We made this video to complement our in-depth article about the best fuzz pedals organized by type.
It was shot by Noise Generator – a big thank you goes out to him!
A Video about the 6 Best Fuzz Types
The idea behind it was to create a focused, no-frills sonic guide for electric guitarists who are researching or discovering fuzz pedals and are looking for an easy way to expose their ears to the sonic character of the most popular circuits. We didn’t include in this guide octave up fuzzes, we’ll make a separate video about those.
Granted, different versions of the same circuit can sound quite different, but we felt like a video of this kind would still be useful to train the ears of the aspiring fuzz acolytes!
Video Table of Contents
Here’s the videos’ table of contents, listing the six vintage fuzz circuits we focused on:
- Click on the time links to jump to the relative video chapter
- Click on the fuzz type link to open the article focused on that circuit
— HOW THEY SOUND IN THE MIX —
00:13 | Harmonic Percolator-style fuzz
00:26 | Fuzz Face-style fuzz
00:38 | Big Muff-style fuzz
00:51 | Tone Bender-style fuzz
01:04 | Maestro Fz-1-style fuzz
01:17 | Fuzzrite-style fuzz
— ISOLATED SOUND + DESCRIPTION —
01:35 | side-by-side without backing track
AN IN-DEPTH LOOK AT EACH PEDAL IN THE GALLERY BELOW
Land Devices HP-2 (Harmonic Percolator-style fuzz)
Partially responsible for the hype surrounding Harmonic Percolators over the last couple years, Land Devices’ best-known pedal is a beautifully tuned and designed HP-1. Land adds a toggle switch for removing clipping diodes, allowing for more output and a less compressed sound.
VS-Audio Pandora Fuzz (Fuzz Face-style fuzz)
A highly modified, dual gain, analog Fuzz Face-style pedal featuring a hand-selected NOS AC125 Ge Transistor that allows for a much broader sonic palette than the original, while maintaining its vintage tone. The active Bass and Treble knobs deliver a +/- 20dB boost/cut, while the More footswitch activates a separate clean boost circuit that can add volume into the fuzz or also to your clean signal.
JAM Pedals Red Muck MK2 (Muff-style fuzz)
The Red Muck keeps it classic with the three-knob layout but combines the most beloved aspects of the Green Russian and the Ram’s Head designs into one pedal. You get the clarity and articulation of the Ram’s Head along with the heavy bass and smoothness of the Russian in one compact pedal. MK2 adds additional clipping and boosting options.
EarthQuaker Devices Park Fuzz (Tone Bender-style fuzz)
The branding of the Park Fuzz sound has a complicated history involving clones of clones, but at its core it is quite simply a Mark iii Tone Bender. Using NOS matched Germanium transistors and a Fuzz knob with twice the gain range as the original, the EQD Park Fuzz Sound is an elegant modern way to get vintage British fuzz on your board.
Maestro FZ-M (Maestro FZ-1-style fuzz)
A 2022 relaunch of the original with an added Modern mode and a Tone control for more flexibility. Classic mode replicates the vintage unit’s tone, while Modern delivers a thicker, meatier tone while offering a wider sonic palette. Just like in the original, the Attack knob controls the amount of fuzz and the Volume one the output – which in this version can go beyond unity gain.
Mojo Hand FX One Ton Bee (Fuzzrite-style fuzz)
Mojo Hand made the One Ton Bee in tribute to The Ventures and their surfy, fuzzy guitar hooks. More affordable and readily available than the other pedals in this list, the One Ton Bee comes in a compact enclosure and retains the original Fuzzrite two-knob layout, but with more volume on tap and a dynamic fuzz that will dramatically respond to your guitar, pickups, and volume.
