Adam & 16 fuzz pedals

Adam using the same Jaguar and Twin (this time on the neck pick-up) has a go at the fuzz armada.

It's so difficult to compare pedals online because each demo is recorded in a different room with a different amp, mic placement, guitar, etc. How do you tell when you're hearing a difference between pedals - not a difference between recordings? Or a difference between players? That's why we started the Stompbox Sonic pedal tasting events where people can come by and hang out, try out a bunch of pedals, and shoot the s....t with other musicains. For those who can't make it to one, we're doing a series of pedal videos which aim to take a bit of the guesswork out of those comparisons.

This one is a quick and dirty shootout of a bunch of fuzz boxes. It's not meant to be a definitive comparison. There's not any knob fiddling - just one riff with a quick on and off of each of the pedals (and a switch between modes for the two mode pedals). I find that most fuzzes have a basic character that stays pretty constant. It's colored by the knob settings, but that underlying character stays very much the same. So this video isn't meant to show off the whole range of each of the pedals. It's meant to give a sense of that basic character of a handful of different fuzz boxes all though the same amp, with same riff, same guitar and same mic setup. We hope some people find it interesting.

Top row left to right:
Chunk Systems Brown Dog *Chicago Iron Octavian Plus *MXR -Classic 108 Fuzz *Dunlop Fuzz Face *Guyatone -Torrid Fuzz *Sovtek Big Muff
Middle Row:
EarthQuaker Devices Tone Reaper *EarthQuaker Devices Hoof *Barge Concepts BB Jr. *ProCo Rat *ZVEX Fuzz Factory
Bottom Row:
Red Witch Fuzz God *MICA Fuzz *Maestro Fuzz-Tone *Euthymia ICBM *Ashbass FUZZ-brite

Category:

Music

Tags:

• stompbox sonic
• hoof fuzz
• fuzz
• barge concepts
• tone reaper
• fuzz face
• icbm
• guyatone
• big muff
• sovtek

[cpkelley]

I have the same Maestro Fuzz-tone (3 knob, silver circle)...do you notice a volume drop when you switch it on from the clean tone? Trying to figure out if mine should be louder or if thats the way it is.

[STOMPBOXSONIC2009]

@cpkelley sounds like there's something wrong - the one from the video isn't like that.

[NegmaDeath]

sWhat is the name of black pedal right below the red fuzz face and on the left side of the RAT

[STOMPBOXSONIC2009]

@NegmaDeath The Barge Concepts BB Jr.

[William102582]

Those cheap cable should've sucked a vast amount of tone on those pedals;-)

[STOMPBOXSONIC2009]

@William102582 When you get that many fuzz pedals that span the decades all hooked up there's bound to be some signal degradation. But the potential of each of these fuzz pedals still shines through.

[DjThomazzo]

And now all together?

[STOMPBOXSONIC2009]

@William102582 I never let pristine tone get in the way of a rad fuzz sound. :)

[MeanGreenMovies]

I like how the Z.Vex is the smallest yet has the most knobs!

Proves how much some manufacturers think about pedal board space and sonic versatility

[daraghkinch]

@DjThomazzo I know that's what I came here wanting!

[alihorn]

turn them all on at the same time. 

[SidHenderson]

@PowerfulNoise No problem, it's a bit same here in Finland, rare pedals are hard to find and buying via ebay there's always the postage fees, taxes etc. so it gets expensive. Big Muff is a classic though, I don't think you'll be disappointed :D

[PowerfulNoise]

@SidHenderson thanks man... well, i think i'm gonna get an electro harmonix big muff. it's hard to get an used pedal or a rare pedal because i live in brazil and a have a friend that is going to bring me the pedal from the US, and he doesn't have time to look for this things :/

[SidHenderson]

@PowerfulNoise Sorry no idea, maybe used. There are different models, reissues etc. and not sure about the prices either. I'd look ebay. My friend used to have one in a smaller box and it sounded much like the one on this clip before he uses the switch.

[PowerfulNoise]

@SidHenderson do i find this pedal at new york's guitar center?

[SidHenderson]

@PowerfulNoise It's Maestro Fuzz-Tone.