"The one with the fuzz"

Ok, well I promised you that I’d be back with another installment and I believe I said it’d be about my different uses of OD pedals and Fuzz pedals. First off, I LOVE overdrive pedals! I mean, you could fill up a room full of all of them out there and I would swim my way to the top having tried every single one of them (and probably opened up a few to see what makes them tick!…my favorite thing to do). All that madness behind us, I also have a funny relationship with fuzz pedals. Over the years, I would call it a love/hate relationship. 

My very first pedal that I bought with my own money was a Dunlop Fuzzface in 1992. I still have it and have pulled it out on numerous occasions over the years to use in various different ways, but I never remember bonding with it and saying “wow, that feels great”. I have also purchased and have used dozens of different from mass produced to boutique fuzz’s and rarely do I love any of them. Remember, I did say that my use of pedals is different and what makes me tick and get that warm fuzzy feeling is very different that most, so let’s always keep that in mind…thats why I’m writing this blog! 

I did however run across a fuzz about 5 years ago that I love, and it is not one that most people love. I bought a Boss FZ-5 and turned it to the octave setting and turned the gain all the way down. This produced a very weak octave up sound that I like to pair with my favorite overdrive pedal (for about 10 years now that has been a Way Huge Pork Loin). I rarely use it in that classic rock way or “Hendrix” way, but I almost find myself using it to produce filter like textures for rhythms behind tracks, or by itself run it through a looper and throw it into reverse as a texture to fade in and out behind a solo avant-garde type song, but more on that later! My other favorite fuzz that is currently on my board is a Fulltone Octafuzz. I find myself turning the boost all the way down and the volume almost all the way up. I will use it to get a slightly broken up sound with a tape delay or flip the switch and get that octave sound that I can’t get enough of. This one is a great pedal that is built like a tank and achieves a bunch of sounds on my board. 

So, I never really crank a fuzz and use it to get that classic rock sound, but have fallen in love with it in a different way, my way! I think that in most things that I have encountered in music, whether it be with an amp, guitar, or the way you use pedals, it is most important to use it YOUR way and find your own sound. I have never felt like I needed to sound like anyone else when I played or recorded original music. Of course there are influences, but those are like spices to be used here and there, and in my playing at least will never overtake the song. Hopefully you can take something away from each of these installments on pedals and how I use them and try some things on your own to create your own sound and find your very own unique place in music. Check back for my next installment on Looper and Freeze pedal uses! FUN stuff!


~ Ryan Ridgeway 8/26/20

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