Fuzz and distortion

Fuzz is a distinct subspecies of distortion. The effect was developed back in the 60s, I believe -- the so-called fuzz box. Think of the riff on "Satisfaction". I would think you'd want something a bit more flexible. You might take a look at the Zoom 505II if you're looking for a variety of effects at a reasonable price.

I see... So that's what Fuzz is. Satisfaction does have a very distinctive sound to it.

Anybody knows how it actually works? I mean, in simple terms, distortion happens when you overdrive an amp beyond the "normal" linear limits of the tube amp... but what would create a fuzz? It sounds as if it's distortion with a rotary speaker feel to it.

This stuff gets very technical. I hope I haven't overstated the case. See if this helps:

Distortion and fuzz.

Thanks Musenfreund !

I was actually looking for somewhat technical answer and the article also covers addtional guitar effects. Thanks a lot for the link ! :D

As for guitar techneque I the Question was answered very well get link. Here's a couple more.
Distortion 10?

Distortion Primer

On to the playing aspect after the first 12 hours things start to become a fuzz or is that fuzzy, but then after a day or two things really become distorted. "The state of being distorted, or twisted out of shape or out of true position"

I know many times I've been told I'm ?, they say boy your pretty twisted...lol

Joe

So what's the difference....if there is one....between "distortion" and "gain" ...I get a nice fuzzy sound on my little fender frontman 15w amp with the gain turned up to about #4.....

Vic

Gain is what you're doing - amplifying the incoming signal.

Gain only alters the amplitude of the signal - makes bigger waves, if you want. As long as the waves conform to the incoming signal, you can add gain and still maintain an unaltered sound. So gain does NOT necessarily mean distortion.

There comes a point, however, where the signal has been amplified to a point that is beyond what the amp can handle and the tops and bottoms of the waves become altered - that's when distortion sets in.

There seems to be two types of clipping - soft and hard. As far as I can tell, with my limited knowledge of electronics, the soft clipping is a rounded flattening of the curve of the signal. Hard clipping is when the top and bottom of the signal are simply "sliced off" and are flat. The distortion of hard clipping is much more acute than soft clipping.

I seem to remember reading somewhere that soft clipping is what is normally called overdrive, whereas hard clipping is distortion - but I'm sure one of our resident experts can tell you how much BS I'm talking. :lol: