Thoughts On the ZVex Fuzz Factory & Mastotron

[archives70]

I'm really digging the utter madnes of the Fuzz Factory and I have the Mastotron in the mail. Anyone have any comments about either fuzz?

[DarkAxel]

FF: needs tone control it was too piercing for me, but the possibilities are nice

Masto: pretty damn cool loved it with bass, haven't tried with guit, but i guess it'll be very awesome

[sylnau]

Mastotron is great.
FF... nah... get an AB-Synth.

[archives70]

I can dial in some chewy low-mids on the Fuzz Factory while retaining that sick fuzz gain on top, and it cuts hard. I'm assuming the Mastotron will give me this but without the quirkiness. I want that big fat thick FUZZ sound. Does the Mastotron deliver this?

What I enjoy about the FF is the total anarchy it provides. I got to where I can quickly tune the oscillation to pitch. I'll sustain a note in the key of E for instance, suddenly the pitch drops and like a siren it rises to the 12th fret E note. Whether I'm in E major or minor, on the right tone it really makes an insane resolution to the tonic. That I really like. I can do this in a variety of keys. I wonder what Syd Barrett or the Krautrock band Faust would've done with this.

[Officer Bukowski]

I <3 my fuzz factory

It was my first cool fuzz, and it's awesome.

[hazelwould]

I can dial in some chewy low-mids on the Fuzz Factory while retaining that sick fuzz gain on top, and it cuts hard. I'm assuming the Mastotron will give me this but without the quirkiness. I want that big fat thick FUZZ sound. Does the Mastotron deliver this?

What I enjoy about the FF is the total anarchy it provides. I got to where I can quickly tune the oscillation to pitch. I'll sustain a note in the key of E for instance, suddenly the pitch drops and like a siren it rises to the 12th fret E note. Whether I'm in E major or minor, on the right tone it really makes an insane resolution to the tonic. That I really like. I can do this in a variety of keys. I wonder what Syd Barrett or the Krautrock band Faust would've done with this.

I would think not. The mastotron and wooly mammoth are better to compare.

[hbombgraphics]

mastotron is a flipping beast, really loved that pedal, should have kept it
fuzz factory has some good fuzz tones but I think gets associated with a gimmicky kindof oscillation too much

I think both sound great,
mastotron to me is a more useable pedal because it can sit anywhere in the pedal chain and can handle octave down in front of it.

[DarkAxel]

Yeah, the thing that struck me when i used Masto on bass was

"shit, this is way cheaper than a Woolly Mammoth (that i also used on bass previously) but it's WAY more universal"

seriously - i feel like the Mammoth is kind of a trick pony. I believe Masto could do what it does plus a lot more

[Gone Fission]

Mastotron is a Mammoth with the impedance knob and subs switch added, and with different silicon transistors. Maybe the transistors make a difference, maybe not. Either version is capable of passing serious lows.

[Officer Bukowski]

I like the Wooly Mammoth on guitar but found it to be pretty weak on bass.. The Mastotron seems rad though.. The name is pretty awesome if nothing else.

And my love for the Fuzz Factory has nothing to do with the oscillation. I think the oscillation is kinda annoying, but it makes the cutest little fuzz sounds ever, and it does some other cool stuff too.

[archives70]

Will I get those low-mids from the Mastotron? With the Stab pot @ 10:00 and Drive & Comp past 3:00, I get killer low-mids.

[excane]

I like the FF, it's not awesome but it's good.

There are a TON of clones that actually sound and behave better (with the stab)

[mathias]

I can't really use my fuzz factory clone, but I think it's a failing of me, and the fact that most of the time I've spent has been in avoiding unnecessary oscillation rather than playing with it too much -- I do play with it, but not as its main use. By contrast, I use the footswitchable oscillation mode of my AB-Synth all the time, and find that a lot more amendable to my style.

The fuzz itself does sound kind of killer and cuts through -- but I kept longing for more Fuzz Face-ish settings with no oscillation, and my Algal Bloom does the Fuzz Face thing turned up to 11 with huge chords so I kept going back to the Algal Bloom.

Last thought -- it could be possible too that mine differs just enough from the zvex ones that the majority of knob positions are in oscillation modes and only has about one non-oscillating setting. From the number of famous bands that use them and the number of people here enjoying them, I'm guessing the real zvex FFs have transistors that are spec'd different (gain? or noise level?) or some other voodoo, I'm not really sure. Could be that mine has really high-gain germ transistors? Or something else? I've never played a zvex FF so I can't be sure.

[archives70]

Yes the low-mids are happening with the Mastotron. So is a very beefed up Fuzzface sound when stacked into my FD2 Mosfet on the clean channel in 'comp-cut' mode. My '56 Strat sounds unbelievable for a DSOTM Gilmour sound with a hint of 'Space Echo' from my TC Flashback.

[12XU2A3X3]

mammoth keeps low and on bass, it's just not that menacing. it's cool to use it for some putter/lofi on guitar = low gain setting + play with pinch/PW