Fuzz deafness?

[jrmy]

Seeing as how Decibill and I spent about three-plus hours yesterday setting up our live boards at the practice space (his basement), I definitely feel your pain. I had about six dirt pedals, but really only four levels of dirt/fuzz/OD that I wanted to cover. I think I spent at least an hour and a half comparing the middle two spots (I knew the Talons was taking my basic almost-always-on grit, and the Musket was covering the Muff-y end). In the end, my DannDubs Ezekiel clone claimed the fat & rumbly fuzz, and my Mini got the trashy-raspy-contrast fuzz.

Another thing that gets painful in these comparisons is pedal order and circuit interaction. There are some circuits that just magically don't play well with others - alone, they're great. Put them next to the wrong circuit-mate and suddenly they both sound like crap. It's infuriating.

At one point after deciding what pedals went where, I changed my entire dirt section order up, only to realize that I had it right the first time, and had to rewire the whole thing again.

And then there's the whole issue of context with other folks (if you're playing with other folks). I had some lingering doubts about my setup... until we started band practice proper and I got to hear the pedals working exactly the way I'd hoped. Had to tweak some settings on the fly, because of course I hit the strings harder when actually playing with someone else...

[D.o.S.]

And That's why I only use one-or-two pedals when I'm making sounds live.

[jrmy]

And That's why I only use one-or-two pedals when I'm making sounds live.

Yeah, but man, when I got that lineup figured out... it was like ... even if getting there was

[spacelordmother]

[retinal orbita]

I have 7 fuzz pedals on constant rotation - going between home stuff and a band context I'm NEVER happy with "the way it is" and my wife has remarked she hears the sound of velcro more than any other sound in our house - but every time it's never quite perfect. The White Light is probably the most used and pretty much has a set spot in the chain, and I love my v4 Muff but it's so big and makes it difficult to keep other things on the board.

Some are just not cool for a band context - my brassmaster clone for example. I dunno. Fuck it. I need a bigger board. But I'm determined to keep it to as few as possible these days due to not owning a car and bringing my board everywhere so I DON'T need a bigger board. I might start leaving more pedals at my space to rotate through and test out with other things.

If I found a muff clone in a small enclosure (maybe a Pharoah or a Musket) that I could keep on my board that would be awesome so I could swap out others easier that would be excellent.

[jrmy]

What are you looking for in a Muff? I dig the Musket a lot for its versatility (and while I know it's not necessarily modeled on a specific version, it reminds me of my old Green Russian, but with better tone controls... and y'know, mids) but each builder has their proponents...

[D.o.S.]

SuperCollider and Grey 'Stashe are my faves.

[neonblack]

The two muffs i really wanna dive into are the Grey Stache and the Musket.

Has anyone played with a Huge Box? Is it muff based? or muff-esque?

[neonblack]

In other news, I took everything off my board last night except for my Second Voice, Mini, TAFM, and tuner. I went to this open jam thing but the bass player with the amp got all butthurt when I walked in with my ss jag and pedalboard and left with the amp. So i didn't get to play. But anyways, it was interesting just playing today with the slimmed down board. The TAFM is good, and its staying, but I need some more variation. Especially with the pretty noticeable volume boost with the gate on, I may just have to pick one -gated or not- and stick with it.

[sears]

so it's like shopping for perfume for your lady love, eh? You don't have the nose for more than a few

[Mudfuzz]

[retinal orbita]

What are you looking for in a Muff?

I'd like the tone bypass of the V4, plus the endless sustain. It's the only muff I've ever loved so I'm open to variants.....

[colossus]

The lesson here is that unless youre playing to a room of ILFers, you only need one fuzz.

A very sad truth.

Does anyone else feel just a little bit sad when they read an interview with some awesome guitarist with awesome, lustworthy, ear-splitting, chest-crushing tone, only to find out it's not coming from a crazy boutique pedalboard (like the kind I've put all this money into), but some shitty, beat-to-death Arion that was bought at a pawn shop for $15?

[retinal orbita]

That just makes me want to sell some pedals

I'm limiting to like 6-8 max including tuner. Anything else is just too much of a pain.....

[MaggotBrainNY]

It may just be ear fatigue.

Listen again when you've given your ears a chance to rest. The fuzz may sound totally different.

I became very aware of ear fatigue when I started recording and mixing records. After a while it becomes impossible to make informed decisions based on what is coming out of the speakers.