Pedals and Tea Top 5 Fuzz Pedals
Hi everyone, I´ve been asked to share my top 5 favourite fuzzes on here and of course I can´t say no to that!
My Name is Tillmann, I´m a working musician in Germany and run a little pedal focused Youtube channel called Pedals and Tea.
Generally, I feel most at home with the post/emo side of things and love using fuzz somewhere in the middle of a signal chain - which is why I don´t tend to use classic buffer sensitive topologies that much even though I love those classic tones, too.
#1 Kuro Custom Audio - 19 42 Fuzz&Filter - my absolute favourite fuzz for a while now. Granted, I only really use the fuzz side but I just can´t get enough of it. It´s super articulate even with dense low voicings, does velcro texture when the gate kicks in, works with just two knobs and translates so well in live settings, especially when paired with FPT from Audio Kitchen. Also...there might be a smaller version with just the fuzz sometime soon, who knows, you didn´t hear it from me. https://youtu.be/NXs4GQ68hNY?si=QyQ5qzAncY_bjcJU
#2 Blue Colander Stompboxes - Small Fracture - this was the first pedal i demoed on my channel and it still is one of my favourites of all time. While it can do clangy low gain as well, the blown out fuzz character reminds me of a cranked Matamp and the litter switches add sonic garbage of the highest quality. Add to that three different compression modes and you can imagine the many different shades of manageable sonic waste you can get out of this box. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiMjO1ZwkcM
#3 Enduring Audio - Fell Runner - I´ve been a big fan of Enduring Audio since I tried their Charming Voices chorus. The overall voicing and headroom of it fits my needs perfectly and felt so inspiring. I´m happy to say that feeling translates to Fell Runner as well. A clever tone stack, separate control over bias and gain as well as a very intuitive layout with much versatility had me turning knobs and just being in the moment the same way that Charming Voices did/does. Also, it´s got a really unique and present tone that works well in live settings...plus, boosting a Matamp (or Matamp style preamp like the T120) with Fell Runner (Bias and Saturation around noon) brings out that Sleep-ish collapsing attack that I´ve been finding quite hard to replicate. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCYU5oWtL-s
#4 Lurch Audio - Ergot - no two percolators/percolator style pedals are alike and even when they should be, they won´t behave the same way in a specific rig AT ALL. I have not had this issue with Ergot. It´s beautifully consistent, it works after buffers, it stays clangy AND thick at the same time, it does beautiful low gain clang and sputtery almost octave-ish blown out fuzz things. Plus, it is such a beautiful and visually pleasing pedal that I´m always happy taking it out of the box. The one reason I don´t use it live anymore is that I´ve had Germanium transistor based pedals fart out on me on hot stages more than one time. But boy is it fun to play until it does :3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jSXG8xduWw
#5 When it comes to thick doom fuzz it really is a tie between these guys depending on how I feel that day lol:
Moth Electric - P. Isabella - articulate and super musically voiced Green Big Muff with a secondary mode and well implemented clean blend (seriously put this thing after a Rat and be amazed) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3lcUuhZN8c
Minotaur Sonic Terrors - Swamp Lord - It´s a big brick but it gets me to 70s inspired doom immediately. There´s something about it that just feels timeless and the mid control is subtle enough not to completely alter the character but also effective enough to make it sit in a mix nicely.
Voltic Electronics - Awkward Mustache - It´s to an EHX op amp muff what blue fin tuna is to truck stop sushi. It just feels and sounds premium, has a signature push (especially in defeat mode) and make me smile to see on the board with that happy orange colour. It´s the little things in life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=na5g1diNxhw
Audiolithe - Doomer Fuzz V2 - It´s not a Muff style circuit but can definitely do a similar thing with a more grainy and mid focused character. Also, that blast mode really opens up another level of push whenever it´s needed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXLAVY_jKmw
Holy Island Audio - Mountain Mover - yes, it´s a nasty noise machine with a ridiculously large footprint BUT when set to the most traditional settings, it really is a great sounding Big Muff in its own right. Rarely on the board anymore because there´s just not enough space atm. I would however very much like to build a rig with fewer pedals where size really is no limiting factor. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCUDZkERJCA
A little disclaimer: this list is subject to constant change and I tend to swap things around regularly. Still, most of these have been favourites of mine for a long time so they absolutely deserve their spot on this list.
Thanks for having me! I would love to know your favourites.
Best
Tillmann