Amps that work well with fuzz

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The-kangass
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Re: Amps that work well with fuzz

Post by The-kangass »

eerock wrote: Wed Jul 07, 2021 4:08 pm I think the speaker has a crucial role in this part. Some speakers just have that "bright cap on" kind of presence that can't be dialed off. New cheaper ceramic Jensens comes to mind. But then again I love my original 8" ceramic Oxford in my SF Vibro-Champ with fuzz :chillin: My bigger go to amp is a WEM ER-15 which takes fuzzes like a champ. Can't really get a bad sound out of it and it breaks up nicely by its own.
good to see another WEM fan here! I have Dominator bass MKI and love that thing for fuzed guitar! :freakout:
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resynthesis
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Re: Amps that work well with fuzz

Post by resynthesis »

Ian Sherwen used to demo his stuff with an ER40 as I remember.
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eerock
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Re: Amps that work well with fuzz

Post by eerock »

WEM amps rule for sure. Not the best if you need a lot of headroom though.
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Space_Case
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Re: Amps that work well with fuzz

Post by Space_Case »

Love this topic and being the obsessive that I am there were a few other things I wanted to throw out there. First I completely agree with what people said about the tones you are seeking, type of guitar and fuzzes combinations being used, variance among GE type fuzzes, and speaker types. On top of those things I also think that the volume you are playing at is a really critical thing with tube amps. I know the OP mentioned how the character with certain amps really changes when they are pushed. I've found good results with a more trebly LP into AC30 type amps as I find its easier to push el84 power tubes into distortion. I also love using greenbacks and vintage 30s as I find they can stand up more headroom-wise to distortion than alnico speakers of similar wattage (though nowadays I'm sure there are certainly exceptions to this).

I've also found that when bringing the volume up I prefer more low gain and vintage style amps as the pre-amp has lower gain so I end up pushing the power tubes instead. I've found amps with higher gain pre-amps to often be tighter in their sound but don't give me the same power amp distortion as they often come with more stable power tube setups and a solid state rectifier. FYI if they are running 12AX7 style tubes then often the number of pre-amp tubes is often a good indicator as they will use additional pre-amp tubes to provide additional gain stages to cascade into each other (a perfect example is an AC30 having 3 12AX7 in the pre-amp vs something like a soldano SLO30 having 5 12AX7). Like anything though that can vary and if there is more than one type tube in the pre-amp (ex: an EF86) then the builder might be trying to do something different. Overall though its a matter of taste. For example I prefer a bit more sag to the sound and will often keep pre-amp volume a bit below 50% and bring up the master volume up to emphasize the power tubes and I like EL84s and a tube rectifier. I also like to then do a bit of volume roll-off to fine tune the ratio to how much compression there is and the range of picking dynamics available in the sound.

Amps I've had good experiences with have been a handwired AC30 w/greenbacks, an AC15c1 w/greenbacks, a blackstar artisan 30 (NOT ARTIST 30!), a mesa blue angel, a late 90s/early 2000s orange AD30. At lower volumes a blues jr has been alright but that one fell victim to losing a headroom and getting too compressed for my liking at higher volumes. The AC15 had a bit of that too as it's also a 15 watter but it seemed less impacted than the blues jr.

Last thing I'd say is that I typically play pretty vintage style GE fuzzes in the tonebender and fuzz face family. Within that I tend to gravitate towards MK1, Mk1.5, and MkIV, and buzzarounds with the fuzz faces I like being ones that use for a cleaner more characteristically overdriven sound.

Anyway that's been my experience hope that helps

Cheers
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Dopetone
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Re: Amps that work well with fuzz

Post by Dopetone »

I have issues playing fuzz into anything with a jacked up pre-amp, from JCM800s to Boogies, modern Oranges, H&K, basically anything post-1979...it always gets choked up in the front end of the amp. Have had much success with old Marshalls, particularly Super Bass and JTM45 varietals, tweed Fenders (I run a Victoria Bandmaster 3x10 which lurves the fuzz) and only recently discovered Hiwatts, which scratch all my itches. Played extensively through a Hi-Tone Jimmy Page model and that has the clarity of a Twin paired to the animal heft of a British stack, but with a characteristic upper-mid klang that sets it apart from the Marshall and Orange crowd. Has the headroom to take a Muff but enough front end colour to play nice with Benders. That’s my hot tip for fuzz that projects in a band...the Page Hiwatt circuit. I was playing a 50w and it was plenty against a loud Ludwig and an Ampeg.
Headroom is a huge factor in this game...Twins and 120w Matamps can easily get ice-picky if you don’t crank them up. The interaction between power tube compression and germanium harmonic enhancement is where the magic happens.
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Phototropicalia
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Re: Amps that work well with fuzz

Post by Phototropicalia »

I recently got an Orange Pedal Baby 100 and it's fantastic for fuzz, especially with a good preamp pedal. Big Muffs sound particularly good. I had an Orange Rocker 15 Terror before that and only the clean channel worked well - the dirty channel was mushy and unpleasant with fuzz.

Never thought I'd say this but I couldn't be happier with solid state an the moment. Weird, hah.
thinlazy
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Re: Amps that work well with fuzz

Post by thinlazy »

maybe an obvious choice but i get good results
with my silverface 67 bassman

I had been thinking about how a Roland Jazz Chorus might work with fuzz,
anyone had experience with one of those?
Last edited by thinlazy on Wed Oct 06, 2021 6:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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vanguard
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Re: Amps that work well with fuzz

Post by vanguard »

Of all the amps I've owned, I'd say my 1964 Princeton Reverb takes fuzz best. Other blackface Fenders are too scooped, resulting in a brittle fuzz, my English amps are too warm, resulting in an overly smooth fuzz.

The PR has clarity, but with less high treble and more low mids. Lands a fuzz in Goldie locks territory.
https://blackstrapelectrik.com/

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hamoftruth
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Re: Amps that work well with fuzz

Post by hamoftruth »

vanguard wrote: Tue Oct 19, 2021 5:33 pm Of all the amps I've owned, I'd say my 1964 Princeton Reverb takes fuzz best. Other blackface Fenders are too scooped, resulting in a brittle fuzz, my English amps are too warm, resulting in an overly smooth fuzz.

The PR has clarity, but with less high treble and more low mids. Lands a fuzz in Goldie locks territory.
What is it about Princeton circuits that makes them have a more robust midrange than even a Deluxe? Even if you put a 12" speaker in a Princeton and beef up the transformer, it still has more mids than a similarly powered Deluxe. I don't know enough about amp circuits to really know why. :hmm:

I 100% agree with your assessment as well. I have a Morgan PR12 (beefy Princeton) and it handles fuzzes like a champ.
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vanguard
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Re: Amps that work well with fuzz

Post by vanguard »

hamoftruth wrote: Tue Oct 19, 2021 6:20 pm
vanguard wrote: Tue Oct 19, 2021 5:33 pm Of all the amps I've owned, I'd say my 1964 Princeton Reverb takes fuzz best. Other blackface Fenders are too scooped, resulting in a brittle fuzz, my English amps are too warm, resulting in an overly smooth fuzz.

The PR has clarity, but with less high treble and more low mids. Lands a fuzz in Goldie locks territory.
What is it about Princeton circuits that makes them have a more robust midrange than even a Deluxe? Even if you put a 12" speaker in a Princeton and beef up the transformer, it still has more mids than a similarly powered Deluxe. I don't know enough about amp circuits to really know why. :hmm:

I 100% agree with your assessment as well. I have a Morgan PR12 (beefy Princeton) and it handles fuzzes like a champ.
The Princeton Reverb lacks the so-called bright cap that is present in other black/silver panel Fenders. This attenuates those glassy high trebles that make fuzz sound sizzly and harsh. It still has the Black-panel negative feedback though, so that scoops the mids. An unusual approach to phase inversion loosens the low-end and adds compression. Just glancing at the schematic here, all those things seem to add up to a middle ground between, say, a British style amp, and a Deluxe Reverb.
https://blackstrapelectrik.com/

Has anyone seen an Englishman called Gavin?
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