I’ve worked up another selection of fuzz pedal pairs - a couple here may be a touch more tenuous - while there is solid logic in all the choices - even those that look a little differentiated! As before - there are some magnificent combinations to be found here.
The first selection was mostly about Fuzz Face pairs, while for this second roundup, we have a larger contingent of Big Muff types.
Expresso FX puts in a second appearance here - while all the other brands have not featured previously in this format.
Here follows the summary of the featured pedals.
Before we then have the individual details - below! :
Tri/Ram Controls - Volume, Tone, Fuzz, Mid, Fat, Voice : Tri/Ram.
Alter Controls - Volume, Tone, Fuzz, Mid, Fat, Boost : On/Off.
Two of my favourite Muff types and a perfect 5-knob pairing, I'm not sure John still makes the 5k Tri/Ram - but I much prefer it in that configuration - these 2 sound fantastic and pretty much together give you full-range Muff coverage.
Controls [x2] - Treble, Bass, Mids, Mids Frequency, Level, Fuzz.
This BTMB EQ'd Vintage Series is vastly underrated - and was discontinued before its time really. 2 classic Big Muff Pedals with rare original components and expanded 3-Band EQ / Parametric Mids Tone Stack. Alas no demo seems to have been made of the Triangle variant - which is mostly my preferred choice - both are superb!
FZ-3 Controls - Level, Tone, Fuzz.
FZ-1 Controls - Level, Tone, Fuzz, Voice : Vintage / Modern.
A wonderful pair of fuzzes from Boss - mostly Fuzz Face -centric while capable of a pretty huge variety of tones and textures. The FZ-1W is a little more modern, and the FZ-3 more vintage overall - and nicely encroaching on Tone Bender territory. The FZ-3 still retains its popularity even though it's been long since discontinued.
Donetsk Controls - Level, Sustain, Tone, Gain Stage : Si (BC239C) / Ge (AC187K).
Poltara Controls - Volume, EQ, Sustain, Tone Stack : BMP / Filter, Impedance : Custom / Standard.
2 related but quite distinct Big Muff types. The Donetsk has dual Gain Stages - one Germanium and the other Silicon - which you can switch between. While the Poltava is a more modern IC / OpAmp variety. Vast range of tones here - alas these are both part of Drunk Beaver's 'Pedal Drop' Series for which there are typically no demos generated - both varieties long sold out limited releases!
www.instagram.com/p/CDJ6mPKH3lt/
FF Controls - Level, Fuzz, Bias, Q1 : CV10806 Si / CV7351 Ge, Q2 : CV10806 Si / CV7351 Ge.
TB MKII Controls - Level, Fuzz, Bias, Voicing : Smooth / Buzzy, Q2 : OC202 Si / OC75 Ge.
Two superior Germanium / Silicon Transistor switchable fuzzes - where you can select all-germanium, all-silicon, or an either-way mix of both across Q1 and Q2 Gain Stages. Amazing sounding transistors and some fine details inside and out. Later versions of this format include a 4th Filter knob - while these V1 varieties sound wholly fantastic as is!
Instagram no longer embeds on Safari browsers - so you will need to access the actual Instagram page via above referenced URL.
Controls [x2] - Fuzz, Level, Focus.
David Greeves kind of re-invents the classic Fuzz Face style fuzz - via is Focus Fuzz circuit - which essentially has 3 independent gain stages - courtesy of those 3 dials. The all-silicon variety gets unerringly close to the hybrid Ge/Si one - while that one has just a fraction more richness of texture!
Controls [x2] - Attack / Level.
A brace of early Hudson Electronics Tone Bender varieties with simple 2-knob configuration. Normally I require my Germanium fuzzes to have external biases - while I made an exception for these 2 beauties, The White Heat is a Vox Tone Bender type, while the Stroll-On is a classic Tone Bender MKII Pro variety. Michael's pedals are universally excellent - while he's still best known for his Broadcast and Sidecar pedals. I own most of the key ones as such - a total of 5.
Controls [x2] - Mids, Tone, Level (Volume), Gain.
Aisha and Fiona make the most exceptional creatively crafted pedals - where their fuzzes are all about gorgeous harmonic textures. Both these Muff style pedals are somewhat derived / evolved from the EQD Hoof / Green Russian Muff - and have unique component make-up - often using Germanium Transistors in the mix. The She fuzz leans more into Lead tones, while the Cha'Cha was specially engineered to be optimal for Chords.
Amethyst Controls - Fuzz, Level, Tone, Clipping : Silicon / Bypass / Misfit, Mids : Boosted / Scooped / Flat.
Furious Controls - Tone, Loud, Doom, Clip : Harmonic / Lower Amplitude, Filter : Crunch / Low End, Mids : Boosted / Scooped / Flat.
This was the earlier brand for Adrian Czarmekii - where it is now in quite a different style and is known as Tone Charm Audio - whose pedals tend to be mostly mid-sized boxes. Part of me prefers the earlier incarnation - which consisted of a series of 'Dope' monikered / Series pedals - where I own a pair of the later editions! Really cool pedals with distinct Occvlt design touches. Both of these sound quite doomy - while the latter includes a distinctive Upper Octave flavour.
It seems like a lot of those early Occvlt demos have since been disabled for some reason. I was able to find a replacement for the already shaved Amethyst Dope, while there are no longer any active demos for the Furious Dope out there alas!
M-1-A Controls - Bass, Treble, Level, Sustain.
Patriarch Controls - Mids, Tone, Lows, Level, Sustain.
Fantastic Gilmour style Big Muffs based on the similarly named Buffalo FX varieties, which in turn were based on the Ram's Head and Civil War Big Muffs. And while the M-1-A model is still much the same as it was when I acquired one - the Patriarch is now. V2 with an extra Mids : Scooped / Boosted toggle switch - I will likely upgrade to that eventually - as I always like to have an extra Mids control on my Muff type fuzzes! These are improvements to the two Buffalo FX variants - which already sounded amazing - a really smart pair of Big Muffs!
Hybrid Controls - Volume, Fuzz, Tightness, Presence, Mid Boost.
Lunar Controls - Volume, Fuzz, Body, Brite, Range.
Interestingly two sides of a very similar circuit - where the Lunar Module has 3 x BC109C Transistors, but the Hybrid Fuzz Driver has 2 x BC109C + 1 x AC127 - for a slightly creamier sound. The Lunar Module is associated with David Gilmour Dark Side of the Moon Fuzz Tones! Each of these has slightly different controls - and while you can sense a common should - they each play somewhat differently. These were the first 2 Skreddy pedals I ever acquired - and very deliberately so!
Controls [x2] - Fuzz, Tone : Fat / Tight, Volume, Bias.
I love SGFX's various If 6 Was 9 Fuzz Face types - and have several of them - including the latest BC183 V2. These two here are long since discontinued variants - a Type I and Type II - both at the top of their game really! And they look attractive too!