compressed vs. "loose" germanium fuzztone

[mordechai]

Hi...got a noob question for you:

What components/values determine whether a fuzz is very compressed sounding or sort of "loose" and rumbly?  I like both, and feel that the Tonebender MK II sound has a nice compression to it, but I sort of like the sound of "looser" Fuzz Face type circuit where the fuzz almost seems to revolve or swirl around the signal as opposed to tightly "hugging" it.  MJM's Ge London Fuzz has this quality.  I know the aforementioned fuzzes are rather different circuits, but I've heard the tight/compressed fuzz on a Fuzz Face type device before, and prefer the looser rumble in that circuit.

I'd appreciate some insight into what I'm sure is a pretty simple matter...to the initiated!

[Govmnt_Lacky]

This might help you:

http://www.geofex.com/article_folders/fuzzface/fftech.htm

Good Luck 

[John Lyons]

This is actually a quite complex thing. To oversimplify the Tonebender vs Fuzz face gain and tonality difference,
the tonebender has 3 transistors, very basically a gain stage driving a fuzz face. So in this case more gain
equals more compression and a more gain, less "bloom" and sound "motion", along the lines you described.
Basically more stages will be less dynamic and the sound will be smoother/less dynamic and stay tight rather than
loose and follow your picking more closely. Hard to describe really.
You can look at it this way. A booster will have a lot of dynamic range. You play hard and you get a lot of signal level
out of it. Add another booster and you get some distortion/fuzz/compression. The output is less dynamic because the
being signal is being clipped and lowering the dynamic range.
The Fuzz face is a unique circuit. A lot of fuzz for only two transistors but you it's quite dynamic when the input is
lowered (rolling the guitar's volume back a bit). It's got a big fuzz sound but it's open and dynamic. Small changes
in signal level into the circuit as well as input cap value can make a huge difference in how it soounds. This goes for the
tonebender as well but it has more drive and focus to it's sound.
This is oversimplifying it and then you have many thousands of other circuits out there...but....

So it's not really a component or two but specific to the circuit and a balancing of a few parts if not many.