How to get the compressed / pumping fuzz sound

[disorder]

Found out this band that I'm into lately is using a John Lyons spooky tooth fuzz! The tone has inspired me to hit the breadboard in search of that real compressed fuzz that almost "breaths" with how hard you are playing. John describes the sound on his site as pumping and blooming with your playing.

Is this nothing more than a tone with lots of low end and lower-mids? I understand at the end of the day the real compression comes from the speakers and a bit of the tubes but the way the Spooky Tooth describes it, it is what I am looking for. Any suggestions on where to start? Anyone know if the Spooky is silicon or germanium based?

[midwayfair]

There's a comparison schematic of the 60s "Oddball" fuzzes hanging around. The spooky tooth is in that family.

I have a recent project that's based on some of the same circuits as the Spooky Tooth. The Orpheum settings in particular have a lot of "bendiness". Some of John Lyon's modifications probably enhance these characteristics, but they're largely present in the original circuits.
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=103298.0
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VunFhVeLOUKqGinFYmACUv0SKC5MJz3KldXHj4dB7tU/edit

I've got a PCB group buy going for that - PM me if you're interested in that. Otherwise, layouts are provided in the above document.

I find a lot of cascaded transistor fuzzes have some of the same saggy characteristics. This includes things like the Selmer Buzz Tone, Tonebenders (3-knob more than MKII), Buzzaround, etc. Some more than others. It kind of depends on the biasing, and how close they are to saturation and/or cutoff.

[brett]

Hi
at the input it helps to have low impedance. That's a big piece of the Fuzzface "mojo". It's input impedance is only 15 to 40 k, depending in the hFE of Q1. These low impedances "load" the pickup, meaning that the output is reduced and the highs are restricted because of the impedance of the pickup. As the signal decays, the input "stiffens up" and the output gets its highs back and maintains volume.
Adding some resistance to the pickup - by turning the volume down - "cleans up" these fuzzes by eliminating the effect of input impedance (and reducing the volume of the signal, too).
cheers

[midwayfair]

at the input it helps to have low impedance. That's a big piece of the Fuzzface "mojo".

I think this is a slightly different effect. I know I listed some fuzzes with low input impedance, but the Orpheum and Mosrite fuzzes all have VERY high input impedance. (It's a 10M feedback resistor into a transistor biased to 6V in the first stage). The second stage is biased down to ~1V, but there shouldn't be much loading involved there.