What prompts you to look for another fuzz/overdrive?

[Frank_NH]

I hear something in a song and realize I can't make quite that sound/tone with my rig.    Then I want a new fuzz    Or distortion, trem, whatever...

Oh, that reminds me of my on-going tone chase for one particular guitar tone.  Specifically it's the lead guitar tone on the Beatles song "Paperback Writer".  What I know is that Paul's playing the lead riff on his Epiphone Casino (P-90s, bridge pickup) into a cranked Vox 7 series amp (those unsuccessful SS-Tube hybrid amps from 1966), probably being miked with a Neumann microphone and limited with a Fairchild limiter (I think that's what they were using at Abbey Road).  Recreating that searing, cranked amp sound in a pedal is probably not going to happen, but it's fun to try.  Me thinks that you need the compression/limiting in there and careful tone filtering to get it right.  The amps had a built-in distortion/fuzz but I don't think that is part of the tone equation in this case.

[vigilante397]

Lots of interesting points about why we choose effects, but the main thing that's sticking in my mind: what could possibly inspire one to put banana slices in chili???

[patrick398]

I've been searching for a way to recreate the guitar sound on Bodysnatchers by Radiohead. Apparently the guitar went striaght into the desk, so probably a neve pre, which is cranked! Sounds like the guitar is a hollow body of some kind which probably accounts for a lot of the uniqueness of the tone. It's an amazing sound, very difficult to replicate, and even when i feel like i'm getting close it's proves to be a pretty useless tone for playing anything other than that riff

[vigilante397]

it's proves to be a pretty useless tone for playing anything other than that riff

I have built plenty of pedals just to capture a single riff

[nickcordle]

"Look for" = "attempt to design" in my case and probably a lot of folks here, yeah?

I got a sound in my head and it's not gonna build itself 

When I used to try out a lot of gear it was a constant succession of "hmm, that's interesting and potentially cool, but not exactly right ..." and then when you drill into analog design and get into why, there's a litany of pretty coherent reasons to think the classic circuits can still be improved upon!  Taking something like the tubescreamer as an example ... circuits are designed with assumptions about the nature of the incoming signal and the amplification to follow, right?  Just the fact that a lot of people play guitars, pickups, tunings that weren't even close to existing at the time makes it worth revisiting these things.  For a concrete example I have a couple guitars which I love but they have very dark voices, almost comical amounts of low-mid.  Too much.  They benefit greatly from moving the mid hump on a TS-style circuit up a bit, more into the 1kHz neighborhood, instead of 700-ish.  Foolishly simple example but what that does to the tone and feel of that particular guitar tuned down 4 semitones couldn't have been envisioned in the late 70s.  So for me it was 100% worth asking the question and doing a couple builds.

Maybe another way of saying it is that the more you narrow down the goal, the less you have to compromise to accommodate other goals?  And as a musician I can totally relate to narrowing the goal down to a single riff, played on a single instrument, one specific channel on one amp modded one way, etc.

[garcho]

I built a Harmonic Percolator for standard distortion effects and have been gigging and recording with it, in a very wide variety of styles, for years without ever longing for something different. On the other hand, I have built many "fuzz" pedals and love to change those up over the months, depending on the situation. Tone Bender MkII has often been the box of choice for psychedelic/synth tones, but it has certainly spent some time on the bench, too, as opposed to the HP.
I guess my point is, decisions may depend on the difference between effects that are "acute": having a small but specialized scope of use, and those that are "obtuse" and can be applied to many situations, generic if you will.
Another consideration is easy of use. If you build an awesome sounding distortion stompbox, with 8 knobs, 4 toggles, 2 LEDs, a DIP switch, stereo ins and expression pedal, and then crammed it into a 1590A and then put 3 foot switches on it a millimeter apart from each other, you might go for the plain jane two knobber in a 1590B that has one lonely foot switch you can actually actuate with your foot.

[stallik]

I can't answer why everyone builds or acquires different overdrive/ distortion/fuzz pedals but for me, it was building something that gave me the sound that I'd had in my head since schooldays - 50 years ago. I'd never heard that sound, only imagined it so it may have changed in that time.
What I can say is what happened when I found that sound. I stopped. Dead. Haven't built another overdrive or distortion since. That's both good and bad. Im now trying to force myself to explore something different but I know I'll hate whatever it is. Maybe I should just build another but make a better box?

[Joncaster]

I'm building yet another fuzz because I got a new guitar.

I love the guitar so much I want it to have it's own fuzz, tuned to it's feel.
Plus I wanted to do an all silicon one with a bit more heat and sizzle.

Another overdrive I've stopped wanting to build cause I've realized I don't want it or need it.
So I can't bring myself to labor through the build just because.
I should, though, because it's holding me back from building anything else, funnily enough.

I totally want to build another BMP, cause the first one turned out so great, so inspiring.
I could even just build it the same, and still be happy. Maybe give it to someone that needs more muff in their life.

I think ultimately i'm chasing after a sound I have in my head.
Something that is both aggressive and sweet at the same time.
Like a velvet chainsaw, lol

[bluebunny]

I build yet more overdrive and distortion pedals because I find I have a bunch of transistors or opamps left over.

And I'm prone to topping up my stash of transistors and opamps in case it gets a bit low.   

[digi2t]

We've easily seen well over 500 different tweaks, variations, "designs" for things that add harmonic content here over the years.  And certainly, based on the weekly e-mails received from effectsdatabase, there are at least 150 new commercial products in that vein added, annually.  Some are likely identical, but since no one in your area carries them, it's handy that a comparable product IS available for you to try out or hear in person.

I will assume that some of the pedal-turnover fever (PTF?) that possesses people is an expression of GAS, fad-ism, indiscriminately glowing reviews from magazines or social-media influencers.  But I will also assume that some of the motivation to look for another distorting pedal is prompted by one's current  unit/s NOT being able to do something, or doing too much of something you're not crazy about.

So, when you opt for a different pedal, what is it that motivates YOU to do so?  What do you set out in search of?  This includes not only commercial pedals, but builds of DIY designs or magazine construction projects, or simply mods.  Or did you not have any complaints until you heard something and went "Where has this BEEN all my life?".

All motives are valid.  I'm just curious.

For me, it's simply one part texture, and one part ear fatigue. For some, a fuzz is a fuzz is a fuzz. For me too, to a certain extent. Out of all the fuzz boxes I have, there's 2, perhaps 3 that stay on the pedalboard all the time. These are the ones that seem to work with all the different guitar/amp combos, or play well with other pedals, for the most part. I don't mind hearing them all the time. All the rest are like colors on an artists palette. They have a particular tonal quality for a particular moment in time. Beyond that, I find that they can induce ear fatigue. Kinda like painting with only yellow, or going "Daddy deaf".

Of course, mine are only one set of ears, so needing 500 different fuzz products isn't really a stretch. After all, in the hands of one, it might be meh, but in the hands of another, something really special. Which also brings up the angle of, "I have the same pedal too, but I can't get those sounds". That's a whole different kettle of fish, for another day.

[Fancy Lime]

I can't answer why everyone builds or acquires different overdrive/ distortion/fuzz pedals but for me, it was building something that gave me the sound that I'd had in my head since schooldays - 50 years ago. I'd never heard that sound, only imagined it so it may have changed in that time.
What I can say is what happened when I found that sound. I stopped. Dead. Haven't built another overdrive or distortion since. That's both good and bad. Im now trying to force myself to explore something different but I know I'll hate whatever it is. Maybe I should just build another but make a better box?

All right, so now I'm curious. What is this magic tone thou speaketh of? Wanna share a schematic of the tone you never heard before?

Andy

[digi2t]

All right, so now I'm curious. What is this magic tone thou speaketh of? Wanna share a schematic of the tone you never heard before?

Andy

[Fancy Lime]

@ digi2t
Ah, that thing. I got one of those sitting around somewhere almost finished but the squirrel keeps gnawing at the flux capacitor. So not only do I constantly need to replenish the squirrels, I also suspect that somewhere 30 Years in the past or future there is a giant squirrel infestation problem.

[willienillie]

 

[EBK]

Maybe what we are all yearning for is not a pedal, but rather, the buzzy, gated, splattery tone of a carefully blown-out reliced (is that really how you spell it?) speaker.



More seriously, this is the broken speaker from my flea market amp purchase.  It got me thinking about what fuzz really means.  Unfortunately, it produces a very crappy fuzz.

[stallik]

All right, so now I'm curious. What is this magic tone thou speaketh of? Wanna share a schematic of the tone you never heard before?

Andy

Deadastro's Spitfire (early version with sustain cut) coupled with guitar volume control. It gives me the sound I think I imagined all those years ago. Especially nice with delay or reverb

[stallik]

Maybe what we are all yearning for is not a pedal, but rather, the buzzy, gated, splattery tone of a carefully blown-out reliced (is that really how you spell it?) speaker

Not wanting to ruin a precious speaker, me and a schoolmate experimented with taping tin foil over the cone. That sounded crap too

[bamslam69]

I build yet more overdrive and distortion pedals because I find I have a bunch of transistors or opamps left over.

And I'm prone to topping up my stash of transistors and opamps in case it gets a bit low.   

I do the same, with both pedals, and with brewing. I pick up a certain grain, hop or yeast from a shop because it has a cool name and plan a whole beer around it.
Also spare parts, and schematics are a bit like a treasure map to me. Breadboard it all up and it's magic hearing it come to life.

[fuzz guy]

I've only been back into guitar playing the last few years after many years off. Personally I don't use any overdrive pedals, but I love fuzz and boosts.

Initially I bought different fuzz pedals for different sounds and textures. My first was a Tonebender MkII copy. Then I got a DOD Carcosa and EHX Russian Muff Reissue because they did different things.

Now that I've gotten into building, I made a Fuzz Face for the different thing it does. By now I've got most of the basic fuzz tones I like covered, but I want to build more that will allow more flexibility in a single pedal. The Carcosa can do different things, but the others are kind of one trick ponies (not in a bad way).

I've also added another amp to my setup. I started with a Laney Cub12R and everything I bought was with it in mind. I now also have a Boss Nextone and it handles fuzzes differently. So I'm going to build a Fuzz Factory and a Scarab Deluxe sort of thing to try with the Nextone.

[DIY Bass]

Kind of a boring answer but:  Needed a part from Tayda and didn't meet the minimum order amount.  What should I add to make up the order?  I know, I'll buy a PCB.  Next thing I have a modified Guvnor that needs a box :-)