Tips for Setting a Germanium Fuzz Face 

Thank you. Hope you found it useful. Cheers.

You are most welcome. Thanks for watching.

Thanks! If you set the bias really low (counterclockwise), the pedal will be more gritty and sound like a dying battery. It also will not clean up as well. If you set the bias high, it will clean up really well, but will sound more smooth, like an overdrive, and less fuzzy. Noon is the "stock" setting. I like mine around 60%. The internal clean trimpot is the same as rolling the volume back on your guitar. It lowers the level into the fuzz. It's useful if you have high output pickups and are hitting the fuzz too hard, but you don't want to roll the volume back on the guitar. I use mostly vintage type single coil pickups, so I do not use this feature. Cheers!

Thanks! Both the Jam and the Expresso have plugs for power supplies. I think some of the Dunlop ones do as well. If you have a vintage one, with only battery power, and you want to get rid of it, I'm interested...

Amazing how those tiny things make a difference. And no surprise as to why most other industries transitioned away from Germanium transistors...

I have not, but my recommendation is to try using an attenuator like a Weber Mass, in order to get your amp cooking a bit. Fuzz Faces, especially Germanium ones, need to go into an amp that is compressing a bit so they don't sound harsh. The other option is to run a boost or overdrive after the fuzz. I have a video on boosting Fuzz Faces, which talks about this. All Fuzz Faces sound slightly different, due to the simple nature of the circuit, but I doubt there is a crummy sounding Fuzz Phrase out there. The build quality is excellent, so I suggest trying it with an overdriving amp, or with an overdrive pedal after it, set to light breakup. Cheers.

@@groundwirepodcast2142 update: I changed the battery from an alkaline to a Danelectro Carbon Zinc and that fixed my issues. It surprised me that when I bought the fuzz the fuzz sounded okay to me and the tone went worse gradually to the point where it confused me on the change. Since it's summer where I live, I thought the heat has effected it but no, it was the battery dying and I read online that alkaline batteries sound bad in Fuzzes once they get worn out. So, now, with a fresh carbon zinc battery it sounds a lot like yours. I am surprised that the battery it came with was an alkaline battery and not a carbon zinc. The only reason I left it in it was because I thought it was carbon zinc. Guess now I will experience the fuzz as it ages with a carbon zinc. I'm content with the way it sounds right now! Thanks for reading and have a good day.

Glad to hear that you found the fix and awesome that it's sounding good now. I hand't even thought to suggest checking the battery. It's crazy how tiny things like batteries have a serious effect on fuzz faces. Apparently the inductance of the battery is part of the circuit, so it makes a very audible difference... I guess that is part of the magic. Cheers!

Only "real" in my own head. I try not to play any cover material, to avoid any copyright issues with RU-vid.

It depends on the treble bleed. I have a video about Strat setup tips where I discuss treble bleeds. I like the series or "Kinman" style, where they don't affect the taper of the volume pot. I also like a very small cap value, like a 330pf. Larger cap values makes for a very tinny sound when rolled back, and the Fuzz Face is already adding a glassiness, so it can get very harsh and thin. Generally, if using a treble bleed, I recommend a very subtle one, with the goal being to keep the same balance of highs as the volume is reduced.

@@groundwirepodcast2142 Cool thanks. I've been using a 680pf cap with a 150k resistor in parallel, but its wire to a push pull pot so I can bypass it with fuzz

That's cool. I use a 330pf Cap with a 220k resistor in series, and find that it works great with and without Fuzz. I never thought to put the treble bleed on a push/pull pot. Good idea.