I've been chasing M. Wards tone for ages. In fact, it was Never Had Nobody Like You that got me hooked on fuzz and set me on a fuzz journey that is still going strong (10-15 fuzz pedals later). I still can't tell you what fuzz he used on that song. I can tell you that he sounded great at the
9:30 Club last night with a pedalboard full of Boss pedals and an Ibanez delay. All powered by a (wait for the collective gasp from the Gear Page folks) a One Spot.
Here's the list:
Boss TU-2 Tuner
Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive
Boss RC-20XL Loop Station
Boss FRV-1 Fender 63' Reverb Pedal
Ibanez AD9 Delay
Guess I'm going full circle and buying an SD-1. At least it should only be about $35-40. Borderline free compared to some of these fuzz pedals I've bought.
And that's it folks. Take two Gibson Johnny A's (one tuned to D6), add these pedals, and a Fender Twin Reverb, and it sounds amazing.
I'm this close to order one of this
ReplyDeletehttp://analogwarcry.blogspot.it/2010/02/top-finds-of-2009-jam-pedals.html
I've been in search for "THE FUZZ PEDAL" for years but seems like I can't quite find it... This fuzz thing will eventually drive me nut, I know. BTW, I love your blog. Keep up the great work.
Christian
Bologna - Italy
I don't think he's using a fuzz pedal live, there may be one on the record though. As far as I can tell, in both instances, it's just him overdriving his Fender with the SD1. I can definitely get very very close with my SG Standard -> SD1 -> Princeton Reverb.
ReplyDeleteThe search for his overdrive tone definitely took me full circle to the SD1 this week. I've been through them all since I got my first SD1 when I was 16, and I just bought a new one this week after seeing it pop up in pictures of his board over the last few years. Can't say I regret it (although it was $35 when I got my first one, they're up to $50 now! lame!).
Thanks for the comments and compliments.
ReplyDeleteChristian - my fuzz journey has been ridiculous. I think (famous last words) I'm finally all set with a Mojo Hand Huckleberry, a Throbak Stonebender, a EHX "Black Russian" Big Muff, a Fulltone '69 MKII, and a Danelectro Cool Cat Fuzz.
Scott - I agree, as far as I know, M Ward never uses fuzz live. But the recording of Never Had Nobody Like You has to be a fuzz. Either way, I've gotten closest to it using my Danelectro Cool Cat Fuzz and/or my Throbak Stonebender. In both cases, I run my Reverend Roundhouse into the fuzz on the bridge pickup with the volume backed off slightly and put that into a clean amp.
At this point, it almost doesn't matter what M. Ward used. This song opened up the world of fuzz for me. Prior to this, I had only ever owned overdrive and distortion pedals (seems insane in hindsight).
And yes, I've gone full circle as well and picked up a used SD1 the day after the show. I haven't used it in a band setting yet, but it's been fun at home. Although, I'm still bothered by the bleed through that occurs when the drive is up beyond 10 o'clock. If I keep it, I may have the do the AnalogMan mod that fixes this.
@P90 - Talkin' about fuzzboxes: through the years have you stumbled across any particular fuzz/vibe combination that you felt sounded better than others? (supposing that you're in to vibes at all...).
DeleteOkay, so following up on my fuzz comments, Matt's new website has a Little Big Muff on the homepage. That might be worth checking out, if you haven't already!
ReplyDeleteps I'm 'Scott S' from before, Blogspot changes my login options every time I comment on something...
Wow - good catch and thanks for the update. I did pick up another SD-1 as well. It's fine - not great, not bad. Guess I might need to pick up a Little Big Muff now...
ReplyDeleteCan't believe there's a reverb pedal in his chain. I don't think less of him, just figured his live rig would be more organic.
ReplyDeletecool blog dude.