Is Tafm right for me?

[andrew00]

Hey,

I've been changing my pedals around and am looking at fuzzes to get. At a local store I tried some fuzzes, Cornish ones, Caitinbread Merkin etc and I wasn't really into any of them. Either they were too bassy and hit my tone too much (Cornish) or they were too full on and I didn't like that I couldn't blend them in (Merkin).

I've been therefore researching fuzzes with a clean blend so that, when required, I can use the fuzz to just bring in some cracking up/slashed amp feel without killing the tone. I like a trebley/middy tone, imagine 60's clean guitar basically, where it's clean, you can hear everything etc, but the tone is verging on a breaking point. I'm not a bass-y guitar/riffing/sabbath/classic rock guy - I have a clean guitar and I need to keen the mid/high dynamics of the tone but have that breaking point tone.

Can any TAFM users let me know if they think I can get this with the pedal? I.E. I know it can go crazy, but can it also give the range to keep things subtle but accentuate the tone - keep those highs etc.

That's why I also want the clean blend so I can blend just the right amount in. I've seen one or two clean-ish demos of the pedal but it's more people doing shoegaze stuff, which is cool, but like I said, I want to keep that 60's rhythm feel which needs the mid/high tones too.

(Oh and amp wise, I currently use a Tech 21 Trademark 120, but will be selling that and getting a TM 30 or a Vox AC 15 I think.)

Basically can it cover the tone of these songs. If it can I'll get one but as I'm in the UK it's hard for me to know in advance, most demos are dudes doing classic rock riffing which is not my thin, and afaik there's no shops in London carrying them so I can't do a demo!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Bp-ihtg ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kc2iLAubras
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfNq0kbo ... ure=fvwrel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coKb7w2HA5g

In all these songs someone kicks on a fuzz which is great. I'm mostly interested in the rhythm tones which as I said are clean, keep the dynamics, but have that grit to them.

I'm actually going to be playing with a friend also on guitar, the two of us basically using things like pog's to do the bass, organy and trebly sounds, so we'll get a bit of it from there admittedly.

Basically nothing I've tried so far seems to do it for me so I'm looking at the TAFM wondering if it can do the job but not really able to try it here in the UK as far as I know.

[smallsnd/bigsnd]

hmmm sadly i don't think the tafm will get you there.
the clean blend is on the darker side and while the fuzz gets bright, i don't know if it'll be the right type of brightness.
it really was optimized to work in a bassier situation.

honestly, i think the fuck overdrive would get you more in that direction... the earlier part of the gain range is almost totally clean and pretty full range, slight mid bump, slight high sparkle. you can get just a little grit that will get grittier as you dig in.

sorry to be the first one in on this!

[solarolosonoio]

check out the freakshow effects maharishi
(it's the first thing I thought of while listening to those links you posted)

this demo is limited, but I think you can get an idea
(skip the first half if too long)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4__rJS21Ow4

any other demos on youtube don't do any justice to the pedal at all

/

otherwise the high gain part of the ss/bs fuck overdrive is indeed really fuzz-voiced

[Eric!]

The TAFM is, as I've called it, a bass fuzz for anyone asking "I want a fuzz, what do I get?" It's definitely oriented as bassists in my opinion, for low, thick, warm growlz.

As Brian said, the Fuck overdrive will definitely get you closer! I've called it more of a rhythm pedal, as well as a "fuzz-voiced overdrive" in the higher gains. I say that because it's very transparent, and retains all your dynamics with a simple hi-cit knob for EQ. AND, as a bonus, the momentary burst footswitch quickly makes it sound like your amp is about to 'splode to varying degrees.

Otherwise, sounds like you're looking for an octave-UP fuzz. Gnomeratron is always an option, but it also has about 1.4 thousand other sounds in the same box. He makes minis of them. Also, I hear good things about Foxx Tone Machines (Creepy Fingers, among other small builders, could pop you out a clone). Maybe someone could slap a clean blend on it? And I know I sound like a broken record, but the ss/bs year4545 is FULL of fun, new, and surprisingly usable sounds, including some octavey ones, set just right (also available with a clean blend).

But to answer your main question: TAFM? Probably not.

[Almonds]

yeah I was sort of expecting to be able to get a somewhat clean signal out of this with the blend, but it doesn't really do that all too well

however it's quite a beast of a pedal and I love it; I've been recording guitar stuff with this plugged straight into my computer and it sounds so awesomely magical; you don't lose the really really high sparkly fuzzies that you might if you went through an amp

[Derelict78]

Gnomeratron is always an option, but it also has about 1.4 thousand other sounds in the same box. He makes minis of them.
But to answer your main question: TAFM? Probably not.

+1
the one time I ran a guitar into my Gnomeratron VTF I was getting the tones you speak of. I was running a tele into a vox 30.