Active friendly fuzz recommendations?

Ablebasser · #1 10-31-2008, 04:25 AM

I had to donate my woolly mammoth to my guitarist when I shifted from passive Fenders to active Spectors cause as you know the mammoth doesn't work so well with actives. Can anyone out there recommend any fuzzes that sound good with hot active basses? Any type of fuzz at all, at this minute I'm not being too specific about whether it sounds synthy or vintage or whatever.

Thanks

GingerConor · #2 10-31-2008, 04:30 AM

supercollider? hmm...yeah, plenty of options. oh, hey, ur from belfast, thats cool, im from Dublin!!

Conor

jonaX · #3 10-31-2008, 04:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ablebasser

I had to donate my woolly mammoth to my guitarist when I shifted from passive Fenders to active Spectors cause as you know the mammoth doesn't work so well with actives. Can anyone out there recommend any fuzzes that sound good with hot active basses? Any type of fuzz at all, at this minute I'm not being too specific about whether it sounds synthy or vintage or whatever.

Thanks

what is actually the problem with using Active Basses (i own an G&L L-2500, which has a loooot of output) with a fuzz? is it the amount of output? isn't there a way to fix this, for example by using a compressor which lowers the volume a bit?

rratajski · #4 10-31-2008, 05:05 AM

Message Bongo about compression questions. He's a nice guy and will direct you on the most righteous path.

roflol · #5 10-31-2008, 05:14 AM

you can make a mammoth active friendly by sticking a 15k resistor infront of it.

kevteop · #6 10-31-2008, 05:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonaX

what is actually the problem with using Active Basses (i own an G&L L-2500, which has a loooot of output) with a fuzz? is it the amount of output? isn't there a way to fix this, for example by using a compressor which lowers the volume a bit?

It's not a matter of level but the impedance of the guitar's output. Passive pickups put out a higher impedance signal than active pickups, and basically that works better for some fuzz circuits.

Of course if you put that same fuzz anywhere other than first in the chain - assuming you're going through some buffered-bypass pedal first - then your signal may well be converted to a low-impedance signal by that buffer, so your passive bass effectively behaves like an active one would.

I've never used the Woolly Mammoth but apparently it doesn't sound too good when given a low-impedance signal. If you really want to use that fuzz anyway, you could always send a PM to Toasted and ask about him knocking together one of his buffers for you, which IIRC he designed to solve this problem.

Quote:

Originally Posted by roflol

you can make a mammoth active friendly by sticking a 15k resistor infront of it.

Or do that.

Happynoj · #7 10-31-2008, 05:18 AM

I believe the EHX Bass Big Muff works with active basses.

Lebowsky · #8 10-31-2008, 05:25 AM

I use both the bass big muff ad the tonebender with my 18v ebmm bongo

Ablebasser · #9 10-31-2008, 05:42 AM

My Mammoth definitely gets squashed by the Spector, as the note decays the volume increases. I used to use a Russian big muff on my jazz bass years ago and loved the sound but lost the pedal so I never got to try it with any active bass. Is it worth getting another, to tell you the truth I love the look of them as well but should I go for a bass muff instead-I take it it's up to the task Lebowsky if it can handle a super hot Bongo?

Hey GingerConor, greetings-I've not come across too many people from Belfast or Dublin on TB

In relation to what roflol said, how tricky would it be to put a 15k resistor in front of the mammoth, it would be nice to modify it so I could use it-it cost a bomb

dubsymmetry · #10 10-31-2008, 06:49 AM

putting that resistor in a small metal box with in- & output jacks would be the cheapest and easiest option if you have a soldering iron or a friend that has one - I wouldn´t want to mod my own mammoth..
I haven´t tried this (FYI).
what I´ve done in the past was putting a reamp box between the active bass & mammoth, because I had one around in my studio. buying one just for this purpose would be a little overkill, as it´s around 80 or 100 bucks, and for this you can buy another fuzz pedal.

Ablebasser · #11 10-31-2008, 07:00 AM

Cheers dubsymmetry, that was most helpful. I'm actually hoping to get into building my own pedals (my girlfriend and some of our friends are physics masters and phd students so I'll have some expert guidence!) so I guess putting this box together would be a great start, sounds like it would be difficult to screw up

dubsymmetry · #12 10-31-2008, 07:05 AM

yeah, ask them for soldering advice - and get the smallest box that can hold 2 jacks and that resistor.. real estate is precious ; )

GingerConor · #13 10-31-2008, 07:34 AM

ur band own!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ablebasser

My Mammoth definitely gets squashed by the Spector, as the note decays the volume increases. I used to use a Russian big muff on my jazz bass years ago and loved the sound but lost the pedal so I never got to try it with any active bass. Is it worth getting another, to tell you the truth I love the look of them as well but should I go for a bass muff instead-I take it it's up to the task Lebowsky if it can handle a super hot Bongo?

Hey GingerConor, greetings-I've not come across too many people from Belfast or Dublin on TB

In relation to what roflol said, how tricky would it be to put a 15k resistor in front of the mammoth, it would be nice to modify it so I could use it-it cost a bomb

Ablebasser · #14 10-31-2008, 08:09 AM

Cheers Gingerconor, between that comment and the thought that I can get the woolly mammoth back from my guitarist's clutches I am in a very good humour indeed!

Really digging Cerebrum BTW, looks like I just missed out on hearing any of your other tunes.

jisforjustin · #15 10-31-2008, 08:14 AM

http://www.bassfuzz.com uses active and passive basses when doing reviews

eyvindwa · #16 10-31-2008, 08:20 AM

My suggestions would be the MXR Bass blowtorch and the B:ASSMASTER. I use both with my active 18V Warwicks, and it sounds delicious.

Craig_S · #17 10-31-2008, 08:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jisforjustin

Here are some active bass sounds with my V1 Buzz Bomb.

www.3xfx.com/audio/v1_clip6.mp3

www.3xfx.com/audio/v1_clip7.mp3

Do you get a lot of use out of that sound? I just sold a 70's Big Muff Pi that sounded a lot like that. It ate the low end just as well.

Sorry. I'm being facetious.

Ric5 · #18 10-31-2008, 08:44 AM

I play several active basses and I use distortion. For many years I used the line 6 bass pod. These days I run several effects parallel. I mix clean and dirty signals together. I have found that I have to back the volume and tone controls back a little on the bass so the signal isn't too hot coming in.

here's my pedal board ...

Ablebasser · #19 10-31-2008, 08:58 AM

I'd forgotten that bassfuzz.com does passive and active samples, wish I hadn't taken a look though-now I'm GASing for that tentacle Fuzz, sounds great. Will be sensible though and try the resistor box before the mammoth idea first cos I do love it's sound when it's not being squashed

bassterix · #20 10-31-2008, 09:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ablebasser

I had to donate my woolly mammoth to my guitarist when I shifted from passive Fenders to active Spectors cause as you know the mammoth doesn't work so well with actives.

Same problem here. I might give the GLZ by Barge Concepts a try.
Any experience with this setup?