I picked up one of these the other week; A fridgebuzzz Electronics Land of the Rising Fuzz, a clone of the Shin Ei Companion.

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So I A/B'd it with the original I have!

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Once the tone control is rolled all the way off it sounds exactly like the original, and with the tone pushed up it can sound like a fuzzrite. really, really impressed with it. I was thinking about getting a Catalinbread Merkin fuzz but don't think it'll be worth while as the difference is probably going to be fairly negligable.

So what do you guys use for surf? I guess the shin-ei, fuzzrite, and maestro fuzz boxes of the 60's where the staple sound for a lot of classic surf tracks but are there any others?

Last edited: Mar 18, 2011 13:47:40

I recently bought a Stomp Under Foot Hellephant fuzz which is based loosely off the Fuzz Face design. Its a really good fuzz. I don't use it a ton yet, but hopefully I'll find more use for it.
http://www.stompunderfoot.com/

Ryan
The Secret Samurai Website
The Secret Samurai on Facebook

My main live fuzz is a reissue Ampeg Scrambler. Didn't seem like the ideal choice when I first got it, as it also does a number of octave and ring modulator tricks when set at certain points, but in the context of a band it works really well, offering a big, bright-sounding fuzz that cuts through the clatter without killing anyones' ear drums (well, unless your guitar is already uber-bright).

The Vexter Fuzz Factory is another good 'un, although you have to remember two things: One, the knob labeled "Stab" stands for Stability, not treble. Crank it for normal fuzz, turn it the other way for alien squeals and garbled Laotian radio transmissions. Two, keep your eyes on the volume knob, as this booger has enough output to blow out a speaker. If you get past those two obstacles, you've got yourself a pretty versatile fuzz that'll do everything from "Satisfaction" to early ZZ Top.

--Crispy

CrispyGoodness wrote:

My main live fuzz is a reissue Ampeg Scrambler.
Didn't seem like the ideal choice when I first got it,
as it also does a number of octave and ring modulator
tricks when set at certain points, but in the context
of a band it works really well, offering a big,
bright-sounding fuzz that cuts through the clatter
without killing anyones' ear drums (well, unless your
guitar is already uber-bright).

The Vexter Fuzz Factory is another good 'un,
although you have to remember two things: One, the
knob labeled "Stab" stands for Stability, not treble.
Crank it for normal fuzz, turn it the other way for
alien squeals and garbled Laotian radio transmissions.
Two, keep your eyes on the volume knob, as this booger
has enough output to blow out a speaker. If you get
past those two obstacles, you've got yourself a pretty
versatile fuzz that'll do everything from
"Satisfaction" to early ZZ Top.

--Crispy

Yeah, I've got a clone of an Ampeg Scrambler that I love. With the blend and texture dialled back to about noon it's got a nice, almost sitar-like fuzz tone to it.

I'm not a huge fan of fuzz-face style pedals, though of the ones I've tried, the plum crazy fuzzy lady was the best. Maybe not for surf though.

What sort of surf are you playing with a fuzz? Fairly new to this so are there any classic tracks i can listen too featuring the fuzz?

"Blues Theme" from "The Wild Angels" by Davie Allen and the Arrows. Not Surf, but ultra cool. They also do a cool instro version of "Shapes of Things to Come" from "Wild in the Streets". Of course, as "Max Frost & the Troopers", they also did the vocal version.
Davie played Mosrite guitars through a Mosrite Fuzzrite.

GuitarBob wrote:

I played in a lounge act decades ago.

"Murph and the Magictones"?

Sounds like the attack

of the giant bumblebees in the middle of 'Colour My
World'.

Wow! That's JUST the sound I've been looking for!

I checked out The Creeper which lead me to Bird Rockers. So thats what fuzz sounds like. I only own one distortion pedal and thats the Boss Blues Driver. The fuzzy Ventures tone sounds very much like the tone of Hanks guitar on The Shadows tune Maroc 7. What sort of pedal could I use to get close to the tone of The Atlantics version of Hawaii 50? My boss pedal doesnt seem to do anything like it. Cheers

Mine isn't vintage, but it's really cool. It's a Radio Havana from Heavy Electronics (great builder in Minnesota). On most settings it sounds like a fuzz heard through an old AM radio... super lo-fi. On the crazier settings it does a bunch of frequency washing and sounds freaky. I love it... just really different. Here's a quick demo someone did (not me).

I want less sustain. My notes are so tortured it seems only humane to let them die as quickly as possible.

Rossmosis wrote:

Wow, that Land Of The Rising Fuzzz pedal looks great! I
already have an Ashbass Fuzzbrite but I'm looking for
something similar that will clean up a little bit more
and the LOTRF pedal seems like it might just do that
for me in Mode 2. Do you have a Fuzzbrite or a
Spaghetti Western fuzz that you could compare it to?

Not sure how it would compare to a fuzzbrite, though I think the fuzzrite was the American take on the Shin Ei fuzz, so they're about the same. I think the fuzzrite might have a more slightly almost-but-not-quite touch of octave fuzz going on, but the Shin Ei can kind of almost do that too. Maybe just a touch more subtly. I'd love to try the Spaghettie fuzz too. Not sure what it's based on but I'll have a look.

As for the LotRF "cleaning up" in mode 2, I wouldn't bet on it Maybe mine is a bit fault but the mode 2 is pretty useless. Really muddy for some reason. I might email the builder about it just to check I don't have a faulty pedal, but I don't think so, as this type of fuzz just can't be "dialled out" or cleaned up like a fuzz face or similar.