Fuzz for Texture: How do you USE it?

[ShredCow]

Okay.

I believe this is my calling... in music that is.

I think my preference and taste when it comes to composing material has steadily moved away from melodic hooks and stuff. Instead, I've become more interested in conceptual meanderings (Read: Basically pointless doodles) and disillusioned with typical song structures (Read: I like... noise?) so I found that... TEXTURE, plays a big part.

And when the word TEXTURE comes to mind... I think of... FUZZ!

So I'd like to know.

How do you use your FUZZ? I don't care if its a cheap fuzz or a $300+ fuzz box... how do you use it? Tell me your pedal-hook-up-combinations or mid-phrase-knob-twisting that happens...

How do you LAYER your dirt tones? I'm not asking for the usual hard-rock-metal formula of 4 x chugga chug guitars pan left & right... I'm thinking again in terms of TEXTURE. Looking for rich, interesting sounds here...



Now, I gotta limit this discussion (if there is going to be one) so we don't move into post-rock territory. I don't enjoy post-rock... yet... so I would rather leave out things like: Feedback loops, looping, delay upon delay upon delay...
Lets just leave it at layering sounds, what fuzzes used, and how you stack.

I'm bad at describing stuff anyhow, so if you feel like whatever you go can contribute, even if its not FUZZ, sure! Go ahead.

 

[gsonique]

A fuzz is a pure *expression* machine.

You can't do JM or JP or JS stuff on it coz it will deny you !

Listen to >>>Edwyn Collins - A Girl Like You ...nice fuzz there.

 

[gsonique]

Now, I gotta limit this discussion (if there is going to be one) so we don't move into post-rock territory. I don't enjoy post-rock... yet...

INFEDEL

 

[thor666]

I wonder if the ISD regularly checks this forum for terrorists... :lol:

 

[ShredCow]

Yeah goose... fuzz is ... pretty wacked out.

I mean, I dont' hope to have ANY trace of my guitar's tone in it... it just decimates whatever woody-tone-what-not you have.

Then worse... you don't play fuzz... its more like... the fuzz plays you. Ugh. You gotta know where to pick, how hard to pick, which pup position to use... man.

Then the damn germaniums wouldn't stay consistant.

But when it happens... You get... A Girl Like You. Mind Boggling tone.

 

[gsonique]

 

[edder]

can add wah or not? :lol:

Fuzz and Wah is a match made i heaven or hell depending on which side you're looking at.

Also depending on your definition of fuzz. Some fuzz seriously mangles your tone till you get some synthy squarewave fuzz, some are as mild as an... ahem overdrive.

To me when it comes to texture... I'd say its layers and layers of loops coming from the looper and delays and reverb. Fuzz is just another ingredient.

Not all post rock sucks. MANY DO but not all.

 

[embryo]

3 names to initially check out for creative use of Fuzz tones in great music. Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Hendrix. These guys play with the fuzz and not the other way around.

 

[gsonique]

Recently some pedal makers try to sell fuzz tweaked as *booster*, *overdrive* and whatnot and the stories they write in the manual where you find the classic *how it sounds like a tube on verge of puking* .... a fuzz is fuzz period !

My fav fuzz comes with a front boost .... NOT rangemaster...no thanks!

Germanium is all smooth but the stability issue and difficulty in procuring has tipped me over to silicon valley of hope where the darkness craves its lost light ....

.....it gets poetic i tell you !!

 

[ShredCow]

Hahaha... I'm not for going into post rock - yet. Doesn't tickle my fancy - yet.

That said.

Wah and Fuzz? Aye... but your wah is buffered one or not?

I'm using a buffered wah into my fuzz at the moment. I like tremolo after wah... sounds like 1:00 in this track: http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInfo.cfm?bandID=641337&songID=5769478


Trying to get some of the meaner sounding fuzzes. I'm thinking layering too.

I understand the context of reverbs and delays in texture (but haven't really practice yet lah. Hehehe) but for those... a step at a time methinks? Or am I getting it wrong here?

Fuzz seems to be a good unruly-but-not-so-unruly medium for texture-ing...

 

[embryo]

True but it's in the instability of the germaniums that's where the real voodoo is...well to me at least. The silicon replacement is a tighter and more stable saturation character yes and is also the sound of fuzz from the grunge era of the early 90's.

 

[gsonique]

i can the hear the beast wanting to eat that smilling tiger ...nice one shred !

 

[gsonique]

True .... but if its *not stable* in a consistant manner ...maybe !

 

[snuffleupagus]

I've just recently acquired a Catalinbread V8 Fuzz tone machine, and I think that it can get traditional fuzz sounds(Fat/smooth), and also weird synthy sounds when the gain knob is dimed.

I stack it before my Zim Overdrive section for that violinish/endless sustain kinda tone, and surprisingly, there is little or no feedback or noise when stacked with my other OD pedals like the BOR,Zim, and CrunchBox.

My other favourite fuzz would be Goose's weird black sparkly one that I have always tried whenever I am his place or jamming with him(I'm his last-resort stand-in drummer by the way-heheh).Goose's one(im sure you have tried it before) is the great in ya face vintage fuzz meister.I've not tried stacking it so you gotta ask Goose about that.(wait a minute, I think you also own one right?)

For texture wise, the only Fuzz i have the most experience with would be the V8, and yes, I think you should try it(maybe one day I can pass it to you to play play when im overseas), I feel that it is what I'm looking for in a fuzz, (small footprint-same size as the keeley looper), to the point, and basically a one trick fuzz pony.And you can get santana tones, early cream tones, hendrix(you will need a strat though), and a few other interesting original tones depending on what you wana stack with. Oh yeah, it goes well with my Budda Wah, but even better with my RMC WW because of the trimming of the highs and wider sweep.

Gd luck with your journey and I can't wait for this similiar topic to arise again after a few months.

Ha!

 

[situationist]

gee nobody answered his question yet.

the dirt section in my pedalboard is

sahasrara -> barge beebaa clone -> bbe crusher

Barge Concept's Beebaa clone is so harsh that I've yet to be able to use it on its own. it's just too crazy. I tame it with a BBE Crusher distortion coz it has passive 3-band EQ.

What I do is I use the Beebaa's second fuzz (it has 2 fuzzes, the second meaning the EQd-to-a-V fuzz sound, set to max gain/sustain), and into the Crusher (set to almost max gain). i adjust the EQ on the Crusher to taste.

It just sounds crazy, textured, thick. a whole lotta low end. i loike.

If I need more definition I stomp on the Sahasrara for extra treble (set on mid gain).

btw i sorta play post rock.

 

[embryo]

Wait!....why do i get this feeling our nearby friendly neighbourhood pedal "pedlar" is itching for one and all here to head over to his SHOP! 8)

 

[gsonique]

Who? me ?? why ? :? That smilling tiger has been scaring me the whole day ...not you too ha !!

Yes a fuzz is harsh, painfull ...but still makes your wife jealous!!


:lol:

 

[ShredCow]

True but it's in the instability of the germaniums that's where the real voodoo is...well to me at least. Smile The silicon replacement is a tighter and more stable saturation character yes and is also the sound of fuzz from the grunge era of the early 90's.

Randolf - I hear ye.

The Germs have this thing going on in the mid-range, the harmonics there sound different from the Sils.

But man, the treble cut off (usually) and stuff make it un-usable for applications where a lead is required to cut thru a dense mix.

Sils - anyone know of Silicon-based fuzzes that sound sorta-like Germ-fuzzes?

 

[embryo]

No, no no not u goosey not smiley tigerman and definitely coolio mr misse and sure not me... so who? ah! we know who la!

 

[embryo]

ah yes, what's happening there is that the germies are already saturating at a much lower voltage compared to silicons. saturation whether with germies, silicon, solid state or tubes when in extreme besides obviously distorting will compress and roll off highs, accentuate the mids and flub out the lows.