Fuzz, What is it?

Deluxe Matt · **Posted:** Tue Dec 20, 2011 10:44 pm

I know what it sounds like, but what makes it up? Is it a combination of distortion and overdrive? Or is it a different process all together? Overdrive and distortion are pretty straight forward when thinking about what is happening to the signal. However, I'm a bit fuzzy (sorry) on the fuzz.

Screamin' Armadillo · **Posted:** Wed Dec 21, 2011 7:36 am

I would like to give you a better technical answer, bit I don't have the knowledge to do so...here's what I understand, though (somebody will undoubtedly correct me if I'm wrong, and I hope they do)...

A signal that we hear when we use a "Distortion" pedal would look like a square wave on a osilloscope. The clipped off top and bottom portions of the wave are what we hear as distortion.

A "Fuzz" sine wave looks less perfect; the wave will be a bit less square and have sloping/triangular portions, somewhat like a sawtooth wave. It will still be somewhat clipped, but not as severely as a distortion signal.

That's why a distortion sounds harsher and more sterile than fuzz--it's a more "perfect" square wave, very uniformly clipped. Whereas a fuzz is warmer, less harsh and more organic, because the clipping isn't as severe nor as straight up and down (less "square").

If you don't know what a square wave or sawtooth wave look like, Google it and this explanation might make more sense.

Overdrive is it's own animal, sonically, because it's not as clipped as distortion but still less severe than fuzz. It sounds--and looks--different than either of the other two effects.

Overall, it's a little hard to quantify, because we all hear things differently. I'm a much bigger overdrive and fuzz fan than distortion fan...I have a distortion pedal that is currently riding the bench (not playing on the pedalboard "team")...I like it for my one guitar that has humbuckers, but not as much for the single coil-equipped guitars. Conversely, I have two overdrives and one fuzz on my pedalboard, because they all sound great for either single coils or humbuckers (at least to my ear).

One other thing...I don't know whose tone you're aiming to emulate (or if you're trying to emulate anybody at all), but most guys are holding Hendrix as their "Holy Grail" ideal of fuzz tone. I have seen players buy a great fuzz pedal and then wonder why they aren't getting a good strong Hendrix-y sound, even if they're using a very similar guitar, playing technique, pedal and amp. I have found that mixing mild overdrive and fuzz gets you much closer to Hendrix than fuzz alone...perhaps because Hendrix was playing his fuzz toned guitar into an overdriven amplifier...?

Deluxe Matt · **Posted:** Wed Dec 21, 2011 1:28 pm

Thanks. That helps quite a bit. I should have thought of looking at them in an analyzer or what ever would show the wave form.

53magnatone · **Posted:** Wed Dec 21, 2011 5:40 pm

Oh....And I thought this was a.... Thread..... :wink:

About Belly Buttons..... :shock:

Deluxe Matt · **Posted:** Wed Dec 21, 2011 11:22 pm

OK, I downloaded a free plugin called "SignalAnalyzer". It seems to work well for zooming in and revealing the shape changes in the oscillating sine wave. I'm going to compare overdrive, distortion, and fuzz to see what differences I can find. I know I could look all this up, but doing the experiment myself is part of the fun.

Screamin' Armadillo · **Posted:** Thu Dec 22, 2011 5:16 am

Deluxe Matt wrote:

OK, I downloaded a free plugin called "SignalAnalyzer". It seems to work well for zooming in and revealing the shape changes in the oscillating sine wave. I'm going to compare overdrive, distortion, and fuzz to see what differences I can find. I know I could look all this up, but doing the experiment myself is part of the fun.

Very cool--please post your findings...I'd like to know some real-world results.

Deluxe Matt · **Posted:** Thu Dec 22, 2011 7:52 pm

Here is some of what I'm looking at. It is neat to see the wave smooth out as I turn down the tone on the guitar. It will maintain a similar shape but smooth it. These were taken using an open "D" string one second after picking it through a P90 bridge pickup.

At first the Tubescreamer looks like the clean wave, but if you count the oscillation it has twice as many.

Screamin' Armadillo · **Posted:** Fri Dec 23, 2011 8:13 am

Deluxe Matt wrote:

Here is some of what I'm looking at. It is neat to see the wave smooth out as I turn down the tone on the guitar. It will maintain a similar shape but smooth it. These were taken using an open "D" string one second after picking it through a P90 bridge pickup.

At first the Tubescreamer looks like the clean wave, but if you count the oscillation it has twice as many.

Very cool...the TubeScreamer wave being twice as "busy" makes sense, because overdrive is just a normal signal pushed hard...

I was vaguely right about the "sawtooth" type of wave for the fuzz, although that looks like an EKG from a person with a heart murmur...

Did you have a distortion pedal to check? I'm interested in how "square" the square wave is going to be...the more "perfect" the square wave is, the more "sterile" the guitar tone will be.

That's why the early versions of digital effects and amps sounded too sterile and clinical; the techs/engineers/designers were aiming to make an electronically "perfect" effect, instead of realizing what sounded good was the imperfections in the signal.

Screamin' Armadillo · **Posted:** Fri Dec 23, 2011 8:41 am

Nevin1985 wrote:

Screamin' Armadillo wrote:

I would like to give you a better technical answer, bit I don't have the knowledge to do so...

LOL

You then provide the best possible answer of all time. Gotta love it.

I was going by memory, and that's a highly unreliable process...

Deluxe Matt · **Posted:** Fri Dec 23, 2011 5:07 pm

Here we go. Distortion is much more squared off at the top and bottom. Also, that fuzz in the post above was a serious amount of fuzz, more than most would ever use.

This is another fuzz that may better illustrate the shape.

nicholsoni · **Posted:** Fri Dec 23, 2011 5:14 pm

This is great...definitely one of the more science-y threads I've scene in the Lounge.

I'm a bit nerdy so I find this all fascinating.

Deluxe Matt · **Posted:** Fri Dec 23, 2011 5:23 pm

nicholsoni wrote:

This is great...definitely one of the more science-y threads I've scene in the Lounge.

I'm a bit nerdy so I find this all fascinating.

My wife looked over when I was doing this and said, "you're a big geek". :lol:

Screamin' Armadillo · **Posted:** Sat Dec 24, 2011 6:41 am

Deluxe Matt wrote:

Here we go. Distortion is much more squared off at the top and bottom. Also, that fuzz in the post above was a serious amount of fuzz, more than most would ever use.

This is another fuzz that may better illustrate the shape.

Interesting...I would have thought the distortion would be even a bit more square than than that, but it definitely is more square-wave than sine-wave. All the little bumps (which a non-musician tech would see as imperfections and anamolies) give the distorted sound body and richness.

Your wife's right--we are geeks!

Briese · **Joined:** Fri Jan 28, 2011 11:34 am **Posts:** 168

Great thread! Thanks

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Fuzz, What is it?

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