Who's into fuzz peddles around here?

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  • GAR
    Banned
    • Jan 2004
    • 10881

    #16
    THAT story is classic and it is very true that germanium transistors are not very temperature tolerant: the gain parameters can float based on input voltage and temperature coefficient, and it may very well be that by the time Eric changed the first again after the seventh wah or fuzz face, chances are for these reasons the sound was different than after they dumped the pedals out from the cooler temperature of a luggage trunk or roadcase.

    We laugh at the "psycho-acoustics" (what we THINK we hear, what Jimi THOUGHT he didn't hear the first time in the chain of pedals) but in actuality, the illusion of psychoacoustics on the ear of the listener is not so prominent as compared to the bad temperature coeffecient on germanium based parts.

    Which is why I couldn't use them in production, even if I wanted to - due to the inconsistent gain state in different ranges of temperature - if I want to retain a consistent sound, pedal after pedal, night after night and user after user.

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    • Nitro Express
      DIAMOND STATUS
      • Aug 2004
      • 32798

      #17
      My music room is in the upper story of my barn. I live in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and it gets cold where my peddles and amps are if I have the furnace turned down. So maybe that's the problem with my Fuzz Face, it's going from being cold to warm and in the summer it gets hot up there. I never thought about tempurature changes. It doesn't seem to be a problem with my guitars.
      No! You can't have the keys to the wine cellar!

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      • Nitro Express
        DIAMOND STATUS
        • Aug 2004
        • 32798

        #18
        There's a trick I use with my Fuzz Face sometimes. If have it in an isolation loop with a wah wah peddle but then I switch into my MXR Phase 90 witch is set around 12:00. I only use the Phase 90 if I want kind of a Univibe thing going on. It workds pretty good for that. But then I run into a DOD 250 preamp with the gain pegged on full and then to the amp. It kind of compresses the sound of the Fuzz Face without losing any of the characteristics. It also tightens up the deffinition but you still get the tone. Great for songs like "Machine Gun". I tottaly have my peddle board set up to where I can go from classic rock to more of a driven EVH tone to Jimi's world. I'm amazed at how versitile the Phase 90 is. Add a little color and flavor to Van Halen stuff or use it to get that psycodelic rotating speaker Uni Vibe thing going. What I love about the Fuzz Face is I can go from this real smooth classy EVH type of sound to fucking Voodoo Chile by kicking in the Fuzz Face. The fucking amp just goes bezerk and becomes a whole new animal. It's a fun peddle.
        No! You can't have the keys to the wine cellar!

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        • GAR
          Banned
          • Jan 2004
          • 10881

          #19
          I can see that working for you; the DOD250 uses diode-clipping.. it's a diode-based distortion and works well by squashing out the somewhat-squarewave wave form to be less rounded in shape after the Fuzz Face.

          I'd love to develop a Uni-Vibe type box. I don't think the Dunlop version quite nails it, it's not that warm and I feel signal loss when I hear it so I never got one.

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          • BrownSound1
            ROTH ARMY FOUNDER
            • Mar 2003
            • 3025

            #20
            The old Rockman headphone amps used LEDs (light emitting diodes) for their distortion.

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            • Nitro Express
              DIAMOND STATUS
              • Aug 2004
              • 32798

              #21
              I've tried all the famouse distortion peddles like the Boss DS-1, and the Ibanez Tube Screamer and they certainly are good peddles but color the sound too much. Then I stumbled onto the DOD 250 and it is what I was looking for. It's a cheap ass peddle that is built like a tank.

              I later read that Yngwie Malmsteen swears by them. He's getting a nice creamy tone without having to murder his amps.

              The DOD 250 works well with every guitar I have. It likes humbuckers and it like single coils. If I had to keep just one peddle out of my peddle board it would be the DOD 250.

              Didn't Marshall build diode clipping into some of their amps? I know purists were complaining about that but shit, if people are pushing the amp with diodes in a peddle why not build it in to the amp?
              No! You can't have the keys to the wine cellar!

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              • Nitro Express
                DIAMOND STATUS
                • Aug 2004
                • 32798

                #22
                Here's what I use to sound like Jimi on the Live at Woodstock CD. Dallas-Arbiter Fuzz Face+EVH signature Phase 90 (in script mode) with the knob at 12:00+DOD 250.

                Them three peddles in the above sequence is the shit! I kick the DOD 250 in and out when needed but leave it on and fucking rip into Voodoo Child.

                I have found this setup works the best with a non-master volume amp.
                No! You can't have the keys to the wine cellar!

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                • BrownSound1
                  ROTH ARMY FOUNDER
                  • Mar 2003
                  • 3025

                  #23
                  For some reason I'm thinking some of Marshall's more recent amps used op-amps for distortion...I could be smoking crack on that one though. I'm sure GAR would know for sure.

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