New Catalinbread Shopping

Chad said:
I use videos more or less to rule things out. If Andy can’t make it sound good, I have zero chance in making it sound good :grin:
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If I’m interested in a pedal after seeing one of Andy’s videos, I will search YouTube for some shitty looking thumbnails, like a poorly lit static shot of a combo amp in someone’s basement, and watch a few of those. It usually gives you a good other end of the spectrum reference. Andy will show you how good It could sound while those other videos are an example of how you’ll probably sound :grin:
 
Lerxst said:
If I’m interested in a pedal after seeing one of Andy’s videos, I will search YouTube for some shitty looking thumbnails, like a poorly lit static shot of a combo amp in someone’s basement, and watch a few of those. It usually gives you a good other end of the spectrum reference. Andy will show you how good It could sound while those other videos are an example of how you’ll probably sound :grin:
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I like Burgs’ videos. Much less production and I feel I get a better sense of the pedal.
 
Help!I'maRock! said:
Now you've got me looking into spitty fuzzes.

So, if you like Catalinbread and you like spitty fuzzes, then either the Merkin or Fuzzrite is for you. The Fuzzrite is true to the original with modern components. The Merkin has an added post-gain stage for more volume. It also plays nicer with dirt pedals after it. It's obvious to see why after Nic was able to buy the Fuzzrite name they switched, but I would go for a Merkin if that's your thing.

As for the aforementioned DOD Carcosa, it's based on the Maestro FZ-1s. Which I originally thought was the Fuzz Tone. Instead, it's based on the later Super Fuzz, which is much nastier. It gets kinda fuzzritey, but because of the added controls, can stray back into Tonebender territory, which is why I like it. My ThroBak sToneBender was awesome, but it had significant bass loss. And if you're using it as a boost into a dirty amp, that's exactly what you want. The Carcosa has a bass switch so it sounds fuller into a clean amp. So it'll sound better into my clean fender based amp on its own.
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What got me thinking is that I have not been able to use the Muff with my Concert well, and I have liked Howard's vids of the Karma Suture, and the Sabbra Caddabra pedal. I did not have a real specific sound in mind.

I have used the muff both as a thickening, warming effect when I have played Santana-esque lines on my strat, (sounded great), and as a rowdy garagey sound. I tried stacking the Muff into my F5 on my c-30 (as I still need to replace tubes on the concert, which may have contributed to why it hated the Muff so much) and it seemed to take the Muff sound and add edge and bite, at least on that amp. Made it more RAT-ish, though fatter. I guess is how I would describe it. I am sure that would be different with the Concert.

I like garagey, raunchy tones such as Crazy Horse, and I think that is why I was attracted to the FuzzRite. I don't know that I intentionally like spitty fuzzes. Just that vid attracted me. Will watch a few more. Also, will watch a few with the Karma Suture, and the DOD you like. Will check out the Burg videos too as a bench mark. Not thinking crappy vids of a little solid state will help me as that is not my gear.
 
Lerxst said:
I like how this tread represents the three state of pedal buying

Chad - the Myz
Howie - the strategist
Sunvalley - the window shopper

:)
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Well, I window shop, until I say "Yeah, buy it! " But often that is not that long a process. I am much more instinctive than scientific, like Howie is. Though I enjoy learning from him and guys like him. And I have a hard time selling stuff once I have it. I did sell my Marshall pedal that just didn't do anything for me, and a couple others that didn't work for me. But otherwise, they tend to stick around.
 
Not to make your search more complicated, but if you are looking for an awesome fuzz, you may want to take a look at Mojo Hand Fx. I think the One Ton Bee is their Fuzzrite pedal. I’ve owned a few of their fuzzes and there wasn’t one I didn’t like. The Zephyr is awesome too but they don’t make them anymore. They do pop up on Reverb a lot though and usually come in around $100. I think the rest of their fuzzes are Muff based, but they are more flexible than a stock muff.
 
FWIW, I had the Sabra and passed it on to a friend, who likes it more than I did but it never found a spot on his board either.

It's kinda a hard fit in a way; it's really crispy & once I got my amp dialed in to play nice with the pedal, it wasn't really a sweet spot for anything else.
 
Chad said:
Not to make your search more complicated, but if you are looking for an awesome fuzz, you may want to take a look at Mojo Hand Fx. I think the One Ton Bee is their Fuzzrite pedal. I’ve owned a few of their fuzzes and there wasn’t one I didn’t like. The Zephyr is awesome too but they don’t make them anymore. They do pop up on Reverb a lot though and usually come in around $100. I think the rest of their fuzzes are Muff based, but they are more flexible than a stock muff.
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The Analogman Astro Tone sounds much better than the Zephyr. Or you can find a Sam Ash Fuzz reissue.
 
sunvalleylaw said:
Oh, and I have never figured out how to use a fuzz face or fuzz face style clone in a productive way.
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Single coils through a breaking up to dirty amp. Turn the pedal on, roll down your guitar volume to about 2, and there's your clean tone. Roll up for higher gain.
 
But that DOD Carcosa looks cool too. Does it respond well with the guitar volume knob?

and I think I am backing off on the Fuzzrite level spitty fuzzes for now. I think my technique is not good enough to make that sound very good. Andy does a better job of it.
 
Lerxst said:
I like how this tread represents the three state of pedal buying

Chad - the Myz
Howie - the strategist
Sunvalley - the window shopper

:)
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Best post ever
In all honesty, I am way more into pedals and amps than the guitars. It’s like building sounds with Legos, except way more expensive and unpredictable and in my case no one will ever hear this shit other me. Well maybe my extremely patient wife and daughters
 
In trying to learn more about the Harmonic Percolator circuit, found this from Steve Albini. Pretty fun watch, not too long.



The PussyGalore inspired clone Albini had built for his friends in that band looks fun, but I think the Catalinbread seems better.
 
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A muff comparison vid that I found fun, in trying to decide what I liked about Muffs.



They also do another vid comparing the basic fuzz circuits that will be linked in your youtube browser window if you open the video at youtube rather than embedded here. From that, it is pretty clear I prefer the Muff and Tonebender range of fuzzes, though the Analogman silicon fuzz face (sunface 183 something) pedal looked and sounded nice.
 
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sunvalleylaw said:
A muff comparison vid that I found fun, in trying to decide what I liked about Muffs.



They also do another vid comparing the basic fuzz circuits that will be linked in your youtube browser window if you open the video at youtube rather than embedded here. From that, it is pretty clear I prefer the Muff and Soundbender range of fuzzes, though the Analogman silicon fuzz face (sunface 183 something) pedal looked and sounded nice.
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I like Muffs and Tonebenders because they sound better with humbuckers and don't disappear in the mix. But I've also learned that most fuzzes are really boost pedals and not base distortions. That helps a lot.
 
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