HomeBrew Electronics Arizona U.F.O Fuzz

Pretty easy to get a good sound, in fact it's difficult to get a bad sound out of this pedal. I set mine with the fuzz and level both around 10:00 (this things has mucho volume output!) into the dirty channel of my amp. I prefer the vintage setting like most here. FOr single soils (Srat w/ WCR's) I set the tone around 11:00, humbuckers (stock Les Paul Studio) I set the tone around 1:00. This works like a charm because I have a great sounding fuzz for single coils and humbuckers just by changing the terble response a little. The octave takes a little more know-how to get the best tone. Like any other octave up/fuzz you will get the best results on the neck pickup, above the 10th fret with the tone rolled off a bit.

Dayumn! That's what comes to mind when I hear this pedal. I primarily bought this to replace the shrill, harsh octave up tone to my VL Proctavia. I really was only interested in the octave up mode of this effect. First, let me say that the octave up is just about as perfect as you can get. As I mentioned that octave pedals sound best above the 10th fret, neck pick up and tone rolled off, this pedal is the exception. While it sounds best under those circumstances it also sounds great all over the fret board and without the tone rolled off at all. Like I said, it's difficult to make this effect sound bad. It was the opposite with the Proctavia; difficult to get it to sound good. The UFO has the Jimi/Satch thing going on and the octave just blooms.

After owning this pedal for over year I had a revelation. The fuzz sounds amazing on its own! I was never a fuzz user so I never bothered with it. I have since played other fuzzes and nothing sounds as good as this does to me. Just a thick, grinding fuzz that never gets harsh or sputtery like some can. It can do vintage Jimi/Gilmour fuzz or stoner rock/Smashing Pumpkins wall of sound fuzz. Again, remember that I use the fuzz with the level and gain low into a cooking tube amp (Splawn Pro Mod or Rivera M60) that's already overdriven. I don't think the fuzz sounds anywhere near as good into a real clean amp, solid state or tube.

I have had this on my board for about 3 years and never had a problem. It has seen many gigs and jam sessions. The build quality is superb and you can feel it.

Joel is exteremly helpful and will bend over backward to get you a great product and keep you satisfied. He was very helpful in answering my questions about this pedal.

I play many different styles that range from blues/funk/prog/surf/jazz/metal/and all forms of rock. See my original band prog/spacey/rock, Cheap Sedated Hams(www.myspacethehamsmusic)for an idea what I play. This pedal has become a staple on my live gig board and I have never gigged without it in the 3 years I had it. I give this a 9 because nothing is perfect but this is as close as it gets for me in a fuzz/octave and the price is very reasonable.

These questions are almost misleading in nature; this pedal is in my 'fake boutique' category with many others. This boutique thing started years ago and the first pedals made were righteous. Now everyone thinks they are providing boutique pedals, and most are NOT. There is very little righteous about this pedal sound wise, although construction is fine. MAJOR POPS when you engage the pdeal on both fuzz and octave, octave is barely audible, and I mean barely, and the fuzz when engage is so noisy it is embarassing (even when out of my pedal chain all alone). You should be able to turn down the volume on the guitar and use it like Jimi did on a well made fuzz, and you CAN't. You get no usable tone with the volume knob. I agree with a below negative review, and PLEASE stop leaving 10 so liberally, you are throwing off averages horribly. AND PLEASE DO leave low ratings so the averages are accurate.

These effects should not be made for one type of guitar or anything; a fuzz is for solid body primarily, and single coil or not the fuzz should do it's job. I use Fralin pickups, and have NO PROBLEM with unwanted and unmusical with other pedals I own (I know about and LOVE all of Jimi's feedback/overtones and this AIN't IT).

Seems well made but who cares; I am not buying for construction...

Too soon.

I just wish all of the rookie players with little experience would stop leaving glowing reviews all over HC. It says right in the 'directions' NOT to. 10 is like the Heavess part and you see Jimi and Stevie smiling down. I saw Jim and Stevie but boy were they pissed off.

How easy is it to get a good sound out of it?
Very friendly to use, FUZZ/TONE/LEVEL knobs, and OCTAVE ON/OFF with an additional ON/OFF switch to activate the pedal. There is also a toggle to switch between VINTAGE/MODERN.

Can you get the sound of your favorite artists? Who are they?
Yes, Band of Gypsy, True Hendrix sound in either Vintage or Modern setting.

Are certain effects (distortion, chorus, ...) very good? Very bad?
Excellent FUZZ sound, it is saturated but it can be regulated with the volume knob of your guitar. Note that to get the best sound you must use the neck pickup of your guitar and sounds best with a single coil pickup.

What setup (i.e. what guitars and amps) are you using this with?
FENDER STRAT>RMC WAH>HBE UFO>FULLTONE '70>FULLTONE '69>KR MEGA VIBE>VISUAL SOUND H2O>MARSHALL JTM30.

Is it noisy? On what settings?
Noise free unit when it is on any setting.

Are the effects weak or do they always sound great?
The unit is like a booster when controlled by the guitar volume. By having a true bypass, no loss of tone at all.

Can you depend on it?
Very solid and well built, I opened the unit and inside the electronic board is a work of art. I wish I could find a see thru box. No need for a back up at all.

If you've dealt with the company, how helpful/friendly were they?
Have not have to deal with customer service yet, and I think I won't.

What style of music do you play? Is this a good match?
Classic Rock

How long have you been playing? What other gear do you own?
10 Yrs
If it were stolen or lost, would you buy it again or get something else?
Yes

what do you love about it? What do you hate? What is your favorite feature?
Very easy to use and it tracks very well, nothing to hate about it, and my favorite feature is that uses a -9VDC. I can use the BOSS PSA adapter.

Did you compare it to other products? Which ones? Why did you choose this one?
I compare it to the Fulltone Ultimate Octave Pedal and the Fulltone Octafuzz. This unit is far superior in craftsmanship, the inside tells you all, once it is plugged in, you will be amazed with the sound of the FUZZ and OCTAVE, it blows the competition away. I tried them all and the last one was the Voodoo Lab Proctavia, that let me to believe that they are of low quality components. Fulltone was good buy they are unfriendly to set up. You have to have a real tube amp with lots of watts for them (Fulltone Ultimate Octave Pedal and the Fulltone Octafuzz)to really sound good.

Turn up the Fuzz, and away you go!!!

As stated in my review for the MI Audio Crunch Box, after being totally blown away with that, my quest was to find the ultimate fuzz. Lo and behold, it didn't take very long, cause here it is!! This baby just sizzles. It's from another planet. Like all pedals, it's at it's best when run into a good clean tube amp, and this one likes single coils, too, so get out yer Strat. I'm running it into a REEVES Custom 100 and Marshall cab. I maxed the fuzz and volume, and instantly I was playing like Jimi (to be honest, I was smoking Jimi). It's a thick, rich, dense, smoldering,organic fuzz...just awesome. My whole house was vibrating. Hitting the octave gives you added sonic mayhem when you just wanna blast off into cosmic chaos.

This box will withstand a 100 megaton nuclear blast. So will cockroaches.

We'll soon find out....the unit came without a knob for the tone control. I emailed em for a replacement. Stay tuned.

Just a great sounding, high quality box. It's the King of Fuzz. I can't stess enough the importance of playing this thru a loud clean tube amp like Fender, Hiwatt, or Marshall 100W plexi. No crappy solid state combos, please. Great for single note riffing and stoner rock excursions. Totally different, but equally essential, sound compared to the Crunch box. You have to have one in your collection. I'm so impressed with this that i'm thinking of popping for their Power Screamer pedal. Tune in, turn on, and drop out!! (Yikes really showing my age with that one!!)

Straight forward set up.

Pretty clean, I've found some screaming tones but I always forget how it was set

Works when I use it.

This is why I'm bothering with this review. My son plugged a 12 volt converter into it and fried it. The owner repaired it at no charge (except I paid shipping). What a guy ! You can't get better than that. I doubt most other guys would even return an e mail. Are you reading Fulltone?

this pedal is not overly complex. as with any effect pedal,sound is subjective and the individual player should have any easy time finding his or her tone.

as far as tone goes,this pedal is excellent. the effect can be adjusted for a warm sustained fuzz in the vintage mode, and a thinner
"crunchier" tone using the mod switch. personally i prefer the vintage. my band played c.b.g.b in manhattan two weeks ago,and the guitarist from the preceding band complimented my tone after the show. the pedal is quiet,even at a higher volume,though i am very conscious about dynamics. depending upon the size of the venue,i use
two amplifiers: either a seymour duncan convertible with one 12" speaker or a carvin 3200 with two 12" speakers. both are tube amps and this pedal sounds clean when played through either amp.

i recommend the pedal for gigs,and do not have a backup pedal. should i encounter a problem when playing a show,i would bypass the effect pedal(s) and use the overdriven channel on the amplifier. i use a mesa boogie v-twin and play through the clean channel on both of my amps. also,the v-twin has a distortion that is unique,though i prefer the h.b.e. ufo for my guitar solo.

i have not had to use customer support thus far.

i play & write original music that is difficult to label. through the years some have likened my sound as talking heads/king crimson/ chili peppers/parliament-funkadelic influenced. if this pedal were lost or stolen,i would buy another one. i immediately sold the pedal,thinking it was too noisy when first used it at rehearsal. after it was sold,i realized the amplifier was the culprit. the buyer did not receive it,and i refunded his money. thinking it was lost in the mail,i searched for another one. about a month later,it is in my mailbox marked "address unknown". i opened the box,plugged it in,and will not part with it. the tone is incredible,with warm sustain and the octave-up adds a unique depth to my sound. overall,i would rate this pedal a 9.5(nothing is perfect,right?)

Very straight forward. You have a knob that controls the level, a knob that controls the amount of fuzz that you want, and a smaller knob that controls the tone. I love having the tone knob. It makes provides you with so many more sound options. The switches are very easy to use as well. You have a "VIN/MOD" switch that gives you two totally different sounds. I personally only use the "vintage" setting. I think it just sounds way fatter. The "moddern" sounds good too, but a little too thin for my tastes. It also has a on/off switch and a switch for your octave. Both are straight forward. I only wish you could use the octave without the fuzz, so I could use the octave with my overdrive pedal, but oh well. The fuzz is a perfect match for the octave anyway. Overall, the pedal is very easy to use.

Ok, sound quality is top notch. Fuzzes are so incredibly different. You have some fuzzes that are very light and vintage-sounding, others that sound like death-metal doom in a box, some that are squalky, wierd, and barely useable, and then you have the Santana-sounding, smooth as silk sound, and the list goes on. I think I sampled every possible mp3 on the internet. I bought the Analogman Sun Face NKT w/ sundial. I love his pedals and the Sunface was great, but to my ears, I thought it was just too muddy sounding and a little weak in the amount of fuzz that was available. It had it's qualities though, but I gues it just wasn't for me.

The UFO is definitely the best fuzz out there in my opinion. It is so versitile. It goes from super heavy/thick fuzz, to vintage Jimmy Hendrix fuzz. The tone knob , I just love. Another thing that I absolutely love is that it is one of the few fuzz pedals out there that sounds great for leads AND chords. It just sounds so great in both departments! Also, the level is insane! It is soooo powerful. You have tons of volume beneath your foot.

A huge selling point for me is that this pedal is dead silent! When it's off, you here nothing!!! When it's on, there is NO hissing noise of any kind!

I use play a Rickenbacker 360 and Fender Lonestar Strat though a Fender '65 Twin Reverb and let me tell you.... it doesn't get any better than this. The UFO has defintely become my favorite pedal. I love the way it sounds while playing leads through my Maxon Analog Delay and it also kicks butt through my Phaser. It's just awesome with all my pedals!!!

The biggest reason I got the fuzz is because I wanted to get the sound of Dean Wareham of Luna and also that smooth Santana sound. Well, this pedal nails both and more.

I don't play the octave as much as I thought that I would, but it does rock!!! It makes you sounds EXACTLY like Hendrix! It really does! I couldn't believe it when I first turned on the octave, I was like.... AHHA!!!

This thing is ROCK SOLID!!! It is built so well. Every switch and knob is so solid. This thing should last centuries! The metal housing is very well made. The gold paint is gorgeous. The switches are excellent. This thing is built like a Mercedes!

Never had any contact with the company. Can't really comment.

Well, this is one of those pedals that I don't ever want to part with. I love it. It has not only complimented my sound, it has basically defined it!!! I would replace this fuzz in heartbeat.

The only thing I wish it would do is allow you to play the octave separately from the fuzz. Other than that, I love everything about this pedal. It's built like a tank, it looks so awesome with it metallic gold paint, it sounds like a million dollars, it's incredibly versitile, and I personally don't think there is a better sounding fuzz out there!

i give up!!! ... 3 different guitars... w/3 different pick-ups (single coil, p-90s, humbuckers)... rolling back the volume & tone knobs on the guitars... amp on "clean" settings or "edge of break-up" settings... twisting the treb-mid-bass knobs on the amp every which way... fuzz, level & tone knobs on the UFO in every imaginable position... UFO's switch in both "vintage" & "modern" modes... and as god is my witness, i COULD NOT get a sound that didn't bring to mind the cheapest digital buzzing associated w/$20 distortion pedals that clog this nation's landfills... what gives???

the sound i'm getting? try & figure this out- too much bass on the 5th & 6th strings, yet thin & "nasal-y" on the G,B,&(high)E strings! sorta makes it impossible to dial one or the other out, doesn't it? also, the upper octave sound was coming thru- even when using the bridge pick-up! -when playing anywhere higher than the 10th fret. of course, it was not as pronounced as when the octave switch was actually activated; never-da-less, i don't wanna hear the "8VA" sound AT ALL!

kudos here. i opened up the UFO to see if there was an internal battery that came w/the unit (FYI: there was), & i was taken aback w/the ABSOLUTE BEAUTY of the innards of this pedal: craftsmanship of the highest order.

to all the whinin' crybabies out there, i offer my old grandpappy's advice: GO TELL IT TO THE MARINES!!

i'm sure the eagle-eyed amongst you have noticed that i have not been giving numerical ratings in the categories in which i've expressed unhappiness. why? for one, some of the observations are JUST MY OPINION: they are not FACTS, like the laws of gravity or inertia. and one man's earwax is another's ambrosia. secondly, the gripes i had that are closest to being FACTS (e.g. faint upper octave sound on "regular" fuzz settings)--- is it possible that, even though i thought i tried EVERYTHING to get a sound i liked, joel from homebrew might come over to my studio & say "you didn't try this solution, you simpleton!" but until that scenario transpires, color me unimpressed w/the UFO. it's not the first time a much-hyped pedal has disappointed me (keeley compressor, frantone sweet, maxon ad-9, prescription electronic's entire line-up!). probably won't be the last time, either.

This pedal is so much fun!

I use an Epi Les Paul and a Sunn Model T going through a 4 X12" cab and a 2X15" cab. I only use the "vin" setting. The "mod" setting is a bit too much for me....too harsh. I also onl use this pedal for the fuzz. I don't use the octave. I wish Homebrew Electronics would make a fuzz pedal without the octave. I went on a search one day for the ultimate fuzz. I tried about 20 different pedals of all sorts. The UFO fuzz sound is miles ahead of all the others. It's true fuzz. Fuzz that sounds like fuzz. A heavy, Hendrixy, stoner fuzzy sound from outer space. Thick and juicy! I like the tone set at about 11 o'clock. Holy crap this thing sounds awesome!

Built like a tank. Great design---cool knobs! I always keep a backup though.

Nice people at Homebrew. I wrote them an email to ask if they made or planned on making just a fuzz pedal (without octave). "No" was the answer, but they were nice about it and replied quickly. Very helpful customer support.

I play in an instrumental stoner rock band. The UFO is one of my favorite tools. I've been playing for about 15 years. I also own a green sovtek big muff and a newer black russian big muff. I would buy the UFO again. I just love the fuzz sound it has. It's the best. There's really nothing I don't like about it. I could do without the "mod" and octave options I guess, but they don't really get in my way.

Gold Finish - #00427. Straight forward layout. Fuzz, level, tone knob, Octave and on/off switches. Vin/Mod switch.
Not much of a manual.

I use this in the chain(Strobostomp, Homebrew Germacide, Rick Gram Woman tone, Fulltone 69', UFO, Phaser Fleur, Fulltone Choral Flange, EH Memory Man. Gives a bit edgier Fuzz than the '69 and the Octave, as others have said, is pretty sweet. It's a great way to throw in something a little different during gigs and to be honest will soon replace the 69' pedal. I'm really coming to appreciate it's dynamics.
Has worked well gigging in small to medium clubs. Not sure how it sounds in a living room. Haven't gigged in one for quite some time.
My gigging guitars are a Fender Swamp Ash Strat and Les Paul Standard. Seymour Duncan pickups in both. Amps, Giller 18 watt with Weber Speakers and a Randall RT-30, Weber Blue Dogs of course.

It's been a Rock for about a year now. I'm not to worried about it. Have had contact with Joel regarding the Germacide and he's great when it comes to Customer suport.

See above.

Hmmnn! It's a great pedal. Not sure if it's absolute Vintage sounding but it's absolute great sounding to my 28 years of playing ears. It's earned a spot on my pedal board, that give you at least a 8. I'll go with a 9. Great Pedal and manufacturer! Oh and Hell yes! I'd replace it!