GET THE BEST FROM YOUR FUZZ FACE

The Fuzz Face is a classic effect but revered effects maker Mike Piera of Analog Man says it’s essential to understand its quirks if you’re to get the best from a ’Face. “The germanium Fuzz Faces have temperature issues – if they get too hot or too cold the bias will be so far off that they’ll start to fade out or you’ll just start to get ugly sounds,” he says. “The benefit with silicon Fuzz Faces is you don’t have the temperature instability but you don’t get that warm sound and you don’t get the clean-up by backing the guitar volume down – it starts to get a little shrill. They also have some impedance issues, which is why you have to plug your guitar directly into them because if you have a buffer in front of your Fuzz Face it won’t sound the same. It’ll get very shrill and you can’t get a nice clean sound.”