Boss FZ-1W Waza Craft Fuzz Pedal

The BOSS FZ-1w is sort of a strange entry in the BOSS Waza Series, which generally refers to re-engineered or updated versions of classic BOSS pedals, manufactured in Japan. The FZ-1w is actually a novel circuit for BOSS, as the numbering indicates (there was a FZ-2, 3, and 5, but no FZ-1). Well, sort of. It sounds like they were working on the Tone Bender pedal and created a new Waza fuzz with that vintage circuit as a starting point.If you plug into the FZ-1w and expect thick, saturated wall of sound (like a Big Muff) or a splatty, gated fuzz (like a Fuzz Face), you're going to be either surprised, disappointed, or both. The pedal does not have much discernible gain for probably the first 50 to 66% of the range of the gain knob - especially with single coils or other low output pickups. I actually considered downgrading my score to 4 stars due to this issue, alone.However, as you work with the FZ-1w, you begin to ignore the giant letters that say "FUZZ" on the pedal, and enjoy it for what it is. At times, it operates more like a low-gain overdrive, and it has just enough output to use as clean(ish) boost. As you get to the upper reaches of the gain range on vintage mode you start to hear some of those 60's and 70's fuzz tones that you have confused for overdrive on old Stones or Zeppelin records. Turn it all the way up, and it behaves more like a traditional fuzz, though it's impressively articulate both on solos and thick chords. I found that unlike many BOSS pedals, the tone knob on this one is actually nicely dialed in, and it also changes the character of the fuzz, especially on the more clockwise settings.The switch flips between Vintage and Modern mode, but it really feels more like two different EQ flavors of the same type of fuzz. The Vintage is more scooped, while the Modern is more mids forward. But it isn't a dramatic change.However, despite everything I've said, one cool thing about the FZ-1w is that the BOSS engineering means it is not finnicky like so many fuzzes are with buffers or other pedals in front of it. I threw a DOD Bifet Boost in front to see what that would do to the pedal and it sounded amazing, almost like having a whole other gain stage to work with. So I do think this is a very musical fuzz and it actually may be a great starting point for players that think they don't like fuzz, but are looking for a fuzz-like drive that can be combined with other boosts and drives in a signal chain without worry.

This is easy to use, a great value for the money, and has a good tone.

I don't think I've ever reviewed a purchase on Amazon before, but this pedal needs more attention. I currently own 6 fuzz pedals, and have tried and returned many more in search of the right one for my gigging pedalboard. The fz-1w ended my search.I read/watched a lot of reviews about this pedal before purchase. Everyone seems to run this pedal through a clean amp and many talk about how there are no bad settings. Well, I run my fuzz into a pretty cranked Marshall amp with P90 equipped guitars. My base amp sound is overdriven with a lot of midrange and brightness, think Tom Morello-ish. I started my test of this pedal with all knobs at noon, and it sounded absolutely horrible. Like someone threw a blanket over my amp, muffled and muddy with no highs. Completely unusable to say the least. I quickly discovered that there is so much gain/fuzz on tap that the fuzz knob needs to be set pretty low and the tone knob needs to pretty high to avoid a muffled, muddy sound. I'm sure with a clean amp things would be very different.Much to my surprise, after some knob tweaking, I discovered a setting that is exactly what I have been looking for. A gritty, biting, spitty fuzz sound that cleans up to a nice clean-ish tone by rolling down my volume knob with no noticable volume drop. All with a low noise floor.In case it is useful to anyone else running this pedal into a dirty amp, my final settings are:Mode: V (vintage)Volume: MaxFuzz: 9:00Tone: 3:30

I have a couple fuzz pedals and this is a simple no nonsense fuzz with limited sculpting options.I also have a Keeley Fuzz Bender with plenty of tone sculpting options and Velcro nastiness. While I really like the Keeley, unless I’m going for Velcro, I find that the tone I’ve been fidgeting around for quite often sounds 97% like the FZ-1w.With the FZ-1w I can dial in a nice tone within seconds and then get to playing without going back constantly for micro tweaks.That being said, if you want real nasty rip roaring Velcro fuzz or a mixture of both, the FZ-1w won’t quite get you there. It does have great note clarity with chords and is very musical.Another positive of this pedal is the buffer and ability to move it around in your signal chain, which isn’t something you can do with a lot of other fuzz pedals. It’s also quiet with a low noise floor.If you are on a fuzz journey, consider this pedal as a viable option for a fuzz that just gets it done without a fuss.

Quality product.

Lo había querido probar desde que salió pero se agotaba y estaba muy caro. Ahora que lo probé creo que al precio que sea , lo vale. No es una versión del Fuzz face que todos los pedales de fuzz tratan de imitar con mayor o menor éxito , en un inicio lo compré pensando en ese sonido pero más bien es un Fuzz reinventado, no es un Tone bender, no es un Big muff, tiene su propio color. Cubre desde un boost limpio que respeta muy bien las dinámicas y en todo su recorrido va cambiando a un tono más rasposito y con cuerpo, no he encontrado ajustes malos o inservibles , todo lo contrario a los pedales Fuzz comunes que tienen un ajuste donde suenan muy bien y el resto es inutilizable. El error de Boss es meterlo a la serie Waza en términos de que los Waza son versiones premium de pedales ya existentes con algún ajuste extra que los hace especiales, este es un pedal particular, con su propio sonido. Si es un Fuzz pero como over o boost funciona sin problemas, combina bien con otros pedales, con un Sd1 antes o después suena increíble pero aun no decido donde me gusta mas. Tengo el FZ5 como pedal de repaldo multifuncional ( Fuzzface, Maestro y Octavia) que me gusta mucho por cumplir muy bien con esos sonidos aunque le falte la dinámica de un Fuzz tradicional y si haya que estar buscando los ajustes buenos en cada modo, lo iba a sacar de la pedalera si me gustaba el FZ1W pero son tan diferentes que mejor me lo quedo para tener mas opciones.