Big Muff VST

[xoxos]

being of that generation i had to go with the hardware (i thought nirvana were pop group copping on mudhoney's sound..) so i spent a lot of time listening to the real thing (on and off record).

i'm not a big guitar person, i use a hardware distortion for 80's metal sounds as well. i don't have much problem using a software distortion for a style i'm not so familiar with (80's metal was involuntary).

oc with big muff, you're more playing the fuzz than playing the note, it's a crucial part of the tone.

[jplanet]

Oh and hey, jeez, someone should really call up David Gilmour and let him know his sound's been total shit since Meddle..

Just out of curiosity here, could you give an example of what you consider to be a good guitar sound?

[Sickle]

there is a difference between distortion and fuzz

Could you explain the differences?

The difference lies with the clipping circuits. The early fuzz boxes relied on germanium and later silicon transistors. Most distortions rely on opamps, or IC's to do the work of the earlier transistors. A good fuzz generates a square wave that people associate with the 'chainsaw' sound, while distortion is much smoother with added a greater increase in added harmonics.

You can totally bury shitty playing behind a good distortion pedal.

A good fuzz will show reveal every crappy note you hit. I'd love to hear some of the guitar masters here whip up some fuzz-based audio demos and compare them against their superoverdriven gain/op-amp clippers.

[Hink]

there is a difference between distortion and fuzz

Could you explain the differences?

Though this classifies fuzz as a type of distortion but in definition seems distinctive enough (as well as overdrive, which I'm not so sure shouldn't also be classified on its own):

http://www.kvraudio.com/wiki/?id=Distortion

That'll give the differences in easily-digestible form.

Edit - and yes to Sickle's question. Oops now I'll probably be taken off the "beta" list for that most recent vaporware of his. Oh noes!

first I agree with the link, good definitions, the rest is my opinion are my wacky definitions...but without being all technical and about harmonics I always considered fuzz to be as I described it with a tape deck. I consider that analog clipping or really overloading as opposed to overdriving. The same thing has to be difficult to get in a digital enviroment because digital clipping imo is just so harsh it's hard to find anything good there. I fine example of this is Joe Walsh's Rocky Mountain Way, a song I love analog but the fuzz used didn't make the transition to digital very well.

Distortion boxes use various methods to create distortion that might include overdrive, overloading (clipping) and the sound is then amplified by the amp.

Overdrive is my distortion of choice (I know I'm being redundant) and that is running a hot signal into an input stage, typically I find it works better on tube amps. I like to call it exciting the tubes and I think it's the "cleanest" of distortion and also imo is the most controllable by the player. An overdrive can come from many sources (I like it from onboard pres for instance) and the guitar volume control can have considerable impact on the overdrive. I also think that controlling feedback works best with overdrive.

Again these are my wacky ways of putting it together in my mind without getting all technical. My favorite distortion boxes are the MXR distortion plus and the Boss distortion feedbacker, for overdrive pedals I like the boss turbo and the good ol' tube screamer. If I wanted a fuzz box I would either use my MXR or go with a dunlop.

[Sickle]

Oh and hey, jeez, someone should really call up David Gilmour and let him know his sound's been total shit since Meddle..

Just out of curiosity here, could you give an example of what you consider to be a good guitar sound?

Listen to the solo in Saturn III:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu ... id=2833409

The good stuff kicks in about 2:10, and there's a longer solo afterwards that makes about half the track's length.

[buscemi]

But there's no difference, Sickle! C'mon man. Now you make the distinction of "good" fuzz too and blur the lines. Sheesh. Just teasing. I think it should be mentioned by certain definitions of good fuzz, one assumes that to be good it must also be actual fuzz not a marketing definition slapped on a second-rate product/pedal. Oh wait, but I forgot - there's no difference hehe.

Also, thanks for being less lazy than me and putting it in the thread instead of my lazy laying of the linky.

[ughnonumus]

oc with big muff, you're more playing the fuzz than playing the note, it's a crucial part of the tone.

This is quite true. (I used to sell these units in a music store; were asked for frequently; got to hear a lot of cats hooking up.) The sustain feature appeared to be the distinguishing characteristic of this particular unit. Obviously, people were't paying for the solid construction!

[shamann]

Though this classifies fuzz as a type of distortion but in definition seems distinctive enough (as well as overdrive, which I'm not so sure shouldn't also be classified on its own):

http://www.kvraudio.com/wiki/?id=Distortion

That'll give the differences in easily-digestible form

I wrote the Wiki entry. I asked because I'd hoped to be able to flesh the entry out, as I've never been satisfied with the bit about fuzz.

It is safe to say that overdrive and fuzz are both types of distortion. I think the problem comes in with the naming conventions used for guitar pedals. Distortion seems to be used for those awful pink Boss pedals, overdrive used for pushed gain on an amp or any simulation there of, fuzz for something dirtier.

If anyone has any clear non-circuit based definition, I'd love to hear it.

[The Chase]

Does anyone know the difference with the russian version?

[Stupid American Pig]

Does anyone know the difference with the russian version?

The main differences are in part numbers- I believe that some of the bits in the russian versions use russian spec parts that may or may not completely duplicate the american spec version. That and the power connectors are some non-standard 1/8" jack I have a russian smallstone that I can only use on 9v batteries. I suppose I could swap it out for a standard jack, but its not all that great sounding to me anyway...

[shamann]

Does anyone know the difference with the russian version?

The Russian one was the first re-issue of the original American version. The American re-issue came after. The Russian one doesn't have true bypass, just like the original, whereas the American re-issue does. I think the Russian version was done in Russia as a cost savings measure, and it's said to have used cheaper parts, but I can't say for sure. There's a really cool photo history of the Sovtek version here:

http://electroharmonix.ronsound.com/ind ... &Itemid=45

[pandashake]

Does anyone know the difference with the russian version?

About $70 in manufacturing costs. I owned a Russian and a Big Muff Pi Deluxe and with the compressor off in the Deluxe, they sounded kind of similar. You could hear the Russian one and say, "ok, that's a Big Muff." It has the Big Muff sound, but it seemed "loose" compared to the Deluxe sans compression. The noise floor and "tightness" of the fuzz were the primary differences. I ended up using the Russian version for my bass rig and the Deluxe for my guitar.

The Deluxe was a monster when it came to noise, and with the compressor on, when you stopped playing you'd hear this WHOOOSH of the compressor. That was my favorite part about it. I wish I could find another one.

[mandt]

Free VST fuzz, not a Big Muff emu though...

http://www.audiodamage.com/downloads/pr ... pid=ADF001

Okay, thank you, Liquidclear. I will give this a feel.

[jplanet]

Oh and hey, jeez, someone should really call up David Gilmour and let him know his sound's been total shit since Meddle..

Just out of curiosity here, could you give an example of what you consider to be a good guitar sound?

Listen to the solo in Saturn III:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu ... id=2833409

The good stuff kicks in about 2:10, and there's a longer solo afterwards that makes about half the track's length.

That's a nice example of good, bassy fuzz with nice sustain, I like it.

But to say that in comparison the guitar tones on Dark Side of the Moon, Animals, and The Wall is "total shit", as opposed to saying "not my taste" is just, well, typical attention-getting provocative punk attitude, and bears little resemblance to objective reality.

Let's face it, punk wouldn't exist without Pink Floyd as a model to differentiate from...Wasn't it Johnny Rotten who arrived to audition for The Sex Pistols with a Pink Floyd Sucks t-shirt?

[robogone]

You can totally bury shitty playing behind a good distortion pedal.

Why do you think all of my guitar playing has distortion on it.