I know this has been posted about quite a bit, so pardon me if this seems redundant.

Ok, so basically, here's what I have right now:

ProCo Ratt
Prescription Electronics "expirience" fuzz
Boss Distortion/Feedbacker (like a DS-1)

I've been tempted to drop some coin on a silver EH Big Muff, but I've been told that the PE sounds pretty similar, so it sort of seems like a waste.

I've also been considering the Zvex Fuzz Factory and the Fender Bender, though I haven't been able to try either of these out yet.

I'm open to any type of distortion - fuzz, overdrive, 'standard' distortion - ultimately, I'm looking for the most crazy, noisy, and compressed/thick (but bright?) sort of thing I can find. Recommendations?

I'd still recommend an old Big Muff.

I've not tried the later ones, but it certainly just about rips your face off.

Other than that, a silicon transistor Fuzz Face is pretty hard.

What's that Precription Electronics thing like? By the name, it sounds like it may be based on a Germanium transistor Fuzz Face.

i am not familiar with all of those pedals. i have played several Rats and Turbo Rats. I liked them a lot. I have used Ibanez Tube Screamers, MXR Distortion +, harmonic percolators... I have an ElectroHarmonix Big Muff, that I think is original (i don't know for sure).

I have to say, that thing is amazing. the amount of fuzz/distortion and the thickness you can get is impressive. at higher settings it is almost unusable on stage due to feedback, but the fucked-up-ness of the sound is truly something to behold. If super heavy sustaining thick fuzz is what you want, i highly reccomend the Big Muff.

for a truly nasal/nasty screwdriver through the temple effect, i run it just before my wah pedal, which is then stuck about 3/4 full-bright. nothing like the travis bean/solid state ching ching distortion sound, its more old fashioned iron butterfly/psychedelic/1971 heavy metal sound.

Rodabod wrote:I'd still recommend an old Big Muff.

I've not tried the later ones, but it certainly just about rips your face off.

Other than that, a silicon transistor Fuzz Face is pretty hard.

What's that Precription Electronics thing like? By the name, it sounds like it may be based on a Germanium transistor Fuzz Face.

http://www.harmony-central.com/Effects/ ... ce-01.html

I like it. The octave switch is fun, the swell switch is basically useless unless you're a hippy. The fuzz is pretty cool because it actually does retain the low end, and it gets pretty mean, but maybe not mean enough for my tastes. I sometimes end up pairing the ratt and the PE together, but that gets clumsy, and at times I find myself spending too much time tweaking knobs with that setup.

the$inmusicisallmine wrote:i am not familiar with all of those pedals. i have played several Rats and Turbo Rats. I liked them a lot. I have used Ibanez Tube Screamers, MXR Distortion +, harmonic percolators... I have an ElectroHarmonix Big Muff, that I think is original (i don't know for sure).

I have to say, that thing is amazing. the amount of fuzz/distortion and the thickness you can get is impressive. at higher settings it is almost unusable on stage due to feedback, but the fucked-up-ness of the sound is truly something to behold. If super heavy sustaining thick fuzz is what you want, i highly reccomend the Big Muff.

for a truly nasal/nasty screwdriver through the temple effect, i run it just before my wah pedal, which is then stuck about 3/4 full-bright. nothing like the travis bean/solid state ching ching distortion sound, its more old fashioned iron butterfly/psychedelic/1971 heavy metal sound.

Which big muff incarnation do you use? Seems like there's some significant differences between the USA/Reissue/Russian/? models...

Bradley wrote:Which big muff incarnation do you use? Seems like there's some significant differences between the USA/Reissue/Russian/? models...

i have no idea. how do i tell the difference between them?

the$inmusicisallmine wrote:

Bradley wrote:Which big muff incarnation do you use? Seems like there's some significant differences between the USA/Reissue/Russian/? models...

i have no idea. how do i tell the difference between them?

As far as I know, the Russian ones come in the green metal casing, while the USA is the silver box. As far as the difference between the originals and reissues, I have no idea.

I have the original 70's model.

It looks like the re-issue, but it doesn't have the status LED.

There is an earlier model which is completely different and is fully transistorized. I think it is probably softer sounding.

mine is a silver metal box. no leds anywhere. so this is an original one, right?

edit: i looked at the EH website. mine looks like the picture there, but no LED, and the knobs don't have those little pointy things on them.

it does pretty much take your face right off. this thing with a single coil pickup (tele, strat, old p-90) throught an old fender twin - man, that is a fucking weapon. it is a little hard to control, but fun. it would be hard to be the second guitar player having to contend with that sound...

I don't know if this is elementary to you, but try running the pedals into each other in different combinations. You can get some crazy/intense osunds in such manner. I've been rockin' my MXR distortion plus, as my main distortion, and for craziness, I hit the Big Muff, later in the path. That way the MXR is boosting the muff. I like running my SD-1 into my distortions too, it gets a good hot sound, but there is a bass drop, that makes it annoying. Maybe I should do a mod to it. anyways, multiple distortions at once is always pretty insane