About Fuzz Pedals

A fuzz pedal is not a polite overdrive. It is a square, a sag, a woolly octave, a sustain that outlasts the chord. Fuzz Face for that gated germanium bloom. Big Muff for the stacked mid-scoop wall. Octave fuzz for the interval inside the dirt. This page is that family: Hendrix-era Faces, Ram’s Head and Green Russian Muffs, silicon boutique boxes, and octave circuits that turn a riff into a second guitar.

If you want gain that still sounds like an amp, start with overdrive pedals. For a tighter high-gain crunch, see distortion pedals.

How to Choose

• Fuzz Face / germanium bloom: touch-sensitive, cleans up with the guitar volume. The Hendrix ’68 Fuzz Face or the Band of Gypsys Fuzz.
• Big Muff wall: stacked sustain, scooped mids, the sound of a riff that will not decay. The Deluxe Bass Big Muff, J Mascis Ram’s Head, Ram’s Head, or the Green Russian.
• Octave fuzz: the interval inside the dirt. The Diamond F-Octave or the EHX Lizard Queen.
• Silicon / boutique: tighter, louder, more mid. The SolidGoldFX If 6 Was 9 MKII, Mythos Big Puft, EarthQuaker Park Fuzz, or the LPD Phoenix.

Where Most Players Start

• Diamond F-Octave: high-gain silicon fuzz in the Foxx Tone Machine family, octave on tap.
• SolidGoldFX If 6 Was 9 MKII: a thick boutique fuzz with more than one way to get ugly, in a good way.
• Mythos Big Puft: Mythos fuzz with body and sustain, for riffs that should feel larger than the amp.
• EarthQuaker Park Fuzz: classic Park-style fuzz, wool and growl without a giant enclosure.
• Source Audio Kingmaker: a deep fuzz with more than one voice in the box.
• LPD Phoenix: LPD’s take on fuzz, for players who already trust that brand on the drive side.
• Hendrix ’68 Fuzz Face: the Face that taught a generation how a fuzz cleans up.
• EHX J Mascis Ram’s Head Big Muff: Ram’s Head voicing with the Mascis name on the tin, a Muff that sings.

The classic Big Muff Pi and the Walrus Fundamental Fuzz are waiting if you want that wall in a simpler box. Browse the fuzz pedals below and pick the one that sounds like the record in your head.