I believe some fuzz pedals can be "hit or miss", while some are over-the-top gnarly/glitchy, others sound bland, tinny, muffled, etc, but certain ones are
just perfect, and as always it's a matter of taste.
I'll try and go through the ones I currently own - I keep being drawn to MKII Bender and Foxx Tone Machine style circuits.
EHX Big Muff NYC
Not a fan tbh, but it's a classic for a reason, so I'll keep it.
EHX Ripped Speaker
Criminally underrated, definitely one of my favorites! It's a versatile thing, but doesn't really clean up with the volume knob. Can do a good MKII impression, and more. Affordable, yet unexpectedly nice toanz can be coaxed from this. Not noisy, thanks to gating. I use it with "rip" and gain at noon, and tone cranked all the way, then match volume to taste.
Fulltone Ultimate Octave
As a huge fan of Homme, I had to have this. I love me some Foxx TM-inspired fuzz, so this is great fun. Three octave sounds very distinct in comparison to other TM style fuzzes, and it's a bold-sounding circuit. Can be noisy though (better not say, else Fuller is probably gonna kick my ass and scream insults, because it's
always user error). Nice pedal tho.
Love it for low gain/low tone octave stuff. Cleans up decently enough.
Idiotbox Ron Fuckin' Swanson Superfuzz
Love the artwork and the sounds. Not much to be said. Total mayhem, yet much less noise than I expected. This will literally rip you a new one if run into a dirty, loud amp. When I first tried it, I instantly understood why folks seem to go batshit crazy about the original Univox Superfuzz.
Ramble FX Twin Bender V3
I've always been stumbling upon its name, and got curious already, so when I first read of Tim Krueger's passing, I knew I had to order one immediately - or scalpers. Happy that I did, since it became
my favorite fuzz to date. So versatile and quiet for a MKII fuzz, it's astonishing. The
impedance and
bias controls are a real treat!
HBE UFO
Yet another Foxx TM. Bought this during a trip to NYC back in 2008. Real bummer HBE is no more. Raunchier than the Fulltone, definitely up my alley! I guess it's true to the original circuit, since "vintage" mode sounds 100% identical to the Warm Audio FTB, right down to correlating knob positions and even output volume.
Warm Audio Foxy Tone Box
The third Foxx TM variant in my arsenal. I bought it mainly for the aesthetics and low price, but it's a nice surprise! Sounds much better than I thought it would. No big news here, since it's identical to the HBE UFO in "vintage" mode (see above). Probably a PITA to fit on a pedalboard, much more than the average-sized HBE. Shag carpet, huh...
Warm Audio Warm Bender
I bought this out of sheer curiosity. There's an ongoing ethical debate about its transistors, and I guess WA aren't telling the full story, which sucks, but the sounds are good. "Sag" mode,
at a mere 3V, is a little too starved for my tastes, so I rather prefer going down to about 7-8V using the starve feature of my Palmer PSU. Not a fan of the MK1.5 mode (no surprise to me, tbh), and MKII sounds
legit yet a tad too hissy for my ears (I'm an anti-noise snob), but I fell in love with the Silicon mode. If you're looking for low-gain fuzz, look elsewhere, that's for sure. Almost sounds like a "fuzztortion", and it's not on a versatile/tweakable side. Personally, I think WA nailed it tho. Never a
dull moment...
These I remember selling on for good (honorable mentions)
ZVEX Fuzz Probe: what a
crazy thing! Used it for a while, usually reared gearheads wherever I took it.
Fuzz Factory circuit with all its design flaws, and then some (a Theremin-style copper plate doesn't help, I guess?). Sounded cool until it developed grounding issues, which I fixed with a piece of cardboard. No PSU jack. At some point, I realized how difficult it was to recreate settings that I liked. Sounded different everywhere I went, even through the very same rig. I don't know... Definitely for the "explorers" among us - I do prefer reliability/consistency, so it sat on a shelf for a long time, until I passed it on.
EHX Ge 4 BMP: nice concept, but too crowded and finicky. Really tried to bond, never could.
Lovepedal Bone Tender: my first MKII style fuzz! Cool stuff, but a bit on the noisy side
EHX Little Big Muff: mehhhh.... Boring. Why did I actually buy this?
Keeley Fuzz Bender: Loved it when I got it. After honeymoon ended, I started hearing a certain high-end fizz in the signal, that I never managed to dial out. Maybe that's just the way it is? Easily got lost in a full-band mix, also very picky about placement. Nah, not for me, sad as it is.
(EDIT)
Next on my "buy and try" list
Ananashead Superfuzz V2: made in EU (no import fees!), affordable, decent reputation, around 100€, blendable octave
JDM Silicon Humdinger: maybe some day, slightly above "just for fun" budget right now
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