I think this is a great summary on fuzz and how I feel about it...I also find that fuzz often does not make the switch to digital very well. I find fuzz can be a bit like digital distortion which is one distortion I have no use for. Rocky Mountain Way by Joe Walsh is a great example of this, if I want to listen to that song I have to dig out the tape. But just like you I can see why people like fuzz, my moment of disliking fuzz came way back in the early 80s when I bought a Marshall Plexi head. I was pretty excited, I had been using an EH Big Muff into an Ampeg, I tried a Morley Power Wah with fuzz, I had a little big muff and one of those mini ones that plugged right into your amp (late became my first on board pre-amp in a guitar) and when I bought the plexi I bought the first generation of the Boss heavy Metal pedal.spacecult wrote:
I guess fuzz-boxes were not successful in emulating horns other than producing a buzzy, harmonically rich sound, especially considering that the dynamic range of a horn sounds quite large to me and a straight up fuzz is close to none. Playing a cranked fuzz feels vaguely like playing some 70s monosynth with no velocity sensitivity. I like that, but I can certainly see why folks wouldn't.
Well that set up sounded much better in the store, I hated every sound I was getting and the band was getting pissed off every time I stopped trying to dial in a good tone. The bass player had one of those noisy MXR 6 band eq pedals (the ones that had no foot switch), I am not sure what made me try that but I plugged it in and boy that Marshall came to life. I later went with one of those Ibanez parametric eq pedals until I found my first real on board pre for my guitar. Now my favorite pedal for distortion is a TS clone I built from GGG with the mod kit they offer which is somewhat like the Keely mod with a few other options (asymmetrical clippers, a choice between two different clippers including LEDs, a 1 meg drive pot, some resistor and caps changes and a clipper lift that makes the pedal a killer boost...my favorite position).
Now please dont get me wrong because there times where I think a fuzz works better in a song but a big part of that is based on the other instruments in the piece or during certain parts. In another thread I said I dont have the teaching gene because I cannot put what I do into words and tbh my methods maybe be extremely obtuse to many so bear with me but here's how I see it. Distortion can be very broad in a mix, over the mix if you will as opposd to in the mix eating up a lot of frequencies. It can blend very well with other instruments but also too much distortion it can compete with those instruments which is how I see heavy fuzz. On the other hand distortion on an istrument can be precise and as such be well defined slice of the mix that has it's own place and stands on it's own complimenting other instruments. I find this hard to do with fuzz and I marvel at those who get so much from fuzz, KvR member pinkjimiphoton (hope I spelt that right) is a good example of this.
While this talk may seem like it belongs in hardware or effects I think it's a key part of composing as well. In similar talks in hardware I have learned that many people have 1-3 basic tones they always work with (talking guitar players here), which is a head scratcher for me. TBH I am sure that John Q Public will not hear the subtle differences I hear but I do which is very important to getting the best performance on the track I can and the feel I want to convey. I always record a dry signal direct from my guitar for re-amping because when I take off the guitar player hat and put on the mixing engineer hat I might find that I need to fine tune that to compliment the other instruments. I may find that a huge blanket of fuzz works well (for me this would be in a mix with limited instruments, perhaps even just a power trio) while other songs I want a finely honed slice of the spectrum with the guitar cutting through it's part in the mix as opposed to being spread "over" the mix (for lack of a better term).
At the end of the day choosing the timbre of the instruments shouldn't be left to chance (which is one good reason why I should never sing again
) and distortion is a great tool for timbre. It can even take a very dissonant tone, smooth it over some so it doesn't stand out like a sore thumb and give a piece a bit a unique feel, even a hook. Like I said, distortion often makes the instrument more forgiving allowing us to go places that without distortion might make many cringe. Distortion=changes in timbre (both the instrument and the entire piece), changes in timbre affect the feel and mood of a piece imho and it comes in so many flavors it's essential to understand them all. It's just not a matter of throwing some distortion on an instrument, you might get lucky that way but imo an entire course in music schools could be taught just on the intricacies of the various types of distortion and the methods of implementation to enhance a piece. Interesting side note...my first amp was a ham radio tube amp my dad and I refurbished...when we were done my father was so happy how clean the amp was but when I first plugged in my guitar the first thing I said "there's no distortion" and that was not said in a positive manner
Please again, understand that this is just my way, just my opinion and if anyone feels I'm talking out the wrong end that's cool because I just do not expect people to do things the way I do.
