MUFF vs FUZZ: What's the Difference? | Too Afraid To Ask 

They're both hairy, chewy, filthy dirt boxes - but what's the difference between a Muff and a Fuzz? We take a look at each circuit to find out so that you don't have to be Too Afraid To Ask. Big Muff - thmn.to/thoprod/191809?offid=1&affid=367 Fuzz Face - thmn.to/thoprod/309741?offid=1&affid=367 Learn how to build a Fuzz here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-cagEeiq3u98.html More details on how Science of Loud implements product promotion - www.csguitars.co.uk/disclosure #fuzzpedal #bigmuff #scienceofloud More from Science of Loud: Support on Patreon: www.patreon.com/csguitars Join Science of Loud Discord - discord.gg/uJHFgJRunb Buy Science of Loud Merchandise - www.csguitars.co.uk/store Website - www.csguitars.co.uk Contact - colin@csguitars.co.uk ___________________________________ *Description contains affiliate links. Purchasing using one of these links will generate a small commission for Science of Loud at no additional cost to you.*

The argument over whether a Big Muff is a fuzz or not is like arguing if a tomato is a fruit or vegetable - the answer is that it depends on who you ask If you're a chef, a tomato is a vegetable and if you're a musician, a Big Muff is a fuzz. Conversely, to a gardener, a tomato is a fruit, and to an engineer, a Big Muff is an overdrive. Of these four disciplines, gardening is definitely my weakest - I just dig the holes where I'm told.

Thanks for explaining how the Big Muff utilizes soft clipping to get fuzz. I hadn't realized that it did until Robert Keeley released the "Angry Orange" Distortion/Fuzz that had both hard clipping (Boss DS-1) and soft clipping (EHX Big Muff).

would love to hear the differences between 10 inch and 12 inch and 15 inch guitar speakers and the science behind it.

Yayyyy Colin's TATAs are always so fun

TATA: Soft clipping vs hard clipping. I know what they mean in theory sound-wise, but what are they actually?. If clipping is gain exceeding headroom, how is there a soft and a hard version? Is it that there is clipping that allows some of the wave to still pass through? Or is it a matter of how square it makes the wave, with hard clipping chopping it off at the shoulders and soft clipping giving a bit of a haircut?

Very cool to see the actual differences of the circuits. I’ve always thought of them as similar tools for different jobs. Basically, fuzz face for rhythm and big muff for lead.

For a wild time, play the fuzz face *into* the Big Muff. With the Fuzz Face's gain maxed, roll back your guitar's volume until you're in overdrive territory, then step on the Muff. Keep the gain on the Muff on the lower end, though. No higher than noon; start at zero and then turn up the knob until its *just* at the point where it almost wants to sputter out. Also works really well with other vintage type fuzzes that are super dependent on being the first pedal in the chain like ColorSound/Macaris style pedals.

Thanks for the excellent explanation. I knew you would be able to answer this question 😁

5:00 Wolfmother! Hell yeah brother, cheers from Canada!

Thank you! Was wondering what the differences were, this was perfect.

Definitely a couple of fun pedals. I like both, but the fuzzface circuit is my favorite of the two. I prefer the unpredictability it has as well. Finding the right spot at the point of no control is a bit challenging, but well worth it for some of the crazy tones you can get out of it. Cheers Colin!

That's a really tight explanation, thank you. Massive kudos and gratitude.

I like the fuzzface for how simple and easy to mod it is. Also personally prefer the transistor overdrive compared to clipping diodes because it's closer to how an actual amplifier behaves. Both are legendary circuits and sounds we've heard for as long as guitars have had distortion

To me the Fuzz has a "barbwire and glass shards"-sound and the Muff has a "very strong coffee with entirely too much sugar"-sound. But I can certainly see why playing rhythm guitar on the Muff would let the lead guitar stand out more with a Fuzz. "Too much of a good thing" does exist, and the pain of barbwire is only pleasurable if dosed correctly.

Ayooo. I want more TATA's like this! I love discerning differences between pedals of the same kind of effect with their own reverence in the community.

Thanks for all this information . You are a legend

I always loved the rams head muff. I wish there was a way it could react more to the volume knob, like a fuzz face.

Here's a TATA I'd love you to tackle: Audio vs linear potentiometers. The difference between them, and where you think they are best applied.

I feel like it's obvious but i think the big muff is more "modern" and the fuzz face is more "classic/vintage". To call one better than the other seems a bit ridiculous, like saying a a strat or a Les Paul is better than the other. I like the fuzz face better for certain solo-y stuff and the big muff better for rhythm. As many here are aware, the big muff is half of what makes the sound of Siamese Dream, and I love that album and that sound.

I distinguish between overdrive, distortion, and fuzz, based on how much of the note's duration contains the harmonic content added by the circuit. Overdrive will certainly add "bite", by exaggerating the harmonic content of the initial pick attack. But as the note sustains, it reverts towards the basic note fundamental. "Distortion" will prolong the additional harmonic content beyond what overdrive does, but what we call "fuzz" will sustain that added harmonic content even longer, such that one could slide a note around, moving your fret finger up and down the string, and still hear the added harmonic content. Now, all of that is distinct from the means by which it is achieved. Pretty much any overdrive can sound like a distortion, and occasionally like a fuzz, if you feed it a boosted signal. The EHX Muff Fuzz is a basic silicon Fuzz Face, but with low enough gain that it sounds like an overdrive, and occasionally like a distortion, if you push it hard enough. But the EHX Double Muff pedal puts two Muff Fuzzes in series, that ends up yielding a very identifiable "fuzz". It's all in the cascaded gain of stages driving other stages.

I think you just helped me realize that it’s not all fuzz I don’t like but just the muff type fuzz witch is too compress for my liking. Thanks

Def out of the two always like the fuzz face in the ways it reacts to dynamics over the muff, really great comparison with what you played.

I love this channel! Keep it loud!

The Fuzz Face is actually clone of the Tonebender MK1.5. The original Tonebender was based on the Maestro FZ-1, the first Fuzz pedal.

Great topic to explore!

Holy crap! Video production looks crisp!! Upgrade⬆️🏄🙌

Very cool,for me you take a fuzz and with an eq pedal you can make it a big muff nice and easy..An eq pedal is for me the most important pedal on you're bored,you can shape and dial un you're tone. 😁👌

Great job! I really appreciate the topology comparison as well. I've had people try to tell me that they're the same circuit, and I knew better, but couldn't explain why. The clipping diodes in the BM were a surprise to me, too, but it makes sense. Here's an idea. Run a FF and BM in parallel. Back off the distortion a bit (at least at first), and make it so that the FF sit in the midrange (no bass, treble to taste) of BM's scooped mids. If you dial it in right, you can even play jazz chords and hear their qualities clearly; or, you can crank both and get threatened with eviction (even if you own your house). 🤘😈🎸

The Muff really shines on single-note leads, and I feel the tone isn't as well suited for rhythm tones. Gilmore used them extensively on his leads on Pink Floyd's The Wall. Combined with reverb and delay is where that legendary sound really grabs you by the scrote.

The thing I love Muff for is almost infinite sustain it gives. Playing with Muff set to max sustain and low gain just gives you the creamiest lead. Pair it with a boost or tube screamer and let it flow. Especially if you run your Big Muff INTO the TS.

Great comparison and explanation.

That Wolf Mother “Woman” riff caught me extremely off guard Super nice playing 👍🏻

Thankzzz

Fuzz face sounds really great at the end of the video.

YAY, SENSAI IS BACK!!!

To me, the fuzz face is more about the player and less about the pedal and the BMP is more about the pedal and less about the player. What I mean is that two players can use the FF and they'll sound differently, while with big muffs the type of big muff is what determines the sound.

For me as a rhythm player I prefer the Big Muff. Running a Tubescreamer ahead of a Big Muff is also a fantastic sounding tone too!

Take a fuzz and then use an EQ to add scooped mid's and bottom end,then you have the best of 2 worlds,nice and simple..😁👌🎶

The Muff is just tough.

I thought I didn't lik fuzz. Now I realize it's the Big Muff fuzz kind I don't like. Every fuzz I've tried had that BM sound. Thanks for that.

Missed opportunity to play with both at the same time.

Not a single demo of them stacked together? c'mon man!

Now I’m not sure what the difference between a fuzz and a muff is but I sure do like a fuzzy muff

awesome video. would be cool to see the same with a fuzz bender, octavia, superfuzz, op amp fuzz...

Big fan of the Metal Muff. Add a BBE Sonic Maximizer and it’s magic to me.

You could debate on what is a fuzz... Big muff is high gain pedal with diode clipping (soft). Original fuzzes are 2 transistors, at first germanium (low gain) then silicon. Then some pedal makers modify the schematic, adding more transistors, then diode clipping. You have more or less 5 basic circuits. 2 transistors, 3 transistors, 4 transistors, 2,3 or 4 transistors with clipping (soft or hard). When it stops to be a fuzz ? I think that fuzz is a sound, what ever makes it...

Has anyone ever tried a LSTR? I have a Crown of Horns & I don't like it nearly as much as my Pharaoh. It's not bad. The artwork is cool & the eyes light up. The Pharaoh definitely sounds way better.

Never was a big fan of a low tone/trebble presence. I'm starting to use these as a base for layering my distortion tone though.

fuzz face has two transistors...big muff has three transistors. (JHS pedals channel covered this a couple years ago.)

Are Flanger, Chorus, & Delay all the same effect just different lengths of delay time?

Actually fuzz face is my favorite Especcialy after listening Jimi Hendrix

A guitarist once said "The Big Muff listens to what you play, throws it away, and substitutes its own version."

Man I miss my LBM. It was higher gain than other muffs when it came out.

So interesting timing for these videoz as i've been thinking about getting a Fuzzface and multitracking with my muff, think the two will blend well?

Fuzz face was trying to recreate the distorted channel strip sound. Big muff is more amp like gain. How I hear them anyway.

I prefer the sound of the Fuzz Face.

What about single transistor Bass Fuzz or Bazz Fuss circuit.?

They have different circuits?

I'm curious on your take of the op-amp muff and how it relates to both fuzz and the "regular" big muff, since it doesn't have 4 transistors, just two op-amps (I believe).

on the SF-300, is mode 1 more of a muff and 2 more of a fuzz (or vise versa), or are the circuits different from either?

4:15 Is this what happens when you bypass the tone control in the Tone Wicker Muff? Or is it more complicated?

So, I have what may be an apples to apples comparison question(where both red delicious and golden delicious are both apples, but taste nothing alike), but what is the difference circuit wise between the more traditional Muffs and the Op Amp Muff? Obviously I understand one uses an op amp and the other uses diodes(if I’m wrong about that, I apologize), but is there a big difference in the circuit topology?

Since the Fuzz Face is 2 BJT Transistors cascading into each other, would replacing the 2 with 1 Darlington Transistor (and with correcting for bias) do the same thing?

what kind of tones could you get from a guitar that has a gibson humbucker in the bridge, a danelectro lipstick single coil in the middle position, and a fender p90 in the neck. with the ability to have all three pickups on at the same time.

how do guitar tuners work?

Stack em!

The Fuzz/Strat comes on like Hendrix, The Muff rather like Black Sabbath/Alvin Stardust/Deep Purple(?). I like the Fuzz/Strat more, I´m a Strat Clone Guy.

They both behave very differently to the guitars volume control. Fuzz faces give a great clean tone, especially with single coils, big muffs stay gnarly, just quiter

For an untrained ear like me it sounds like there is less treble from the Big Muff. But the Big Muff has a tone control, so I am not sure that the difference is from the tone-settings or the inherently difference in the construction.

... Okay, but which one of these is gonna give me more gain going into clean channel of my Peavy 6505 or my Besa Boogie Dual? I need all the gain.

I like Big Muffs and I cannot lie...

Stating my opinions ahead of watching the video: A Muff is a Muff, a fuzz is a fuzz. They are two inherently different things, but I understand why people conflate the two. Edit: after watching the video my opinion still stands. The combination of particular quad transistor staging and unique tone stack is why I consider a Muff-style distortion to be its own thing.

TATA: Will a heavily down tuned guitar sound good through a bass amp or cabinet? Will the natural high frequencies of the guitar damage the bass cabinet speakers or amp?

I like a fuzzy muff myself. 😅

Mudhoney choose both of 'em !!

Is it just me, or does these pedals sound like just distortion, but the speaker is covered by a few pillows?

Apparently if you play active bass you're supposed to play a muff. Because a fuzzface needs to be part of the pickup circuit. Can anyone explain this?

What about the tone bender style fuzz?

Imo both used in their original version are horrible if used alone:) 1) fuzz face have no tone control and usually even with volume maxed it's not much of a boost, gain knob is fairly useless, only viable if you have really high output pickups. Everybody just uses volume on guitar for gain. Which is nice, but why don't you put that on a pedal and some of the manufactures have done exactly that and added tone control. the simple toleration of components makes it sound different, i think there is one potenctionmeter inside, which is there just to dial in the correct value between resistors, they work differently in higher temperatures (germanium ones), ... 2) big muff has horrible tone control, that in neutral position sucks mids and both filters are really meh, so if there was no tone stack and you would have to use some eq after, it would be much easier, now it's tinkering, but newer models have different tone and/or added switches and copies address this too. I have this exact problem with DS-1 which have the same or mostly the same tonestack. On the other hand big muff sustain is great, maybe even overkill, but it cannot be cleared with guitar volume like fuzz face. Fuzz people are little bit crazy, instead of clarifying things, they seem to find new ways of destroying the sound, like adding octave or bias ...

even though I am old school (65 years old), I still don't like fuzz.

What is “sag” in a tube amp and how is it used. I’ve heard the term but I have no idea what it is (I’ve probably heard it and didn’t realize what I was hearing)

Face or bender?

Muff sounds better to me…

Team Big Muff

how did you get through this video without once giggling when you said "muff"? clearly a lot more mature than me :3

👍🏿🤘

60s 70s fuzz face 90s big muff ???

Shouldn't this be NATA? Not Afraid To Ask

third

@4:00 fortunately not everyone watching trained as an electronic engineer , if they did they'd be screaming about why the hell both sides of the tone control are connected to ground *coff* ... whoops!

Who cares, they both distort, end of.

I don't know if this is the place to make TATA questions, but I can't find an answer anywhere online no matter how hard I've tried. The question is, is it possible to make a 4x12 16 ohms by wiring 2 sets of 2 speakers in series and then wiring the 2 sets in parallel? if my calculations are correct, 2 speakers of 8ohms in series gives me 16 ohms, 2 sets of them gives me 32 in total but wiring the sets in parallel divides the whole load. Thanks in advance and cheers from Puerto Rico \m/

What do the 12 stages in a phaser mean?

Man, that was a great video. Thank you very much for clarifying it!

You wear that fuzz face well Colin

Hi Colin, I have a question regarding using a digital model of a fuzz. You already explained in the first fuzz face video, that the guitar is part of the circuit and therefore should come first on the pedal board. But does that also apply to digital models? For example using a compressor pedal in front of an HX Stomp in my case. Thanks for scientifying the gear world for us ❤

So, I hate them both. I have NEVER liked fuzz distortion