Carl Martin The Fuzz

Like all pedals with knobs. Give it time. Give it attention.

Very nice fuzz and distortion sounds. From warm bluesy fuzz till extreme. I use it in combination with a visual sound Route 66 in front of it. What a power. The level switch can be very noisy, but do not get disappointed. Keep on tweeking and listen. Especially while jamming to a song. Finally you will get your sound.
Thank you Carl Martin!
My set up: Eric Clapton Signature Strat - Dunlop Cry Baby 535 Q - Visual Sound Route 66 - Toadworks Little Leo - Boss DS 1 - Carl Martin The Fuzz - DLS Chorus - Boss Tremelo - Boss Space - Boss Enhancer into Fender Deluxe

Build like a tank. No worries about electricity.

Lots of knobs for a fuzz.Seven!It has an unusual feature in that it employs two "wave" knobs, for high and low frequencies.They seem to be employed pre distortion to shape the fuzz waveform. There are also Bass ,Mid, and Treble EQ Knobs which sound like they are used after the distortion. They are very effective, the mid control is where all the action is and scooped and cocked wah effects can be obtained by using the control alone.The bass and treble have a huge sweep too and are effective in reigning in harshness or giving a huge bass boost.

First of all I think the name The Fuzz does this pedal a disservice.If you expect this pedal to sound like a Fuzz Factory, a Big Cheese or a Swollen Pickle you are out of luck.You can get into Tone Bender country,
but where this pedal excels is lead tones.Huge "200 pound violin" tones."Money for nothing" tones."American Woman" tones. I kid you not. It takes some experimentation,as the controls are extremely interactive, but once you happen upon your first unbelievable woody lead tone,( and there are many lurking within ), you will be beside yourself trying to dial in your favorite lead tone. What did it for me was accidentally finding the all time "Cliffs of dover" lead tone with just this pedal and a Blackface Princeton. Just to prove I wasn't kidding myself I mic'd the combo with a Blue Dragonfly and recorded into Logic Pro, no compression through a Joe Meek VC1 Mic Pre. There it was, the best lead sound I'd ever commited to tape.( Well, hard drive).
There are so many unbelievable sounds to be had with this box and a decent amp. Carl Martin are woefully underselling this thing.If it had Lovepedal logo on it people would be on line to plunk down $600 bucks.
When people are charging wads to churn out copies of Craig Andertons time honoured designs(He should sue!)Carl Martin are raising the bar.
This thing is sooooooo quiet even at full gain, has a built in power supply,and you could beat somebody to death with it and it would still work.
I really,really like this pedal.I wouldn't have called it a Fuzz though, more like a Legendary Lead Tones Generator. At the end of the day, Pros know about Carl Martin and they are not as sexy as the hand painted,Radio Shack parts " boutique" pedals, but they work night after night, quietly and effectively.This one though is their best pedal, a desert island distortion box.It doesn't do overdrive, it really doesn't do Fuzz as defined by The Cramps, but if your are in the market for a lead tone that sounds like your guitar was restrung with aircraft cable then fed into Marshall Super lead, you're good to go.

It has lots of control of the overall tone, so there is plenty to work with. It does have tons of control, but it's actually hard to get a bad tone.

I love it, it has so many usable fuzz tones to chose from. It's great for recording, but also cuts through a band very nicely!

I use Fenders and SG's into US made tube amps.

This box is dead quiet and works well with delay and modulation pedals.

This does great for leads with long sustain and it cleans up well for rhythm with the volume knob on a Fender.

It doesn't do crazy oscillation or broken amp sounds, just a beautiful, full fuzz.

I have a few CM effects and have never had a problem in years.

N/A

This pedal can go from Blues to Fusion to Classic + Alternative rock. It's probably not good for Metal, but that's cool, because Metal is for half-wits :-> .

I've been playing 50 years, 20 professionally.

This pedal will cover lots of ground and is a great tool in the studio.

If stolen, I'd but another.

Has a lot of knobs but really it's very easy. Takes a few minutes to get the hang of it.

I guess one reviewer didn't like it, but it's obvious the guy doesn't know the difference between distortion and fuzz. He also thinks knobs are called buttons, which makes me think he's not to sharp.

Fuzz is not everyones cup of tea, and this it a true fuzz, not a big muff.

Real fuzz is HARD square wave clipping. By it's nature it is a somewhat limited and specific sound. You have a LOT of control over the sound by fuzz pedal standards.

If you like fuzz you will love this pedal. If your looking for a distortion pedal this isn't one.

have used it for years with no problem.

Maybe the most versatile fuzz pedal ever. My other favorite is the prescription electronics experience fuzz.

Is very easy to use. When i saw the first time that seven Knobs i thinked w/ myself...Holly Trouble ! But was very very easy to achieve any fuzz/Overdrive/Distortion sounds. I achieved my a la Big Muff Fuzz sound in few minutes. The manual helps so much.

Well i use an american Stratocaster to Cry Baby to Rotovibe to THE FUZZ to a all tube 30w Crate Amp.
Unbelieveble! It's NO Noisy ! Is the best Fuzz than i ever heard before in my entire life as a musician/collector. The THE FUZZ combines so well w any other effect. Definitively the BEST !

Since i purchased it and i discovered all advantages...YES!

No problems w/ my unit but Soren is a nice guy.

I play Rock'n'roll and Hard Blues. This pedal is the Best !
I'm musician since 12 y.o. and now i'm 41 !
If my unit were stolen imediately i'll contact the FBI to claim about...I'm kidding. I'll buy another imediately ! No Doubts !

The knobs do make sense to me..
Set the eq and fiddle some with the sweeps and it will deliver.
No worse than eq'ing an amp.

Wide palette of distortions and fuzzy sounds.
Strong mid oriented distortion, very fat and has a good bite.

Had no troubles

No dealings, but they seem to be friendly enough.

I use it for alot of styles, I use a compressor to smooth it out when needed, otherwise I dig the bite it has.
Very versatile pedal with a good range.
It likes my Brit style amps more than my Fenderstyle ones.
Guess it is just a matter of speakers really.

Takes some time to get used to it and understand the actual effect of each button.

Used Fuzz with Strats, Teles, LPs, PRS, Fender and Mesa Boogie amps, 2x12 and 4x10 open cabs.

Positive: Very low noise; dynamic, touch-sensitive behaviour, crisp, never sounds muddy

Dissapointing: Unfortunately, I am not satisfied with the basic sound of this box. Although there is a good amount of sweet fuzzy sound comming out, all sounds are overlaid by a harsh, edgy and brittle distortion unless I completely turn down the treble in the EQ section. That makes the unit very unflexible in the end.
Despite of a total of seven (7) knobs provided to dial in the tone, I found that they do not really provide the flexibility and tone-shaping that has been advertised. To me it sounds that the unit has its basic fuzz-generator, and all there is are the high/low pass and 3-band EQ attached to it. I don't feel that I have really much control of the distortion part of it.

Built like a tank.

Based on the advertised description of the CM Fuzz, and based on my previous satisfaction with the CM Compressor, I mail-ordered the Fuzz through Musicians Friend.
The CM Fuzz has its qualities, but overall the distortion character is not my cup of tea. At a retail price of $269 I would expect a device that holds up to the flexibility that was advertised.

Somehow the knobs explained what they do....
Tons of sounds in this one.
Maybe not the most easy to dial in, but once you got use to it, distortion tones in all kind shades.

Fat, fuzzy, gnarly, lo-fi, you name it.
This is a real gem of a distortion.
I use it for highgain stuff on my Marshall JCM800 2204.
At extreme setting you get the usual hiss, what gain thingy doesn't??
It is nothing you cannot overlook when you play, it cuts through in a band, both in recording a demo and live recordings, so it actually works.
The usage is for Gilmoure and other stuff like that, my strat screams when I hit it...very lusty thing.
Awesome distortion once again.
Just get the hang of it and play away.

No troubles, expect none since it has just performed since 98.

Good, I had some questions about some of their combinator stuff, plus I asked for a few hints, nice polite treatment from the "Vikings" in Scandinavia.

I play acid stuff, and some old 70's rock.
It works perfect for that, our bass player used it as well on the demo.
Would not hesitate to get a new one if some clown ripped it from my board(I would have to kill him though)

a woman of great charm and mytsique the fuzz reveals herself slowly teasing and frustrating you only forefill you at last in ways no mortal pedal ever could.

She is a raging tigress that purrs like a pussy. When you mute your strings you hear silence.

How is it possible that a fuzz pedal is quiter on than in bypass? holm malmquist must have a jar of magic pixy dust that he sprinkles in these things.

And did i mention the tones. So many colors and textures to choose from. Your ultimate fuzz wet dream is waiting to come true inside the fuzz. It's all in there like the sculpture that waits in the stone. The fuzz is very maliable but allways pristine. prepare to be mesmerized.

Notice how no one ever sells the fuzz once they have it? oh, it's true!

point off for flimsy but silent footswitch. rest looks rock solid. My three other martin pedals have held up 3+ years w/out a hitch.

we'll see.

Throw all your other super fuzzy muff divers in the drawer and add it up to experience. cause you won't want 'em after you have become accustomed to her ways.

You have to spend some time to tweak and try different settings because it has Bass,mids and treble ctrl and than also high and low pass filters.It is worth to tweak because of the spectrum of sounds you can obtain.Once you get familiar with the knobs it is easy to work with it.The sounds deppend alot of your rig,so tweak .You have some examples in the manual that are good for a start.I got only usable sounds.

Tone heaven.It is like having many fuzz pedals in one(consider this when you see the price).You can get beautiful sounds on room level which is not a ussual thing when fuzz is used.Usually you have to crank your amp to get the maximum from fuzzes but this one is something special.It doesnt get muddy if you dont want it.The EQ controls are amazing.You can get a nice controlable feedback at room levels.
I use a strat with Joe Bardens pu -Boss CS1-CM the Fuzz-CM HDB II-TC SCF-Ibanez FL305-Ibanez AD9-Fender Pro JR. or Marshall MK II 50w.
You can easilly get Frank Zappa's sound(you know the nasal fuzz sound variations),Hendrix sounds too(from various periods-from Foxy Lady toSpanish Castle Magic to Come On to Ezy Riderand Freedom),Page,Vanilla Fudge(I need love),Stones,Leny Kravitz(almost any rock sound he has on CD's) and than a lot of heavy metal sounds too.
I use the boost side from my CarlMartin HDB II for solo and it works fine.
So you can get from blues to rock to heavy metal sounds but not an immitation just the real thing.
It works fine with chorus and flangers too.
The sound makes it worth any cent,scilling or any other carrensy.
It cuts through the mix and the middle control is very very useful and do change the sound alot.
It is an amazing pedal for studio work.

Never had problem with Carl Martin pedals.

Never had to contact them.

I play more than 25 years on and off,, never as a pro ,always for pleasure only.From blues to rock to ambiental and some trippy psychadelic.This pedal is giving births to so many sounds that makes me happy anytime I stomp on her,and helps me to find many ways to walk on through music.It is a gem.I heard it is discontinued...I think that lots of people turn their face away because it has not germanium or silicon inside but it uses diodes so they are sceptic,even more when they see the price.
BUT,BELIEVE ME, IT IS WORTH YOUR MONEY.It is not one tricky pony,it is an almost never ending sound machine.
I wish it had a booster side as the Hot Drive and Boost.It runs on AC current(12 volts inside-so a lot of headroom)
Yes I would replace it if anything happens.You can not see them on e-bay.

This pedal is easier to use than most Fuzz Faces, if you take into consideration that there are seven knobs and not two. What I mean by that is your control of the tone is expotentially multiplied. The instruction manual included gives a few examples which all sound pretty good. The controls consist of seven knobs, Level, Deep, High, Gain, Bass, Middle, Treble. The only thing that may be a problem for some is that it is 110V powered and they may have to locate an outlet, but if they are running a pedalboard using AC power, they should have no problem.

This is where this thing shines, I have a long list of fuzz boxes I could list, but to not bore you I won't list them, if you must know I have over 250 pedals in my present collection and if your really curious email me. The greatest aspect of this pedal is the eq section, you have bass, mid and treble, which allow you to really refine your fuzz. Most fuzz pedals only have volume and tone, which equates to level and amount of snot. On this pedal your can adjust the type of fuzz from a smooth flowing OD/Dist to a spitting reactive fuzz. Of all of my fuzz pedals this is the one I trust with my tone the most, it is not full bypass but there is no tone lost when switched out of circuit. This pedal does not exhibit the same problems as almost of the other fuzz boxes out there, I find most fuzzes seem to be fine with one type of guitar/pickup setting and when you switch to another guitar it freaks out of loses attack or squeals. This pedal is consistently great sounding and I am comparing it to some $300 plus pedals. It will do the early Stones to Hendrix and then some. It definetly does the White Stripes, Cream and Jeff Beck.

I have had this pedal for over two years and haven't had any problems with it. It has been mounted to a pedalboard, so it is pretty save. The case is very stought, but as with many brands and types of pedals the knobs/potentiometer shafts would be my only concern if you play drunk or regularly gig at a punk bar where they slam dance on stage along with your gear.

Since Carl Martin has been distributed in the states by European Musical the customer service has been great! They answered my questions fast and sent me info via fax and email before they got everything on their website (I have 11 Carl Martin pedals)and I have not found a bad one yet)some pedals where bought at a blow out sale where there the shop had thrown out the boxes along with the manuals.

I typically have two of everything that is in my gigrig, so that I don't have to always schlup my gear in and out of my house (minimizes the wrecking of doors, drywall and my ears from the Bosses' screaming) plus I can develope sounds in my homestudio and then just write down the setting and take them to the practice area or gig. Presently I only have one of these The FUZZ pedals but soon I will obtain a second one. I have two of the Compressor Limiter and the Trem O'Vibe pedals, I find myself missing this pedal when I am at home because I have left it at the practice area. I can safely recommend this pedal to anyone who is looking for a great sounding fuzz especially if you have had a problem with the tempermental attitude of most fuzzes. This is not a cheap pedal, but it is very well built, silent when off and excellent when on, so do yourself a favor and check one out!