Fuzz Factory tips
A lot of people seem to have problems with their Fuzz Factories that are down to lack of experience more than anything.
Some useful tips if you've bought, or thinking about buying a Fuzz factory:
- The Fuzz Factory is the exact same as the Probe version, without the probe. There is no difference in quality. If you are clever, you can operate the Stab knob with your foot as the knobs are large. But make sure which version you want.
The Fuzz Probe can be unstable, but you can use it as a Theremin, which is pretty cool.
- The Handpainted ones come with a lifetime(Zach's lifetime) warranty, the Vexters come with a much shorter one.
- You will probably NOT like the initial sounds that you get out of the FF. Before you turn it on, set the "Stab" up to full, gate and comp to about 1/4 way, and drive about 2/3s - 4/5s of the way up. Volume should be about 1/3 of the way up. Use the Neck pickup, preferably a single coil, for best results. If you had mid heavy pickups(like the Air Norton), roll down the tone knob as a mid scoop is what gives a Fuzz much of it's sound.
That's a good starting setting.
The biggest offender is the Stab knob, which creates much of the noise, and the drive knob appears to cause it to self oscillate some when turned up full.
- The Stab knob messes with the feedback pitch - this *will* sound nasty when you don't play anything. It adds interference, but you need to surpress it with a noise gate. That's where the "Gate" knob comes in. Turn it up until the noise disappears. The Comp knob works good too.
The stab knob adds noisy interference which can make the Fuzz sound messier, which a lot of people prefer.
- NEVER have the volume set at more than 1/3 when you're "expierementing".
- Be persistant. The pedal is worth it. Many people have been disappointed, and later changed their mind, a very many. The controls aren't easy. Still with them.
- The Comp and Gate setting *will* remove dynamics(ie play a soft note and it comes out soft, play heavy for heavy), so you won't be able to use dynamics much if you want to mess with the Stab knob. Some people won't like the FF for this reason, though you can always find a way around the noise, or using lower gain.
- You will need to play with the volume knob of your guitar to get the full range of sounds. Rolling it down sort of puts it in an "on the fence" setting when the gate is high, which causes some strange interference sounds, especially with stab turned down. You'll get a lot of 1980s sound track noises from this.
There are also Ring-Mod like settings on the FF with the volume rolled back to about 7.
- The FF should usually come first, before absolute everything, especially wireless transmitters. You can't use one with an FF, unless you have it built in by Manson like Matt Bellamy.
Most Wahs appear to be fine, but some Vox Wahs have problems. Even though it doesn't always sound like it, it *is* a high gain pedal, so you'll need to roll it down a bit to hear the Wah. You may be able to get away with an OD pedal/clean boost before it to help it. For this reason the Wah Probe is the best wah to use with it, as it has a clean boost.
- Remember, most of the good settings are the "in between" settings, unlike other pedals. It's not just a case of tone up high, drive up high, volume at half, and play away.
Wahs after Fuzzes destroy their character.
- You can, despite what Zach says, get some interesting sounds chaining it or using it on the dirty channel of your amp, but this will make it even more chaotic. People claim Tube Amps dound better, but remember that they "round" the sound, which is the opposite of Fuzz in some ways.
- The Fuzz Factory is something that grows on you, *not* an instant gratification pedal like a RAT.
- Make sure to put the guitar and amp cables in the right end, they're marked. I messed this one up.
- Zach is nearly always around on his board, on
http://www.zvex.com the members of the board can help you find good starting settings. Go to that board for help before you even consider giving up on it.
And above all, enjoy your Fuzz Factory! Through all the other dist and fuzz boxes you will own, it will most likely remain one of your favourites for one reason or another for a long time to come.
-Use batteries or an isolated power supply if you want consistent tweaking results and improved stability.
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