How to Find the Fuzz You Need
In this article, we’re going to dive into the scary, mysterious waters of fuzz and figure out which one’s for you. We're going to discuss the facts, play some jams, and rock out until you’re well-informed enough to make your own decision on this.
Now, I’ll be the first to admit that the world of fuzz pedals can be really overwhelming, so I'm going to break this down into categories based on how many transistors are in each type of fuzz. This is by no means going to cover every type of fuzz, but (IMHO) this does cover the four most popular fuzz topologies, and that will give you a grid on what you like and what you don’t like.
Cool? Cool.
Two Transistor Fuzz
The two transistor fuzz topology is hands down the most famous of the four different types, and it appears sometime around 1965 in London when a Vox design engineer, Dick Denny, creates the Vox V816 Distortion Booster. The original unit plugged directly into your guitar to create the fuzz effect, and we later saw this topology used in a 1.5 Tone Bender. But most notably and most famously, we see it in the 1966 Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face.
I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that the Fuzz Face is the most famous fuzz pedal on Earth. Jimi Hendrix loved it and used it all the time. You hear it on iconic records like Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. Eric Clapton, the Beatles, everyone loved this pedal, and for a good reason: it's beautifully simple. It only has two transistors, and that simplicity lends itself to making very good sounds without a lot of hassle. The Fuzz Face is the best circuit for you if you want a sustained, mellow, approachable, predictable-in-a-good-way sort of fuzz.
You’ve got a ton of options here on which pedal you can use. The JHS Legends of Fuzz Smiley might be my favorite. You could also grab a Dunlop Mini Fuzz Face, Analogman's Sun Face, the Wampler Velvet Fuzz, the MXR Classic 108 Mini-- or literally thousands of other homages to the Fuzz Face.
Three Transistor Fuzz
Next up, we’re gonna look at three transistor fuzz. What’s funny is that three transistor fuzz is actually the first fuzz ever invented-- we saw it in the 1962 Maestro Fuzz-Tone, but the Maestro Fuzz-Tone’s not a great fuzz example, because it really doesn't sound good. It was the first guitar pedal ever. I think the Fuzz-Tone is allowed to not be the best.
With that in mind, the first really great three transistor fuzz came from a modified version of the Fuzz-Tone. In 1965 London, the Sola Sound Tone Bender appeared, arguably the most well-known three transistor topology of all time. Much like the Fuzz Face, you’ll hear this pedal on tons of records, but it’s a much more aggressive fuzz than the Fuzz Face. Two other vintage examples of this circuit are the Marshall Supa Fuzz and the Hornby Skewes Zonk Machine.
The three transistor topology opens up another fuzz bonus feature: tone control (which originated in the Sola Sound Tone Bender V.3 or 4). You’ll see tone control in more modern three transistor fuzzes like the Fulltone Soul-Bender and the Legends of Fuzz Bender.
Now, this does bring up a very important point: a lot of people will say that you need to buy a germanium fuzz instead of silicon, that the germanium far surpasses the silicon in quality and all-around-gnarliness. The germanium fuzz is enclosed in metal, it’s really primitive and it’s temperature sensitive. People swear up and down that germanium is superior. But it isn’t. I actually addressed this in a previous episode of the JHS Show if you want the longer explanation, but the short version is this: no. Germanium is not better than silicon. For that matter, silicon is not better than germanium. They’re two different materials that produce incredibly different sounds. Not better or worse, just different. What ultimately matters is that the circuit is designed properly around the part.
If you really want to split hairs, Jimi freakin’ Hendrix preferred silicon fuzz. So there’s that.
Four Transistor Fuzz
So the four transistor topology is really, really popular. Other than the Fuzz Face, it might be the most popular fuzz out there. The four transistor fuzz appeared in 1969 in a pedal called the Electro Harmonix Big Muff. Electro-Harmonix released dozens of versions of the Big Muff between 1969 and 2021, but the most popular are the Triangle version and the Ram's Head version. You saw a ton of variations on this circuit in the 1970s, including the Ibanez Overdrive (which is actually a fuzz), and more recently pedals like the Earthquaker Cloven Hoof Fuzz Grinder and the Legends of Fuzz Crimson.
The four transistor fuzz gives you tons of gain (hence the addition of the tone control). Simply put, this is the sound of grunge rock. It just is. We all associate this with a bigger, more modern fuzz sound. It’s more powerful and aggressive than the three transistor fuzz, so much that it’s sometimes (pseudo-correctly) classified as a distortion. But it’s really a fuzz.
Now, some people will argue that you have to play fuzz with a big dirty amp, basically playing it into distortion, for it to sound good. I disagree. I’ll typically play clean, at least 50-watt amps, and it sounds perfect. There’s definitely a factor of volume, though, which may be where this rumor started. You have to make sure you play fuzz loudly. Considering how crude fuzz circuits are, they just don't sound good when you play them quietly. If you're hearing your guitar in the room louder than your amp, the fuzz pedal is going to sound like total crap. So don't do that. Turn your amp up or turn the pedal up. A Big Muff is crazy loud and powerful, and it’s just a fact that the louder you play it, the better it sounds.
When in doubt, remember: loud is more good, especially where fuzz is concerned.
Octave Fuzz
Last but not least is the octave fuzz. Compared to the other three topologies, this is a totally different beast. I know this can be confusing. We've all heard bands like the White Stripes rocking out, and if you’re listening carefully you pick up that big fuzz tone with a low octave inside it. But that’s not octave fuzz.
Octave fuzz is a singular circuit that started in the late sixties with the Octavia Fuzz. In 1967, an English Naval engineer named Roger Mayer found Jimi Hendrix at a club and gave him an invention, the Octavia Fuzz. Hendrix loved it and played it for the rest of his career.
The Octavia Fuzz is the Einstein-Rosen Bridge of fuzz, which is basically the idea of folding something over so that it touches itself again. Albert Einstein had the theory that if you could fold over time and touch it, you could time travel. As a guitarist, my ambitions are a little less lofty. The octave fuzz essentially takes that waveform, folds it over itself, and touches it to itself again, and in doing so it creates an octave that sounds like it's 12 frets above where you're playing on the guitar. It’s the definition of crude, but in the best way. It's super violent, potentially scary and awesome for riffs, and it’s totally unique in fuzz effects.
There are tons of examples of this circuit, including the Blue Octavia, the Super Fuzz, the Foxx Tone Machine (and its little brother, the Danelectro 3699), and the Legends of Fuzz Supreme.
Now, I’m not here to tell you how to live your life, but I am here to tell you how to set up your guitar chain. The fuzz has to go first. This is a non-negotiable, folks. Fuzz is a really primitive, simple effect, and for that reason your guitar literally needs to touch the circuit input. There shouldn’t be any other pedals in front of it-- not even your buffer or your tuner. The only exception to this rule is the four transistor topology. When you start dealing with the Big Muff, that’s a different ballgame. Because it has more parts and transistors, it's more stable and it can handle being put where you'd normally put a distortion pedal in your chain.
Now that you’ve got a rough idea on how these four topologies work, get out of your chair, grab a bike or a scooter, and high-tail it to the nearest guitar shop. Just try some new stuff. Play something terrible, then play something else. There’s a reason that musicians play their instruments instead of work them. At the end of the day, this is meant to be fun. Don’t get lost in the details. Try a fuzz sound you've never played before. Try a fuzz sound you've tried before and hated. Try a fuzz sound you’re scared to try.
Basically, just try stuff.