I have an eletric guitar but my guitar doesnt sound like the ones I hear...do i need a Fuzz Box?

Question

I hear the guitars play on the net or in my songs and the have this electric sound....I have a electric guitar but it doesnt sound as sharp and echo'y as theirs does. Do I need a fuzz Box or some kind of amp?

No..I have a guitar already. Im talking about effects like the solo in stairway to heaven, you can play it but you need distortion or other amps. What kind of amp do i need to get that kind of sound?

Answer 1

Well it all depends on what sound you are looking for. Alternative rock artists usually use a setup consisting of simply a high quality amp such as a Marshall, a Peavey or a Crate for instance. These amps will usually come with a set of controls on the amp for gain, chorus, reverb and so forth to edit and customize their sound. Other genres however have foot switches for the certain tone they desire. Heavy metal is the most commonly used genre for footswitches, because of the distortion needed. Foot switches can range from a simple on and off button to a multi-sound pedal with different tones to choose from, to what are called floorboards with several pedals, over a hundred different sounds, delays, and sometimes even a recording feature.
Again it all depends on the sound you're looking for, and the genre of music you play. Try going to your local music store, like Steve's, Domenic's, Songbird, Continental, Metro, depending where you live and just try out some of the amps they have there. Most of these places allow you to walk in and test out the amps with one of their guitars.

Answer 2

Understand that there are a number of variables in how a guitarist gets their sound:

- The type of guitar used
- The types of pickups on the guitar
- The type of preamp or pre signal processor used (foot pedals)
- The type of amplifier used
- The type of post-signal processing used (effects racks, plate echo, etc.)

It is different for almost every musician who has ever recorded, and you're never going to find an exact match using your own hardware.

In the case of "Stairway to Heaven", Jimmy Page played the solo using his Fender Telecaster through either a Supro amp or a Marshall stack. You can hear that a plate reverb and probably a tape loop echo was used on the solo, too... this would have been added by the mixing engineer.

To get even a close approximation of that solo, you'd need a Tele using the neck pickup (a Strat with the neck pickup might do in a pinch.) A guitar without the single coil bridge pickup would have a hard time getting that sound - Gibsons sound clean and melodic when distorted, but don't ever get the single coil bite Jimmy Page got on that Telecaster. You'll also need an overdriven tube amplifier with effects or a pedal that simulates that (such as a Line6 POD XT), with the reverb and echo turned on.

A "Fuzzbox" won't be enough, if you're looking for a single toy that'll do it. You'll need a multi-effects unit that can do all the constituent effects like overdrive, loop echo, reverb, etc.

And then you have to spend a lot of time playing with it. For the more popular effects boxes, such as the Pod XT, a lot of people post "patches" on the Internet, describing how to get certain classic sounds.

Answer 3

Look at your amp - if it only has a volume and a tone knob - you will probably need a distortion or Overdrive pedal. But if it has a gain knob then your in business - set gain to 10, EQ should be set - High/treble - 10, Mid - 0, Bass - 10 (scooped eq - basic metal eq) then adjust your volume wherever you like. This amp setting is a good basic start point, tweek things form there.

If you looking for a inexpensive amp that will give you a decent variety of tones - Check out Line6 spyder series ( I think they are on SpyderIII series, I have a spyderII - it;s decent and I get 12 amp models)

Answer 4

no, you dont need a fuzz box. you have to remember that many bands use various effects to define your sound so you cant just get an effect that will make yours sound just like them. amps definantly help with sound but it also depends on the type of music you play so research maybe what kind of amps your favorite bands play or what they offer such as a better sounding clean channel or heavier gain or more effects. as for effects, a noise suppressor helps with all the unwanted noises and hums (sharper sound). bands use many different things such as distortion pedals for gain, chorus pedals to sound like more than one is playing almost, delay pedals (which can add the echo effect), and countless others. You can get an Ibanez Tube Screamer or get a cheap Boss DS-1 distortion pedal if gain is what you want. you probably want a delay pedal. and of course many classic solos have used the wah pedal and whammy pedals are good too so just research more on what suits your playing. but fuzz box shouldnt be something you are fixated on getting.

Answer 5

Well, this could be due to many reasons (by the way, I thought this answer might have been posted already)...

1. Your guitar isn't the same as the ones in songs
2. You have a different amp
3. Your tone settings are set differently
4. You have a crappy guitar (no offence, but my old crappy guitar sounded like a harp when doing solos)
5. Your guitar strings are bad quality

Your best bet to get a good sound as you want is to get a better guitar (does not have to be like theirs) or/and a new amplifier - a good one, like a Marshall or Mesa/Boogie.

Answer 6

Go to a pawn shop. Ask for the cheapest guitar and the cheapest amp. You won't need a fuzz box. If they are playable, buy them. If not, try the second cheapest. I bought the cheapest amp and the third cheapest git box for $80 combined. They played well and no need for the fuzz box. Get new strings though.

Answer 7

you need lessons my friend