Curtis Mayfield Fuzz?

[PlumCrazy]

I've been listening to CURTIS by Curtis Mayfield lately. The fuzz has this weird constricted octave sound to it. Can't pinpoint what it is. I'm thinking of the sound on the "Underground" demo found on the deluxe CD release. Help.

[chankgeez]

Sounds like it might be a Foxx Tone Machine to me?

What do I know?

[modeerf]

Seems like it might be a fender blender, there is almost a touch of clean signal mixed with it. IMO It's not saturated enough for a tone machine.

[cylonrodeo]

Could it be a Maestro Brassmaster (or even a FZ-1S) into a wah? Either way, love the fuzz tones on that record.

[HorseyBoy]

Love all of Curtis Mayfield's guitar tones - every note he played sounds awesome. If you haven't got a copy of "There's No Place Like America Today", run out and find one right now. And pick up a copy of the Baby Huey album, which Curtis produced for his Curtom label, while you're at it - the guy just knew good tone.
Craig McMullen, who played guitar with Curtis in the early 70s, is apparently the man responsible for most of the wah sounds. He says Curtis preferred to use an auto-wah that he could set and forget: http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/I ... spx?Page=5

[John Lyons]

Thanks for those nuggets Andrew. I don't have those albums but I love me some Curtis....
Not sure about the fuzz. Don't think it's A Fender Blender or Tone Machine though.



So good!

Top comment on youtube for this is:
Whoever clicked dislike on this is a jive turkey working for the man.

[HorseyBoy]

^ It's not as highly thought of as "Curtis" and "Roots", but for some reason "There's No Place Like America Today" is my favourite Curtis album by quite a margin - and I LOVE all his records.
Here's Baby Huey doing "Listen to Me" (guitar solo is killer) and "Hard Times" (a Curtis song, produced by Curtis):

[Gemma Thrush]

Could it be a Maestro Brassmaster (or even a FZ-1S) into a wah? Either way, love the fuzz tones on that record.

I was also under the impression (no pun intended) that Curtis primarily used Maestro gear (eg echoplex, fuzz, boomerang wah) but I'm not certain about this.

My vote for greatest Curtis Mayfield lp of all time (possibly greatest record of all time / by anyone) is Sweet Exorcist.

[HorseyBoy]

^ "Sweet Exorcist" is another good one - some very funky workouts on that one.
Would love to know exactly what pedals he was using through the early 70s…

[redeyeflight]

There's no place like America today...just a fantastic record!! One of my favorites as well, no idea what fuzz he used though