Chaotic fuzz you can tame (a little bit)

Great versatile dirty, sometimes chaotic and silly fuzz that gives you tones from Muse to doom/drone metal. But I wish it had tone control and more stable settings.

Preferred Settings + Usage:

Underrated fuzz pedal

It’s tricky to master at first but it's a must-have fuzz. Great tone, and can make your guitar sound like a synth!

Preferred Settings + Usage:

From Gear Setup

Insanity in a stompbox

To be honest, I got this one because of it's extensive use on Muse's Origin of Symmetry. Of course all I did at first was turn knobs here and there to make crazy radio-like sounds, but once I sat down to get some actual tones from it I was pleasantly surprised. It can do anything from velcro fuzz to sweet metal tones.

That being said, it did take me some time to get a thick guitar tone out of it. Definitely doable, just takes a bit more work. Oh, and it seems to be really sensitive to temperature and humidity changes so it's definitely not set-and-forget. Still, it's the only pedal I haven't sold even after going fully digital.

Most fun pedal that I've ever used!!!

I totally love this pedal. But I thing that is not for everyone. If you're looking for something anarchic, a little unreliable, difficult to control and setup... this pedal is for you!!! At the moment everything that I've said sound wrong, but let me explain... by anarchic I mean that the way that the sound comes out of this pedal is like trying to ride a savage stallion, probably you'll never control it totally but both will learn to understand and respect... and with that a relationship almost symbiotic will emerge. It's unreliable and difficult to setup because you need to check where to put it in your effect chains, also you need to careful set up your amplifier. I neglected most of the parameters in the amp (just using gain and volume) because the pedal can create so much fuzz that the process of finding the right tone can be difficult for your ears, but believe me is super fun. About the parameters... even the instructions say something like "each knob controls most of that aspect of the sound, but not totally" meaning that there are other ways to get a sound with more compression, fuzz, volume not using directly the "vol" gate. In my short experience I can give you some tips... "stab" move it all to the right, if you move it to the left you'll get weird and annoying noises (which I love) that comes from stabbing a part of the signal, it's cool but not for everyone. I think that I'll adjust this parameter at the end if needed. The "gate" knob can add of remove some cool background noises like a drive, if you move it all to the right you won't hear them, but if you move it to the left you'll start hearing them. "comp" and "drive" are self explaining and "vol" is like a gain... it can give you a huge amplifying sound so use it wisely. Aaaah! one last thing, the battery, I read that it can last for years!!! which is cool if you don't want to carry your whole pedal board or an external power source and you only need this effect to jam with your friends or whatever.

Fuzzy madness

I used this pedal since months but still have no clue what the control are really doing. This pedal makes dirty, noisy distortion that sound like a broken circuit. But that's what makes this pedal fun while tweaking around. However it's hard to dail-in the perfect fuzz-sound. But it's worth the search as there's no other pedal on the market like this one.

Not for the faint of heart, the Fuzz Factory is a versatile beast that requires attention and patience

Warning: DO NOT TURN THIS PEDAL ON IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE MANUAL! This pedal is an insanely cool piece of analog goodness that won't hesitate to punish a bad knob turn. But the reward of a good setting, oh the reward, so worth it. This is not your daddy's big muff. This is a sputtering, self-oscillating, unpredictable sack of goodness. It can do more than an awkward sputter (Though it can do it too), I've used it for a heavy distortion as well. The tamer settings are nice, but the craziness is where Mr. Vex's handiwork shines. The stab knob has the power to turn your notes into arpeggios, and even create interesting octavia style effects. If you can imagine a crazy fuzz in your head, you will hear it in the Fuzz Factory. A good memory or settings list is key for unlocking this pedals potential. I recommend these lists, courtesy of TGP: http://smg.photobucket.com/user/onetubetone/media/Page1-2.jpg.html http://smg.photobucket.com/user/onetubetone/media/Page2-2.jpg.html http://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/my-take-on-a-zvex-fuzz-factory-settings-list.176319/

This thread is chock full of information. Happy fuzzing!

Whoa there!

This pedal is sheer and utter ridiculousness. It is capable of both soaring and gorgeous singing tone for solos as well as INSANE and EVIL chugging tones when scaled back. Oh, yeah, and it can sound like it's going to blow your amp up as well as everything else on the block whilst oscilating to and from outer space. This pedal is a MONSTER of a fuzz. I use it regularly in the studio up against an earthquaker Bit Commander and the two go from bitter rivals to great friends. I mention the other because both reflect a class of pedal that is incredibly difficult to tame, but when done effectively can muster amazing results. I ended up pulling this pedal off of my live board, however, as the compromise between usable live volume and controllable oscillation was too hard for me to find or depend upon. I still use this guy when recording, but when I want to be consistent with a single live take, this pedal definitely requires some TLC.

this pedal is the mordern fuzz face,by that i mean people will be making and talking about for the next 50 years!

Ok,so I just made two of these and I'm absolutely loving the Fuzz Factory,I've always been a bit trad when it came to fuzzes but when I got asked to make one recently for someone and tested it I comu fall in love with it,I just had to have one of that space age oscillation fuzz on my broad,...a great modern fuzz I think Jimi Hendrix would have adored had it been available in the 60s,I think that pritty much say it all!

Only fuzz pedal I'll ever need

The fuzz factory has the perfect wild, gritty sound I want in a fuzz pedal. It's extremely customizable, and makes some interesting squeals if you play around with the dials. Its wildness may also be a slight minus, since adjusting this thing live can be a pain if you don't have the exact setting you want memorized, or if you forget to turn down the volume before anything else (seriously, turn down the volume before tweaking). Other than that, I don't think I could be more satisfied. In summary: excellent crazy psychedelic grit & sound, not the pedal for you if you just want basic fuzz to plug & play without any knob tweaking.

Think your tone needs some excitement? This is your pedal.

10/10, can do most fuzz tones perfectly, and with enough messing around and experimenting, any fuzz tone can be marginally achieved. One could see the temperamental nature of this pedal and its dependence on the room, temperature, and humidity as a downside, but in all honesty it is what makes this pedal unique and worth your money.