Buzzz vs Clusterfuzz vs...?

[frigid midget]

Looking for a new toy (what else is new), and don't have the opportunity to try anything out. Local stores don't exactly offer a huge selection of ILF-esque brands :s

So I'm going just on specs, reviews and demos. I'm aware that the buzzz and Clusterfuzz arent much alike, but I like em both for different reasons I guess.

Out of those two, which one would you say can get the most brutal, has the most striaght forward gnarly fuzz mojo? I'm not sure what I want out of this new pedlol, but I like what I heard from these two. I'm not really into super glitchy/gated stuff, I can't seem to work those types of effects into songs, and they can be tricky to use life without drowning in the mix or erupting in annoying noise

Other ideas would be welcome, it's been a long time since I bought a real fuzz pedlol, I'm kinda out of the loop. So let it rip, just keep in ùind please:
-I'm not rich
-The smaller the better, my board is already crowded as it is. Versatility is overrated imo, I prefer fuzz peds to be straight forward and easy to tweek. All those controls and the extra switch are actually what's making me think twice about the ss/bs buzzz, and the clusterfuzz is a bit too much as well

[Jwar]

Buy Neon's Cluster to help a brotha out.

I've tried the Buzz and it's awesome, haven't tried the Cluster yet but want to.

[frigid midget]

Seems like he needs the money, so I'd rather not be an asshole and make him a low ball bid. Which is what I'd need to do to make it anywhere close to a good deal for me. I'm in Europe, shipping would be pricey. Seems like he's hoping to get $30 less than the new price, more than I wanna spend...:s

That's the reason I'm looking for more options. Neither ss/bs or Function (fx) are easy to come by on the european used market

[neonblack]

Having tried both, here are some thoughts.

-Buzzz definitely gets the most gnarly out of the two of them. It also has a ton of low end that can't be dialed out (could be a plus or a negative depending). Buzzz seems to have flatter mids and can have trouble cutting through a mix but if you boost it, that seems to help a lot. It does have a lot of controls but it's mostly just to help it fit into your rig. I didn't find myself tweaking much once I got a sound I liked. The octave on a second footswitch is super useful. I do wish it had a second tone control for the octave like I've seen on laowiz'z tone machine builds. Sometimes the perfect setting un-octaved is too harsh with the octave.

-Clusterfuzz has a lot more mid presence and can get octave fuzz tones in certain settings. Again, it seems like a lot to mess with but once I found a flavor I liked I stuck with it. I would say the Clusterfuzz can get more "classic" fuzz tones but it can get pretty nasty too.

And I would love to sell you the CF to keep it in the family. If I don't get a bite on reverb soon I might hit you up for that lowball.

Another option if you're looking for simple straight ahead fuzz with minimal controls and a small footprint, the EQD Bellows has been calling my name for some time now. I'll probably snag one when I get my money right.

[jamesmikelly]

Gonna throw it out there that I love my pink elephant so much. So much. It plays well with everything thanks to the blend and can be kinda synthy, kinda harsh, and many usable ways in between.
That said both of the pedals you want are up for sale on here and it is not soooo help neon out

[frigid midget]

I've always wanted to find an excuse to own a Creepy Fingers pedal, but I never came across one of their pedals that I could both afford as well as actually use on my board.

That pink elephant seems ligit, but I'm just not that into the whole starved/splatty scrambler thing. Sounds cool on your own on single notes, but it can't really handle big open chords or fast riffing in a loud messy band imo...

[ck3]

The Fuzzhugger V2 Algal Bloom May also be a viable option. It tends to be affordable used, and the plethora of musical, yet semi-unconventional fuzz textures possible by tinkering with the choke switch and power/bloom/gain knobs is astounding. The Algal Bloom was actually what recently inspired my renewed zest for fuzz. I've also read reports about it sitting well in a live mix.

[Jwar]

Since you're looking for gnar and you're open to small/cheap, I'm going throw this out there.

EQD Acapulco Gold. Good God that things is huge sounding and gnarly as fuck! It's in a smaller enclosure and costs like 135 new I believe. Great fucking pedal.

[frigid midget]

^ I noticed that one before. Might be a littel *too* simple though, I have a W&C overdrive that's as awesome as it is unuseable for me, for the the simple reason that it has ONE control. So if wanna crank the fuzz level, I boost my signal 1099998866 db's

[fcknoise]

Maybe a doom bloom would be fitting? I haven't played it, but I understand that's it's like an algal bloom with da booty and more gain. I suppose someone will correct me if I'm wrong

[frigid midget]

^ Good call, another one that stayed under my radar for some reason. Like I said, I've been gas-free for a while, at least when it comes to dirt peds, so I'm a bit clueless I suppose.

But yeah, might be a good option, I'll check out all the demos I can find.

Another one I stumbled on: Hungry Robot High Gain. Seems useable and straight forward, though more in a distortion/od type of way rather than a fuzzface/superfuzz kinda way.

Edit, update: Checked some doom bloom clips. Not what I was expecting or hoping to be honest. Reminds me of a hot rodded fuzzface type circuit, with splatty sputtery tones and, well...a huge lack of low end... I also doubt it'd be easy to make it cut through a loud messy mix when paying rhythm.

I hope saying shit like that about a fuzzhugger peddle isn't like blasphemy around here...:s

Also, after checking more Hungry Robot HG clips: It doesn't seem that high high gain to me, especially not with lower output single coils I'm after musical/useable, but this one's definatelly too conservative for me.

[Inconuucl]

I'm always an advocate for the musket/blunderbuss train.

There's also the cog Tarkin v2 for maximum gnar-to-size ratio.

[neonblack]

Dude seriously check out the Bellows.

[youtube]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=keAY-BLNF1I[/youtube]

[youtube]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EtsjRxP8pU4[/youtube]

[Chankgeez]

Dude seriously check out the Bellows.

[youtube]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=keAY-BLNF1I[/youtube]

[youtube]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EtsjRxP8pU4[/youtube]

I didn't know EarthQuaker were selling stock in specific pedals now.

[neonblack]

I just want dibs on the flip

For real though out of all the pedals they just released this is the one I can't stop thinking about.