Guyatone TZ-2 The Fuzz

It's got two knobs: volume and depth. Oh! And a kick switch. As the writer Timothy Dexter wrote in the second edition of his 1802 book "A Pickle for the Knowing Ones; or Plain Truths in a Homespun Dress" users can employ these knobs to "peper and solt it as thay plese".

First off I should say that, were you to only use this for recording, it's an easy 10. While it doesn't reach into the depths of insanity that the Shin-Ei / Univox Superfuzz it's modeled on does, character wise it comes pretty damn close. For the chump change paid for it, in a recording situation, it's a nice option for the cash strapped fuzz enthusiast to have in their arsenal. It's character is of the 'ACK ACK' family of Fuzzboxes, rather than the Big Muff 'BUZ BUZ' grouping. It's perfect for maximum impact rock music, especially heavy psyche, noise, doom, and stoner. The Volume knob does just that, alters the volume while leaving the Depth (Gain). The Depth takes the fuzz from a 1966 heavy rock / Yardbirds type of vibe, to a bunch of rocks in a cement mixer / Amphetamine Reptile Records type of sound.

Now for the rub.
As great as this pedal is, it's saddled with some real issues that the performing musician should be aware of. First of all, the TZ2 is a petulant brat that demands to be first in your effects chain, or she'll **** her pants and ruin the trip. If she's the only lil' brat Fuzzbox you'll be taking along, then that's fine, but otherwise you'll have to make the decision on whether or not to leave her at home because....

As powerful in character as this pedal is, it has a serious problem in the volume department. Without a boost of some sort after it you'll find yourself with a dramatic loss of the stuff. As such, if you have other pedals that need to be #1 in your chain, brothers and sisters - you must choose!

This was a huge disappointment for me as this thing is a real monster in it's own way, but as with anything in this price range, you have to take it for what it is - a great, GREAT studio fuzz.

I'd say this depends on how much of a maniac you are on stage - if you become a testosterone laden gibbon covered with fleas and like to jump around on your gear - no, this poor thing can't take that kind of abuse for long.

As others have mentioned, I'm concerned about the bizarre choice of using a rubber seal to keep the battery plate on the main unit. This is another mark against it in it's live application as spilled beer, booze and puke will probably turn that rubber seal to dust in no time.

No clue.

For the recordings I've done using the TZ2, I've been VERY pleased as it's a heavy, chunky, torn speaker box, perfect for the Noise Punk / Heavy Psyche the group I'm part of deliver(I know! it's like rubbing the opposite poles of a magnet together!). The only issues I have are the weak volume output and the rubber seal. As it will never leave the house, I doubt it would get stolen by the neighborhood kids that will likely break in, but in that event - sure I'd get another - they're plentiful and dirt cheap. Just go on craigslist and you'll likely find a used one for 30 bucks.

not very complex knob wise , some might say it lacks versatility but im guessing they havnt used a fuzz before. if you factor in the different sounds you can get from what channel u use on your amp how clean or how dirty and what pickup u use and backing off the giutar knobs or leaving them open the ammount of sounds you can get is pretty big (sorry no thrash metal here)and also you can get less extreme sounds out of it if you turn the fuzz down on the pedal , but even at the highest setting easing up on your attack it can go to a whisper then back to full on without every turning anything up or down , it never gonna sound like a acoustic but it a fuzz duh.

if your looking for a doom sound this your pedal (now i know some of you are crying its so bright and its got upper octave well hold on) as you may know alot of doom bands use really light strings tuned way down through their neck pickups so if your playing with the bridge pickup tuned to E you might think im crazy but itll work good that way too not for doom but youll get a cool 60s rat fuzz sound or fu manchu sound that way.
i use 42-9s tuned to B on one guitar and 36-9 tuned to c# on the other through a marshall mg-100(nonDfx) on the clean channel with the crunch botten pushed in and the gain about 1:00 which gives me that perfect electric wizard/black sabbath tone that ive been searching for . its sounds cool on a clean channel too but to me its sounds better with a little gain on the amp .
now if you got a dark cab(amp)you might not like this pedal as much as i realized when i switched from my single twelve cab with a 3way loud speaker back to my 4X10 celestion goldback marshall( which made the tz-2 sound dull and lifeless and unrealized by me had been mudding my tone for years) so if you got some bright guitar speakers or a bass amp with a tweeter your gonna love this thing it really sizzles in a good way in the high freq area

havnt had it more than 2-3 months but seems pretty sturdy and not as cheap as its size might let on, also despite what i read the batteries last a long freaking time as long as you remember to unplug the input jack when your done it should last 20+ hours of playing .some guy said somewhere he went through a whole pack of batteries in 2 weeks but im still on my first danoelectro battery.

also the battery cavity aint very hard to get into in fact its quite easy and would be a snap to do on stage so id gig with it for sure and woudnt see a need for a backup but i might buy another one just in case as its a big part of my sound now

hadnt had to deal with the company but i did forget to send in my warranty card in time , be warned you dont have more than a couple days to send it in so be fast and keep the reciept

long story short get this pedal , i just happened on it as it was on sale and figured at that price what the hell go for it and now i cant live without it .

also i never touched on the fact its sounds really cool with power chords while it gives an upper octave with single strings it sounds like your getting an sub-octave down with chords so those of you that might be worried your chords are gonna sound wimpy with the upper octave in there those of you who tune low and play with neck pickup will be surprised how heavy it gets .

Two pots: Volume and depth - easy! It doesn't take long to get the sound you are after with this pedal. One thing which has been pointed out by other reviewers is the base plate, which is attached with a piece of rubberskirting. This does seem strange, I definately haven't seen any other pedals with this design, but hey its Japanese!

My guitar is an Ibanez Sz320 with the bridge pickup replaced with a Seynmour Duncan custom 5. When I first bought this pedal I was using a Marshall AVT100 amp, as my usual amp was being repaired. Try as I might I was unable to get a sound out of this pedal I was completely happy with. I found the pedal to be overly trebly and if I pushed the depth anything past 9 'o clock the amount of high end distortion became overbearing and unusable. This was certainly not the classic Univox superfuzz distortion I was expecting.

However, then I got my other amp back from repairs. This amp is a late 70's 100 watt Ampeg V4 which I play through a half stack loaded with 2x vintage 30's and 2x G12K's. I plugged in the pedal and wow! The fuzz was thick crunchy and cut through the air like a knife! With a little bit of fidling I got the sound I was after (think Fu manchu). Suddenly this pedal was tranformed into a great and very unique sounding unit. I was orignally doubtful that this pedal would be a faithful replica of the univox sound, but it really is.

There are a couple of things worth noting however. If you are after any kind of subtlety don't bother with this pedal, it is by far the most high gain pedal I have used. Secondly, this pedal is not hugely versitile in my opinion. It gets a great tone but don't expect too much varyation. If you are just after a good and unique sounding pedal however, the TZ2 is great. As I found, however, the sound of this pedal seems to vary imensely with the amp you use, so be warned.

Seems like a fairly solid unit. The rubber holding the base in place is interesting but hasn't let me down yet. Definately gig ready.

Never needed to use this.

I play rock, stoner rock fuzz rock etc. Hence a good fuzz pedal is essential. If you want a fuzz pedal that sounds completely different to the more standard models out there (big muff, fuzz face, RAT etc) or if you want to replicate the sound of Fu Manchu then this pedal definitely delivers. If this pedal were stolen I would replace it - its cheap and has a great sound.

Controls are dead simple.
Volume controls general level and Depth adjusts the amount of grit.
Add an on/off switch to that and you're done.
It is a very extreme sound unit so it can be a bit difficult to control. You have to play cleanly.

I use this pedal with bass.
It works very well with active and passive and preserves lows. Actually, it adds lows.
Don't expect refinement and delicateness. It's a brutal beast. Hairy and raspy tone. They could have called it the Wookie Fuzz, fits it like a glove.
There are hints of upper octave in the tone that help cutting through.
Chords generate some random gargling bubbles of tone, very interesting.
You won't find an ounce of your original tone even at low Depth levels.

Perfect at what it does : Mimic these synth-like Muse tones, play power chords in angry music or give a dirty push to your industrial band. Good bypass, no noise added (when off !).

Sturdy metal box there with a solid stomp switch.
it's small and low with a large rubber base.
I believe it will handle abuse without complaining too much.
The back plate is thin though and isn't attached with screws. the rubber joint keeps it together. I'm affraid it will turn loose with time.
The circuit is simple and well built, connectors are attached to the box and not to the circuit.

Asked a few questions to Guyatone, still expecting the answer.
No other experience with them.

It's a very straightforward unit. Actually it's even a bit too simple.
It could have used a tone control to tame it a bit and maybe built-in compression or blend control. As is, it can be a bit over the top.
It would have defeated the concept of a small noise box though.
I use an Ibanez LF-7 behind it to offer more versatility.

I use a Fulltone Bass-Drive as my Overdrive unit. I wanted something different, unatural and ultra-aggressive. This is exactly what i got.
I was interested in a Prescription Electronic Depth charge, this one does pretty much the same job for a fraction of the price.
An excellent value for what it's worth. This kind of tone isn't for everyone.

the tz-2 has only two knobs (volume & depth), so the spinning the dials part of the pedal certainly isn't difficult. but, just like guyatone's hd-2 (another signal clipper in their "micro" series), i found it necessary to put a compressor in front of the tz-2 to eliminate "fartin-out" on the bottom two strings. i have hi-output pickups; maybe this is the cause? no matter. i mention this merely to explain why i'm not giving a "10" in this category when there are only two potentiometers & their interaction is pretty basic.

set-up when using the tz-2: 1976 gibson s-1 w/lindy fralin p-90s > keeley compressor > guyatone tz-2 > dr. z mini z (5-watt tube amp w/8 inch speaker). everything connected w/george l's cables, voodoo labs pedal power 2 supplying the juice. according to guyatone, the sound of the tz-2 apes that of a vintage univox superfuzz. does it? i dunno. i don't own one, & i have no idea what mouldy oldies from rock's hallowed past the univox was used on. therefore, i have no blueprint with which to compare. my only comment for harmony central readers re: the tz-2 will be the sound i am getting from this pedal w/my rig. what is that sound? how about ridiculously below-the-belt triple-thickness woofer-killin' low-end? the type of sound that flavor of the month "simon says" devotees are drop-tuning or putting a set of bass strings on their guitar to achieve. really, it's nigh impossible to dial the low-end out. so the tz-2, for me, winds up being a one-trick pony, cuz i'm not interested in the ring modulator or "octavia" (am i alone in thinking they shoulda retired this irritating sound the minute hendrix got thru w/his purple haze solo?) sounds. but for the odd song or two where i need chords or bottom-string riffs from the bowels of hades, WHAT A SOUND!

see my review for the hd-2.

again, review for hd-2.

65 clams. we're talkin' boss or ibanez-type amounts o' dough here. & i'm not out to slam boss or ibanez (or line 6 or digitech or...), but i doubt any of those companies have a pedal in their line that is designed to faithfully reproduce a vintage classic. unlike another pedal-maker (maxon) whose m.o. is to make "quiet" pedals that leave the extraneous noise out, it seems to me that guyatone- at least w/their "micro" series- are more akin to electro-harmonix; the hissing & howling makes the character of the pedals unique, & even somewhat wild & unpredictable. which i like. who knows, maybe r&d guys from maxon, guyatone, or E-H (or maybe all three) are reading this & saying "this guy has no idea what he's talking about!" hey, it wouldn't be any different than what my teachers' reactions were when i turned in my term papers in high school. so let the reader decide: can we really trust this guy?

Simplicity itself. Two little knobs: volume and depth (fuzz) and a stomp switch.

Okay, here we go with three days worth of observations. I've now tried the TZ2 with both my Lotus str@t and my Epi Les Paul through my Laney HC50 amp, and with the LP through my Kustom K200 head/4x12 cab.

The best way to start is to say that this box picks up where something like a Maestro Fuzz Tone or a Fuzzrite leaves off. Leaving the depth control at minimum provides a reasonably authentic vintage fuzz sound with moderate sustain. Crank it up from there and it goes completely insane--raw, buzzsaw fuzz that breaks up into pure white noise, pseudo-ring modulator tones, metallic clanging, or octave effects depending on your playing. There is nothing subtle about this tone...none of that "smooth creamy sustain" crap here. Unlike things like the Big Muff, this doesn't "sing," it SHREIKS...imagine Alanis Morissette transformed into a stompbox. The TZ2 pumps out a crapload of high end, well over the top. You will NEED to turn down your mid and treble on your amp, especially if you're playing a str@t or a Tele. The lack of a tone control here is a major omission IMO; backing off the tone on your guitar simply changes the character of the fuzz rather than smooths it out (it also makes the octave effect more pronounced), so the pedal is ALWAYS extremely bright. The octave effect increases as you increase the depth, btw, but never really goes completely away and could be a hindrance if you don't want that slight shimmer at all.

I've had it all of three days, so I can't vouch for it yet, but I don't see anything obviously chintzy about it. The O-ring bottom plate is actually kind of a cool idea, in spite of what other reviewers say. Otoh, those dreaded black plastic jacks are present, but they haven't failed me yet on any other pedals.

Not a clue, although Guyatone's website is pretty informative and has some cool features (their Flash demos are pretty neat).

We'll get this out of the way now: the TZ2 is not what I consider a versatile pedal. It's not a "vintage" fuzz...if you're looking for an inexpensive alternative to a Maestro, Fuzz Face, Tone Bender, etc., look elsewhere. It's certainly not a general-purpose do it all distortion/fuzz like my cherished and still-unrepaired DOD Classic Fuzz. Metalheads shouldn't bother, of course, and grungesters will find it maybe a little TOO edgy.

But for all that the TZ2 is a very cool little pedal, folks. It doesn't do a lot, but what it does do, it does with flying colors. Octave, ringmod, noise...it could provide that trashy avant-garde edge your music needs. Don't think of the TZ2 as a distortion or a fuzztone as much as a noise machine, and you may well find it an incredibly useful pedal. Not to say it can't sub for a conventional fuzz in a pinch, but as I said that's only where it begins. Check it out, at the very least.

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only 2 knobs, level, and Fuzz or "depth"

i had to mod this one to My personal taste....

i use a Fender Mustang or Jag-stang--->Dano French toast (modded myself)--->Boss Hyper-Fuzz--->Snarling dogs Fuzz Buzz (modded HEAVILY myself)--->Super-Muff (Big-Muff i modded HEAVILY myself)--->Guyatone FZ-2--->Yun's Steroid Fuzz (pedal i made)---> Marshall valvestate 100 watt head--->RARE Kustom 4X12 open back cab--->Peavy Transtube 15 watt amplifier.

The problem i had with this is that it just simply isn't Loud enuff. There's a BIG volume loss. So i had to Mod this pedal. Now it sounds way thicker, and has 7 fold the volume! i still don't like how it's very shrill, and octave up sorta thing as you play past the 10'th fret.

So it's just too shrill, and too much like an octave fuzz. i have/had many super-Fuzzes, including clones. But this one is the worst.

well, after taking a peak inside: the back-plate isn't screwed on. it's held on by the Rubber ring. the Stomp switch is a SPDT which must suck batteries. The Jacks,and DC jack is mounted very poorly on the PCB. i wouldn't gig with this pedal by it'self, man.

Never bothered em.

Overall, this pedal is great for the money, but i expected it to be much better than this. It doesn't sound like a Super-Fuzz. so they shouldn't advertise it as a "Clone". that's false advertisement, man.

i've been playing for 12 years. if it were stolen or lost i wouldn't care, i would be disapointed if i lost anything i paid for, or in this case: traded for.

i wish i had my Super-Fuzz back :( .

Don't get me wrong though, this pedal is great for the money, just don't buy it expecting a Super-Fuzz.

Thanks

Two knobs:volume and depth...couldn't be any easier.

I'm playing a 1963 fender Jaguar into the TZ2 into a, into a Fuzz Face reissue, into a MXR Phase 100, into a solid state Echoplex, into a '68 Super Reverb. I have no noise problems with this unit, although my noise floor might be a little higher than some others. Basically, I'm using this pedal for over the top fuzz and it delivers in spades. Buzzy distortion and lots of sustain. There is a definate high and low end but maybe not so much in the middle...punchy and peircing...very cool. It works well with all my other effects, especially the Fuzz Face. Together they create a rolling uncontrollable distortion that makes the perfect climactic ending for a gig. I suppose it's too (!!!!) strong for some, so I'll take a point off.

I hear what others are saying regarding the jacks, battery cover, and all that, but I have never had a problem. I've owned mine for 4 years maybe and so far it's OK.

Sent in warrenty card...no more to tell.

I play in a drone psych feedback band. Our influences are early Velvets, Can, Loop, Spaceman 3, Syd era Pink Floyd, and maybe a little Cure. The TZ2 is awesome for when we do our space jams. It always helps my soloing tone...I can't believe the nu-garage rock crew aren't all over this pedal. I don't know of a fuzz that sounds quite like...certainly not the extremely overated TS9. If I lost it I'd buy it again. It's not the only pedal I need to own, but I definately need to own it.

Easy to use: Volume and Depth ( fuzz effect ) controls.

I use a Peavey Transtube amp and a strat or a tele. With this effect, I don't use too much else. I don't really play a lot of music that requires a fuzz, but I thought this would be a fun effect to play around with. It isn't that noisy for a fuzz pedal, but don't expect it to be ultra-quiet. More noise with an increase in the depth setting. Don't know why they called it depth instead of fuzz. The TZ2 sounds good for a fuzz, but it seems the octave doesn't work too well with guiats with lower than average output. I have a Squier ProTone Strat, and it sounds great clean, bell-like tones. With the TZ2, it just doesn't have enough output to get the octave effect to stand out. Didn't have a problem with my Fat Tele, but the effect is most noticeable past the 11th fret. The octave effect reminds me a lot of an old Foxx Fuzztone wah pedal I played many years ago. The fuzz sounds good, and I really like the way the bass notes sound. I give the sound a 9, because the octave effect really makes this a versatile pedal. Another reviewer claimed to hear some bleed through in the bypass mode, and so I really gave the pedal a thorough going over, and heard absolutely no bleed through.

These pedals are so small, they would probably get kicked off the stage into the audience if you aren't carefull. Don't know how you would even tape it down without covering up the controls. I'm not sure how durable it is...the housing seems sturdy enough, but the switch has a light touch to it...I prefer the old-stlye where you really had to step on the switch and would hear a loud solid click. The rubber thing that holds the battery cover on is obviously what everyone complains about..they should have just used screws. I don't gig, so I won't give a rating in this category.

I've been playing guitar for along time...mostly jazz, so this pedal is just for fun. Jimi Hendrix still remains my favorite guitar player, and the octave feature of this pedal lets me get Hendrix-like sounds. The fuzz doesn't really sound like a FuzzFace, but I like it better than the Ibanez FZ7 I had. A LOT BETTER. I wish it had a tone control, but the guitar's tone knob works well enough...takes the edge of the fuzz effect. I think the Voodoo Labs Super Fuzz is more versatile, though it doesn't have the octave effect. The pedal definitley could use a better design for the battery compartment ( Hate the rubber band thingy .)If I lost the pedal I would probably replace it.

its really simple to use two knobs one volume and one depth

i use a les paul custom through a marshallavt50 head into a 198? crate cab and a few pedals. I dont get any noise while its off. I usually turn the volume all the way up, It works great as an overdrive if you keep the depth down and volume up. I like having this pedal around its my first fuzz i thought about getting a big muff but i liked the guyatone more. It can get really bassy and it sounds so great.

I've only had it for awhile a few months but im sure it will last me a long time. it has plastic jacks but it doesnt really bother me and to replace the battery you remove this rubber ring which doesnt look very strong but if anything ever happens ill tape it up.

never dealt with them.

i try to play lots of styles i mainly play thrash and grindcore ive been messing with noise lately and the fuzz really lets me get a wall of sound when combined with a whammy delay and a DOD DEATH METAL DISTORTION, heh.i ...Its a sweet pedal to have around and its cheap.