What are your favorite fuzz pedals for rhythm guitar/chords?

[theavondon]

The guitar player in my band is interested in fuzz...and he mostly plays chords...go on...

[phantasmagorovich]

I mostly play chords as well. So all the Fuzz I find useful works with chords:

TAFM, Perc, Four Eyes as mentioned. I can't remember about the Algal Bloom, but I think it was less chord-friendly than my other fuzzes.

If you're looking for a high and gnarly sounding fuzz I can only tell you to check out the Skinpimp Halloween Fuzz. It sounds like a Rat mixed with a Fuzz Face and while this might not sound overly chord-friendly it works excellent on chords.

I guess most OD's can do the job too. I have a Mountainking Ruckus. Check out the Demo of the Fairfield Barbershop our man Carl Sagan did. And the Doomidrive might be good too.

It depends on what toanz you want, I guess. Out of the one's I can vouch for I'd go TAFM for darker/more versatility or Halloween for higher, more 80's sounding. (I love it for pretending I'm Thurston Moore - open tunings and smack her up!)

[Dandolin]

VTF is fuckin' great, although I use it for more weirdness than rhythm duty.

+1

VTF can very easily be dialed in for great rhythm sounds, fuzzy and otherwise--but it always gives me the gnome-eye and I twist the knobbies until it screams. Seriously though, the learning curve is steep with this one, but once you've got the feel for it, getting into the normal zone is fast'n'easy--and that zone is broad and deep, as is the middle way where normalcy and chaos are mixed--both of these are more tweakable and productive than most other entire pedals will produce. It's just that the Zone of Alienation on this one opens into a pocket universe--vast areas for noise exploration. And the controls are super-interactive, inviting intuitive twist/flip approaches to sonic satori--but with all those knobs and switches you can definitely plan out your attack on reality and carry it out in cold blood.

But back to the subject at hand--definitively useful for rhythm and chords--muffy power riff toanz, obviously, but with LED diodes selected and gain/bias cooled down, and/or throw in some clean blend to taste, and the very useful pre- and post-gain tone circuits, tons of more standard distortion and overdrive tones are available, in many flavors. Then, start mixing up the diode selectors and skys the limit. Might want to keep your hands off the octave and side chaos magick switches, though, for the rhythms. Also--if you've got one with a starve, that can be a nice way to add alittle bit of sag/sponge character back into the hard gleaming LED stylee clipping...erm, I better stop before the tl/dr police confiscate my keyboard.

[Holy Schnikes]

VTF is fuckin' great, although I use it for more weirdness than rhythm duty.

+1

VTF can very easily be dialed in for great rhythm sounds, fuzzy and otherwise--but it always gives me the gnome-eye and I twist the knobbies until it screams. Seriously though, the learning curve is steep with this one, but once you've got the feel for it, getting into the normal zone is fast'n'easy--and that zone is broad and deep, as is the middle way where normalcy and chaos are mixed--both of these are more tweakable and productive than most other entire pedals will produce. It's just that the Zone of Alienation on this one opens into a pocket universe--vast areas for noise exploration. And the controls are super-interactive, inviting intuitive twist/flip approaches to sonic satori--but with all those knobs and switches you can definitely plan out your attack on reality and carry it out in cold blood.

But back to the subject at hand--definitively useful for rhythm and chords--muffy power riff toanz, obviously, but with LED diodes selected and gain/bias cooled down, and/or throw in some clean blend to taste, and the very useful pre- and post-gain tone circuits, tons of more standard distortion and overdrive tones are available, in many flavors. Then, start mixing up the diode selectors and skys the limit. Might want to keep your hands off the octave and side chaos magick switches, though, for the rhythms. Also--if you've got one with a starve, that can be a nice way to add alittle bit of sag/sponge character back into the hard gleaming LED stylee clipping...erm, I better stop before the tl/dr police confiscate my keyboard.

Well said, excellent explanation regarding the VTF. There's a lot going on in that box and the Deluxe introduces even more option madness!

[Officer Bukowski]

My favorite rhythym fuzz is my Torn's Peaker. I use it a whole lot on "leads" too.

I like Muffs in the same sense, but usually prefer the thinner, nastier sound of the TP

[Eric!]

TAFM.

GAS for a Four Eyes though

[Heavy_Soul]

every time

[Officer Bukowski]

^^ yeah those are pretty badass/underrated. Totally sweet for rhythym and everything else.

[mutmoo]

Black Russian Muff is definitely my best fuzz for full chords, after that my Analogman Peppermint Fuzz. I love them

[dubkitty]

other than my ubiquitous Distortion+, i really like the Velcroar. on the tamer (right) side ROAR settings it's Tone Bender-ish but has a more focused, controlled quality, and on the crazy side it has a lovely Neil Young tweed-Fender-melting-down sound that's just this side of too much. i also like the Tone Reaper for open (cowboy) chords a la Mick Ronson.

[Dandolin]

Velcroar seconded, though not so much for the cowboy chords....

Based on recent acquisition--would definitely throw in the Roger Mayer Mongoose/Paisley-Tubby Myxomatosis for thick, somewhat grindy rhythm with good clarity on full chords--great for punk and classic rock rhythm toanz and anywhere you would use something similar for sincere or ironic effect. Definitely a subset of the Rat family--bias toward thicker/grind-ier rather than fizzier/lofi-ier.