darker sounding hendrix fuzz

[theactor19]

The hendrix music that I listen to most is his live stuff near the end of his career.. 68 - 70 was godly for fuzz tone. I found that some concerts in 1970 had a darker sounding fuzz.. like LA Forum for example. He used the wah when he needed to brighten it up for that on fire kind of tone.

I own a Roger Mayer Axis fuzz which I love, but find to be a very bright sounding fuzz. I enjoy using it, but want to add another fuzz pedal, preferably with this darker hendrix tone, that also seems more aggressive in the pick attack.

Thoughts?

[Tone Slinger]

I think that for darker, you may want a germanium transistor Fuzz Face. The mid to late '90's Dunlop 'reissiue' fuzz faces (red) were pretty good. Some were better than others, due to the transistor compatability.

You could probably find one on Ebay for not Too much.

A Big Muff is actually pretty good for that Darker fuzzy type sound, though not exact fuzz face by no means.

BYOC may have a nice kit available as well.

[Tone seaker]

I have a old Bee Gee that has a tone control

[windjamma]

Listen to some clips of the kr gypsy fuzz, it is a darker sounding silicon fuzz and very good for later hendrix.

[VintageCharlie]

If a rather dark hendrix type fuzz is what you want, then, as tone slinger suggested it already, a germanium fuzz face type pedal should get you there. No idea what was actually used, but this would fit your description. Don't know about the aggressive pick-attack though - very hard to judge, what exactly you are after in this regard. Aggressive pick attack sounds more like what you can get from a silicon fuzz face - they are brighter, more detailed, but not as full or wooly as the germanium ones.

[spaceace76]

Essentially if you send too hot of a signal into a Fuzz Face, the bottom end of the sound becomes un-workable. So the vintage single coils are better. That's my understanding. So the input of the Fuzz Face can be adjustable (or what's called the Fuller mod) then another mod (Mayer-Hendrix mod) makes up for it. That's what I decided after many hours of internet searches.

well the input and output caps are a more effective avenue to explore for controlling the low end of the pedal. the stock values can let a bit too much low end into the circuit, which can cause issues with bass heavy pickups like humbuckers. the fuller and hendrix mods allow for more gain and more options for tweaking the distortion.

for cutting off high end (for a darker sound) you can add a small value capacitor (somewhere in the area of 50-100pf) across the collector-base of Q2, as seen in the fuzzcentral axis face:
http://fuzzcentral.ssguitar.com/axisface.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Xplorer]

i'm starting to like a lot this hartman germanium fuzz :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sx58vwb2 ... re=related" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4mklA9B ... re=related" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

very castle made of sand and axis bold as love.

and the joe bonamassa fuzz.

[JimiJames]

IMHO The JB fuzzface is more in the direction. Hartman probably makes a nice pedal but, the mid voiced freq's go further from the juicy to more mid punch. NOT what I would use this particular pedal for.

I'd stick with Kevin's stuff for that route. My personal fāv is a-Mike's SunFace. Explodes with my gear.
Metro '68 / mid70'sTDK CB wah / SunFace / C.I. Octavian / K.R.Mega/ (JordanBossToneVer.2clone)/ Marshall Jimi 1982BJH / Amstel light
I think (Nick) Freedom uses the RM Axis Fuzz and likes it with the sum of all his parts. He has the KR Gypsy as backup.
Some fuzz's work better than others depending if you're going through a Marshall or a Fender style amp...

[Xplorer]

yes, the JB is the one i'm building, i ordered 50 of each russian germanium transistors, as they seem quite interesting. i'll have fun with some projects ; )
indeed, on some clips, i could hear some tonal characteristics i didn't hear with the other fuzz.
but the hartman got it, better than many others, for some hendrix tones. i bet that it goes really fine for little wing.
and sure ! it depends of the gears you're using , no doubt. but Freedom sold everything he had, or almost, including the kr.
i didn't like the sound of the clone i made of the rm modern axis fuzz. very trebly or something, don't remember.

[yladrd61]

I have the Blue Dunlop Jimi Silicon Hendrix fuzz face it has a lot more bottom end than my Germanium it totally nails the Band of Gypsies sound with a good Strat and a Marshall Super Lead

[ohmygodtheykilledkenny]

If you've never mucked around with the Tyco Octave circuit sans octave...you might wanna give that a go. Sub in a lower gain silicone in Q1. Run a 100k pot for output. Another gentleman posted this in the past, but I just tried it and I gave my Axis clone away.

Travis

[Freedom]

I think (Nick) Freedom uses the RM Axis Fuzz and likes it with the sum of all his parts. He has the KR Gypsy as backup.

Ela vreeee...

Naaah, it's been over a year i stopped using fuzz, octavia, vibe, delay and so forth, so i've sold them all (couple are still for sale), the only effect i continue to use is my favorite vintage wah...

Anyway, yeah the Axis Fuzz is on the bright side...if you have a dark sounding amp or if you play a really cranked SL in a band context then chances are you'll dig it...but if i were to choose only one fuzz, no matter if it's Si or Ge that would be (again) the KR Gypsy Fuzz (it's been sold as well)...sounded "right" even through my Fender Mustang I...lol...it's more "balanced" than the Axis (Axis "cuts" more, different EQ), it's smooth (like the Axis, classic Si fuzzes are usually "spitty"), works great with wahs no matter if they are buffered/unbuffered (like the Axis), imho has more than enough gain (like the Axis), it's a little bit more woofy than the Axis but not THAT woofy comparing to the most classic Si fuzzes, it has plenty of volume (like the Axis), cleans amazingly (like the Axis) and it has great dynamics imho (again like the Axis)...

But yeah, at the end of the day it's the sum of all the parts and the personal preferences that count...

[Freedom]

Sorry, i forgot...

@ OP: if you want to stay in the Si fuzz camp, you might as well want to try the Dunlop 108 if you haven't already...used to owned it twice...you can find it cheap second hand (let's face it, Gypsys fuzzes are not only kind of rare but they are expensive even 2nd hand so i don't know if it's really an option for you), it's lower gain than the Axis (that's not a bad thing to me), certainly not that bright...it was a great match to my '69 SL clone when my NFB resistor was 100K. When i went to 47K (the amp darkened a bit) the sound (cranked) was a bit too dark/mushy for me...i suspect it would be a great match to my amp if i used 6550s again but...

Anyway, good luck on your quest...

[AustinTx]

I did this demo of the JBF3 Dunlop Gremanium fuzz.
Never thought I would like modern production..but it is really a great fat fuzz.

http://youtu.be/AoHIslfiz9M

[ohmygodtheykilledkenny]

If anybody wants to hear that tyco driver, a rough short clip of it is posted on my facebook. Just add me and take a listen. It's just through a ten watt Vox Pathfinder and recorded with my iPhone.