Balancing clean and fuzzed tones

[retinal orbita]

So my band played our first show last night and while playing I had a real discrepancy between my clean tone and when my fuzz was engaged - usually within the same song. Normally in our jam space it's not so much of a big deal but live I felt it was kind of an issue.

I don't really want to use a volume pedal, and I thought I might see if you guys have any tips I might have missed - clean boost? Micro amp? I'm not even sure of the practical applications of stuff like this or if I really want to stomp on another pedal.... obviously with a Muff turning the volume down is pointless and misses the point!!

Any help appreciated.....

[skullservant]

Is the issue that the volume of the fuzz is too loud compared to the clean tone? Or is the clean tone louder than the fuzz? Either way running a clean boost before the fuzz might help things

[retinal orbita]

The fuzz was WAY louder than the clean tone. I mean this is nothing new to me, but when in a live setting it was definitely problematic.

So if a clean boost is what I need, any suggestions would be welcome

[skullservant]

You could also make a bypass looper with a volume control on it. That way you wouldn't be blasting everyone and would also not be losing fuzz character!

[retinal orbita]

But I want to blast everyone!!

[nieh]

Run everything into a preamp! Or I run everything into a Fuck, which limits the volume.

[MannequinRaces]

Did you guys do a soundcheck before the show? Normally it's just a matter of proper gain staging.

[Bellyheart]

Not to undermine but just to troubleshoot, did you check your settings? Room acoustics can change sound for sure but I think adjusting volume before you play is pretty essential for that reason.

[coldbrightsunlight]

Did you guys do a soundcheck before the show? Normally it's just a matter of proper gain staging.

This. It's generally not a problem getting gain levels right if things are set up nice.

[modeerf]

Is the issue that the volume of the fuzz is too loud compared to the clean tone? Or is the clean tone louder than the fuzz? Either way running a clean boost before the fuzz might help things

Running a boost into the fuzz would change the sound and characteristics of it. Running one after would simply control the levels of the fuzz up or down. Depending on the headroom of your amp your sound should remain intact.

[skullservant]

Agreed completely!

[moose23]

If the Fuzz is too loud can't you just turn down the volume on the fuzz? If you're clean is too low turn up your amp and down your fuzz.

You mentioned Muff there too, have you the fuzz set high to compensate for the lack of cutting through due the scooped nature of Muffs.

[excane]

This is just a matter of properly setting levels. There is no need for another piece of gear/pedal/booster/etc...

[Astricii]

Another vote for proper gain staging the first mistake of many fuzz owners.

[Ghost Hip]

Yeah trouble-shooting levels before you play is always a good idea.

Run everything into a preamp! Or I run everything into a Fuck, which limits the volume.

This is what I do. It is not necessary, but it sure makes volume and dynamic control much easier as it essentially adds a master volume for your whole pedal line. I use an English Muff'n, but in the past I've used Clean Boosts and Overdrives as always on/end of the chain effects. Turn up the boost/volume to give your amp the proper kick it needs, turn the volume of the amp up or down to appropriate level, then your fuzz will be relatively closer in volume to your clean while still kicking ass.

Although just adjusting your levels would do... having a gain stage at the end of the line has served me quite well.