Fuzz+ Clean, or Just plain ol' Fuzzy fuzz, fuzz?

[leigh22]

I have recently joined band that has a vibe in the metric/muse vein (Unimportant fact, i know)... They enjoy it when i use big thick heavy fuzz. Which sounds nice and raunchy when i am playing alone for them. Then i when the band is going full force, i clicked in the fuzz, and away went the bass.


Now, what i have been doing is splitting my signal before the fuzz, so as to have clean bass pushing through, and fuzz creeping around underneath. I was wondering if this is an approach you often utilize yourself? or do you really crank er' up and let it roar... Or, is it very case by case?


Also, i haven't been really fair to the bass in regards to fuzz, i am using a Zvex mastotron, and Fuzz factory... Not really bass specific Fuzzes.


Any fuzzy tips, or confirmations?

[jmjbassplayer]

Fuzz Factory does not carry enuf lows, don't know the Mastotron.

Try an Xotic blender, or that new Pigtronix thing that does a similar thing. You can run an effect parallel; it will retain more lows.

Or: get an effects loop pedal with a switch, put your fuzz in there (get one with more lows first - for the best advice, go to the Effects forum) with an EQ pedal on the back end. Leave both on, then turn the loop on and off as your fuzz bypass.

JMJ

[leigh22]

Awesome, thanks for the advice...

Always nice to have more ideas to tinker with...


Side note... have you used the HOG with bass very much, i just scooped one up yesterday from a guitar playing friend of mine... due to the circumstances i tried it on guitar for a while first, but it is a seriously fun pedal for the bass. It gets some strange 8bit-ish super mario boss level sounds going on.

[Sarbecue Boss]

DMB Bumble. It's got some really cool sounds, but biggest factor for me is built in clean add knob.

[OrionManMatt]

Chunk Brown Dog, Swollen Pickle, Wooly Mammoth?

[jmjbassplayer]

Brown Dog - great w/ clean blend.

[leigh22]

Thanks for the tips... Looks like the money saved on a bass deal gone bad may be doing towards a dog, or a prehistoric elephant... That Pigtronix thing may be worth taking a look at as well.


Fun fun fun.

[somegeezer]

Definitely get yourself a bass-specific fuzz, but I think splitting between clean bass and top end fuzz it is a brilliant idea too. Something I'd love to try out. But in the band I'm in, I have no fuzz and no distortion effects. I slight overdriven growl from my amp, but barely noticeable really. So for the most part my bass is clean whilst the guitars are full on heaviest distortion you can think of.

[leigh22]

Originally Posted by somegeezer

... but I think splitting between clean bass and top end fuzz it is a brilliant idea too. Something I'd love to try out...

It definitely is fun, but allot of the actual bass fuzz ends up getting lost in the mix, sounds really great while practicing. You do wind up with a slightly different texture in the end.

I'll probably scoop up a bass fuzz in the next little while, i don't really have allot of Bass specific pedals at all.

[OrionManMatt]

I think there's still a Fuzzrocious-modded RAT in the FS section. That would slay like hubristic ancient emperors.

You could also spend hours watching videos on bassfuzz.com for research.