Here we have two classic fuzz pedals with long histories, legendary users and distinctive sounds: the Fuzz Face is gnarly, expressive and responsive to player dynamics. The Big Muff is smooth, saturated, but less dynamic and flexible.
At the circuit level, they have less in common than you might expect. First of all – how do you define a fuzz? If the answer is the common 'transistors pushed until they clip', then the Big Muff might not even qualify. Its carefully designed clipping is soft-clipping like an overdrive, with two cascaded stages.
