Help me find my Holy grail Fuzz

[Christoba]

Here's what I am looking for:
Cleans up like a Fuzz Face with volume roll off. 
Blooms at the tail end of notes like a pair of nicely matched germanium diodes in a Muff.
Plays well with 4 note harmonies (unlike a muff which loses things past 3 note chords)
On the scale of Synthy to Natural(ly) sounding I would say something just ever so slightly more synthy sounding than a FF (sort of like a muff but nowhere near a superfuzz).  I usually add in a bit more range with the bias so I can snyth up my fuzzes.  If there is a better way, please do tell.
Won't be destroyed by a tone circuit that allows me to take remove presence either by cutting upper high frequencies or by boosting all other frequencies.

I'm not asking for a designed circuit that is ready to go.  I'm just looking for opinions on some circuits that you may have found that I may start with.

Thanks,
Chris

[Plexi]

As I can read, you want too much clarity from a fuzz.
Something that is very difficult.

All you need is called 'Bosstone': the famous 'fuzz for people who don't like fuzz.
Take a look to the Voodoo Lab SuperFuzz, or J.Rockett WTF fuzz.
Both, more or less, are Bosstone circuit.

[Ben Lyman]

Ever tried an old Proco Rat?

[Barracuda]

I'd recommed going with a fuzz face style circuit with like a 10/22/47nf cap for better clarity, then add a further stage like the ZVEX Fuzzolo to get more synthy.

[Plexi]

Ever tried an old Proco Rat?

You got it!
Vintage Rat (1n4148) ftw

[digi2t]

There is no "Holy Grail" fuzz. That's why there are many. If there was, then everybody would have "The One", and be done with it. Betcha if 15 people answer to this thread, there will be 15 different offerings.

Sorry to pee on the parade, but it had to be said. After all, that's one of the reasons why we're all here.

Many fuzz pedals is the only cure for Grailitis. 

Carry on.

[Mark Hammer]

Normally, I would agree with you, Dino, but here our paths diverge.  There actually IS a "holy grail fuzz". And it's..........

THE NEXT ONE   

[Plexi]

D*mn... too much truth in the last two posts.
That's why I have almost 12 fuzz's without enclosure and about 5 in process.

[mth5044]

Cuzz Factoryyy

[GGBB]

To be fair - the OP did say "my Holy grail Fuzz." I guess we all have one of those. Mine is probably the Basic Audio Scarab Deluxe - at least as much as I can tell from YouTube videos. Really wish I knew what John did with that one.

[Plexi]

... Basic Audio Scarab Deluxe....

Must. Build.

[Kennt82]

Mastotron has a pre-gain control to help you clean things up, and a "pulse width" control that makes things very synth/bit crusher like.  You can look up the schematics and apply those mods to other fuzz faces.

I recently built a Clusterfuzz and was impressed with the range. The low gain is actually useful and it also has an " 8 bit" control for synth type fuzz.

[Vinnie500]

Blooms like a Geranium

[Vinnie500]

Pardon me, if someones already done that gag

[nocentelli]

... Basic Audio Scarab Deluxe....

Must. Build.

I think this kind of bastardised Tonebender mk II / hot silicon / Skreddy Lunar Module is the closest to my holy grail fuzz, still haven't achieved fuzz nirvana tho

[Plexi]

... Basic Audio Scarab Deluxe....

Must. Build.

I think this kind of bastardised Tonebender mk II / hot silicon / Skreddy Lunar Module is the closest to my holy grail fuzz, still haven't achieved fuzz nirvana tho

You're right. Lunar Module is fantastic.!
If you want a bastardised Tonebender, the Catalinbread Katzenkönig didn't move of my board since I've built it, year ago.

Bearfoot White Fuzz is another great great fuzz: Fuzz Face structure with a Jfet on Q2.
The FF structure combined with Mos/Jfets will give a better copression: there's a lot out there.
EQD Bellows is one of my favs too: a simple bazz fuss inspired, I upgraded with a BM tonestack and mosfet boost.


...I can spent hours talking about fuzz.
Sorry. 

[Fuzz-O-Rama]

I have spent most of my life trying to find the perfect fuzz pedal. I have bought and sold more than I care to list. The best that I could do was build my own. The word "perfect" is very subjective. I have both silicon and geranium fuzzes and they all have plusses and minuses. Even Fuzzes of the same model and year have different sounds and clipping points. Sometimes it is subtle and sometimes the difference is dramatic. I would search YouTube and listen to as many as you can. This will get you in the ballpark. If you plan on using single coil pickups, don't listen to samples played using hum buckers. There is a sound sample that was amazing but there was no information about the fuzz or where the transistors came from. They mention "Cosmic Fuzz" but I have searched the internet and never found a pedal with that name. Like I previously stated, building my own and experimenting with different transistors and different gains and leakages for each type was how I came as close to perfect as I could. The last piece of advise that I can give is to listen to songs that feature the sound that you are looking for and use that as a guide. Everybody has their own idea of "perfect" but only you can be the judge. A good fuzz will inspire you and is worth all the effort to find/build. A fuzz gets its sound and dynamics from just two transistors. Everything else is just superficial and hype. Paying ridiculous prices for boutique pedals is ABSOLUTELY not necessary. This is a DIY forum after all. I wish you the best in your search.

[Plexi]

I have spent most of my life trying to find the perfect fuzz pedal. I have bought and sold more than I care to list. The best that I could do was build my own. The word "perfect" is very subjective. I have both silicon and geranium fuzzes and they all have plusses and minuses. Even Fuzzes of the same model and year have different sounds and clipping points. Sometimes it is subtle and sometimes the difference is dramatic. I would search YouTube and listen to as many as you can. This will get you in the ballpark. If you plan on using single coil pickups, don't listen to samples played using hum buckers. There is a sound sample that was amazing but there was no information about the fuzz or where the transistors came from. They mention "Cosmic Fuzz" but I have searched the internet and never found a pedal with that name. Like I previously stated, building my own and experimenting with different transistors and different gains and leakages for each type was how I came as close to perfect as I could. The last piece of advise that I can give is to listen to songs that feature the sound that you are looking for and use that as a guide. Everybody has their own idea of "perfect" but only you can be the judge. A good fuzz will inspire you and is worth all the effort to find/build. A fuzz gets its sound and dynamics from just two transistors. Everything else is just superficial and hype. Paying ridiculous prices for boutique pedals is ABSOLUTELY not necessary. This is a DIY forum after all. I wish you the best in your search.

Dear Fuzz-O-Rama, welcome.

The group wait for your introduction:
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=118490.new;topicseen#new
We will not criticize or judge you.

[Fuzz-O-Rama]

First, Plexi, thank you for your cordial greeting. I'm an old man who grew up listening to Jimi while I fell asleep. The sound of distortion, controlled and masterfully shaped was so soothing. So I played guitar incessantly, joined a few bands, and got my electrical engineering degree. I saw that I could easily build Dist +'s which led me to build a flanger using bucket brigade ICs that I received as samples while working for a company that did a lot of purchasing from large suppliers.(I felt like I robbed a bank.) I later found out that Jimmy Page and David Gilmore got much of their sound from a fuzz or fuzz variant just like Jimi. Later in life I had figured out many secrets to getting sounds that I thought were attributed to magical tube amplifiers and racks of equipment. Back in the early 80's I called up an old friend whose company I did a lot of business with professionally. I asked him if he knew where I could get some AC128s. He hooked me up and I was hooked (pun intended). In time I learned that silicon was not a dirty word.
In reference to my previous post, I found that the sweet sounding "Cosmic Fuzz" was not a pedal but a reference to NPN silicon transistors. I cannot say more or I will violate the forum rules. So with a little hint from my search I realized that I had been getting the same sound from OLD low gain silicons with Hfes that were staggered but below 200.
I apologize for thinking the video was showcasing a pedal. But it just shows that building your own fuzz and experimenting with transistors is the way to go. One more thing, don't feel that you have to use certain types of silicon transistors like BC10* because they were used in original builds. You will be hard pressed to find any that don't have gains so high that you have to re-invent the fuzz pedal circuit. This is what big and small pedal manufacturers are doing now. The Mojo is in the simplicity and correct transistors. 

[Fancy Lime]

Hi Christoba, hi everyone,

Mark is right: If you are anything like most of the people here, even your personal dream fuzz will always be the one you are building or planning to build at that moment. At least for me it is. But only until you have reached the optimal number of fuzzes to own. You can calculate this number. It's n+1, where n is the number of fuzzes you currently own.

That being said: From your description I take that a more or less heavily modded Jordan Bosstone may be up your alley, as Plexi pointed out quite rightly. A sag control (like in the WTF) works miracles in the bloom department on this one. Responds really well to tone controls too. Also Roger Mayers Axis Fuzz is great fun and a bit more fuzz-facey and extremely moddable. Tim Escobedos Punch-In-The-Face is another under-appreciated gem that might suit you. Do what I did, build them all and see what sticks.

Have fun,
Andy