Need Velcro-y spitty synthy fuzz rec - buffer friendly

[Pete]

Mellowtone Wolf Computer. Devi Ever US. Velcrobot. Zvex Mastotron (spelling?). Adventure Audio Dream Reaper. PLL based fuzzes like the EQD data corrupter.

Also the ss/bs Mini is not synthy at all IMO. And the Blue Box doesn't have that velcro character, it's way smoothed out and not scratchy at all from my experience, but if that's not as important as the synthy/spitty quality it's a great option.

I don't really relate to the buffer issue, if it sound different with a buffer I either work with it and appreciate the versatility or reorganize/omit it from the chain.

Yeah, can confirm Devi US sounds fucking VICIOUS after a buffer. It’s a great sound. In my experience, Devi fuzzes work great after buffers, in the sense that they sound really good (way more aggressive and crunchy)... but also not great, in the sense it very noticeably changes the sound, so if you want the original tone, they won’t work.

Your comments about the Blue Box interest me, because while I agree it doesn’t have the velcro character, I feel it has a “scratchy” character that I love. When I think “scratchy” fuzz, I think Blue Box.

[Pete]

Also, I’d recommend the Paradox Fuzz E Cat. Pretty spitty and synthy, and seems to work fine/sound great after a buffer, in my experience.

The most finicky fuzz I’ve ever tried is the Catalinbread Perseus. Sounds amazing on its own, but is unfortunately pretty much un-useable after a buffer. It’s the most “wants to be connected straight to the guitar” pedal I’ve ever tried.

[jondom22]

Thanks for all of the recs so far everyone! So far I snagged a Fairfield Unpleasant Surprise and a Function (fx) Gate Crasher. The Unpleasant surprise is really awesome for the velcro-y pinchy gatey stuff and with the onset around noon it has a ton of dynamics and such a good response to your fingers. My fav settings thus far have been
1) treble switch up, gain switch down, crush up, volume and onset around noon for the best velcro/gatey stuff with dynamics.
2) treble switch up, gain switch down, crush down, volume around noon, and onset between noon and 3:00 for more traditional raw fuzzy tones with a bunch of gating and dynamics still, and with a little less velcro-y-ness to it.
3) crush up with onset up to 3:00+ for straight up big black shit...harmonic percolator be dammed, this sounds disgusting!

- No tonal changes sitting behind a buffer (prob due to its high input impedance)
- The only thing I wish it had was a tone knob (either non-resonant LPF, high shelving eq, or a tilt eq) instead of the toggle. The down position on the treble toggle is too dark for me, with the up position being a hair piercing. Maybe even a mod can change the amount of treble roll-off in the down position of the switch by using different value component?

The function (fx) Gate Crasher is also very cool but sounds very different than the US. The blend knob essentially adds in an octave on top of the fuzz sound. With the blend off, you have a really nicely voiced gated fuzz with a very usable eq. I could def use it as my main fuzz tone for that. The octave side is where the texture knob comes, which is basically a very resonant LPF that only effects the octave. As you find a good balance between the octave and fuzz side, that's where the texture and gating come in handy to create a really cool resonant bit crush/sample reduction style effect that can be very grimey.
- Also no tonal changes sitting behind a buffered pedal.

Still def interested in the velcrobot, the shoe pixel, cacosa, and some of the others mentioned. Still loving my Arcane Analog Buzzaround for my main fuzz duties. It absolutely rips and has a solid midrange and rawness to it. I think the Unpleasant Surprise is a nice complement to it for sure and they stack well together too for some velcro-y gate shit that also has some more meat and sustain to create a very fuzz sound.

[goroth]

Same for me with the tone switch on the Unpleasant. It is either ear splitting treble or wet blanket. I was considering changing a cap on the tone filter but it's SMD and my solder skills are most decidedly un-ninja so that ain't gonna happen.

[neonblack]

The Unpleasant Surprise is my main fuzz sound and it gets tight and chunky or blown out and gross depending on what I hit it with and which pickups.

I keep the onset around 2 o'clock, treble up, gain and crush down. At these settings if I don't hit it with anything, it's basically just little farts. Turn on my light OD and I get staccato Nintendo sounds. Hit it with OD+distortion and I get the thickest, meanest fuzz around. Keeping the onset lower keeps the treble a little more in check, but I also go pretty mid/treble heavy with what I'm playing so I can cut through the fuzzy low bass.

I've thought about switching to a Plasma Pedal for a little more tweakablity, but I don't want anything that sounds compressed. I want open and raw, but also gated and nasty. It took me 2 years of trying different stuff to find this combo, but Mini into Fuck into US has been my go-to for a while.

[goroth]

Yeah man, it is a heavy weight champ of stacking for sure. That's pretty much how i use it. End of chain, post delay. Destroy all life.

[jondom22]

Ya I'm really really really loving my unpleasant surprise right now. I play with a lot of attack so I keep the onset around noon with treble and crush up, and gain down for my staccato zippy sounds. When I want a more traditional fuzz, I put the crush down and turn up the onset. Sounds great with my rockett 45 in front, but finally gave in and ordered a ss/bs mini (we'll see how those two sound together). Also sounded good with a darker mki bender into the U.S. (the mki gave it some midrange beef, and the U.S. gave it the fuzziness and zap).

I also hit up fairfield about modding the treble switch, I felt like with the crush up and treble up it is a bit piercing, but with the treble down it sounds too dark. They were cool with changing out the cap on the treble switch so it doesn't go as dark. Prob gonna pop it open first and see if its a bit too complex for my shaky soldering hands before sending it up for a mod, at which point im thinking of getting a second one for my bigger board

I've def never been happier with my fuzz combos at the moment: buzzaround and unpleasant surprise.

[jondom22]

Yeah man, it is a heavy weight champ of stacking for sure. That's pretty much how i use it. End of chain, post delay. Destroy all life.

Ya I messed around with it post delays, the gating on it makes the effect so cool cos you can get a sputtering wash of repeats that just dies out quick. It's almost like hitting a one shot sample pad of noise.

Also sounds fuckin badass stacked with a octave or suboctave type pedal or pitch shifter. Add in expression or envelope filtering and you can get lost for hours.

And because its got a lot of clarity and top end, you can really get a good very different sounds when using analog vs. digital delays, depends on whether or not you want the repeats to just give the body or include the head.

anyways. me like

[Ghost Hip]

Your comments about the Blue Box interest me, because while I agree it doesn’t have the velcro character, I feel it has a “scratchy” character that I love. When I think “scratchy” fuzz, I think Blue Box.

You know, while I have had seven separate blue boxes, it has been over four years since I have had one. I just remember it being really smooth, as if it had a low pass filter on it. And the gate is particular in that it doesn't cut off harshly, it sort of lets the note go out and come back in a little before completely cutting out. Ghostly is how I'd describe it. So thats why spitty and synthy describe it for me but not velcro-y or scratchy.