Diaz Square Face Fuzz

Easy to use. The simple things are the most powerful.

Excellent Fuzz. I use a Ross EQ between the Fuzz and amp ( Vox Cambridge 15 w/ a German Volvo ECC83 tube). Plug my Fender Tele w/ Emg pickups into the Texas Square Face Fuzz - the sound is thick and very Texas blues. Add a second fuzz in front of the Texas pedal (either a Dallas Fuzz Face or Analogman Fuz Face) and you get an incredible journey into rock.

Yes.

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I believe Diaz and SRV understood heart and soul of rock Texas blues.
The Texas Square Face Fuzz comes from the Dallas Fuzz Face. But there is a bright punchy grit - like the red dirt of East Texas that takes over your soul. The pedal plays itself. Let go!!

Two knobs Volume and Fuzz simple ...nice small box like mxr takes little room on the pedal board.

The tone is great on this fuzz. It kicks my amp in the butt...you can add as much fuzz as you like or back off and its like an overdrive pedal. The germanium transistors clean up nice when you back off the volume control on the guitar. Change to the silicon transistors and it sounds like a vintage rat....cool.

No problem in 6 months...it eats a lot of batteries. (but has a output for a 9volt wallwart if you like)

Never had to call.

I have been playing 20 years. Play classic rock...Hendrix...Blues.
This is a great little fuzz box. Cesar made it right. I love how you can clean up the fuzz just by backing off on the guitar volume...crank up the volume, face the amp and feedback and sustain for days. I love this pedal.

Never did get to use it

Never did get to hear it.

No way to tell

When I couldn't get the paypal credit card thing on his web sight to work I was told to stop wasting his time. quote: don't you realize you are speaking (e-mail) to THE Cesar Diaz. No phone is available.
I was informed I could send a cashiers check for 225.00
for the Square Face Fuzz plus 5.25 shipping. I did this over six weeks ago, no word from Cezar.
I have e-mailed asking if he received the check several times.
nothing.
I asked the bank if I could get my money back for the check.
No problem, BUT it takes 90 days.
I have no ax to grind with Cesar Diaz.
I'm just a guy that wanted to buy a good fuzz.

no way to tell

Two knobs, volume and fuzz, like an old fuzz face. Tune each to taste and let her rip. I usually crank the fuzz, and adjust the volume to taste. It's got a lot of horsepower, so it will work well on amps with relatively simple preamp stages.

I use this with a variety of old Fender amps (Tweed, Brown, Black) and a Dr. Z Route 66. All of these have relatively simple gain stages, and they take to the fuzz well. With a tweed champ it sounds great.

Only problem is that like a fuzz face, it will pick up a radio station when you roll off the guitar volume. I was playing at a friend's house one night and it came through really strong.

Fortunately, like a fuzz face, it does that fuzz thing very well. Of the modern fuzz face clones I've tried (includes Fulltone 69, 70, Ultimate Octave and Mayer Classic Fuzz) this is the closest thing to the real thing.

Seems reliable. It's in a small MXR size box. I had trouble getting it to close with a battery, but once I did no worries.

Never dealt with them.

This is a great pedal for those looking for a vintage fuzz face tone in a more consistent and cheaper package. I love that sound. I've got an old Fuzz Face from '69, and this is the closest thing I've found so far to that. The older pedal is better, but it's less consistent and tone fluctuates depending on the local temperature and humidity. The Square Face doesn't have these problems, so it's my fuzz for playing out.

This unit is incredibly easy to use. With only two knobs it's almost impossible to dial up a bad tone. However, pay attention to the volume control. I blew up a pair nos 6L6's in my '68 bassman head when I first got the Square Face (about two years ago). I typically run the volume at 12 o'clock (or less if the fuzz is dimed)

This pedal has got the fuzz face tone DOWN. Just like any germanium powered fuzz, putting a non-true bypass pedal in front of it totally destroys the tone. If you don't know what I'm talking about, e-mail me. My PRS McCarty, in conjunction with my Fulltone Fulldrive 2 and a healthy dose of Echoplex tape delay, can conjure up some convincing Eric Johnson tones with this fuzz. Run with my strat the Hendrix tones are instant. I also like to plug my strat into my Bassman, get a beefy, moderately overdriven Stevie tone, and stomp on the Square Face with the vol. at 12:00 and the fuzz at 2-3:00. this yields SRV tone a la In Step. In other words, big monstrous fuzz. Check out his tone on Tightrope and Leave My Girl Alone on the '89 Austin City Limits video.
However, if I set my Plexi too bright, the Square Face seems to exagerate it. So be very careful with that high end. Also, the germanium transistor is a great radio reciever. I've never had a station come through at a gig, but my rehearsal space is only a block or two away from a radio transmitter tower so the third verse to Red House usually sounds like there's a wreck on eastbound 635!:)

This is a very reliable pedal when used properly. All of the parts used are top notch...almost! In order too squeaze everything into the tiny MXR Distortion + size case Diaz uses jacks that I consider to be below par for a boutique pedal. Mounted on a pedalboard (or alone with great care!!), these jacks hold up fine, but if your stage antics send your pedals airborn (Jimi who?) be prepared to replace the plastic, circuit board style jacks.

I've never dealt with Diaz for repairs. It has never needed any. My amp tech replaced the jacks for me(see above). I didn't think Cesar's expertise was required for that.

While I wouldn't give this pedal the Versatility Vanguard award, there are a fist full of cool progressive blues/classic rock tones in this little box. Being a fuzz, I'm sure some old school Punks would like it too. Since I'm a complete pedal head, I own half a dozen fuzzes, and three or four of them are fuzz face knock-offs. They sound great and all of them have more features and controls(Frantone Peach Fuzz, Fulltone '69 and '70 fuzzes). They are more versatile and less picky about what they're going into, but the Diaz has the magic. I would definitely buy it again, but I think I would try to find another used one as a new one will set you back about $225.
If you want that fuzz face tone, or if you're a Jimi/Eric J./SRV nut
this is definitely the box for you. Don't even think about trying to talk me out of mine! Won't happen.

Dead easy to use as it only has 2 knobs, volume and fuzz. There is no on/off light.

I run it through a 1967 Fender Bandmaster with a 2X12 cab. My guitar is a custom amde Warmoth Strat with a 1 piece swamp ash body, mahogonyneck and brazilian rosewood fretboard, the pickups are Rio Grande tallboys. The oly other pedals I use are the new turbo tube-screamer and a crybaby 535 wah.
The sound is huge and definitely does the Hendrix thing. Also great for metal/grunge and dropped tunings SRV was said to use one but it seems too rough for his type of tone.(probably just need to back off the settings a lot) Super loud when the dials are maxed out and tons of sustain. Sometimes I use the tube screamer as a boost for it and it will sing for days. Good for Eric Johnson sounds. I am really curious how this thing will sound with a good compressor in front of it? Also works really well with the wah wah. Also doesn't suck the tone out of my amp when turned off.

Had for 6 months and built like a tank. Still even on the same battery.

Never had to deal with the company so I can't say.

I play blues,metal and rock and I can use it for all of these with a bit of fiddling with it and my 2 other pedals. This is definitely one of the best pedals I'v had in 6 years of playing. I would buy it again.
Another great thing about it is it cleans up beautifully. I was told that this because SRV wanted it that way and Diaz designed it so that when the volume is decreased substantially that the fuzz is basically by-passed.