Fuzz pedals

[BadLife]

I see a fair amount of people here like effects. I was looking at the Boss reissue thread and thought I would look up the first effect I bought. A Gibson Maestro Fuzz-Tone FZ-1B. They have a bunch on Reverb priced form 800 to 1200 dollars😶 I still have the pedal.  The one I have was apparently designed by Robert Moog. 

Who knew.

[Caevan O’Shite]

12 hours ago, BadLife said:

I was looking at the Boss reissue thread and thought I would look up the first effect I bought. A Gibson Maestro Fuzz-Tone FZ-1B. They have a bunch on Reverb priced form 800 to 1200 dollars😶 I still have the pedal.  The one I have was apparently designed by Robert Moog. 

Man, you have one of THE classics, and an extremely influential original fuzzes! Too cool.   

Among my earliest pedals, and my very first and second fuzz pedals in particular, were a '60s Shin-ei made FY-2 JAX Fuzz Master Unit, and a '79/'80 Electro-Harmonix V4/V5 "IC"/"Op-Amp" Big Muff Pi.

The JAX Fuzz Master was a wicked sandblaster of a fuzz, among the craziest, most intense I've ever experienced. I really wish I still had it, I'd put it to good (bad? 😁) use now; I really did not understand or appreciate fuzz like that back then.

                  

I did appreciate and deploy the Op-Amp Big Muff Pi, L0O0O0O0NG before Smashing Pumpkins even existed. Still, I didn't realize at the time that it was different from the vast majority of Muffs, which usually employed transistors in a different circuit, and not IC's; and I threw it in along with a guitar and amp that I was selling, to sweeten the deal. (I also included an original MIJ Arion SFL-1 Stereo Flanger.)

Currently, a Foxrox Octron is one of my all-time very favorite pedals. It's an AMAZING, very versatile Octave-Up Fuzz AND Octave-Down Fuzz, with a Direct/'clean-blend' control, too. The Direct/'clean-blend' adds mightily to its versatility, making it FANTASTIC for stacking into other pedals, especially overdrive and distortion pedals, and/or an overdriven/distorted tune-amp. It KILLS fed into Distortion. KILLS!  
  
        

After years of wanting an out of production Wattson Classic Electronics EFY-6 Fuzz, I finally scored one. Mine is one of a known factory production-run that were mislabeled, EYF-6, which really makes no difference in market-value or performance. It's an EXTREMELY FEROCIOUS, AGGRESSIVE fuzz, based initially on the '60s vintage Shin-ei and Univox Super Fuzz, but upgraded and improved with added controls. Monstrous!

                        

[BadLife]

At the time I bought that pedal it was pretty much the only effect they had in the shop.  There really was not that many other effects available.  I think most of the other effects available were hard to get unless you were a professional.  Would have to check the timeline to be sure.

 

[BadLife]

Other effects available at the time possibly.

1948 DeArmond Trem-Trol

1962 Maestro Fuzz Tone

1967 Vox Cry Baby Octave pedal Vibra Chorus

1968 Uni-Vibe

1969 Uni-Fuzz

After that many different effects became available.

 

Now there are so many there is no way to know about them all.

 

[surfergirl]

I'm kind of a newbie to fuzz. I've had EHX Satisfaction Fuzz for about 5 years but used it off and on. It wasn't till earlier this year when my half sister was using it that I decided to add a EHX Lizard Queen to my board. Now I don't know how I got by without it. This weekend I'm going to GC and get a Boss DS-1 Waza Craft to add to the wall of sound we are trying to create as best we can with only two guitars. The experimenting is fun, but starting to get a little expensive. 

[BadLife]

That probably sounds a lot like the Maestro pedal.  I should get one and see how close it sounds.  Don't really need any more stuff though.

[Caevan O’Shite]

4 hours ago, surfergirl said:

...I decided to add a EHX Lizard Queen to my board. Now I don't know how I got by without it.

I'm glad that you're enjoying that Lizard Queen! I love octave-fuzzes in general- all different types, and I have quite a few... I have so many that judging from numerous demo-videos, I don't necessarily need or want the Lizard Queen, beyond my loving the whole concept and back-story and collaboration JHS did with EHX. I love all that so much, that I would eventually buy both a big one and a little one (I'm sure you know what I'm referring to) just to have them, and not really use them that much, even though I'm usually not much of a 'collector'.

If we- you and I, and many others here- lived closer to each other, I'd love to loan you a bunch of octave-fuzzes and fuzzes to try out!

 

2 hours ago, BadLife said:

That probably sounds a lot like the Maestro pedal.  I should get one and see how close it sounds.  Don't really need any more stuff though.

Which, the EHX Satisfaction Fuzz? I bet you could get it to sound a good bit like your ancient Maestro. Though for what it's worth, the EHX Satisfaction Fuzz is based on the old Jordan Bosstone; I won't pretend to know what differences there are betweenh 'em...

[BadLife]

Yeah the satisfaction fuzz.  I read the description on the EVH website.  They sure made it sound like it was meant to cop the satisfaction sound which mine can do pretty faithfully.  Not that I have tried to play it recently.  I will have to give it a go when I have the time. It's not the same circuit as the one used on the original song though the intent was to recreate that sound.  Robert Moog was probably up to the task.

[surfergirl]

Here is another one you may want to look at.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/FuzzTone--maestro-fuzz-tone-fz-m-fuzz-pedal

[BadLife]

Interesting looks like Gibson relaunched the Maestro effects recently.  That one appears to be analog.  Probably sounds a lot like the original.

[Caevan O’Shite]

1 hour ago, BadLife said:

Interesting looks like Gibson relaunched the Maestro effects recently.  That one appears to be analog.  Probably sounds a lot like the original.

You are correct, Sir!

[BadLife]

Trying to figure out what amp used on satisfaction.  I am pretty sure he used a LP custom for guitar.  Seems like he may have used some kind of tweed deluxe modified to class a.

[Caevan O’Shite]

1 hour ago, BadLife said:

Trying to figure out what amp used on satisfaction.  I am pretty sure he used a LP custom for guitar.  Seems like he may have used some kind of tweed deluxe modified to class a.

For what it's worth, I am fairly sure that he used a Gibson hollow or semi-hollow guitar with P-90 pickups, staying with the neck-pickup while picking near the bridge for the fuzz, and maybe further toward the 'middle' or the neck for a warmer tone for the clean passages; all through an amp like a Fender 'blackpanel' Twin Reverb or Pro Reverb or similar '60s Fender Reverb combo, all in one take. I don't think that the amp was modified. He switched between the Maestro Fuzz Tone pedal being on and off for the respective fuzzed and clean parts; you can hear him switching it off and on, there's even at least one mistake where he accidentally had it on briefly when he meant to either be playing a clean part with no fuzz, or not at all.

Bear in mind that he was laying down what he intended to be a scratch track, a guide track for where and how he wanted horns to be playing a part that never was recorded, and that he assumed that his scratch/guide-track was going to be deleted.

[BadLife]

Well when I looked it up several sources said he used a 1959 Les Paul custom and a Dual Showman amp.  The guitar was supposed to be the same one he used on the Ed Sullivan show.  Of course I don't know for sure.  Don't have a Dual Showman amp but I do have a Deluxe Reverb and a LP Custom.  Of course those are two different sorts of things.

[Caevan O’Shite]

52 minutes ago, BadLife said:

Well when I looked it up several sources said he used a 1959 Les Paul custom and a Dual Showman amp.  The guitar was supposed to be the same one he used on the Ed Sullivan show.  Of course I don't know for sure.  Don't have a Dual Showman amp but I do have a Deluxe Reverb and a LP Custom.  Of course those are two different sorts of things.

And yet very similar overall, well within the same ballpark. It's not a hard sound to emulate, both the fuzz and the clean passages.

It is a pretty great sound, though, and it's a lot of fun to play that song, huh?

I bet your Les Paul Custom, Deluxe Reverb, and Maestro FZ-1B Fuzz Tone pretty much nail it! And more. Very nice rig!

[BadLife]

I also have a Ampeg VT 22 that has the capability to sound like a Dual Showman as well as a bunch of other amps.  That's the same as the V4 stack the Stones used live in the 70's.  Hum that sorta makes sense.  It's the combo version with 2 12's.  120 watts has blown the speakers 3 times. I really should replace them with something better but I don't play it that loud anymore.

[Sharkman]

I have read that Keith used a Gibson Les Paul Standard for Satisfaction.  I have also read that he used a Gibson Firebird.  I wonder what he really used?

[Caevan O’Shite]

12 hours ago, BadLife said:

I also have a Ampeg VT 22 that has the capability to sound like a Dual Showman as well as a bunch of other amps.  That's the same as the V4 stack the Stones used live in the 70's.  Hum that sorta makes sense.  It's the combo version with 2 12's.  120 watts has blown the speakers 3 times. I really should replace them with something better but I don't play it that loud anymore.

What a cool and somewhat 'off-the-beaten-path' amp!

Poking around the internet, I saw that Earl Slick had an Ampeg VT 22 (it's for sale), and that the original stock speakers had been replaced with a pair of Celestion G12-65's.
 

 

7 hours ago, Sharkman said:

I have read that Keith used a Gibson Les Paul Standard for Satisfaction.  I have also read that he used a Gibson Firebird.  I wonder what he really used?

Hard to say for sure! The Stones had a BUNCH of guitars and amps, that they treated like the band's instruments, sort of like 'community property'.

Either way, I'd expect that virtually any Gibson guitar set to its neck-pickup, through a Maestro Fuzz Tone switched on and off through a Fender Reverb combo-amp, would sound very much along the lines of the guitar track on "Satisfaction"...