You can go back to the Beatles or move forward to contemporary groups like U2, Radiohead and a myriad of others to find great examples of fuzz use. And of course thereвЂ™s David Gilmour, using an early silicon fuzz face for some of the great tones he captured on Pink Floyd classic albums such as вЂњThe Dark Side of the MoonвЂќ or вЂњMeddleвЂќ. Jimmy PageвЂ™s use of fuzz on the first Led Zeppelin albums helped create pure sonic landscapes. There are many countless examples of recorded tracks through time that used vintage fuzz boxes that sounded great by traditional standards of thought. Not all fuzz use was so extreme in its tonal results. ItвЂ™s different, and I can appreciate that! Or what about Neil YoungвЂ™s вЂњHey Hey, My My (Into the Black)вЂќ, a true rock classic with a tone that I once described to myself as, вЂњTHE worst recorded guitar tone of all timeвЂќ with its overloaded extreme вЂњBig Muff on additional steroidsвЂќ sound? I listen to it now with a smile on my face.

ThatвЂ™s as unforgettable of a signature sound as any especially and part of what gives that tune its charm. Iron ButterflyвЂ™s вЂњIn-A-Gadda-Da-VidaвЂќ is pure вЂ™60s psychedelic fuzz, whereas the fuzz used on tunes such as Norman GreenbaumвЂ™s вЂњSpirit in the SkyвЂќ sound as if the guitar and fuzz box in particular is about to break apart and die. And there are countless other examples of really unique fuzz tones on record that go to fuzz extremes that are just wonderful examples of sonic colors. Whereas in the past for example I would think of the Maestro fuzz tone used on the StoneвЂ™s вЂњSatisfactionвЂќ as pure garbage, IвЂ™ll admit now that I couldnвЂ™t imagine that classic tune being done any other way. ItвЂ™s interesting that only within the past few years of my adulthood have I felt IвЂ™ve come full-circle with my interest in tones. ItвЂ™s what the вЂњkidsвЂќ are growing up on today after all. Yet many people love them вЂ“ thatвЂ™s the sound theyвЂ™re going for. To fast-forward further in time to todayвЂ™s high-gain tones you hear on programmed hard rock radio, to many вЂњold timersвЂќ, the new sounds may appear bland, over compressed and sterile with no feel. Van Halen tone didnвЂ™t appeal to many of them as astonishing as I thought that was! To me, even those classic rock, Hendrix, Clapton, and Page tones were tones that I considered вЂњmediocre at best.вЂќ To add to my youthful arrogance, while Van HalenвЂ™s or AC/DCвЂ™s tones were rather difficult to capture without the proper equipment and technique, I decided and assumed that many of the вЂ™60s playerвЂ™s tones (that I didnвЂ™t like anyhow) could be gotten by using any range of inexpensive guitars, pedals and amplifiers available. For those older friends of mine that were players that grew up on Hendrix or Clapton вЂ“ those seemed to be their favorite particular tones.

In hindsight, this thinking that I developed was a result of what I grew up on and heard at the time musically.

In my mind, any tone that deviated from those was simply bad tone, or at best, вЂњsub-par.вЂќ A fuzz tone after all, sounded nothing like an electric guitar should.Дuring this period of time, my search for the epitome of rock tone had to do with capturing rock guitar tones from the likes of players like Angus Young of AC/DC and of course Edward Van Halen. I couldnвЂ™t understand the point of purposefully making a guitar sound as atrocious and вЂњlo-fiвЂќ as possible in mind. In fact, I can honestly say I hated and despised the sound of fuzzes that I had heard. As a guitarist for well over 25 years, I had always been an вЂњanti-fuzzвЂќ person.

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