Dirt vs fuzz

[peterd79]

ok guys (and gals) i'm trying to find a great dirt or fuzz pedal - help me decide.

here's my board and you'll see where the swap is going to go

EBMM WAH->Home Brew Electronics CPR-> Home Brew Electronics Paradrive-> MXR Classic Distortion (this needs to go)-> Catalinbread SCOD-> EBMM VP JR-> Lovepedal Gen5 Echo-> Malekko Chicklete-> Fulltone Supa-Trem

i've got my Paradrive set as a really warm OD and i've got my SCOD set similarly to the Paradrive but with more hair on it...

The MXR pedal just doesn't seem to fit and i can't dial in the real gain and umph that i'm wanting from the pedal and sounds really dull... not sure if i want to go fuzz or get a real dirt pedal...

i've looked at JHS, Wampler, Lovepedal, HipKitty and Zvex... but certainly not limited to these makers... if ya think i'm overdoin the drive sections throw some suggestions my way

 

[Norrin Radd]

It depends what you want in the character of your dirt. The Suhr Riot is awesome! It leans more towards a metal tone though - good for comping a Petrucci tone. I also use a Landgraff M'oD. It is less metal - in fact -it's more thick and sludgy - but in a very very very good way! Really you need to try out whatever you're leaning towards with your own rig. Shop online for price and take advantage of 30 day return policies. You MUST test the pedals with your own gear - it's required!

 

[Gio_Force_One]

I like the boss powerstack that i have has plenty of gain if you need it , and not too expensive. everywhere i have played it someone comes up and comments on the sound and is wondering what pedal it is. some couldnt believe it was a pedal. give it a try you might like it

 

[peterd79]

Greg-
I love the amp selections... i'm running a Maz Jr and it's visiting the Doc himself getting the EQ Bypass mod and some reverb work done...

Both of those pedals are great- i'm not looking for metal persay but... if the pedal works then why not...
the MXR Distortion seems to miss the mark for what i'm wanting... i've looked at the rockbox boiling point as well and the lovepedal BBB which is really peaking my interest...

 

[Norrin Radd]

Greg-
I love the amp selections... i'm running a Maz Jr and it's visiting the Doc himself getting the EQ Bypass mod and some reverb work done...

Both of those pedals are great- i'm not looking for metal persay but... if the pedal works then why not...
the MXR Distortion seems to miss the mark for what i'm wanting... i've looked at the rockbox boiling point as well and the lovepedal BBB which is really peaking my interest...

Yup..love my Zs!!!! Not 100% on the Monza - we'll see. The other two I will die owning. And I'd like to angle a Wreck some day too. That Maz of yours is in for a day at the Spa!

Well, I actually have a Boiling Point as well. I don't use it as much as the others. It is an awesome pedal - but there is no hiding from it's roots. Yes - it is based on a Tube Screamer - but it's a TS on steroids jacked up on a 12 pack of Jolt! And that's with all the knobbies at noon!!! It really is a great pedal and worth a look. But like I said - there is no escaping it's lineage.

 

[peterd79]

yeah it's getting a full workover... it's from early 2k4 before the passing of Wolfgang so she's got some history with the Doc... this was my first Z and traded another amp for it... i think i got the better end of the deal... even after sending it to the spa...
and my next Z will be a wreck...

the roots of the Boiling point have kept me from pulling the trigger on it... it's a great pedal but i kind of feel the same about the Catalinbread SCOD... it's fantastic but lots of od but never really breaks up which is good... but if i got the boiling point this would come off the board...

i've been watching a lot of fuzz videos and i'm really tossed... now do i want more dirt or more fuzz... and i'm limited on space on my board so i can't do both...

 

[Roubster]

I would highly recommend the Suhr Riot! I dont really know what kind of sound your after, but the Riot delivers very pleasing distortion tones for good rhythm and soloing as well. It is really versatile with the 3 way voice toggle and the tone knob and distortion give you a lot of versatility. It does react almost like a an amp, and is very sensitive to the volume knob on your guitar which is what I love about it. To give you an example, I can go from that nice slightly overdriven tone like Andy Timmons on Electric Gypsy and then turn my volume pot all the way up and I got tons of gain for Petrucci shredding hehe.

 

[ScoobySteve]

Before I parted out my pedal board I was using the Keeley Fuzz Head. An awesome and versatile Fuzz Pedal. It allows you to switch between germanium and silicone transistors and you can manual crank the driver section. I used it for two ways. I'd run it just to add hair on a clean tone to get that old school Hendrix vibe, and I'd also use it on top of an overdriven/distorted sound to use it as a nice punchy dirt boost. It was a great pedal. One that I was quite sad to part with.

Both Eric Johnson and Joe Bonmassa, mainly EJ, are famous for using a Fuzz to punch a pushed tube amp to get a nice fat and thick and creamy lead tone.

Give it a try!

Also, what amp are you using?

 

[ScoobySteve]

I just read.... (how embarassing) you're using the Dr. Z Maz JR. You can get some nice vintage Plexi type tones from that bad boy (more so if you had a remedy) but I would really recommend you try using some fuzz to push that beauty of an amp.

If you're looking for super vintage Fuzz tone ala Hendrix or the old school DA Fuzz Face, I'd also try the Analogman Sunface NKT.

 

[peterd79]

i'll check out the Suhr Riot and the Sunface and keeley - i'm thinking the fuzz will be a nice addition to what i already have. I have two od's and to add a third i think would like to get some dirt / fuzz...

i don't have a particular artist that i'm wanting to replicate because there are soooo many greats with incredible tone maybe i need to spend more time listening to Joe, Jeff and Jimi LOL

 

[Roubster]

Check out this demo by Pete Thorn if you havent seen/heard it yet. He is an awesome guitarist as well and gets some awesome tones. I can confirm that this pedal does sound like this...but cant guarantee the playing hehe .
YouTube - ‪Suhr Riot Distortion.mov‬‏

 

[peterd79]

FANTASTIC DEMO!!!

if it made my playing like this i'd buy a dozen

 

[wolfbone07]

If you want FUZZ, the Malekko Omicron Fuzz is great. You can even set it for fuzz+an octave up. Love it.

 

[peterd79]

Josh up at Malekko is a great guy... i sent my omicron reverb up to him because it popped and then stopped working a week ago and he called me today to tell me what was going on and asked me to check my VooDoo Labs PP2+

His personal connection and response was more than enough to make me want to work with him and Malekko in the future... i love the simplicity of the omicron series typically 2 knobs... and great quality and just realized he makes a Fuzz as well in the omicron line...

 

[JMD]

If your the type to buy and sell pedals (I think most of us guitarists are to some degree) I'll suggest the Fulltone OCD (for your distortion option) - decent price and sound, also very easy to unload when you start wanting to switch things up again. My 2 cents. FYI, I got the OCD and it's nice on it's own, but great when in the band setting - cuts through.

 

[ScoobySteve]

Here's a video of Eric Johnson demoing his rig. Granted most of his stuff is vintage, but Dr. Z is particularly great for capturing that vintage vibe. You're not going to cop his tone exactly, but it'll give you a good idea of how he uses it to get his legendary saxophone tone at about 2:35 you'll see what I mean:

YouTube - ‪Eric Johnson studio interview effects pt 1‬‏

The rig is complicated, but the dirty rhythm tone there is a cranked plexi tone, with a the Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face (vintage, the Analogman NKT 275 gets real close) pushing it. There might be a bit of the echoplex coloring the tone too a bit, but I'm not quite sure, but that's it. Kinda simple when you think about it. There's no delay in the signal chain, as it's added post amp in the mixer.

 

[straycat113]

Pete I dont know what direction you want to go. Myself being old school I have always been just fine with my 808 TS, Big Muff-it does not get more Hendrix or Santana than that with those fat creamy tones, or checkout a ProCo RAT which was based on a modified Fuzz Face, it is so easy to dial in a usable sound with any guitar amp combo. I guess I am a bit out of the loop with the new pedals but it is just that I know what I like for so long. I look at some of the younger guys boards these days and am lucky if I know more than one lol.

 

[peterd79]

i had a vintage rat years ago that i just loved i didn't realize it was a modded fuzz... things ya learn

 

[Norrin Radd]

i had a vintage rat years ago that i just loved i didn't realize it was a modded fuzz... things ya learn

Livin' and learnin' - lots of that going around! The Mo'D on my board is nothing more than a modified Rat pedal! If I get rid of it, I'll replace it with a BYOC Mighty Mouse. It's virtually identical - with a couple more tweaks - for about 1/3 the price assembled - and I could decorate it the way I like!

 

[peterd79]

I think i found the direction i'm going... some sort of Rat- been listening to a lot of demos with Rats and variants of the such...