Fuzz (fə́z) is one of the oldest and most iconic distortion devices available for the electric guitar. Creating fuzz-tones involves boosting the amplitude of the sound waves from a guitar to the point  that they are read as square waves on an oscilloscope. Soundwise, fuzz creates a buzz, singing sustained sound with lots of overtones that still responds to a player’s picking dynamics.

Fuzz is a very common effect used in classic rock, but is still popular with contemporary players. In the past, fuzz was produced by slitting the speaker cones with a razor. However, fuzz tones are now available from a very wide menu of pedal, or stompbox choices.