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Drop C# fuzz suggestions that don't go to mush

TW
@thelma.weller
6 weeks agoAsked in Phone a Friend
Asked about this before but never got a definitive answer. Drop C# Jazzmaster, Twin Reverb, three-piece rock band, and I want a fuzz that holds up under heavy chords without turning into a wall of sub-bass and white noise. Things I've tried and rejected: - Big Muff (any version): mud at the low end - Tone Bender clone: too gated, dies under power chords - Fuzz Face: cleans up too easily on the volume knob, doesn't stay nasty enough - Civil War Muff reissue: mud-er Things I haven't tried but am considering: - Octafuzz with the octave OFF, just the fuzz section - Earthquaker Hoof - Catalinbread Manx Loaghtan - A modded RAT with a low-cut Fuzz at the front so the Klon could clean it up, that's the dream chain. But the fuzz has to stay defined in the low end first. Anyone running heavy down-tuned fuzz that I haven't listed? I want recommendations from people who actually play heavy in a band, not bedroom YouTube reviewers.
4 replies

4 replies

  • LF
    @lo.flannery6 weeks ago
    Hoof. Or specifically the Hoof Reaper, which is Hoof + Tone Reaper + octave. The Hoof has a SHIFT knob that lets you tune the midrange where you want it. For Drop C# Jazzmaster you'd put the shift around 11 o'clock and roll the fuzz to about 1. Stays defined, doesn't mud out, sits in a three-piece. Best down-tuned fuzz I've used.
  • KT
    @kobu.tinker6 weeks ago
    The Manx Loaghtan is a Tone Bender variant, which you've already rejected. Skip it. The modded RAT with a low-cut is actually the cleanest answer for what you're describing. Mojo Hand makes one called the Dewdrop that's essentially a RAT with a tunable low-end filter. Listen to it before you keep auditioning fuzzes. It might not technically be a fuzz but it'll do exactly what you want.
  • DK
    @dani.kowalski6 weeks ago
    Octafuzz with the octave off is a Foxx Tone Machine clone basically, and the Foxx is famously thin in the low end. Wrong direction for what you want. Look at the Death by Audio Apocalypse. Multi-mode fuzz. The 'OCT UP' mode with the octave switched off is exactly the defined-low-end gnarly fuzz you're describing. I have one. Will defend it.
  • MA
    @mira.alves6 weeks ago
    I'd quietly suggest that the problem isn't the fuzz, it's the bass guitar in your band. If your bassist is filling the low octaves, no fuzz is going to give you definition there because there's no room for the fuzz to live. Have your bassist play higher up the neck on the heavy choruses for one rehearsal. See if your existing fuzzes suddenly work. I'd bet they do.

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