Jump to content
Neddy

Hendrix Fuzz Face

Recommended Posts

Was in the studio and had a near broken-up marshall jtm into a jhf1 Dunlop fuzzface with my single-coil tele.

It got the Hendrix sound perfectly. So now of course I want a fuzz face but am not too keen on the jhf1 as it has no 9v power supply. 

What would get the hendrix tone better, a hendrix mini fuzz face (ffm3) or the band of gypsies fuzz face (ffm6)? Cheers 👍

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 15/09/2023 at 00:45, Neddy said:

Was in the studio and had a near broken-up marshall jtm into a jhf1 Dunlop fuzzface with my single-coil tele.

It got the Hendrix sound perfectly. So now of course I want a fuzz face but am not too keen on the jhf1 as it has no 9v power supply. 

What would get the hendrix tone better, a hendrix mini fuzz face (ffm3) or the band of gypsies fuzz face (ffm6)? Cheers 👍


Eh... well, which Hendrix fuzztone do you want? Jimi used a few different ones across different albums. Worth narrowing down which exact tracks using fuzz are what you're after. Andertons have a decent blog on the general Jimi sound here - https://blog.andertons.co.uk/sound-like/sound-like-jimi-hendrix - though it's not much help on narrowing down the fuzz if it's a very specific one you're after. 

If you want to experiment with a range of different Big Muff sounds (Jimi used an EH Big Muff later on - I think from memory Band of Gypsys era?), the Mosky Big Fuzz might be worth a try - several different variation on the BM sound in one box - https://guitarmetrics.com/products/mosky-big-fuzz-guitar-effects-pedal

 

If budget is not an issue, go straight to the source: https://www.roger-mayer.co.uk/rockets.htm Roger Mayer was Jimi's studio guy and personally work on / modded all Jimi's pedals. These are a step up again in price from anything labelled with Jimi's image, however if you really want a very specific Hendrix fuzztone (as opposed to a general 'sounds like Hendrix' approach), imo you'll be a lot more certain of getting it with this for a bit more money than the many Jimi pedals that to my ears don't sound massively different than any other, generic sixties fuzz sound  -at least not stripped of the context of absolutely everything else matching Jimi's gear. 

If it is a more general Hendrix tone you want, though, in truth most any half-decent, Sixties-sound fuzz will do the job. The biggest challenge with fuzz I always found is taming it enough for it to be useable: less is always more. Dial it right back to basically 'clean boost' and add in from there. To my ears - ymmv - Jimi never had quite as extreme a fuzz effect going on  as we often assume. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 21/09/2023 at 10:45, EdwardMarlowe said:

If it is a more general Hendrix tone you want, though, in truth most any half-decent, Sixties-sound fuzz will do the job. The biggest challenge with fuzz I always found is taming it enough for it to be useable: less is always more. Dial it right back to basically 'clean boost' and add in from there. To my ears - ymmv - Jimi never had quite as extreme a fuzz effect going on  as we often assume. 


 

I guess it's the same approach most Blues players take with Tube Screamer-style ODs: dial the Drive right down on the pedal itself, set the amp close to break-up point, then control the level of clipping with your guitar's volume pot.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 13/11/2023 at 16:28, EliasMooseblaster said:

I guess it's the same approach most Blues players take with Tube Screamer-style ODs: dial the Drive right down on the pedal itself, set the amp close to break-up point, then control the level of clipping with your guitar's volume pot.


Pretty much. I'm not much knowledgeable about SRV, but my understanding is that's what he did, with Hendrix being a big influence on him. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also occurs to me that there's a question to consider - is it the lived sound or the studio sound you're wanting to replicate? I know Jimi used pedals both live and in the studio, but it always seemed to me as best as I could make out at a historical distance that he was *somewhat* more reliant on the amp's own sound live as opposed to the studio - even if he did cane it in the studio as well. 

Fun fact: according to the Hendrix bio Eddie Kramer co-wrote (from memory that's where I read it), Jimi's doctor told him a few months before he died that if he didn't turn down the volume, he'd be stone deaf in two years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...