Fuzz for boosting crunchy amp into stoner rocky goodness?

_tom_

Baimunized
I fancy getting a new fuzz pedal for my stoner rocky riffy stuff - been using my Keeley Rat 2 but I don't really like it for the riffs/rhythm stuff, it sounds too "pedal like" and plasticcy for that but leads sound great. Kinda like it sits on top of my amp sound rather than melds into one with it? I tend to keep the gain on my Laney set to about 6 (crunchy light od) and push it the rest of the way with the pedal which works better than leaving the amp clean.

I don't think the rat really gets fuzzy enough til you have the gain up really high which then makes it mushy and crap for rhythm, it's more of a distortion pedal. Was thinking either a fuzz face clone (mooer grey faze) or a muff clone with voicing control to retain mids (byoc large beaver) might do the trick? Are fuzz face "big" enough for this or only good for classic rock/Hendrix fuzz tones? I know the muff will be big enough but not sure if it's completely the other way of being too much. I think I just wanna add a bit of fuzziness and girth to the sound but not losing all my clarity etc.
 
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fuzzhugger doom bloom

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I have loved every fuzz I have tried from Mojo Hand FX. I have owned or currently own 6 of them. Most have been based off some kind of Muff. You can usually find them around $125 used. My favorites have been the Iron Bell, the 1978 (which is a little harder to find because it was a limited run) and the BMP-1 or 2. The 1 was a limited run but the 2 is the current version and has a little more fuzz on it. There are plenty of youtube clips of them to give you a good reference for them.

The Wren and Cuff Box of War is another awesome one and is a little more expensive.
 
Just had a listen to that Doom Bloom. Not really doing it for me on the clips on their site. I'm thinking more along the lines of a Fu Manchu kinda sound to proper crusty doom fuzz I think.
 
Lately I’ve been using a Land of the Rising fuzz. It’s a Shin Ei FY-2 clone with a mode switch that can cut gain. This makes it easy to dial in anything from a hair of boost to gnarly chain modern sounds.
 
I forgot to mention: you need to consider how much headroom your amp’s preamp has. High gain stoner pedals based on the Big Muff (which is most of them) can turn a crunchy but low-headroom preamp like the one on the Tiny Terror to mud.
 
I'm a fan of the Woolly Mammoth or any cloned derivative.



Other than that - You'll find a Fulltone Octafuzz on the board.
 
I forgot to mention: you need to consider how much headroom your amp’s preamp has. High gain stoner pedals based on the Big Muff (which is most of them) can turn a crunchy but low-headroom preamp like the one on the Tiny Terror to mud.

Yeah that's a pretty important point; big fuzz on an already dirty amp is often a recipe for mush.
I usually run my fuzz into a pretty clean amp with the fuzz/gain dimed or I'll dial it back on an amp more on the verge of breakup. Now OD/boost is different story.
 
I forgot to mention: you need to consider how much headroom your amp’s preamp has. High gain stoner pedals based on the Big Muff (which is most of them) can turn a crunchy but low-headroom preamp like the one on the Tiny Terror to mud.

I think my Laney should be ok, doesn't seem too sensitive anyway. Cheers for the suggestions thus far. I'd seen the Pharoah mentioned before on TGP but the demo videos don't really do much for me. I think I'd rather stick to non-boutique at this stage tbh as I think a lot of fuzz ends up sounding the same.
 
I'm actually wondering whether an "orange in a box" like the EQD Monarch would do me better... Or perhaps just get an orange micro dark :grin:
 
Bump from the depths since I never updated about what I ended up getting :embarrassed: discovered the DbA Fuzz War and really wanted one but the new pricing was ridiculous imo. Found a UK DIY clone place (fuzz dogs) that happened to do a FW clone called the Raw Fuzz! It sounds awesome for what I want but wish it were a little more upper mid focus than lower mids. It works in a band situation though ! I've actually taken it off my board and put the rat back on but that may just be temporary as the FW sounds really cool for sludgy stuff, the rat is way more versatile though. I kinda want to try a Fat Rat now though, I think the 18v mode might help with it feeling a bit compressed.

Here's how I crudely decorated it.

IMG_9134.JPG


And a clip for good measure

Listen to Fuzz Dogs Raw Fuzz Demo by tom_the_beast #np on #SoundCloud
 
Bump from the depths since I never updated about what I ended up getting :embarrassed: discovered the DbA Fuzz War and really wanted one but the new pricing was ridiculous imo. Found a UK DIY clone place (fuzz dogs) that happened to do a FW clone called the Raw Fuzz! It sounds awesome for what I want but wish it were a little more upper mid focus than lower mids. It works in a band situation though ! I've actually taken it off my board and put the rat back on but that may just be temporary as the FW sounds really cool for sludgy stuff, the rat is way more versatile though. I kinda want to try a Fat Rat now though, I think the 18v mode might help with it feeling a bit compressed.

Here's how I crudely decorated it.

IMG_9134.JPG

You may want to try the Turbo RAT. It uses LEDs instead of silicon diodes. So it has less gain, but a harder clip.
 
The Keeley Rat has LED clipping afaik which is the mode I'm using now. To me it sounds the best out of the 3 settings on the 3 way toggle.
 
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