Incoming Fuzz!

GDSmithTX

GDSmithTX

Corporate cog
After searching for a while, I just got an offer accepted for a good price on a DoD Carcosa Fuzz. I've gotten getting kind of ... uninspired with my Big Muff Pi Deluxe, so I'm gonna give this bad boy a try.

Andy makes it sound very good, but he could apparently freaking anything sound good. Other folks, though, also make it sound pretty damned hot.

More info when it comes in.







 
Is this a fuzz than can be used with a solid state amp? I couldn’t get through the wall of fuzzy technobabble to figure out what makes this fuzz different.
 
jp_nyc said:
Is this a fuzz than can be used with a solid state amp? I couldn’t get through the wall of fuzzy technobabble to figure out what makes this fuzz different.
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I don't know, honestly. When it comes in, I'll try it out on the Mustang III (used primarily for breaking in new speakers) in my storage room upstairs and report back.
 
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jelloman said:
8)

I have one of those...great pedal, but hasn't bumped my BigMuff Tone Wicker off the board...yet...:wink:
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I'll be able to judge when it comes in and I get to try it in person, but the sound of the Carcosa in the demos just seems more organic and hairier to me. We'll see.

May have a Big Muff Pi Deluxe for sale soon.

Fuck, who am I kidding? I rarely sell anything. ???
 
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jelloman said:
8)

I have one of those...great pedal, but hasn't bumped my BigMuff Tone Wicker off the board...yet...:wink:
Click to expand...

Liked....but don't love. There's a touch of mid range harshness in that pedal that didn't jive with my rig.
 
Well, it came in yesterday afternoon and I like the fuzz sound of it a lot, but the "after" pot is really scratchy. I'm sure I have a tube of Deoxit around here somewhere ... I'll apply some of that when I get around to it this afternoon and see if the scratchiness doesn't clear up.
 
After contacting the guy I bought the Carcosa Fuzz from, checking out the manual, and doing a little searching, it turns out that the static from the "After" knob is actually normal as it is a bias adjustment.

The "After" control commands a nifty biasing circuit that adjusts feedback and transistor bias simultaneously. When turned, a bit of white noise enters the signal but stops immediately when the knob is set. One might say that the crackling sound is ok—there's nothing wrong with the pedal.​

In playing around with it some more last night, I am very happy with it. With a little knob-fiddling, it's easy to get many great textures out of it, from a little bit of smooth, vintage-sounding "hair" all the way to splatting, note-destroying chaos.

This fucker is sweet venom.
 
So after some extensive experimenting with this pedal, it may end up being my always-on secret weapon (at least for Strats). It adds an attractive silky fatness to notes, even with the gain and output knobs both set down to 10pm. At lower guitar volume settings it produces a really pretty clean tone with just the slightest touch of fuzzy texture. And even with single coils, it isn't very noisy at all. The more I play through it, the more I like it.

With everything a little shy of noon on my Tiny Terror, just a touch of fuzz and a little analog delay = freakin' amazing tone that goes from Gilmouresque shimmering clean to in-your-face rudeness with a twist of the guitar volume.
 
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