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Dunlop Tortex Flex Jazz III Guitar Picks Review

I wanted a pick for acoustic that sounded like an orange Dunlop Tortex but felt like a Dunlop Jazz III. I have been using Jazz III exclusively for more than a decade now, and regular size guitar picks feel huge to me!

There is something special about the sound of a medium thin pick with an acoustic guitar. I absolutely love the tone of an orange Tortex pick, but I just can’t get over the size.

I set out on a quest to find a thinner pick that was the size of a Jazz III. The Tortex Flexe does a pretty good job of balancing the sound and feel I was looking for.

Jazz III flex: https://amzn.to/2Jq3x8R

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Stratocaster Tone with a Dumble Amp Clone in Jazz Mode

Most people overlook the jazz switch on a Dumble Overdrive Special style guitar amp, but there are some really cool tones to be had. It really works well with a stratocaster to get some of the more classic strat tones that we know and love.

I have also experimented with the jazz switch with humbuckers, and while there are some fantastic tones to be had, rock mode with humbuckers is really where the “Dumble sound” lives.

At gig volume the overdrive channel has some pretty serious treble in jazz mode, so depending on what volume I’m playing, these tones may or may not be achievable depending on how you set the tone controls.

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Fuzz Face Build With NPN 2N169 Germanium Transistors

One thing is for sure, these flat hat transistors look super cool! They sound great too. I originally had some trouble with transient sounds on the note decay but with a good bias setting that went away. I ended up selling it on reverb to make space for more fuzz pedals.

The volume knob clean up is very good, but this fuzz pedal really excels when the guitar volume knob is on 10. Wall of fuzz! The transistors are NPN so they work with regular pedal power, although it sounds better on batteries.

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Russian PNP Germanium Fuzz Demo

I am lucky to have a stockpile of these PNP Germanium transistors from Russia because they sound fantastic! They are super low leakage and completely temperature stable.

This fuzz cleans up beautifully with the guitar volume but still compresses nicely when you turn the guitar up to 9 or 10.

I ended up selling this one on reverb and I plan to build more of them in the future.