Frantone Sweet

No matter what I did (on the pedal, my guitar, my amp) I just couldn't get the sound I wanted. It is just WAY to aggressive for my tastes, I guess I bought it on a bit of a whim...

Mean. Very aggressive, lots of white noise and ridiculous feedback. Loud as hell, screeches and blood cuddling howls. I hated it.

I only had it for a little while, but it felt solid and very reliable.

Never had to deal.

If you like angry, war-like fuzz with unmusical tone and evil feed back, then this one might be for you. I've seen this pedal described as a warm, even 'chewy' fuzz, which is not true in the least! I hated it, you might like it!

After two years of attempting to tweak this pedal I'm giving up. I give it 7 out of 10 here because it does only have three knobs. That's an intuitive enough setup, but that doesn't help much because setting them is so frustrating. They change the overall volume, the overall intensity of fuzz and bass, but not the quality of sound.

As mentioned above, the sound isn't very dynamic. I've only been able to get harsh fuss. The only substantial difference I can make is with the tone. It gets way too much bass in a hurry. The sustain also goes from broken-up sounding to razors edge with no happy medium. If anyone is looking for the smooth Hendrix fuzz tone, KEEP LOOKING! This pedal will not give classic tones Hendrix produced, or anything remotely close - no matter what the folks at Frantone advertise. And, it's easily the nosiest pedal I've ever owned. I remember having the cheaper "Little Big Muff" 30 years ago, and it was sheer creamy tone. A friend of mine was lucky enough to be able to afford the "Big Muff Pi" and it was so much more superior to the Frantone "The Sweet". This is just a harsh one dimensional pedal. And it ain't cheap.

I don't have any idea how deoendable it is in acyuallity, since it has never held my interest more than 15 minutes at a time in the two years I've owned it. It does appear to be well built so I'll give them an 8 here. The electronics must be stable because it produces the exact sound anytime I've played it.

I did talk to Mia once on the phone out of concern about the sound quality, and I was told the bit about it being such a high output device, and to not load it up with other drive/distortion devices in my effects chain, etc... Looking back, all I can give them is that they were accessible.

I play classic, grunge and southern rock styles, as well as country, blues and jazz. I've been at it for 37 years, have done studio work, bar bands etc... I've also bought a fair amount of good and bad equipment along the way. This effect is probably the worst investment of all my gear, dollar for dollar, ever. It's way over-priced, regardless of quality parts, if it can't deliver a good sound. I'd be happy if it would have delivered at least "ONE" quality sound, without a wall of noise introduced into my pristine sounding Fender Twin reverb, which is completely retubed, re-biased, and almost dead quiet with all my other pedals.

The Sweet is very easy to use. It has three knobs (left to right): Volume, Sustain, Tone. The manual is basically non-existent, but since the Sweet is so easy to use it is not needed. As far as getting a "good" sound out of it I think that's pretty subjective. Overall, I am pleased with the sound. Definitely good for alternative rock.

I agree with previous reviewers on a few points. First, the pedal is MOST DEFINITELY noisy. Turn up the sustain and tone knobs (don't play your guitar) and listen to the white noise coming from the pedal. Yes, it is high gain, and yes, it is a fuzz, but the noise is pronounced. That being said, noise is not much of a problem if you have a good noise suppressor @ the end of your chain or (in most cases) if you happen to be playing. Believe me, the fuzz will EASILY outweigh any noise issues. That's why it's not a big deal to me.

Second, this thing will feedback like it's going out of style. If you like that sort of thing, you will not be disappointed. By rolling off the sustain this problem is fixed, otherwise you'll need to find that sweet spot between you and your amp that will minimize this tendency.

Third, I can see why people think this is a one trick pony. I think it was designed to provide that paint peeling, house rattling, wall of fuzz sound so prominent in the 90's alternative/grunge scene. Someone with a lot of experience playing may be able to coax more subtle sounds out of it. It can rip you to shreds even on low sustain levels.

The Sweet has plenty of output to drive your amp. The tone knob is effective, providing good low end all the way up to more shrill treble sounds. The harmonics on this thing are rich and frightening. Through a loud clean Fender Twin Reverb it is absolutely deafening. Sizzling highs, well defined lows. I have not tried it through a distorted amp. BTW, I've used it with a Mustang and Tele.

Those who have complained about it having too much low end...I think this is a matter of the equipment being used. The low end never completely disappears even at high tone settings, but I don't think it is ever too dark or muddy (to my ears). Notes stayed defined with the Twin and those two guitars. Now, they do lose some definition and attack with lower tone and higher sustain settings (at least with my setup), but I never felt it was mushy.

Seems rock solid to me. Well built. The Hammond box is sturdy and the insides are nice and clean.

I e-mailed Fran one time and she got back to me very quickly. So, I haven't had any problems yet.

Overall, I like it. It will suit some, but not others. If you are looking for more tame overdrive sounds, this is not your box. If you want to deafen people and send them to therapy, then you're in the ballpark with this thing. I had my Twin on 3 and the volume of the Sweet @ 9 o'clock and was ready to plug my ears. This thing brings the volume and the fuzz.

Super easy to dial in the right sound. Like all fuzz pedals- use your guitar volume to get just the right amount of fuzz for you.

I searched high and wide for the right fuzz...zvex, electro-harmonix, Home Brew, Fulltone, Foxx, on and on and on- aaah! Finally, I came across the Sweet- oooh Fran, thank you so much. Warm, gooey, chewy, fuzzy goodness at higher volumes and a very discernible distortion at lower guitar volumes. I really love Jay Mascis and Stephen Malkmus' fuzz and this emulates that sound. I play a USA Jazzmaster RI and an ASAT classic- and I can dial in that tone I'm looking for every time.

Built like a tank- sure the paint might chip, but it adds to the character- I'm not worried about the insides one bit.

Haven't dealt with them.

This really is one of my favorite pedals on my board- I play styles that float between alt-country, experimental and straight up rock. I really think you should give this a try if you want really thick fuzz action- this baby is crazy loud and is hard to contain when your guitar volume is at 10...FUN!

Basic, easy

I think this pedal rocks! It has the longest sustain you've ever heard it makes my guitar sing like a violin. I basicly use it kind of Santana-like, especially for lead guitar, playing a relic strat (no matter which pick up) or a Gibson B.B. King Lucille, a . Well, it's true: It's not as musical as some other pedals, but that's the choice you make with that kind of sustain I guess...

Seems to be totally reliable

Never dealt with them...

I'm a professional player from Germany since 20 years, playing Blues, pop, Funk and mainly Jazz (with that pedal rather fusion I guess). I got the pedal instead of any kind of Muff (big, russian, vintage, little big etc.) after checking quite some.

I think it's really fun to play. I'd also say - and this might bother some players - you have to adjust a little bit to the pedal, it's not gonna do all you want like a tube screamer, simply because it has a totally different concept. "Turning the knobs" i.e. doesn't change a lot - it only adjusts the sound elements to what's required. In fact this pedal has only 1 sound. That singing sustain and full, warm sound you get out of it...you just gotta use it like an extreme effect, then it really works.

It's a fuzz pedal. Easy.

My main guitar is a Warmoth Jaguar outfitted with DiMarzio humbuckers (Super Distortion bridge, Air Norton neck). The neck pickup can also be coil split (to run like a single coil). I run this into a Mesa Studio Preamp and then into a Fender Hot Rod Deville 4x10, and I play everything from Nirvana and the Smashing Pumpkins to Muse, Sonic Youth, Secret Machines, Underoath... so alt-rock basically.

It definitely does the Smashing Pumpkins thing quite well. Dialed in to the right spot and with an overdrive running before as a treble boost, it takes on a singing quality perfect for playing lead or chording. By itself, it's a thick, hoary monster with a big fat bottom end, maybe a little too much for my taste. It's also incredibly noisy, and I say this having owned at least 4 other dirt boxes that have been quieter. My Effector 13 Disaster Fuzz spits out less unwanted hiss than this pedal, and if you know anything about E13, you know what that says about the Sweet.

Still, sometimes you need the churning, heavy fuzz that the Sweet can put out. I have enough tools in my arsenal to get the sound that I want from it. The biggest gripe is the noise.

Seems solid enough. I power my pedals with a Visual Sound 1Spot, and the Sweet hasn't given me trouble yet.

Thumbs up here. Prompt, friendly reply when I inquired, never had to contact them since, which speaks to the quality of the product.

Of the two fuzz pedals I own, this is the more vanilla one, and the bassiest. In fact, it would probably sound awesome with a bass guitar setup. Also since it's a fuzz pedal, the overall sound is fairly murky compared to my Visual Sound Jekyll&Hyde distortion, but again, it's just doing what it was designed to do. Works great for big soundscape washes, and can nail the Siamese Dream tone with the right settings, and with a lot fewer guitars, too. I have a couple clips posted at www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=499516 for anyone to check out ("out there w/ the sweet" and "sweet starla"). Both are single tracks, although I am running the "Jekyll" side of my J&H as a boost. Personally, I think the tone I can get playing "Starla" by the Pumpkins is better than the actual recording in some respects. It's a rich, creamy crunch.

Within 30 seconds of plugging into this pedal, I dialed up the tone I was looking for. With only three controls (Volume, Sustain, Tone), it can't be that complicated.

Also, the LED indicator is nice for knowing when its engaged, but really isn't all that necessary because you'll probably know when this sucker is engaged just by the fury coming out of your amp :).

I want to preface this with a note about what I was looking for in a fuzz. I didn't want an extremely musical, Hendrix-type fuzz. I wanted an extremely brutal fuzz that would suit my tastes (think Pelican, Isis, anything featuring Wino on guitar) for rhythm work.

Like I said, I was almost immediately floored with the tone that this beast puts out. Frantone describes it as a "truly insane fuzztone". I'd have to agree, its warm, thick, and HUGE. You can tailor it to your tastes with the Sustain and Tone controls.

I'm using this with my two PRSs (Singlecut w/ #7 pickups - standard tuning, Standard 22 w/ EMGs - down 2 1/2 steps). My amplification consists of an Engl preamp and a Mesa/Boogie poweramp. My other effects include various pieces by Analogman, ZVex, Electro-Harmonix, and a Line 6 DL4. I use this to play two general types of music: jazz and metal.

I will say that I wouldn't look at this pedal if I was looking for a very dynamic, musical fuzz (something like that of AnalogMan's SunFace). However, if you're looking for an ultra-thick fuzz that is well-suited for indie metal ranging from doom to experimetal, this is awesome.

I give it a 10 for what I bought it for. I'd give it a 7 for the more musical type fuzz tones....

I opened this to install a battery, and was floored by the construction. I won't go into detail, but the ladies at Frantone know what they're doing. Top components and careful attention to the smallest details are evident here.

The construction is clearly built to be used. I'm confident it could take a serious beating and still work great. I haven't been disappointed so far.

I'm unwilling to give it a reliability rating because I haven't had it for all that long.

Mia @ Frantone is exceptoinally helpful and nice, too. She answered the questions I had, no matter how annoying they were. She also offered to ship the pedal directly to a nearby guitar store so I could try it before I bought it. This is exactly the kind of service I like to see.

Like I mentioned, I primarily play jazz and metal. I bought this pedal to use in my Pelican-esque instrumetal dabblings, and was extremely satisfied. It is a huge sounding pedal that never sounds harsh or bassy (at least in my rig).

The only thing I don't care for is the amount of feedback this thing can create, but honestly I've grown to love it and learn to use it and manipulate it in ways I never have before.

I had considered a vintage Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi, a USA reissue Big Muff Pi, a "green monster" russion Big Muff Pi, an AnalogMan Sun Face NKT-275, AnalogMan SunLion, and a ZVex Fuzz Factory. Upon recommendation, I checked out The Sweet and I'm thrilled I did. Its always exciting when you get a piece of equipment that NAILS the tone you've been hearing in your head for a long time....

If it was taken from me, I'd get another. No question. My search for "brutal fuzz" ends at the Frantone Sweet.

simple to use

Another reviewer said the pedal sounds bassy. I second that. It works ok for single coils on ash/alder. Trying it on a baritone yielded big lush tone. Not everyone says it;'s bassy, so maybe it's dependent on something internal, such as the selected transistors, which are germanium btw.

I put the Sustain on only a fraction of what is recommended, around 8 oclock, and turn down the guitar from there for milder overdrive/boost.

It works fine and it's been kicked around the schoolyard. Fran uses quality parts, and builds them herself.

Mia

It nice to see a manufacturer from Brooklyn. This was a nice pedal. I'd be happy to try more!

It's easy to get MANY sounds out of the Sweet.

I've been shopping for months for a right fuzz. This has grounded my search. If I could find a Way Huge Swollen Pickle fuzz, I believe that would be the only other contender, but since I can't, this will be the one. At several hundred dollars less, the sweet can't be beat.

With single coils and a Fender Blues Junior, anyway, this pedal can go from overdrive, to distortion, to all out fuzz. But it only requires very small adjustments to sweep through these settings, so I'd recommend rotating the dials micron by micron.

Don't know. Will write if there are issues, but with a life-time warranty...

The fellow who did not receive adequate customer support (see review below) is not speaking for me. Frantone has answered my emails, and I regard their company as top-notch. Don't know if it's case by case, but I imagine overall that belligerence doesn't work very well with them. Doesn't with many folks. If Robert Keeley, a perfect gentleman, is your preference, then so be it but I detect a modicum of chauvinism, mayhap? Intimidated that a woman can create pedals that can kick your fat, lazy, drunk ass?

Best fuzz, hands down, of fuzzes that you can actually play first. Analogman's fuzz may be the shiit, but I'm not crazy about ordering from him and inconveniencing him with a return. Can't find any Way Huge and can't hear any online samples of SIB's Nick Nitro. Fulltone's '69 is weak, and the others didn't impress me very thoroughly. Keeley's fuzz sounds great online, but again, I don't want to send stuff back. Having pedals in stores is such a neat, old-fashioned way of doing business. It's kind of fun now and then to shop in the material plane. The Sweet sounds thick as fcuk and looks beautiful. An all around aesthetic masterpiece.

huh. tough one to answer. got this pedal 6 or 7 months ago & was highly disappointed. i agreed w/the reviewer below who thought the sweet is too bass-y & has way too much "buzz". so i shelved the pedal for about a half-year. got it back out the other day. what has changed since then? well, for one, i switched from a sorta inexpensive guitar w/humbuckers to a vintage guitar w/singles (p-90s actually). secondly, i've learned ALOT about the way effects pedals should be set up (which ones will interact well w/each other, making adjustments w/tone, level, gain knobs on pedals AND amp to get the best sounds from FX, etc). the reason i'm bringing all of this up is cuz i now DO like the sweet, but is it an easy pedal to use, in all applications? i would have to say no, based on my experience. it took quite a bit of knob-twiddling for me to find what i thought was an acceptable amount of buzz (sustain at 9:00, tone at 1:00) & it took my new-found knowledge of pedal interaction & amplifier tone & volume adjustments to tame the previously unruly "bassi-ness". granted, my pickiness regarding the number of tones i rejected before finding the awesome sound i have right now is a subjective thing. reading the other reviews for this pedal on harmony central shows that most people are enjoying the sweet "straight outta the box" & are dialing in multiple tones that are pleasing to them. hey, more power to 'em. & i don't mean for my opinion to come off as being too negative, as i've admitted that part of the original problem was my own ignorance. nevertheless, i just wouldn't be giving the honest truth here if i said that i found the sweet to be plug & play.

set-up when using the sweet: 1976 gibson s-1 w/lindy fralin p-90s > the sweet > ayan enterprises smooth & slim > custom-built 3-watt tube amp. everything powered up w/voodoo labs pedal power 2 & connected w/george l's cables. in addition to the sustain & tone settings i mentioned above, i have the sweet's volume setting at about 3:00 & i rolled back the amplifier's bass setting from where i usually have it. also, i have the amp volume positioned where the sound would be clean w/out the sweet activated. the smooth & slim was added to the chain to further help attenuate the heavy bass. w/this set-up, there is a wicked mid-range & treble "bite" to slashing chords, a truly dangerous sound. the low end is still there, no worries about a wimpy, thin or shrill sound. any comparisons come to mind? how about the rhythm guitar parts on nugent's FREE FOR ALL & CAT SCRATCH FEVER albums. sorta like that. who knows, maybe the mere mention of the nuge is enough to make the chicks at frantone cringe; but, i'm sorry, it honest-to-abe lincoln sounds like that to me. personally, i think that sound rocks.

gotta disagree w/anyone doing a post who says there's anything shoddy about the craftsmanship of frantone pedals. at least as far as the pedal i recieved is concerned, it simply would not be so. i do agree that having different color knobs would help when trying to tell where the dials are set at a glance. otherwise, top marks.

did not buy my pedal direct from frantone, & have never contacted them.

hmm, overall rating. i got my "sweet" for $175, & i've seen that the price has gone up to $195 at the on-line store where i purchased mine. so i guess what i have to suss out is whether the one righteously awesome sound i'm getting from this pedal is worth almost 200 clams. on the one hand, ONLY ONE GOOD SOUND? on the other hand, this tone will be usable till the armageddon. & i have a sneaky feeling that, much like circa. mid-70s era big muffs, yer life is gonna be a whole lot better if you can pull this item offa the shelf in 20 to 30 years. so, um, yeah, the overall rating is...uh...

Stupid simple and straight foward. Just read the lables and turn the knobs!

The thing sounds great! It's a ont trick pony but you should expect that from germanium transistor fuzz. It is VERY impeadence dependent so you need to put it in the effect chain where it makes the least noise. If you are not fiamillar with this type of fuzz I would recommend you try it first as it is a very finite sound, and also beacause germanium transistors are varyable and matching is an issue (ie. pedals may vary in sound). I have been able to get some great tones with my modified Vox wah and a maxon compressor in front of it. It seems to like Single coil guitar as it gets a bit dark with humbuckers (think randy bachman in american woman) This is definitly not a heavy metal pedal and it poduces a classic fuzz tone with a bit more bite. I have run this through several combos and a couple of stacks with great results.

SO far so good. I would use it without a backup as I have a multitude of distortion boxes and I could always sub if nessary.

Not a clue, but its seems to be built rock solid

If you want a classic fuzz, this pedal is great. I have 20yrs of playing under my belt and it put a smile on my face. Its is very straight forward and easy to use, find the sweet spot, tune in and drop out....

i bought this pedal while writing a song that needed something nargey. i'm not a heavy distortion user so it took some getting used to. expressive. this pedal can run away from me in a hurry.
but, no other pedal cound be so nasty and still be SWEET!!

i run this pedal with a maxon sd9, moog phaser, tb's vox wah, through a goldtone. WOW! I stuck this thing in front of the moog and she lit up.

i almost abuse my gear. i play regularly. gig a few times a month and play outdoors often. i hate having to unscrew the bottom to put the battery in buy she is built to played. i'm lucky i can afford the first one. screw a backup. buy the right damn pedals.

i haven't dealt with them. good website. looks like they make some other pedals.

i always go looking for something that i don't see every guitar player using. i experimented with a wide range of fuzz boxes looking for something nasty, but at the same time it has to be expressive. playing something nasty with no meaning would ruin this pedal and loose the audience. works well with the nasty funk!! i gave it a high ranking to make sure everyone realizes i dig this pedal! oh yeah, don't forget to try her with a phaser.

Great pedal! How can you go wrong with 3 knobs. There is a manual, but you don't really need it...

I emailed Mia and she told me that it was a very high gain pedal and some people who are used to digital gear are a little thrown. I love the high gain. For a new/old stock germanium type pedal it is quite and the range that the knobs gives is great. Geez, the guy with the other review is a nasty guy! If it is not for you, just say so.

Built like a tank. I've been using mine for about a year with no problems

Frantone has great customer service. Never had a problem and they are honest about the applications of their pedals.

I do everything and anything people will pay me to! That means I like to go from a wedding band to straight noise. IE I am an actual pro who knows that certain pedals are just tools to get the tone you need.
Nothing like a Sweet to make an audience throb with beautiful crunchy fuzz!

Three basic knobs just like a Big Muff. The Sustain and tone controls are fairly limited as to how much they control.

This thing has too much gain for most normal uses. Unless you are looking for a total static buzz, this unit probably isn't for you. Think starting Big muff PI dimed. The fuzz knob(sustain) has little or no effect from 3 - 10 - just total buzz. The overall tone is VERY bass heavy (I mean VERY)and scooped. The tone control goes from muffled to tinny with no real midrange setting. Think "Siamese Dream"++ level drive with no balls, but a "boomy" bass response. The true bypass works flawlessly and removes the pedal from your tone loop completely.

Not sure? The first day I got it the paint started chipping off. Other than cosmetics - no problems. Looks like quality construction inside.

Over the last 30 years I have bought a lot of pedals and dealt with a lot different types of people. Generally I have received good to fantastic service (Robert Keeley definitely sets the high standard). I emailed this company with 2 basic questions and received a one line sarcastic response.

I have been playing about 30 years including some studio work and semi-pro bands. I play Andersons and Paul Reeds through a Soldano. I have owned about half of the distortion/overdrive/fuzz pedals out there. I understand the difference between hype, bedroom use, and live use. This pedal has way too much distortion (and I love high gain distortion and fuzz - come on, I play a soldano...). I just need punchy, usable tone with it. This pedal didn't deliver. I contacted the company to see if they could make any custom changes (because of the overboard bass and fuzz) and was told to "try turning the knobs". Oh well - I tried. Selling this pedal. I'm really skeptical of the other reviews on this product. The thing sounds NOTHING like a Rat. It sounds more like Crate tried to build a heavy metal fuzz. If that's your bag - this is your pedal. No offense meant to any of the other reviewers or the company - just facts. God Bless !

simple - vol, sustain (amount of fuzz), tone

This is one of the best fuzzes I've tried. it's layout is like a bigmuff but the sound is definitely smoother than a bigmuff. in fact it's so smooth i sometimes wanted a tiny bit more bite. but i always prefer less bite than more, so i'm still really happy hith it's sound. On extreme settings there is some noise which is to be expected of a fuzz. noise only seems to be bad if the pickup is noisy. noiseless pickups really cuts down any noise the pedal.
it has great sustain and awesome ability to feedback. i really like how a single note will began to "motor" at extreme settings. i've only had this pedal a few days but i just keep thinking that hendrix would have loved this pedal. i'm certain of it. i'm very happy that it sounds good for rhythm and chords as well as single note runs

time will tell... but the build quality is impressive. really nice jacks, switches, etc. wiring of components inside is hand done and it looks really well done. Frantone really have made a quality pedal. I'm pretty happy to pay the extra price of this pedal

Any guitarist in his right mind would have to love this pedal. I searched high and low for and extreme fuzz that sounded good and this satisfies me for now. i think the fulltone octafuzz is as good and the zvex pedals go way beyond your imagination. i tried the voodoo labs proctavia and it was just not good enough sounding. but this pedal sounds good in all positions and impressed me no end when i first plugged it on. the sound and build quality make it worth the few extra dollars

Very easy to use. If you've had a Big Muff, it's kinda the same setup...only smaller. The manual was one little page but that's all you need. Volume, Sustain, Tone.

I use the Sweet with a Clapton Strat, Vox Wah, Turbo Tube Screamer, AnalogMan Bi-Comprosser into a 68' Super Reverb or Pro Jr. It can be noisy but it's a FUZZ.....that's what they do! I usually rotate my fuzzes just to keep it interesting but I think I'll be using this one more than the others. It's got a Big Muff vibe to it. Really fuzzy (just like I like it), really ratty (ditto). You can get a lot of diffent sounds by twiddling the knobs and spending quality time with it. I use the TS in front of it and it can't be beat. Cuts through the band like a knife. I love it!

I've only had it for a few days but I don't forsee a problem. I've taken it apart and it looks to be built really well. I can't afford a backup so I'd probably have to go back to my Big Muff. I wouldn't be happy about it, though.

N/A. I got it through PedalGeek.

I play all kinds of music and I use FUZZ a lot and this one is the best i've come across. If it got stolen, i'd cry a lot. If a duck dropped from the sky carrying $175, i'd buy another immediately! I really do like everything about it. It's not for everyone. But it certainly inspires me like all good tone should. I have lots of FUZZes and this one seems to do what they do and more....and it has a lot of gain!

lots of knobs: level tone sustain - on/off

reminds me very much of a ramshead muff pi. sustain is endless, it's total rock. i just don't get why some people complain about a little noise "when all controls are set to max"... it's a fuzz, not a gate. it sounds great in all positions. it's huge - gain is awesome, and it's the only thing i ran across yet comparable to an old ram's head muff. i use it with a super reverb & a 63 jazzmaster and i can't wait to plug it into my plexi when it's back from repair. inside it says rev.3 - i heard they had a problem with noisy switches on the first edition, mine (the switch) is silent. i use it in front of a vox or colorsound wah and it's sheer fun. i have the feeling (paranoid ears maybe) that the tonal range of the sweet delivers for a better wah (vocal like) sound than anything else i've tried. it has very nice mids. i don't know how to express my fascination with this thing, it's just totally awesome old school mayhem.

just got it, no experience with that. but it looks reliable, the pots and the knob have that "sucking feel" to them that you find on the most expensive stereos (maybe a stupid example). the inside is beautifully handmade workmanship. all other effects i use are vintage and considered those tin foil thingies lasted 30 years or so i guess this unit won't give up too soon. if it should i'll definitely swear a little (considered the price tag).

i contacted them about the switch issue and response was quick & informative. i don't know about repair issues, so i can't give a rating on that...

i'd rather listen to led zeppelin, captain beefheart or the stooges than puff daddy or metallica, so it's a match.
i considered buying a reissue muff as a replacement/backup for my old ones, but i found the reissues just didn't "feel right" sonically, (apart from the cr*ppy reliability of the new e/hx stuff). i like it even more than my fuzz king.

This is a simple fuzz with volume, gain and tone knobs. All positions on all knobs are useful.

Two tiny complaints: 1. Almost all three knob o.d. and distortion boxes put the tone in the middle. This one puts it off to the side, so you have to think about it. 2. Black knobs on black box mean you can't see where they're set on a dark stage.
It gets an eight because of these factors.

This might be the best fuzz ever made. This unit produces the rich fuzz off Electric Ladyland that you only think your old Fuzzface used to do 30 years ago. This is a high gain unit, so anything more that about one on the gain produces loads of fuzz, and above about noon it gets ridiculous sustain, but it's always controllable. Even with single coils. It doesn't clean up as well as a 'Face or a Fulltone 69 when you back off the guitar volume, but you didn't buy it because it was clean. It doesn't mud up on the low end. Or shrill out on the high end, unless you turn the tone all the way up.

This fuzz is better than anything Fulltone, Roger Mayer, Z.Vex, etc. makes.

1. It sounds better than the others.

2. It's very wah friendly! Sounds totally cool with a Fulltone Clyde ahead of it. Try that with any other germanium fuzz! Try that with a 70 pedal, you'll just get depressed. How does Frantone do it?

3. Non-bypass pedals ahead of it don't seem to rile it up like they do other similar fuzzes.

4. It sounds best with single-coils, but also sounds quite good with humbuckers, unlike many fuzzes which are heavily strat-biased.

5. It never gets anarchic and weird like Z. Vex fuzzes do. If you want your fuzz to be a rebellious child, buy a Vex Fuzz Factory. If you think you're the Michaelangeo of Guitarists and want the fuzz paintbrush, buy a Sweet.

6. It's not picky about battery type. Alkalines sound just fine.

As a general rule, you should take 10 ratings with a grain of salt. Kids rate their $40 Chinese units ten all day long. But I've tried 'em all, and this might be the best one ever.

This is Hendrix in the studio, Summer '68. (The Frantone Cream Puff fuzz is Hendrix onstage at Monterey, June '67, more or less.)

The Sweet is truly awesome. No kiddie, metal or recto tones here. Just tons of useful retro-fuzz.

Well made by hand in America. Cast aluminum box, top quality pots and jacks, true-bypass with LED. Bakelite knobs! If you are familiar with Fulltone construction, this is similar. Unlike Fulltone, which uses a three-pole switch to switch the signal and LED, I was astounded to find a tiny relay in the Sweet which is actuated by the stomp-switch. There might be something similar in some other stomper, but I'm not aware of it. If the relay holds up, the system should be reliable.

Word on Frantone is that it's some women in Brooklyn, NY making these things. Pretty amazing. I sent an email and they sent me white bakelite knobs. Not that I'm a bedroom-playing gear-goober that worries about the color of knobs, but the white ones are easier to see. I have a feeling that if I had a problem, they'd dispatch a lady to come down here to Texas to fix it. (Then again, maybe not. Who would come down from Brooklyn to Texas and want to go back there?)

The Sweet is as cool as it gets. Loads of smooth retro-fuzz. It's a pleasure to pay $200 for this thing. Every guitar player older than about 40 needs one of these. Every guitar player that appreciates the magic of the late 60s and early 70s needs one of these. Quit reading all this drivel and go out and buy a Sweet.

The Frantone is fairly simple. The classic three knob fuzz configuration. It is actually a very versatile pedal. You can change the tone and nuance of the pedal with small adjustments to the gain and tone knobs...which are interactive. If you've ever used a fuzz or distortion or overdrive before, you can get a good sound out of this right away.

Nonstandard AC adapter jack. Its the only pedal I've had that is younger than 20 years old that doesn't have a 2.1mm barrel jack. Its incompatible with my power supplies, so I almost never keep it in my pedal lineup.

I have used this with a variety of different amps, tube and solid state, and with a variety of different guitars. Single coils, humbuckers, hollow bodies, etc. It is quite useful for all of the above, though it exacerbates single coil hum, so it is usually best to use with a humbucker.

It has the finest rhythm fuzz tone that I have heard. Power and tightly voiced chords sound both warm and well defined. They have the fuzzy, bassy quality that you undoubtedly seek if you are using a fuzz, but they don't sound muffled and dull.

higher notes become a bit more muffled and less defined, and they tend to be a bit less consistent. Higher notes sound different than lower range notes. Leads tend to blend in with the mix when recording, and this is difficult to correct since the signal with The Sweet is highly compressed and quite midrangy.

Not a bad fuzz at all, but it doesn't seem to be the do it all of fuzz.

The pedal seems to be very well built. Typical hammond-style box configuration.

I have no experience with them.

A Good fuzz...Great for just fuzz rhythm, but overall just good. I got mine on a trade, I would never have shelled out the nearly $200 that this pedal frequently sells for. There are plenty of fuzzes that are much cheaper that are as good or better.

The Sweet is almost plug and play. The Sustain and Tone knobs are somewhat interractive with each other, so a tweak of one requires a tweak of the other. Volume knob can go up on a clean amp, but turn it down on a dirty one. Most fuzz pedals don't like amps that are already overdriven, but this one adds a whole new character to my Boogie DC5 combo. Not much of a manual, so I'll shave a little off the points here.

You can see The Sweet with my entire setup at www.cvansickle.net/peds.htm.

I bought this pedal because I wanted a maniac fuzz unit. I use other distortion and overdrive units too, but everything else is too tame. The Sweet has all the gain of a classic germanium fuzz, like a vintage Tone Bender or a Foxx Tone Machine (without the octave). Very old school sounding.

The Sweet works and plays well with all my other effects too. I love it in combination with my Fulltone Clyde wah.

Built like a tank. 'Nuff said.

More like 10 to the tenth power! I exchanged e-mail with Mia at Frantone for months before I bought this pedal, and she was always super helpful. She also helped me straighten out some power supply issues, since my Sweet has the old design mini phone plug adapter input.

I love this pedal!

If you don't have an extra chromasome, you will find this easy to use.

This thing sounds amazing. The tone is useable no matter where you set the tone and saturation knobs. Personally, my favorite setting is the saturation at 9 oclock and the tone at 10 oclock. Even at this low setting it is amazingly heavy. Just a bit less compressed than higher settings and the bottom has great chunky definition. It doesn't clean up when you back off the volume on your guitar, but that's not a big deal for me. This thing sounds great whether you are running it into a clean amp or one with the power tubes distorting. It also sounds great when run with my other pedals. I can create various flavors and levels of distortion with my set up.

Haven't had it too long so I won't give a vote yet. But it is solid and the innerds are nicely put together.

I don't have any experience with the lovely ladies of Frantone. But after trying this pedal, I've got to admit...I want to date them! ;)

I play mostly alternative experimental gurgles with blues and jazz subplots and spaz disco overtones. But seriously, I play lots of stuff and I take guitar tone seriously. My rig is MIJ Fender 72 Tele Thinline into Fulltone 70 Fuzz, ZVex SuperDuper, Truebypassed Crybaby, Frantone Sweet, Keeley Modded Boss BD-2, Boss DD-5 digital delay, Maxon AD-80 analog delay. I've also got a lot of other pedals and guitars that I occassionally beat the bloody hell out of. My amp is a Dr Z Z28 which also kicks serious ass (and it loves pedals).

If someone stole this pedal I would [insert typical lame comment here]. Then I'd make them [insert additional lame comment here].
Seriously, though, this pedal gives me some great high gain tones. I'm loving it.

Very easy to get a good sound out of this pedal if you're looking for a high gain, low dynamics, compressy, sustainy, type sound.

Great Big Muff type sounds. Lots of compression and sustain with a nice "fizziness" over everything.
Good for lots of heavy, psychedelic type stuff.
I'm playing a Parker Fly through a little Emery Sound Superbaby (with an old EL34). For clean jazzy stuff, the HBs on the Parker are a little thin sounding for me. Through the sweet they're just right.
Not noisy at all in my setup. Considerably quieter than my fuzz factory doing a BM imitatation.

Dunno,
Only had it a couple weeks. Looks very well built, inside and out.

Dunno,
I e-mailed them once when i was first considering a FranTone pedal and they got back to me pretty promptly.

Great pedal if you're looking for a very heavy BM type sound.
I really love mine and would buy another in a heartbeat if something happened to it.

Simple 3-knob controls: Volume, Sustain, Tone. There are many different tones in the box, and you should take some time to explore them all. It does a wonderful Big Muff Pi without all the noise. There are two resons I gave it a 9: it's packaged in a beautiful, shiny black case with stylish green and white lettering, but the 3 control knobs are also black. On a dimly lit stage, the knobs are impossible to see, let alone read their position. For $6, Frantone will sell you 3 replacement white or blue knobs. I haven't received mine yet, but they shold be easier to see. Second, the power connector is a 1/8 in. phone jack instead of the more common barrel plug. They aren't the only folks using phono plugs, but barrels are much more common and easier to work into a pedalboard arangement with multiple boxes powered from a single power supply.

Superb. According to the Frantone folks, they were seeking to design the ultimate germanium fuzz, and in my opinion, they succeded. It does a fuzzy sustain, a singing sustain, a fuzzy fuzz and everything in between. I have never heard a Big Muff-type tone that this can't replicate, plus it does much, much more. True bypass, so no tone-sucking when it's off. Amazingly quiet when it's on, especially for a fuzz. It's hard to find words to describe how wonderful this pedal is. In my experience, it's the best there is.

Only had it for a short time. The workmanship and construction are top notch. Solid, substantial box, clean electronic construction.

They answer emails within a few hours. Seem very helpful.

It's not the ultimate over-drive, or the ultimate distortion pedal, but in my opinion it is the ultimate germanium fuzz. To call it the perfect Big Muff Pi is too limiting, since it can do much more than just a Pi imitation, but in the world of sustaining, singing fuzz tones, it's the best there is.

Easy to use just tone,sustain,and level.Not a problem. Nice tone knob too.

Great tone and fuzzstortion. Sounds like the Big Muff. Better probally
One problem though awefull noisy when switched on. There is that poping sound too. I hate it when you switch on a pedal and theres a pop. All in all the pedal sounds awsome. I will have to figure out how to remedy the switching though. Big Muffs are noisy to but i dont think the switch pops. I play LPs and Fender Twin amps. I really love this pedal but that pop sucks. I would chose it over the Big Muff. Just sounds alittle better. Smaller too.

Unknown. Looks sturdy enough

Unknown. I will be in touch with them though about the switch

Great for distortion. Has leds and AC jack. True bypass. Nice size and looks. I love the sounds, creamy fuzz and lots of sustain. I would replace if it was lost. Will work great for the type of rock i play. Awesome tone!! Cant give it a ten on the account its noisy and no silent switching. If i can fix that it will be a 10 for sure.

This is a 3 knob fuzztone wonder. Piece of cake to use. Tone,Sustain,and level knobs. The tone knob dials in anything your heart desiars. It can get searing treble to muddy waters bass. Very effective tone knob. Sustain knob dials in endless amounts of sustain without sounding like Niagria Falls like the Big Muff. It also has alot more output than the Big Muff. You can crank this baby and you dont have to turn it all the way up.

This thing sounds awesome!!!! If you like the Big Muff your going to love this pedal. You'll probally sell your Big Muff once you get this pedal I did. It has more clarity and output and is smaller too. More room on the board for more pedals [yeeeehaw]. The tone on The Sweet is indescribable you will love it I do. I guess thats why they call it The Sweet its sweet man. It is basically a Big Muff tone but alot better. Some Big Muff fans may find this hard to believe so try it and see. It was what i have been searching for. Its a germanium transistor wonder. Yeah thats right germanium transistors what every good fuzz pedal has. Its warm smooth and creamy. I use it through my Les Paul Standard and my Mesa Boogie SOB which is set for mostly clean tones. I can get that heavy fuzztone i love so much. This pedal even has true bypass. My tone thanks Frantone. I LOVE IT

Cant really say but its built like a tank. I think it will last a lifetime.
Switch is the Carling type so dont plan on haveing any problems.

Mia at Frantone totally helped me pick this pedal out. She was sooo helpful. It was between the Peachfuzz or The Sweet. I explained what type of music i play and the sound and tone i needed. She basically recommended The Sweet. Mia said that Bush And Primal Scream recently order them. Not that there my favorite bands or anything but they do have similair guitar sounds that i like.

This pedal has an A/C plug, Led light,and is pretty small. It is black with green lettering. This and my Fuzz Factory are my favorite pedals. I would recommend this pedal to anyone who remotely likes the Big Muff. It blows my reissue Big Muff away, all the way to ebay. Its an all around awesome pedal. I dont have a bad thing to say about it. Even has true bypass which is a must. If i lost it i would break out the backup i am going to buy. Then replace the backup. I have been playing for 11 years now and have found my perfect distortion/fuzztone
pedal. Cost aliitle more than some pedals but worth every penny.

The only problem I had with this pedal is that it is a gain monster-almost too much sustain if that is possible! First time I played it I had my Marshall's gain up all the way with the sustain up all the way. Be sure to start with the sustain on the pedal and the gain on the amp on low and work yourself up.

My fav combo with this pedal is my Marshall Plexi and '84 Strat.
The Sweet lives up to what a boutique pedal should do-it is true bipass with green LED. It is pretty full range and can go from a little germanium chuncky to endless sustain... Also the quality is amazing-it is glossy like a black piece of candy! I haven't been able to get it to make a sound I don't like, but then I only have had it for a month.

I have only had this baby for a month. Seems really well made from looking at the soldering job on the board. Only slight problem is that it doesn't work with a standard adapture-have to get one from Frantone.

I asked Mia at Frantone endless questions before buying one and she always respond right away. Also they fix any of their pedals that haven't been abused(vomit ect...) for return postage...

I only use this pedal when I play really raucaus music. Sometimes I do session work with singer/songwriter types and the Sweet sort of scares them! As far as getting a great distorted lead sound(sounds like what I would like a Fuzz face to sound like) this is the pedal!
I hate to say it, but one of the reasons I went with this pedal is because it is really beautiful and every detail is amazing. Also it is easier to get usable settings. Much more than my Fuzzfactory Zvex.