Fuzz is a gnarly, distorted, gritty-sounding effect that's the perfect remedy when you need to give your tone a kick up the backside. Let's learn more about this old school effect and find the best fuzz pedal for your personal style of music.
Ultimate Guide to
Fuzz Pedals
What Are Fuzz Pedals?
Fuzz pedals produce a gritty, dirty, mashed up guitar tone by amplifying the guitar signal to the point where the output clips and a thick distortion is created. It was a core sound in the evolution of rock music in the '60s and it has been adapted and utilised throughout the history of music to suit certain trends and musical scenes, like the emergence of punk and metal in the '70s, then shoegaze in the mid-to-late '80s and then stoner rock in the '90s.
Fuzz is still a key effect for plenty of guitarists because it simply sounds huge, exciting and it's massively satisfying to use. It's also surprisingly easy to identify certain fuzz characteristics, which makes buying a fuzz that much more enjoyable and personable.
Popular Fuzz Pedals & Brands
Over the years, lots of pedal brands have created unique sounding fuzz pedals with notable tonal properties, with various amounts of gain, thickness and sustain. The four pillars of fuzz that have inspired today's pedal builders and guitarists are the Tone Bender style fuzzes, the Fuzz Face pedals, the Big Muff, and the octave fuzz.
Of course, plenty of brands make stompboxes that sit somewhere in between these big hitters, possess the ability to switch between them, or have their own distinctive take on the effect, and I'll highlight some of those too.
Tone Bender Style Fuzz Pedals
Debuting in 1965, the Tone Bender is a legendary pedal with a storied history. It's no exaggeration to say that the tone Bender changed the course of rock music. Just one year earlier, The Beatles famously appeared on the Ed Sullivan show playing jangly Rickenbackers through clean Vox amps, then suddenly in '65 practically every studio in London had a Tone Bender. A big part of that was down to Jeff Beck's guitar tone on the Yardbirds' Heart Full of Soul and later Mick Ronson's tone on Bowie's Moonage Daydream.
Sound-wise, the gnarly, aggressive Tone Bender picked up where Gibson's Maestro Fuzz-Tone left off, carrying with it greater sustain and a bigger low end. The Tone Bender is no longer in production and so you'll have to get this mythical tone from various recreations. That includes the extremely affordable Behringer Fuzz Bender, which captures the classic sound and also puts up a custom mod switch for higher output; the gorgeous germanium Warm Bender by Warm Audio, which features a SAG switch to recreate the special sound of the original Tone Bender when its batteries would die or the power was starved; and the ThorpyFX Six Zero, cleverly combining the Bender sound with a Pink Floyd-inspired tremolo for the '60s sound in one box.
Fuzz Face Style Fuzz Pedals
The Fuzz Face is arguably one of the most instantly recognisable pedals ever created. Although not entirely friendly with your pedalboard, the circular Fuzz Face is certainly great with your guitar tone, transforming it into a raucous, aggressive rock pummel. Jimi Hendrix is the most famous of its users and he did not spare it one bit across his discography.
The original Fuzz Face was originally designed in London by Arbitrer Electronics Ltd in 1966, the iconic shape inspired by a microphone stand. The Fuzz Face tone has stood the test of time and is an essential in any classic rock or psychedelic rock setup. You can get this pedal either with silicon or germanium transistors – the former being harsher and brighter and the latter smoother and warmer.
Brands putting their own spin on the Fuzz Face include MXR's Classic 108 mini pedal, which boasts an in-built optional buffer; the JHS Legends of Fuzz Smiley for the incredibly authentic Hendrix tone, and their streamlined 3 Series Fuzz; the incredibly affordable entry level TC Electronics Rusty Fuzz; and Beetronic's funny Tuna Can Fuzz, which draws inspiration from founder Filipe's early days of tinkering.
Big Muff Style Fuzz Pedals
The Big Muff V1, known as the Triangle Big Muff and originally designed to be a sustainer pedal, was used most famously by Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour. However, later versions of the Big Muff became synonymous with '90s alternative rock and shoegaze bands.
Defining that era using the Big Muff were the likes of The Smashing Pumpkins, Bush, My Bloody Valentine and Dinosaur Jr., crafting huge walls of sound with the thick, mid-scooped and bass-heavy fuzz tones that the Big Muff pumps out.
Iterations of the Electro Harmonix Big Muff have always remained extremely affordable, so not only are you getting a legendary pedal, but you're doing it without spending an exorbitant amount that some other original fuzz pedals demand. With most models featuring a tone knob that can take you from doomy sub-harmonic tones to searing high-end, they also boast the sustain control it was initially intended for. EHX have produced versions of the Big Muff, such as the OG Big Muff Pi, the highly coveted classic Ram's Head, the super saturated Russian Big Muff, the feature-filled Deluxe Big Muff and the Billy Corgan collaborative Op Amp.
Brands inspired by the Big Muff include Tone City with the Matcha Cream mini pedal; the 6-mode JHS Pedals Muffuletta, which covers every era of the Big Muff sound; the distinctive tone of the Earthquaker Devices Hoof; and the Browne Amplification The T4, which is set apart by the flattened EQ curve that bumps up the midrange that's scooped in Big Muffs.
Octave Fuzz Pedals
Octave fuzz pedals (also known as 'octavia') are another fuzz-based effect that Jimi Hendrix popularised. Originally designed by the renowned Roger Mayer, this effect combines a gnarly fuzz sound with a reproduction of the guitar input signal – raised or lowered by an octave. This produces a thick, doubled-sound perfect for lead guitar, with the higher octave cutting through more prominently in mixes.
The most famous example of this is in the Purple Haze solo, and this unique effect has been heard in many recordings since, including Queens of The Stone Age's Little Sister and in Royal Blood’s Little Monster.
Electro Harmonix collaborated with JHS Pedals to make the Lizard Queen, an octave fuzz that pays homage to EHX's creative '70s origins. This is a completely transistor-based tone designed by JHS' Josh Scott, with a blendable octave for dialling in crushing rhythm sounds or chimey, clanging leads. Gamechanger Audio constantly push the boundaries of guitar tone with their pedals, and the Plasma Coil is one that certainly falls outside the realms of classic fuzzes.
This genius stompbox is designed with Jack White's Third Man Records and the former White Stripes frontman is a huge fan of this nasty, spitty fuzz, produced through electrical discharges that occur within its built-in xenon tube. There's nothing quite like it! And finally, one more unique octave fuzz comes in the form of the Mythos Argo Deluxe, which gives you the freedom to balance out the fuzz with a boosted clean signal, also known as 'COB'. It's highly reactive to your playing with a huge dynamic range, unlike some of the other fuzzes here. The deluxe part comes from Mick Taylor of That Pedal Show, who suggested a boost portion that can be used in isolation.
Fuzz Pedal FAQS
How Do You Use A Fuzz Pedal?
Fuzz pedals provide the distorted fuzziness in your guitar tone and will be a defining feature of your sound. They are ideal when you play thick chords, palm mutes and lead melodies that aren't overly busy.
First, set your amp to a clean setting. Set the volume to either match that of your amp or boost is slightly if you intend to use the pedal as a kicker for a solo or lead line. Now dial in the pedal's gain to taste. This might range from a smattering of fuzz right up to a messy, chaotic wall of sound.
Some fuzz pedals are incredibly simple and leave it there in terms of what you can control. Other may feature a tone dial to set high and low frequencies, or contain different modes to give you various old school or modern vibes. Your pedal might also have a sustain knob, which increases or decreases the length of trail when you hold a note.
What Is The Difference Between Silicon & Germanium Transistors
Germanium transistors were the first to be used in fuzz circuits. They contribute to a fuzz's warmer, touch-sensitive organic sounding tones. They clean up when you roll off on the guitar's volume knob. Silicon transistors were introduced because they are hardier and more cost-effective than germanium counterparts. They sound brighter and produce more gain.
Where Does A Fuzz Pedal Go In A Guitar Signal Chain?
You typically want to place a fuzz very early in the signal chain – before other overdrives, modulation and time-based effects. You want to maximise a fuzz's ability to imprint its characteristics on a clean tone. If you have a wah pedal, it's worth experimenting with the placement before or after for personal taste.
Can You Use A Fuzz With Other Buffered Pedals?
In most cases, you won't want to use a buffer with a fuzz. A buffer is a device that boosts the clarity of your signal by converting the high-impedance created through a long cable run into a low-impedance signal. Fuzz pedals have a low-impedance. So by placing a buffer between the two, you’re essentially interrupting the way they interact and you’ll be compromising your fuzz sound.
Most pedals are true bypass these days, but be wary of Boss pedals and certain other brands that make buffered pedals.
Can Fuzz Be Paired With A Wah Pedal?
Yes! Some people love running a wah into a fuzz, as it gives them that soaring Hendrix Voodoo Child sound. For others, it can sound too harsh because a wah has a fairly high output impedance, whereas a fuzz has a far lower input impedance. This means that you can’t get the most out of your wah, as its range is hindered by the fuzz.
Despite what I said about buffers earlier, this is where one may come in handy. If you run a wah into a buffer and then that into a fuzz, this can resolve the problem and give a more natural and usable tone. The buffer will convert the high impedance signal from the wah back into a lower impedance, preferable for a fuzz.
What Is The Best Fuzz Pedal?
That's all dependent on the type of tone you want to get out of your fuzz. However, old school players might argue the Tone Bender, Maestro Fuzz-Tone or Fuzz Face churn out the best fuzz, while younger guitarists would gravitate towards something fatter like the Electro Harmonix Big Muff or mean like you get from Fjord Fuzz.
Jargon Buster
Signal amplification: this is what a fuzz pedal does – it amplifies a low level guitar signal and pushes it into clipping the headroom of an amp.
Square wave: a type of waveform characterised by sharp transitions between minimum and maximum amplitudes. A fuzz pedal hard clips a guitar signal so much that it becomes a square wave. The result is a harsh, woolly or spitty tone, depending on the individual fuzz pedal and its controls.
Compression: on top of hard clipping a guitar signal, a fuzz pedal will also create compression, which defines the maximum and minimum volume range a note from your guitar produced within.
Transistor: a semiconductor component within a fuzz pedal circuit that amplifies the electrical signals. The type of transistor in your fuzz pedal will have an effect on how the pedal sounds.
Want To Learn More?
For extra information about the fuzz, overdrive, distortion and boost pedals mentioned here, check out our dedicated guides and blogs:
Ultimate guide to overdrive pedals
Ultimate guide to distortion pedals
Ultimate guide to boost pedals
Boost, overdrive, distortion and fuzz: a beginner's guide to gain pedals