All user reviews of 2/5 for the Zvex Fuzz Factory

I bought one of these pedals a few years ago. I wanted to get a tone from a fuzz box similar to what I like about the Big Muff but with a few more options. Well after about 30 seconds with the pedal I found out it doesn't anything like a Big Muff. It wasn't very thick and warm. To me the sound was thin and metallic and not very pleasing to the ear. It had a unpleasant buzzing sound to the tone that I really didn't care for.

UTILIZATION

The Fuzz Factory from ZVex is a 5-knob fuzz pedal with 2 old-stock '60s germanium transistors. Though the circuit isn't modeled after any one specific classic fuzz effect, it delivers tones straight out of the 1960s. These 5 knobs control the Fuzz Factory's parameters at various operating levels, letting you shape your own personalized fuzz. ZVex designed the Fuzz Factory to consume less energy than other effects pedals. When on, the Fuzz Factory's current is less than 3 mA. This fuzz pedal is hand-painted and assembled by hand too so each is unique. Includes a 9V DC power jack and green on/off LED.

ZVex Fuzz Factory Controls

Volume: Output level
Gate: Squelches noise after end of sustain. Turn to the right to eliminate squeals, hiss, and buzz, stopping just as they disappear, or use to tune in exact feedback pitch. Turning to the left opens gate.
Compress: Adds attack characteristic when turned to the left, which gets softer to right, and suddenly pinches tone when all the way right. Also tunes in fat, feedbacky fuzz. Lower the Stability and see what happens to this control.
Drive: Increases distortion when used as a "normal" fuzz and adjusts feedback pitch and tonal thickness.
Stability: Use to control feedback pitch. This is one of the pedal's more finicky controls, so it will take some experimentation to get it right.

SOUND QUALITY

I was not a fan of the sound as I had previously mentioned. I was recording with the unit and I did get a fun usable oscillating feedback noise that tracked very well. But the overall tone of the unit was not what I wanted.

If you want to know how this thing sound in a recording situation then listen to the band Muse and the song "Plug in Baby". The opening guitar riff is all Fuzz Factory. I have to say that the pedal tracks quite well. And if you are going for a sound that is unlike most distortion boxes then this pedal might be up your alley.

OVERALL OPINION

I am just not a fan of how this thing sounds. I don't find it to be very pleasing to my ears. Many people like the unit and it is for some, just not me. If you want a thinner sounding fuzz tone instead of the thick meaty tone of the Big Muff then this might be your pedal. I'm just so used to the Big Muff as far as the standard of fuzz pedals that this unit didn't please me.

At new they come in at around $300 for the hand painted, They have other versions of that the hand painted that come much less in price but with the circuit inside.