User Guide
The Clusterfuzz is designed to be the most flexible fuzz you’ve ever tried. It can go from a medium gain overdrive
to a broken-sounding square wave fuzz machine. The key to this flexibility is the sheer number of control options,
some of which are quite interactive. Understanding their function will help you dial in the Clusterfuzz to get the
tones you want.
So, what do all the controls do?
Volume
– As one would expect, this adjusts
the output level of the effect. Turning the
control counter-clockwise will cut the volume
level.
Tone
–Turning the control counter-clockwise
will cut the treble.
Fuzz
– This controls the gain of the pedal.
Technically, it is controlling the gain of the first
transistor. Turning this clockwise will increase
the fuzz level.
8-Bit
– This is for dialing in that square wave
or “broken” fuzz sound. Turning this control
clockwise will make the sound more aggressive
and splatty. All the way clockwise can produce some interesting synth-like tones that are reminiscent of the music
from older 8-bit video game systems (thus the name of the control).
Filter
– This is a high-cut switch on the input of the circuit (whereas the tone control cuts the highs on the back
end of the circuit). There is a greater degree of high-cut with the switch set to the right. This control can be used
to reduce the noise level of the circuit when the controls are maxed out.
Clipping Options
– This selects between four different sets of clipping diodes—or lifting them altogether.
As you go from top center (none) to lower right (Si2) the clipping level increases, which does three things: it
reduces the overall output level, increases compression and sustain, and cuts low-end. At the higher clipping
settings, you will likely want to turn up the volume control to compensate for the reduced output level. Even at
the highest clipping settings, the volume control can be set to be above unity.
•
None
– No clipping diodes. This setting has the most output, dynamics, and low end.
•
LED
– LED clipping diodes. Still loud and dynamic; a bit more saturated; a bit less boomy.
•
FET
– Silicon diodes as clippers. Similar to the LED clippers but a bit smoother.
•
Si 1
– Typical silicon diodes. Less volume and notably more compression than earlier settings.
•
Si 2
– Schottky silicon diodes. A bit more scooped sounding (less bass). Highly compressed with a lot of
sustain but with less overall output volume.
