hunt buddy.
Did u have a buffer between the guitar and the fuzz? I know these music man's with their preamps have issues going into fuzz (low impedence). I have a Luke 3 and I must have a boss pedal (off)between guitar and the fuzz for it work properly
Not at all. Fuzz pedals react differently with each guitar. I have another fuzz pedal which when using the cutlass, it doesn’t sound great at all. But with that pedal Pawn fuzz, the cutlass works great with it.
I like fuzz sound but my problem is when you use it at home, alone, it sounds great but live with a drummer and a bass player, my guitar gets lost in the mix, I have tried several big muff, velvet fuzz, rusty fuzz, but always the same, lost in the mix. Does anyone have faced the same problem?
Shove an overdrive after it. Tubescreamers work well with Big Muffs. I used to run mine into a TS mini. I currently run a EQD Spires or Catalinbread Octapussy into a Klon Clone. Sounds mega with a band and helps to cut through.
How to use a Fuzz Pedal - Trade it in for something better, stick it on a shelf to look like 'that Pedal Show', throw it a guitar tech when they put the wrong strings on your guitar etc. The ONLY acceptable use of Fuzz is in front of a Wah pedal but if you don't 'Wah', don't Fuzz. If you don't own a Fuzz, you can achieve the sound by replacing the speakers in your amp with blown, knackered alternatives. If you have to turn the volume right down to get a decent sound with a Fuzz, then why bother? Turning the volume up so it sounds like your amps going to blow (or blown) is NOT a good sound to my ears
@@patgray5402 I never said anything about it having to be 'clean'!! There are a lot of great dirty sounds without it sounding like your Amp/speakers are fucked!! Overdrive and Distortion (I know fuzz is a rudimentary distortion) are great for 'Dirty' sounds...
@@patgray5402 Its cheaper than taking a stanley knife to the cone of your speaker but that doesn't make it a great sound. Handling it has nothing to do with it. Its great for those that want to hide their bad technique.... Is that why you like it??
This video should be required for anyone buying an electric guitar! Wish I'd seen it 50 years ago! Just got my first fuzz last week. It's like a remote control effect with the volume knob, and helps keep volumes reasonable from clean to a "higher gain" clipped distortion. Without a fuzz, the guitar's volume seems like an on/off switch!
Fuzz is great because it teaches player to use guitar volume effectively.
Kuitaristi Exactly!!
...yeah, good shout. So, does a cranked Marshall
I just have it on max lol
When I hear the word “fuzz,” my mind always goes to Siamese Dream era Smashing Pumpkins....
I love this channel! Keep up the good work!
Love your explanations, knowledge, and understanding of guitar and guitar equipment and how you break it down to 54yr old Newby like me. Thank you, and as my Welding instructor use to day, keep sharing the knowledge.
Aww lovely to hear.
Just got my first fuzz pedal and this was exactly what I was looking for!
Great video - the most basic fuzz lesson but the most instructive. And love the SRV/Hendrix towards the end!!! Brilliant Mike. And love the sarf Londern accent...
Thank you for the insight! I’m going to buy a fuzz now.
Good man!
Not that I'm claiming anything, but as a sucky guitarist into shoegaze back in the late-80s-early-90s, I was chasing fuzz back in...well, the days when folks in my town were still hung up on scooped mids. Despite having learned to dial back the gain and volume knob, I still LOVE a mutagenic cranked fuzz sound dripping with the judgment of obscured temples, and hope to get a Life soon cuz of its versatility. I traded in a Boss Hyper Fuzz for a DOD Classic Fuzz, which became my King's Measure for decades--never found better, but found a few different that I liked. I now have an Effectrode Helios (Ge fuzz into a mini tube), and aside from the aforementioned Life, I also want an Unpleasant Companion, a La Super Rica, and any decent Tone Bender clone (the Classic Fuzz covers the Face and Muff sounds). The rest is about modulation...and...um... learning to play better...🙄...but yeah, gotta get those tones that are equally inspiring to my creativity as they are telling of my flaws.
Always find myself loving the volume knobs when I'm practicing or jamming, but since I play for a church I often default to just my pedals like so many of us church guitarists do. Great video, I'll be testing out my poor neglected fuzz pedal with some volume knob work this Sunday, thanks for the inspiration! Gotta get that t-shirt too...
Hi mike . I found out that my band of gypsies hendrix fuzz going into the clean channel of my mesa with the gain rolled off but volume up gives me swesome tones . Then i click the the drive channel i get instant santana tones . I love it . Its my go to boost pedal now .
Absolutely brilliant playing and fuzz demo Mike - so many great ideas to try out - thanks!
You’re very welcome!
Great Demonstration of what’s possible with a fuzz pedal and using the guitars volume tone and pickups!! Thanks for the demo and I learned a few things from it. Also great playing on your part Mike!
Thank you Joe!
@@MikeBradleyofficial it might be good to follow up on this with a similar approach to few popular Distortion pedals like the Rat or the DS-1
I love fuzz and use the Fulltone Octafuzz as my always (almost) on pedal. I use it with the octave switch off, so it's just in fuzz mode. This was an awesome video for use of volume and tone knobs. IT would be cool to see a video on guitar controls if you haven't already.
Craiger I’m sure that can be arranged. I don’t think I’ve done one of that, I’ve done a few videos now I forget! 😂
Octafuzz only fuzz I own! After trying quite a few!! 😍😍
I would say, other than me and Hendrix, you are the ONLY guy who knows how to use a fuzz pedal properly, as an OD boost.. Perfect.. Well done... (I figured it about by mistake 12 years ago)
Nice one..
George
Appreciate it George.
I had the Billy Gibbons Fuzz Octavia pedal & it sounds really great.✌❤
...just awesome playing ! Inspiration for the soul. Thanks for the vid. About to plug in new fuzz...
Mike you just confirmed that I did a good thing a few months back when I bought a Green Russian Big Muff Pi reissue. Now I just gotta figure out how to use it! I suspected it could do all the genres I wanted (blues, rockabilly, psychobilly, punk, garage, grunge, metal). Now I know it can!
Also, brother, this is my first time watching a video from you. Love your laid back, we're hanging out in your practice room attitude. So cool.
Have you managed to clean the russian muff up yet?
I bought fenders the pelt two days ago but am unsatisfied with the clean up, and i am thinking of swappig it for the green russian i saw in the same guitar shop. So i would love to hear your input!
arvidedor I’ve been able to get pretty good clean tone with loads of sustain from it. I’m still tweaking and dialing though. Haha. Never ending I suppose. I have a Fender 65 Princeton Reverb Reissue so beautiful foundational clean tone already. Guitars I’m using are Jazzmaster, Stratocaster, and Gretsch semi-hollow. I would say that all guitars are able to work with the pedal for a clean but high octane tone. The Gretsch is probably hardest to clean up since it’s pickups are a bit throatier than the single coils in the Fenders.
Overall, great pedal and this video really showed me how versatile it can be.
MIKE BRADLEY
Have you experimented with all different types of fuzz pedals when turning down the guitars volume control to get that "SRV glassy tinny metallic tin pan alley texas tone?
Because each fuzz pedal has a different front end section that has different resistor and capacitor values that will give you more or less more SRV glassy tinny metallic tin pan alley texas tone.
Other guitar players I have talked to about this subject have told me that analog mans sunface BC183 gives MORE of that SRV glassy tinny metallic tin pan alley texas tone compared to the other analog mans sunface BC109, BC108, NTK275 transistors
Cesar Diaz square face fuzz pedal used Germanium NTE 103 Transistors
or Silicon NTE 123 or NTE 128 transistors
i love FUZZ pedal sounds ... but i'm always afraid to buy one ... cause they all "sound" so different ... that one seems "simple" and with very useful range of tones ... really cool ... great vid ... greetings from Portugal ....
WOW!!! just one (other) thing .... what or how you diid that last note on the Hendrix-o'Style play ?!?!?!?! that was sick !!!!! wow .... amazing .... :o
I'm like you keep it simple and let it sound good! haha
Thank You for a great video Mike - I really needed that! Keep up the splendid work!
Marcus Lindkvist Aww thank you Marcus!
So good!!! Oh man what have you done to me Mike?!?!
Hahaha.. Karl The Fuzz Man Golden!
I’ve been afraid of buying a fuzz since I don’t particularly like the heavy fuzz tone but this video kinda has convinced me. Just a question, isn’t it hard if you have your guitar volume that low when you have to switch effects during a song?
Depends how you use your effects and how you have your amp set up. I've been using single channel amps for years so I'm very comfortable riding the volume knob.
Суппер !!!!! Отличный обзор отличный Fuzz. Вы подключали Fuzz в чистый канал усилителя или в перегруженны.
Вы добовляли немного кранча или нет.
Спасибо.
nice Cutlass, Mike! Great color, and great clean tones!! 👍🏼🎸😎
Hey Mike I just realized that you say "hello Mike Bradley" and not "hello my friendly!" which I thought it was for years! lol
Haha!! Wow!
I've only just discovered fuzz, it's glorious. I always thought drive was all I needed. What a dodo!
Well...drive and fuzz. 😆
Same. I always found no interest in fuzz but after I discovered it, DAMN
I got a pedal pawn fuzz it's really thick I am trying to figure out how to get more low end definition I am using a wire less .don't think it likes it.i have been playing for years but always was a hard rock lespaul Marshall guy. Last few years my taste has changed and I am in love with the whole fender blues vibe so ya fuzz is new for me
Fuzz pedals are very sensitive, defo try without the wireless
@@MikeBradleyofficial yup I used a cable and a battery ...it actually sounds even better with my od pedal on after it seems to tighten it up ... thanks Mike....
I'm wondering if you have a Jimi Hendrix fuzz pedal. I've been looking at that one just because it's Jimi and it has a cool graphic on the pedal, but I haven't really seen much on UA-cam demonstrating it. Nice Musicman guitar Mike!
Duane Allman...59' Les Paul and Marshall amp.
Nice video. Will you make a review video on that THR10II in the back?
Scott Winchester Yes, there’s going to be a few videos coming up with that little box of joy!
Great video thanks
Would the cleaned up fuzz thing work with a big muff? I’ve heard that it only works with certain fuzz pedals
Most Muffs, no. I think the Triangle Muff it does though
I'm thinking of making my own fuzz. I'm gonna call it big azz fuzz
Fuzz is distortion is overdrive. It’s just a quantitative difference about how much compression and clipping you add before you hit the pre amp tubes. It’s all very mushy and I’ll defined but for me The thing that makes fuzz fuzzy is that there is so much compression that you can hit the amp with similar level while varying the amount of clipping created by the pedal before the amp overdrives. To my ears that’s the difference at least and part of the reason you need to match the volume of yr other pedals to what the fuzz puts out and why compression pedals don’t always play well with a goos sounding fuzz.
Also if you want the real little wing sound you need a real Leslie cab, there’s a cool interview out there with Jimi talking about how Eddie Kramer reamped the lead track through a Leslie where he said it sounded like “jelly bread” that I always thought was a glorious way to describe it.
Great vid. I like the "smooth" fuzz. Don't really care for the "spitty" fuzz. :) Love how Eric Johnson uses one.
Adam Yes of course, Eric Johnson! Completely forgot to mention him! 🤦🏻♂️
Spit is an acquired taste, as is starvation.
Rob Cerasuolo Brilliantly put.
Lol I thought my man was about to play Back in Black at 10:23
Hi Mike! Thank you for the vid!! My amp is a fender hot rod deluxe... do you think it's possible to get close to that tone with it? (strato too). Thanks!!
I’ve never owned one, but I’m sure you can. Pedals and especially fuzz pedals work differently with every amp.
@@MikeBradleyofficial Thank you Mike, great channel btw!
Your next T shirt should be "Big Lover of Fuzz"
I just returned an ElectroHarmonix Octavix Fuzz because it did not clean up at lower guitar volumes. What fuzzes have you found most responsive?
Hi Mark, I’ve done a couple of videos on fuzzes, be sure to check them out on my channel. 2 of my favourites are the pedal pawn here and the haze 67 by isle of tone.
Nice... Do you find the buffer and silent circuit in the MM affects fuzz pedals? I heard it can cause some problems as fuzz doesn't normally like anything other than the guitar signal.
Cheers
The MM loves this fuzz. I have another one and it doesn’t get along with it at all. Guitars are sensitive souls! 😂
This is sooo coooool!!!
Hi Mike , I am an OD boutique pedal lover for 2 decades now, but all my guitar masters ( like you) have fuzz on their gear ! Which one would be a first step in the fuzz world ? Mythos Chupacabra seems OD/FUZZ perfect pedal...Let me know please Mike. Thanks a lot for your answer and help, take care, kind regards from France, Belo
That’s a tough one to answer as fuzz pedals react differently with each amp. If you can go to your nearest shop and try a load out with the same amp you have. If you can’t enjoy the journey of the hunt buddy.
You’re amazing 👏👏👏🤘🤘🤘
Now that I know what fuzz is all about, I see what all the fuzz is about!
I know, horrible pun.
Nice video Mike, as always!
Wout Kops haha.. oh I like what you did there!! 😂👌
Did u have a buffer between the guitar and the fuzz? I know these music man's with their preamps have issues going into fuzz (low impedence). I have a Luke 3 and I must have a boss pedal (off)between guitar and the fuzz for it work properly
Not at all. Fuzz pedals react differently with each guitar. I have another fuzz pedal which when using the cutlass, it doesn’t sound great at all. But with that pedal Pawn fuzz, the cutlass works great with it.
@@MikeBradleyofficial that's true. Thanks!
A strat sounds like a strat but only if you have soul, look at those faces!! Love your channel btw
I'll be sure to give my fuzz a knobber next time.
Sounds 2 and 1/2 times better than Elvis.
I didn’t think Fuzz Pedals worked well with this guitar because of the buffered output.
I know what you mean. Was very much taken back. Love the tone using Fuzz and this guitar!
what is the impedance of your neck pickup?
Have no idea I’m afraid. They are bright and very balanced if that helps.
I like fuzz sound but my problem is when you use it at home, alone, it sounds great but live with a drummer and a bass player, my guitar gets lost in the mix, I have tried several big muff, velvet fuzz, rusty fuzz, but always the same, lost in the mix.
Does anyone have faced the same problem?
Shove an overdrive after it.
Tubescreamers work well with Big Muffs. I used to run mine into a TS mini. I currently run a EQD Spires or Catalinbread Octapussy into a Klon Clone. Sounds mega with a band and helps to cut through.
Great sound when you turned off the pedal :-P
How to use a Fuzz Pedal - Trade it in for something better, stick it on a shelf to look like 'that Pedal Show', throw it a guitar tech when they put the wrong strings on your guitar etc. The ONLY acceptable use of Fuzz is in front of a Wah pedal but if you don't 'Wah', don't Fuzz.
If you don't own a Fuzz, you can achieve the sound by replacing the speakers in your amp with blown, knackered alternatives. If you have to turn the volume right down to get a decent sound with a Fuzz, then why bother? Turning the volume up so it sounds like your amps going to blow (or blown) is NOT a good sound to my ears
Not everyone likes squeaky clean nice sounds. Some of us like it down and dirty.
@@patgray5402 I never said anything about it having to be 'clean'!! There are a lot of great dirty sounds without it sounding like your Amp/speakers are fucked!!
Overdrive and Distortion (I know fuzz is a rudimentary distortion) are great for 'Dirty' sounds...
@@BAMozzy69 Just admit it. You can't handle the fuzz!
Luke William 😂🤣😂
@@patgray5402 Its cheaper than taking a stanley knife to the cone of your speaker but that doesn't make it a great sound. Handling it has nothing to do with it. Its great for those that want to hide their bad technique.... Is that why you like it??
20 min video no thanks. I hate fuzz anyway. Bye