Germanium vs Silicon Fuzz Face Which Is Best? JDF2 or JHF1?

Which do you think is best? The red germanium Dunlop JDF2 Fuzz Face or the blue silicon Dunlop JHF1 Jimi Hendrix Fuzz Face?

Dunlop JDF2 (red):

Dunlop JHF1 (blue):

Timecodes:
00:00 - Intro
00:20 - Into Clean Amp
01:38 - Into Dirty Amp
03:33 - With Guitar Volume Rolled Back
05:20 - With Fuzz Control Turned Down
06:27 - Conclusion?

Just a short warning, these two pedals are pretty faithful to the original fuzz face designs from the 60’s and they come with the same vintage quirks as the originals. One of those quirks is that they can be very noisy, with my setup I get a lot of noise with the volume control on my guitar all the way up and all the way down. The other thing is that they are battery power only (unless your power supply has a battery clip adapter). These pedals are a big awkward shape and take up a lot of real estate on a pedalboard, on top of that the input and output jacks are the opposite way round compared to modern pedals. If you want a similar sound with modern convenience, try the mini versions from Dunlop, links below:

Germanium FFM2 Fuzz Face Mini:

Jimi Hendrix FFM3 Fuzz Face Mini:

This comparison is going to be most helpful if you’re trying to decide between these two exact models; the standard red Dunlop JDF2 Fuzz Face and the blue Dunlop JHF1 Jimi Hendrix Fuzz Face. I’m hoping it’ll also be helpful for anyone wanting to get a general idea of what the difference is in sound between other Fuzz Face pedals that use germanium transistors and ones that use silicon transistors.

Not everyone likes the sound of a fuzz face through a clean amp but it does help us hear each pedals character a little more clearly. The red germanium Fuzz Face seems to have more of a mid scoop while the silicon is a little more prominent in the mid range and not quite as distorted.

I really like the big full sound of the red Fuzz Face through a clean amp, but when I play it through an amp that’s already a bit of overdriven, it can lose it’s note definition compared to the silicon which is a bit less compressed and more responsive to picking dynamics. The mids in the silicon version help individual notes stand out a bit more too.

With the volume on the guitar rolled down to about 5 the red germanium Fuzz Face retains a lot of its bass frequencies while the silicon has a bass cut in comparison, so through a clean amp it can sound a bit weedy but through a driven amp the difference isn’t as noticeable and the lower bass levels on the silicon really helps riffs on the thicker strings poke out a little more where on the germanium they can sound a little more muffled.

A lot of people run their Fuzz Faces with the fuzz control pretty much all the way up and then fine tune the amount of distortion using the volume control on the guitar. Some people prefer to lower the fuzz control a bit more though. When I do this the main difference I can hear is that the red germanium Fuzz Face retains its high end a lot more while the silicon tends to roll those high frequencies off quite a lot, far more than if you were to use the volume control on your guitar to reduce the amount of fuzz.

So the main takeaways are that the cleaner the amp is set, the more likely I’m going to prefer the red germanium JDF2 Fuzz Face because of its big scooped full frequency sound. And the more overdriven the amp is, the more likely I’m going to lean toward using the silicon JHF1 Jimi Hendrix Fuzz Face because of it’s clarity and note definition in that setup.

#fuzzface

[konagolden]

One is not better than the other until you decide what sound you are looking for. Most early Fuzz faces often sounded different from one another due to manufacturing tolerances, different suppliers of parts, and Germanium's temperature sensitivity issues. Amp (Fender v Marshall, etc), guitar (single coil v humbucker, active v passive), and signal chain all play a role. This video is a good tool for helping you decide what fits you better.

[blues]

You have the very best demo on the internet of Germanium vs Silicon. 👍🎸

[rebeccabailey]

There's a few things new people need to know about the fuzz face, and all early fuzz circuits (they're all related), the input impedance is extremely low, like 10k. Thats the reason they clean up by barely touching the volume pot on the guitar, but that low input impedance means buffered bypass pedals before and sometimes after the fuzz face will wreak havoc on them.

Putting a wah in front of a fuzz face and using them together turns the wah into a super high treble boost only. But that is how hendrix used a wah and fuzz together, but hendrix also used quite a bit of amp overdrive, and was able to turn off the fuzz face and still had enough gain.

I have both fuzz faces, and I've always preferred the jhf1. The jdf2 gets mushy and is way too bass heavy with my guitar and amp, the jhf1 cuts through, and doesn't get near as mushy.

[TNNLZ]

Working on picking a Fuzz Face. This comparison was super helpful - Thanks!

[HughGRection]

I preferred the germanium through the clean amp and the silicon through the dirty amp

[alexpurcell]

Excellent review. It’s maddening how few people know how to review fuzz. The silicone is definitely my favourite, but it’s interesting to hear how close my ‘Tomsline G-Fuzz’ to the real thing. Great work 👍

[phildiaz]

I prefer the silicon because it is better defined in the mid but the germanium sounds very good too

[joeyskar]

You have to put the germanium one in the microwave for 30 seconds to achieve the best tone.

[al]

The best FF made by Dunlop in my opinion is the mxr classic 108 mini. Tiny footprint, same sound as the Hendrix fuzz face played here (cause it’s the same circuit), and the buffer switch is a really cool addition that makes it more versatile. Plus it’s reasonably priced.

[LoKi]

Cool video! Silicon sounded cleaner with humbuckers and with the overdriven amp but I love how gnarly and busted the germanium was with single coils, clean and overdriven amp. Best to own both. 😅

[LostPlanet]

BC108si all the way!!! LOVE FuzzFaces!!!

[GlennJimenez]

In my opinion the red one sounds better. 3:16 it does this huge full sound thing and it’s so great. I felt naked with the silicon fuzz face. The red fuzz face was like a giant warm woman giving me a hug

[rainbowslushy]

i love the bass response of the silicone fuzz face . lower chords still have definition but also weight

[Schmandle]

Totally love Hendrix, but I for sure prefer the Germanium version

[bbmendel]

Awesome video! Like a hendrix fan, i prefer both of these fuzz faces) they sound authentic to early and late Jimis career

[billtice]

Great riffs for showcasing Fuzz Michael!

[stevenburvenich]

I prefer silicon, just as Jimi did. (And I love the colour). Silicon transistors usually have more gain and this adds to a slightly higher input impedance leaving one with less tone sucking. It's not gone, but it's less. The tone sucking is important for a FFace because it takes away harsh treble at full fuzz and it goes away when lowering the guitar's volume. But with silicon the balance is better to my ears.
Many overrate the differences in the adoration of germanium. Silicon is stable and indeed has better definition. Rolling back volume gives shimmering cleans, so one can back down the treble in the amp a bit anyway.
Hendrix rolled off volume constantly and perhaps most of the time which added big time to him preferring silicon.

[fluorophor]

I think the difference in note clarity is more obvious between the germanium vs silicon with the humbuckers compared to the single coils. There's a difference going into an overdriven amp that you can hear in both guitar examples, but I think it's more obvious with the humbuckers.

[altayant]

Fuck, I love them both. Clean or dirty amp both sound amazing.

[abeldasilva]

Christ I have both. Marshall and the Fender amp so I need both ahhhh.