Dunlop Germanium Fuzzface vs Dolamo Fuzz (spoiler: the cheap one is good)

Cheap fuzz punched waaay above its weight class.

[@texanfournow]

I have a Dolamo Vintage Distortion. I am not ashamed to say I bought it at Walmart for $22. It is awesome! So now I am going to have to check this fuzz pedal. Thanks for the demo!

[@googaboogaloo]

You’re welcome! $22 is about what the going rate is on eBay so I wouldn’t be ashamed. I didn’t even know you could get pedals on Walmart. I highly recommend the fuzz and the black dolamo distortion. The black one is a Marshall in a box pedal and it does it great.

[@texanfournow]

@@googaboogaloo I don't think you would find pedals in a Walmart store, but there plenty on Walmart's website. Thanks for the recommendations!

[@misterknightowlandco]

Why does the Dolamo sound better? I think we’re brothers from other mothers I can tell an 80’s peavey when I hear one. Peaveys and Crates allllll day long brother. Love it!

[@googaboogaloo]

I have no idea haha. It also has way more volume and gain. It’s an 80s peavey vt that the phaser still works. I also have a crate gfx that I love. That crate is a MASSIVE sleeper, it nails the EVH tone if you set it up. There’s a guitarist called Jeff Fiorentino who used one to record some evh tones and it sounded just like first record.

[@misterknightowlandco]

@@googaboogaloo crates are definitely classics. People just didn’t know what to do with them back in the day. I have the grx212 that’s like 120 watts. If you run them right they’re great. If you don’t they can get pretty chainsaw nasty real quick lol

[@rogerwalker9191]

I just recently bought a Dolamo Fuzz (on sale for 16.99) but have not tried it yet. Really appreciate the video cuz' I think I got a pretty darn fine pedal. Never had a Fuzz before as I'm pretty new at Guitar.

[@googaboogaloo]

It’s definitely a good fuzz. Do you have a power unit or battery adapter for it?

[@URTH-yb5xh]

I have the Distortion sounds like a Marshall Thanks for that demo as well

[@googaboogaloo]

That distortion is so good. I couldn’t believe it.

[@Wretchildstonerdoom]

I own the dolamo it’s a great fuzz good for versatility and tone

[@rompo420247]

I have the Dolamo, too. Actually a great fuzz! Had a Dunlop Fuzz Face once, it came and went very quickly.

[@googaboogaloo]

So far every dolamo has been pretty good. Some better than others. The vintage distortion is definitely also up there with the fuzz in terms of bang for your buck.

[@rompo420247]

⁠@@googaboogalooI agree. The chorus isn’t excellent, for sure. Are you talking about the brown vintage distortion? Because yea man, it’s good too!!

[@googaboogaloo]

@@rompo420247 yeah that’s the one. It is louder and less noisy than my actual rat

[@Inspector-71]

I have 3 Dolamo pedals, that's what I use as the base of my amp tone. They are awesome, best bang for your buck!

[@googaboogaloo]

Which 3 do you use? Every one I’ve found so far has been great.

[@Inspector-71]

@@googaboogaloo I have the black one, yellow one and the orange fuzz. Going through a fender rumble bass amp, I use the black one as a very low breakup setting,(it sounds like a Marshall Plexi), the yellow OD I use to boost the black one a bit but it still maintains the tone I want (sort of a Plexi with a preamp sound) and the fuzz is there for full distortion, I keep the tone know really low because it gets a bit snotty sounding, they blend well together, just have to set the knobs up properly. Then I have the Mosky Chi-Vibe and a Joyo wah II, all the pedals are some of the best sounding that I've ever owned and I've had a bunch over 25-30 yrs

[@googaboogaloo]

@@Inspector-71 awesome! I’ve had my eye on the yellow distortion for a while. I just haven’t pulled the trigger. I think it’s the same as a caline puresky and I do have one of those. I use my black one as my amp distortion on a 80s rock pedal board along with a boss super overdrive and a Mxr distortion plus. That board has a chorus and a compressor too. I should throw a delay on there but I’m happy with it so far

[@Inspector-71]

@@googaboogaloo nice! the yellow one I use for my clean tone when I want a good clean sound. I think they are all rebranded Caline pedals. My whole pedalboard cost less than the Fulltone Clyde wah I use to have and they sound just as good as name brand pedals that you'd pay an arm and a leg for.

[@seangodreau]

The MXR bc108 cleans up better than the orange fuzz. I think the puffer fuzz is a jacked up fuzz face. I got an original arbiter fuzz face and it is the best I've found for a stand alone fuzz pedal. Cleans up nice and doesn't need an overdrive after it

[@abc123iep]

I have not tried neither, but the Rowin G-Fuzz (germanium) and S-Fuzz (silicon) are supposedly "more correct" copies of the fuzzfaces. About $30 each. Thanks for the demo!

[@googaboogaloo]

I’ve had those. Don’t buy them. Actually I had the mono price and tomsline fuzz faces. but they are all identical inside.

[@abc123iep]

@@googaboogaloo Good to know...I was thinking about getting the G-fuzz, but will get a Dolamo or Caline Puffer instead. Thanks

[@chrisw2601]

I've got the Dolamo, it's decent for the price

[@googaboogaloo]

It really is

[@URTH-yb5xh]

I have a Dolamo Fuzz It’s great

[@googaboogaloo]

For the price that pedal honestly surprises me every time I plug it in. Also the vintage distortion is the best Rat clone I’ve found.

[@calebterry4766]

I keep this Dolamo fuzz in my backpack so that I am never without a fuzz tone! Long live the sludge.

[@rique_.leal.]

Do you think the dolamo can do hendrix?

[@googaboogaloo]

I think you could if you keep the gain fairly low and have the tone set at about 11. Volume set to just above unity gain. If you want the octave fuzz Hendrix sound the musiclily/pigtone fuzz would be better. FYI: neither can take a 9v battery

[@googaboogaloo]

I think you could if you keep the gain fairly low and have the tone set at about 11. Volume set to just above unity gain. If you want the octave fuzz Hendrix sound the musiclily/pigtone fuzz would be better. FYI: neither can take a 9v battery

[@rique_.leal.]

@@googaboogaloo thanks!

[@TheRhino2719]

I really hate to be that guy, because if someone likes what they're playing, does it really matter? No....and yes. Because when something is presented as something it isn't, that creates confusion and that incorrect info goes further down the line and causes more confusion. I almost bought a pedal for $1000 with restamped NKT275s in it because the source I was using at the time for "real" NKT275s was also inauthentic. Let me explain, the transistors in your Dunlop are not NKT275s. They may say NKT275 but they aren't. NKT is an abbreviation of Newmarket, a subsidiary of Pye who made radios in the early half of the 20th century and well into the later part as well. Newmarket was essentially just the tranisistor company for Pye that did sell trannies to a few other manufacturers outside of radios but still within the audio realm. And from all the sources I've read, Newmarket made only power and audio transisitors. So unlike other tranisistor types they weren't manufactured by other companies, only Newmarket. So if Wendys makes a Daves Classic and calls it a Big Mac is it a Big Mac? No, its still a Daves Classic. Its not the plauers fault for taking what these companies present as truth. Its the companies like Dunlop and some unsuspecting builders and some just plain greedy and deceptive builders that most fuzz lovers don't even know what real NKT275s look like and sound like for that matter. Im sorry for being so long winded and being a wet blanket. The pedals sound good and you play really well. If you're interested in some real NKTs and know how to solder I can point you in the right direction.

[@googaboogaloo]

I heard something about these fuzzface as not having real nkts. But I went it with that’s what they say on them. But i didn’t know it went that deep. I’ll probably edit the title so it no longer says that but it will say germanium fuzz. I do know how to solder and have made a couple of my own bosstone fuzzes, fuzz faces, a vox wah, and a handful of kits. I’ve been trying to get into more building pedals. It would be cool to get real nkts. So what’s the big difference between ac128’s and NKTs?

[@TheRhino2719]

@@googaboogaloo I made a reply to your post but something must've happened as it's not here now. Theres really not a whole lot of difference between AC128s and NKT275s. At the end of the day it's really more about biasing the transistors correctly and using the correct values for each component in the circuit. But the 275s have a distinct sound for sure. The violin like tone and sustain. The squeal produced on the high strings up the neck and what I can only describe as squishyness on the low strings down the neck. NKT275s are all but gone in the quantities you need to build fuzz faces. I'm sure there's some boxes left sitting in some old storage unit somewhere but it takes a certain person with the knowledge to find them and make them available for purchase. I'm currently hunting some down but it's such an expensive and long and drawn out process that I'm only willing to do it once lol. The NKT275 was part of an audio pack sold by Newmarket along with the NKT278. The 275 was the amplifier and the 278 was the driver. They're essentially identical in every value except gain. The 275 is very low gain (real ones anyways). They range from 45hfe to 60hfe. The 278 ranges from 85hfe to 100hfe. Search youtube for NKT278. There a really good demo by John Seventy with a red 1967 fuzzface clone with NKT278s. They sound identical to 275s. There's currently 278s for sale, NOS from the 1960s by Langrex on ebay. They have the same skinny tall font as the real 275s but just a "8" instead of a "5" lol. But in my honest opinion the 278 makes for a better FF. That little bit of extra gain helps. I have a real silver 67 that was restored by Jimmy C with NKT278s, you can see it on KZbin too on Jimmy Cs channel. If you decide to go that route, maybe get 6-10 transistors so you can choose the best pair. Theres a lot of demos for how to build a FF circuit available. Hope this helps you out, Ryan

[@googaboogaloo]

@@TheRhino2719 that was extremely informative. Thank you!