Distortion & Fuzz Pedal Comparo

[duhvoodooman***]

I've been thinking about doing this for some time and finally got around to it today. What I did was to record the same riff on every distortion and fuzz pedal I own--multiple times in several cases, where the pedal had more than one signal clipping mode. I ended up with a total of 15 variations. In alphabetical order:

1. Brown-Sound-in-a-Box-2
2. Fender Bender (ToneBender)
3. Fuzz Farm (Fuzz Face/Ge)
4. Fuzz Farm (Fuzz Face/Si)
5. Marshall Guv'nor Plus
6. Mega-Muff (BMP, stock)
7. Mega-Muff (JFET)
8. Mega-Muff (LED)
9. Rabid Rodent (LED)
10. Rabid Rodent (Overdrive)
11. Rabid Rodent (Rat, stock)
12. Radial ToneBone Classic
13. ZYS (LED, high gain)
14. ZYS (MOSFET, high gain)
15. ZYS (TS808, stock, high gain)

The trick here is that they're NOT recorded in that order--I randomized the sequence. Listen to them and (a) see what you like the best, and (b) try and guess which is which. That's essentially impossible, but see how many you can get right. I'll post a link to the answers in a couple of days. But really, the point of this isn't a "quiz", but rather a chance to hear the different distortion tones where all the other factors (guitar, amp, player, recording set-up, etc.) are kept constant. And the main reason for not listing which is which is to do this like a "blind" wine tasting. Keeps the brain from getting in the way of the ears, so to speak!

Recording details: All recording was done using the bridge pickup of my Epi Elitist LP Standard into my Fender Blues Junior amp.The only other effect is a modest amount of reverb. The gain (or drive, or sustain, or fuzz, or whatever they call the distortion control on the pedal!) was set to about 2/3 - 3/4 on all pedals. Pedal volume was adjusted for each recording to keep the final volume approximately the same. Tone controls were set nearly flat in most cases, for the pedals that have them. Volume on the guitar was dimed, and the tone knob was at the midpoint. The clip starts with a clean (and somewhat slow) run through the riff, and then the 15 versions follow.

Here's the Box.net link. The total clip runs just under 3 minutes. And you're going to get real sick of that damned riff (I know I did..... ):

http://www.box.net/shared/26nlmrt80k

BTW, my Zonkin' Yellow Screamer (ZYS) isn't really a distortion pedal, but it gets pretty close in the gain-boost mode. So consider that a bit of a hint.

[Tone2TheBone]

guesses - #3 is definately the Guv'nor Plus pedal. One of my favorites. I think #6 was the ToneBender. I think #12 was the ZYS with the LED setting.

favorites - #1, #3, #7 and #11. Those ones to me have a tighter sound so they have to be some of the Rodent and maybe the ZYS. The rest are the fuzz pedals.

[marnold***]

I like #10 best. Do I win the pedal?

[duhvoodooman***]

No, but feel free to listen to it on the clip as often as you want!

[ShortBuSX]

I listened to that loop bout 4 times...3 and 4 were my favs first time around, but then I eventually added 1, 10 and 15 as tones Id desire.
So what were they? I couldnt begin to guess...Im just hopin one is similar to my Banshee , the other like the Double Muff...and if one of those is a RAT then you just reinforced a sale! Or then again maybe Im lookin at 5 others! :

[Algonquin]

No clue as to a guess here, but I seem to like #'s 4, 8, 11 and 15.
Good post DVM

'Clean'

[tot_Ou_tard]

I liked the clean pedal best.

What were the settings on that one?

[duhvoodooman***]

Hey, if you're interested in seeing what signal distortion "looks" like, I cut'n'pasted the graphic below from screenshots of the Audacity file for the audio clip linked above. It shows the signal magnitude over time for all 16 sound samples in the clip. You can get an idea of the degree of distortion and compression by looking at each signal profile vs. the "clean" sample at the top. As distortion & compression increase, you can see how the clear differentation between chords and individual notes evident in the clean sample get compressed together vertically (i.e. the variation in amplitude is reduced) and the smeared together over time, i.e. horizontally.

Now, that doesn't tell nearly the whole story, because it gives no information on what the frequency mix looks like, but it's still kind of interesting (at least to a geek like me) to see how they look and correlate it to how they sound. For example, listen to the difference between a sample that looks highly altered, like #6, vs. one where the amplitude profile over time is more similar to the clean sample, for example #1 or #14.

[Algonquin]

I think this is an excellent opportunity to let yours ears decide what you really like, as opposed to a pedals reputation.

I did find it difficult to pick the few that I did. I'd listen and think I knew what I liked and wasn't so fond of, but I'd listen again and have a different opinion.

I'm sure there would be endless possiblities to tweak each of these pedals to fine tune your sound... Great post DVM :

[duhvoodooman***]

I think this is an excellent opportunity to let yours ears decide what you really like, as opposed to a pedals reputation.

I did find it difficult to pick the few that I did. I'd listen and think I knew what I liked and wasn't so fond of, but I'd listen again and have a different opinion.

I'm sure there would be endless possiblities to tweak each of these pedals to fine tune your sound...

You touch on some important points there, 'Gonq. Firstly, I didn't randomize the clips just to befuddle people or make a contest out of this. The point is to let your ears be the only judge, and not let preconceived notions get in the way, just as you said. And you're exactly right about how your assessment can change on successive listenings. Lastly, your final statement prompts me to make the point that nobody should use what they heard here as the basis of a buying decision! Each sample represents a tiny slice of a given pedal's capabilities--a brief clip played on one pickup of one guitar through one amp by one player. No variation in the pedal's volume, gain, tone or other controls, and likewise on the guitar & amp. If, for example, you decide that you liked the sound of what turned out to be a Fuzz Face clone, then poke around on the web a bit and learn more about that pedal. There are audio clips posted all over the place, so I'm sure you'll be able to find additional samples to help you decide if it's a pedal you want to add to your board....

[duhvoodooman***]

It occurs to me that most people reading this thread are probably not familiar with some of these pedals, at least not as named in the original post. Here's a quick rundown of the eight pedals I used, and should have provided right up front:

Commercially available pedals:

• Marshall Guv'nor Plus - Nice Marshall crunch-tone generator with a 4-way tone stack that lets you dial in a wide range of distortion sounds. The "Deep" control is really cool, giving this pedal a thunderous bottom end reminiscent of a vintage Marshall full stack. Great value at $70 typical selling price.
• Radial Tonebone Classic - A popular 12AX7 preamp tube-driven pedal with a wealth of mild-overdrive-to-moderate-distortion tones on tap. Very flexible controls in a well designed and built effect. Quiet, too. Typically retails for $200.

DVM Homebuilt Pedals:

• Zonkin' Yellow Screamer (ZYS) - My highly modified version of the BYOC Overdrive kit, based upon the legendary Ibanez Tube Screamer TS-808. This is without a doubt the most copied overdrive circuit of all time, and rightly so. Great emulation of a tube amp pushed to the break-up point. My version adds a lot more flexibility to this classic effect.
• Rabid Rodent - My modified build of the original BYOC "Mouse" kit, a clone of the venerable ProCo Rat distortion pedal. Probably my personal favorite distro-box for endless, warm sustain. If you like the Clapton "woman tone", this pedal will do it, in spades. BYOC's new version has even more tonal variety, with six different clipping modes
• Fuzz Farm - This pedal is a modification of a modification of a classic pedal. I took the DIY project info for a Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face clone off the General Guitar Gadgets (GGG) website, and based this build on their "Boutique Late '60's" version. That modification is derived from the no-longer-available Fulltone '69 fuzz pedal, which gives additional tone-shaping control over the classic Fuzz Face sound. I added a couple more features, notably switchable germanium and silicon transistors.
• Brown Sound in a Box 2 (BSIAB2) - Stock build of a very cool & inexpensive kit from GGG. Though not based upon any vintage distortion effect circuit, this is a popular DIY pedal design due to its close tonal approximation of the lead channel of a Marshall JCM800. Instant EVH, anyone? (Tone, not ability!)
• Fender Bender - My stock build of the BYOC "Extra Special Vintage" Tonebender kit, based upon the classic Sola Sound Tonebender Professional MKII fuzz of the late 1960's made famous by Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and other British guitar heroes of the day. Gobs of thick, wooly germanium fuzz with lots of top-end sizzle! It's also got probably the prettiest "guts" of any pedal I've seen with the vintage-correct components used in this kit. I generally hate the term "mojo" when applied to pedals, but here it really fits.
• Mega Muff - BYOC introduced their updated Large Beaver clone of the revered Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi fuzz pedal several months ago, adding a lot more flexibility through a new EQ voicing switch. I took it a couple of steps further with three switchable clipping modes and a sustain-boost toggle switch. My build is based upon the original "Triangle era" Muff specs, but the kit also contains parts for the "Ram's Head era" variant.

So now you know a bit better what you were listening to!

[tot_Ou_tard]

Hey, if you're interested in seeing what signal distortion "looks" like, I cut'n'pasted the graphic below from screenshots of the Audacity file for the audio clip linked above.

Way freakin' cool Vood.

[sunvalleylaw]

First listen to I was into 1, 3, 6, 7, 11, and 15 first listen. I would have to listen to those again to really narrow it down. I suppose 3 was a favorite, 15 also. I just listened again and like 5 and 8 too. Dang, hard to choose. 3 and 15 are pretty up there though, and then I'd have to listen more to choose one of the hairier sounding ones.

EDIT: I went back and looked at the numbered "pics" of the sound, and I seem to be sort of consistent just by quickly eyeing it, for two types of sound. I am quite curious as to what is what. Good post DVM!! : Oh, and the lick is so stuck in my head now, I will probably have to go learn it!

[duhvoodooman***]

My wife & daughter were out of the house tonight at a play tonight, my son was online gaming, and I was just noodling around, so I recorded a second 15-pedal clip. Same pedals & settings, but a different recording order this time. First time through the riff is clean, then away we go with the pedals.

The recording setup was completely different, though. I used my Strat Plus on the neck pickup through my Vox AD30VT set to the Tweed 4x10 ('59 Fender Bassman) emulation and a bit of reverb. So the emphasis here is on a rounder, bassier sound. See which ones you like best this time; it'll be interesting if your choices change because of the different guitar & amp setup.

Here's the link to the clip:

http://www.box.net/shared/vqt5izmpzf

One other thing: HERE is the order of the pedal recordings for the two clips. No fair peekin' until you've listened to them first!

[marnold***]

I like the way more of the pedals sound with the Strat. Probably because the pickups are lower output and brighter so the differences between the pedals are more noticeable and they're less likely to get muddy. The only one I could identify without cheating is the various Muff versions. To my ear, the chords give it away more than the single-note stuff. Of the fuzzes, once again I prefer the Si one. I know I'm not "supposed" to and I can't exactly define why I like it better. That's probably a good thing, given how notoriously flaky Ge can be.

[sunvalleylaw]

I am having more trouble deciding on this set. I like 6 a lot, but I really like most of them. I am not a big fan of 13 today. 15 is nice. I am going to have to listen to this one a few more times to pick up the differences better. There is a definite difference between the first part of the lick and how it finishes. I think I am focusing at the moment on how the first part sounds.

EDIT: on having it come back around, I like 1 and 3 as well. 4 is pretty nice too. Like I said, I am going to need to spend a little more time with this one.

[duhvoodooman***]

There is a definite difference between the first part of the lick and how it finishes.

Absolutely! That's exactly why I start with single notes and end with chords. What sounds good on one may not on the other. Fuzz pedals, particularly with the gain up, are pretty notorious for their ability to turn chords into a distorted (the bad kind), muddy mess.