Recommend the best fuzz for fast, articulate leads

[Goo Fighters]

Looking for a fuzz that will cut and is good for faster lead playing a la Eric Johnson, Guthrie Govan, Joe Bonamassa etc... I know Govan and Bonamassa don't use fuzz, but I want a lead tone that is different from the norm. I do tapping and legato fairly often as well. Should I be looking at a Tonebender? Muff? Silicon?

 

[Passenger84]

I would say definitely silicon over germanium. And maybe the Skreddy Top Fuel? It kind of has the sustain and guts of a fuzz, but the articulation of an overdrive.

 

[TooManyHobbies]

I would say definitely silicon over germanium. And maybe the Skreddy Top Fuel? It kind of has the sustain and guts of a fuzz, but the articulation of an overdrive.

Muff, or the top fuel would work well.

 

[BluesHarp]

Bjfe Pink Purple

 

[Steve73]

Yeah, I'd say silicon if you do a lot of tapping/legato due to the extra gain the si fuzzes generally have. I'd recommend the MJM London II (the blue one in the newest version). GREAT fuzz, tons of gain on tap, almost too much and it is priced very decently. Check out the awesome soundbites of it (Philip Sayce):

http://www.mjmguitarfx.com/

 

[oil]

Himmelstrutz gramps. Fantastic fuzz with great variety from deep creamy sustaining fuzz to bright sharp hairy distortion.

 

[The Whale]

Actually, Bonamassa has a Silicon FuzzFace (the grey/silver kind) on his board. He runs it into his Cat 5 Plexi only, and uses it when he plays more Zeppelin-y covers.

 

[Goo Fighters]

Silicon looks like the ticket, eh? A few pedals immediately come to mind: Skreddy Lunar Module, Red Witch Fuzz God II, Foxrox Hot Silicon, or I could order a custom Earthquaker Devices Hoof with all high gain silicon transistors and silicon diodes. Would love try out that MJM pedal as well...I have a Skreddy Ernie incoming, so I figure that will probably cover my Muff needs for now.

EDIT: Holy *%#! Those clips of the London fuzz are amazing! That's exactly the tone I'm after, although I want to check out the other pedals a bit more fefore making a decision. Thanks for the replies so far. :BEER

 

[Goo Fighters]

Actually, Bonamassa has a Silicon FuzzFace (the grey/silver kind) on his board. He runs it into his Cat 5 Plexi only, and uses it when he plays more Zeppelin-y covers.

Ah ok, I wasn't aware. Thanks for the info!

 

[In Tune]

A Mad Proffessor, FIRE RED FUZZ............Tis on me old wish list 4 sure.

 

[Jet Bycraft]

Silicon looks like the ticket, eh? A few pedals immediately come to mind: Skreddy Lunar Module, Red Witch Fuzz God II, Foxrox Hot Silicon, or I could order a custom Earthquaker Devices Hoof with all high gain silicon transistors and silicon diodes. Would love try out that MJM pedal as well...I have a Skreddy Ernie incoming, so I figure that will probably cover my Muff needs for now.

EDIT: Holy *%#! Those clips of the London fuzz are amazing! That's exactly the tone I'm after, although I want to check out the other pedals a bit more fefore making a decision. Thanks for the replies so far. :BEER

Where did you find that Ernie?

 

[Goo Fighters]

Where did you find that Ernie?

Ordered it direct from Marc Ahlfs (Skreddy) about 3 months ago...

 

[Wheeler004]

Fulltone Soul-Bender

 

[yeahyeahyeah]

I'd say you'd really like a Muff without the midscoop...I think the top fuel is something like this, but you should ask Marc as I have no idea whats really inside the topfuel....but if its not it, Marc is the guy to set you up with the right muff.

 

[jazzandmetal?]

Hoof.

 

[Windup 43]

MkII Tonebender- I'd recommend the Throbak Stonebender. I don't think of muffs as being articulate fuzzes.

 

[iggs]

Blackout Effectors MUSKET or Psionic Audio 3.14, both Muff based and both excel at articulate lead work and never mush out on fast runs.

MUSKET: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUf14HUaNTc&feature=channel
PSIONIC: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpA1FS5tGaI&feature=channel

 

[jazzandmetal?]

Blackout Effectors MUSKET or Psionic Audio 3.14, both Muff based and both excel at articulate lead work and never mush out on fast runs.

MUSKET: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUf14HUaNTc&feature=channel
PSIONIC: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpA1FS5tGaI&feature=channel

Yeah, I will +1 that. The Musket or the Hoof would get my vote.

 

[Goo Fighters]

From what I've heard so far, the silicon fuzzes seem to excel at what I'm looking for. I don't think the Muff based pedals will cut as much in a live mix. I've got my Ernie coming, so I think I'm going to get something different than a Muff type pedal. So far I'm leaning towards the MJM London II, but I still want to investigate the Foxrox Hot Silicon and Lunar Module.

 

[Jazz2Punk]

Looking for a fuzz that will cut and is good for faster lead playing a la Eric Johnson, Guthrie Govan, Joe Bonamassa etc... I know Govan and Bonamassa don't use fuzz, but I want a lead tone that is different from the norm. I do tapping and legato fairly often as well. Should I be looking at a Tonebender? Muff? Silicon?

Since you mentioned Eric Johnson, maybe check out the '70 pedal from Fulltone. Apparently he incorporated some design ideas directly from EJ's own Fuzzface.

From the website:
[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica]
"[/FONT][FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica]I got my hands on Eric Johnson's Blue Fuzzface that he used from "Tones" through "Ah Via Musicom" period (now owned by Ian Moore) and incorporated a few of its tonal secrets into the '70 pedal with staggering sonic results!"[/FONT]