You may recall my continual search for the gnarly sound.
And my hopes to make sound files of the best with a piezo pickup. Ok, here’s the deal. Everyone knows there’s a real difference between a fender pickup and a gibson pickup played threw one of these devices. The more output of the pickup the fatter the sound. They sound raspier and more expressive with a single coil pickup. With a piezo? At best sounds like normal distortion. Most sounds achieved were thin. Or just bad. At worst nothing but uncontrollable feedback or noise.
Here’s a list of the fuzz boxes I have.
Fulltone ’70’s’
Voodoo Lab “Procktavia’
EarthQuaker Devices ‘Dirt Transmitter’
Devi Ever ‘Vintage Fuzz Master’
Dogtone “Fuzz Tone’ ( my only low end fuzz )
Two of the worst were the Proctavia and Vintage Fuzz Master. Absolute worst was the low end Dogtone.
The Proctavia is a direct clone of the original octave fuzz. Think Hendrix and SRV. The sound was choppy and barely achieved the octave above notes.
Like all of Devi Ever’s creation the Vintage Fuzz Master is a monster. She is the undisputed Queen of Fuzz. Not only hand made. Totally unique and innovative. With this pedal I got nothing but uncontrollable feedback.
The dogtone had a high squeal at any volume. Not feedback. Noise.
The best thing to do is try them before you buy them. Take your CBG rig with you. Especially if you have piezos. Recommended for any kind of pedal your looking for. Echo, chorus, distortion or fuzz.
Replies
Haven't tried the Piezo's and distortion. I'd think they'd distort enough on their own, or it would be like distorting a microphone.
My favorites out of my pedals are a Fuzzrite clone, and a Black Arts Toneworks Black Forest - which is a modified-updated Colorsound Overdrive. ARC Fx Meathead Dark clone is also good, that's basically a doom-tuned Fuzz Face.
I get my best fried-out tones when I run the fuzz or OD pedal pretty hot, a tube amp pretty loud & clean, into junk - recycled speakers and then rolling back on the volume on the CBG. That's where the gritty less-than-full-gain awesome cruddy sound is for me. Wish I had a reverb pedal to add to the mix, but I'll get a used one in the next month or three.
And really, if you're going to spend $200 on a pedal, don't use utter crap for pickups. LOL