Zvex Fuzz Factory Settings

As cliche as this may sound, this really is a pedal that you need to play around with yourself. Having said that, a good starting point can be found on the demo video right on their website: http://zvex.com/vexter.html

 

Worse than that, it's the pedal that seems the MOST sensitive to ambient conditions. So a setting that sounds super cool today might not work tomorrow when it's hotter/colder/more humid etc. You really have to understand how the knobs interact so that you can get back to the sound you want when it's being pissy... It's a killer unit, but I don't think I'd play live with it, just because I'd never be sure I was going to get the sound I wanted... Also, from one unit to another the same settings don't always sound the same...

 

Yep, you really have to play with it.

But a couple of keys... the volume rarely if ever needs to be much above the 9:00 setting. And the key to keep it from oscillating (squeeling) is the gate knob. The setting the gate control needs to be at to avoid oscillation will change depending on the settings of the comp, drive and stab controls. So if it starts oscillating when you're playing with the comp, drive or stab controls, just grab the gate knob and adjust til it stops.

But sometimes the self oscillation is fun to play with. When it starts "squeeling" after you make an adjustment, keep turning past the squeel point and/or grab any of the other comp, drive or stab controls and twist 'em. You should here the tone of the oscillation change pitch wise... kinda like playing with a theremin.

Also, the Fuzz Factory can be made to sound thicker if you put a good overdrive after it, but keep the overdrive at a relatively low gain setting.

Have fun!

 

Good advice all round. I love mine. My only other fuzz pedal is the BBB'07. But I'd like to get the Sunface NKT275. (Actually I do own another "wild" fuzz pedal: the Truly Beautiful Disaster. That's even way more "out there" than the FF!

 

I don't think it's really that bad. It is a little more finicky to get the same exact tone out of every time simply because of the range of tones it has. But I play with it live all the time. I can get close enough every time for me. But to me, that's part of the fun of the pedal & playing music in general. It's kinda like improvising. You never know exactly what's gonna happen, which keeps it from getting boring, and keeps you on your toes musically. It gives you new ideas and approaches that keep you from playing the "same ol' thing" every time.

I would say if you are looking for a "set & forget" fuzz... the Fuzz Factory is not it.

 

There IS a fantastic list of settings, I just don't have it handy. It is several places on the net, and hopefully someone here can provide it or so a search here. It REALLY helps.

As others have mentioned (me too) keep that volume down while changing knobs at first til you learn it (I still do this) because otherwise there can come some REALLY high frequency squawks, and it is possible to even hurt your ears if you have it too loud. I keep the amp fairly down at first, and the ff vol also...then bring them up when I hit something I like. I do like using the "patch list" for it as starting points though. Lots of fantastic sounds.

I am not secure enough with my ability on mine to gig with it, but I will NEVER sell it, that I am definite on. It is one of the most fun fuzzes I own, and has an amazing range of sounds. Before I saw the patch list, I seemed to get a lot of similar sounds no matter what (just like...give me a bunch of paints of different colors, I'll give you different shades of gray after a while) until I used patches ideas from there as start.

It is a really fun pedal.

 

This has been floating around for awhile

The Fuzz Factory Setting List

Atari 7:00 3:00 5:00 8:00
60's Fuzz 2:00 8:30 3:00 5:00
Arpegio 12:00 3:00 3:00 3:00
Bonkers Fuzz (1) 2:00 2:00 11:00 3:00
Bonkers Fuzz (2) 1:00 1:00 11:00 3:00
Clean Fuzz 5:00 2:00 11:00 5:00
Clean Up Fuzz 7:00 7:00 5:00 (lower till squeal stops) 5:00
Clean to OD 5:00 2:00 10:00 5:00
Dummy Fuzz 11:00 11:00 5:00 5:00
Dead Quite Ripper 9:00 3:00 5:00 7:00
Electric Beans 7:00 5:00 7:00 5:00
Fizzy Fizz 10:00 1:00 11:00 12:00
Fuzz Bright 1:00 12:00 1:00 4:00
Fuzz Distortion 12:00 12:00 3:00 9:00
FuzzFace71 (1) 12:00 12:00 12:00 5:00
FuzzFace71 (2) 3:00 7:00 12:00 4:30
FuzzFace71 (3) 7:00 12:00 1:00 5:00
FuzzFace71 (4) 12:00 7:00 12:00 5:00
Fuzz Mellow 1:00 12:00 1:00 9:00
Fuzz Splutter 3:00 12:00 3:00 9:00
Fuzz Squeal 9:00 12:00 3:00 9:00
Hi-Compression 3:00 9:00 5:00 5:00
Hi-Octane 2:00 to 3:00 7:00 7:00 5:00
Interference 7:00 3:00 12:00 5:00
Intermodulation 2-3:00 7:00 7:00 5:00
IYW 2:00 3:00 4:00 5:00
Juice Face 12:00 12:00 12:00 12:00
Krackle Fuzz 1:00 4:00 10:00 2-5:00
Mellow Mud 2:30 7:00 7:00 9:00
Metal Distortion 4:00 10:30 7:00 5:00
Modulated Mud Fuzz 12:00 11:00 5:00 7:00
Modulated Sticky 12:00 1:00 5:00 7:00
Modulated Sticky Fuzz 9:00 3:00 9:00 3:00
Muse-esque 2:30 3:15 5:00 5:00
No-Name Fuzz 1:00 11:00 2:00 7:00
No-Name Fuzz (2) 10:00 7:00 12:00 5:00
OD/Fuzz 7:00 7:00 7:00 5:00
OD Squeal 7:00 12:00 3:00 3:00
Pitch Drop 7:00 12:00 5:00 7:00
Please Fuzz 12:00 7:00 3:00 2:00
Prickly Vexter 8:45 12:15 2:00 4:45 1:30
Psychedelic Crackle 1:00 8:00 3:00 3:00
Punky 2:30 - 3:30 7:00 7:00 5:00
Radio Fuzz 7:00 10:00 12:00 5:00 (play A, lower to taste)
Random Fuzz 1:30 7:00 5:00 4:00 (approx)
Range 7:00 12:00 3:00 12:00
Resonant Fuzz 7:00 7:00 12:00 4:00
Smashing Pumpkins-esque 2:00 9:00 5:00 10:00
Smooth Fuzz 7:00 3:00 5:00 5:00 (lower to mellow)
Soft Fuzz 1:00 7:00 7:00 Variable
Spastic Muff 5:00 7:00 5:00 5:00
Squealer Fuzz 9:00 9:00 9:00 9:00
Squealer Fuzz (2) 7:00 8:00 1:00 7:00
Static / Low 12:00 12:00 5:00 7:00
Stooges Fuzz 3:00 7:00 3:00 5:00
Stylo Fuzz 12:30 12:30 7:00 7:00
Super-Heavy 3:00 9:00 5:00 5:00
Sweet Sustain 1:00 7:00 10:00 1:30
Tight and Sweet 12:00 8:00 8:00 5:00
Tiny 10:30 12:00 12:30 9:30
Traditional Fuzz 9:00 7:00 11:00 to 1:00 11-1:00
Traditional Fuzz (1) 9:00 7:00 1:00 5:00
Traditional Fuzz (2) 2:00 7:00 3:00 5:00
Ugly Fuzz 2:00 8:30 3:30 2:00
Velcro 7:00 5:00 5:00 2:00
Weezer-esque 2:30 7:00 7:00 5:00
Whale 7:00 1:00 5:00 9:00
What the Fuzz? 7:00 7:00 5:00 5:00

Couple more:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/onetubetone/Page1-2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/onetubetone/Page2-2.jpg

 

Can you get a Neil Youngish, Durham Crazy horsish vibe out of the fuzz factory?

 

great list, thanks!

 

Sorry for the resurrection from the dead of this thread but:

I've done up the settings above in a wpd doc and then made it into a pdf file.
Is there a website and or someplace I can use to host the file?
Then I can put the link in a post.
Can't seem to upload pdf's directly onto TGP

 

New year, new bump. Curious to see any more settings. \m/

 

Saw the bump and thought it might be nice to include some of the mentioned settings in the eye-friendly form (don't know who made it, sorry). It has been posted many times in the past but here it is once again to avoid the hassle of going through the search function:



...and part 2 of 2:

 

I find that it's really important to put the Fuzz Factory first in your signal chain. Anything non-true bypass in front of it will make it squeal, and anything true bypass that's running in front of it will make it squeal, as well. It's most stable when it's first on your board.

Such a cool pedal, though. I think it's probably the most useful of all the crazy, lo-fi pedals out there. I also find it plays well with others. If I run it into my Box of Rock on a mid-gain setting, it can take a rather nasty stand-alone setting and make it sound like Hendrix.

Enjoy!

 

I love the fuzz factory, such a killer pedal

My favorite (live) setting lies right around

Volume- 10 o clock
Gate- 3 o'clock
Comp- 3:30
Drive- 1230
Stab- 10 o'clock

Great ripping gated fuzz, with a cool sizzling decay that has just enough sustain with enough picking pressure

By raising the ,drive decreasing stability and lowering the gate a bit , I can get this wicked glitchy suboctave that literally pitchshifts into my sustain on anything played above the 12th fret, a bit hard to control but super cool

Strangely I don't find it to be temperamental in a live setting at all, once you understand what gate, compression and stability are, it is very easy to dial stuff in on the fly. Obviously I am in the minority on that one...