Amp Fuzz Vs. Pedal Fuzz

[Holy War]

Right now Im playing a Ric 4003 and a 08 P into a Mesa BB750. The Mesa can get down right nasty as far as overdriven and fuzz tones are concerned, but Im curious about the world of fuzz pedals. Only problem is, I dont know if Ill be wasting my time and money considering my mesa seems to do a lot of the work. I guess Im looking for a very vintage sounding fuzz and Im getting a very modern sound from the mesa.

Anyways, any ideas or opinions? Im checking out the Zvex Mastotron, EHX Bass Big Muff, ProCo Rat, etc. Bass tones I like are Troy Sanders from Mastodon, Al Cisneros from Sleep/Om, Jeff Matz from High on Fire, Geezer Butler from Sabbath, and Dave Edwardson from Neurosis

[takfar]

I've got the Mastotron and Bass Big Muff and use both (sometimes both at once!). They are both great sounds and very different from each other, and can both keep a very strong low end. Haven't tried the Rat myself, but I hear it is a bit defficient in that respect..

[Holy War]

Originally Posted by takfar

I've got the Mastotron and Bass Big Muff and use both (sometimes both at once!). They are both great sounds and very different from each other, and can both keep a very strong low end. Haven't tried the Rat myself, but I hear it is a bit defficient in that respect..

Ya, Ive got to have something that keep the low end. Thats very important to my sound

[Thunderscreech]

Bass Big Muff, i will recommend.

The Supercollider is good as well.

[Holy War]

Originally Posted by Thunderscreech

Bass Big Muff, i will recommend.

The Supercollider is good as well.

WOW, that is awesome! Where can I buy one?!?!

[theavondon]

You could go the Troy Sanders path and get a Sanford and Sonny Bluebeard. Basically, its the most gnarly Big Muff ever.

[Holy War]

do you guys think I will have to mix my clean signal and fuzz signal to get a usable tone in a live mix?

[The Lurker]

From an engineering POV, if you want fuzz before any other effects (filter, wah, phaser) you'd be out of luck if you had only amp disto, since that would be after anything else unless you put it in an effects loop.

Ditto if you wanted to switch back and forth with a clean or less-fuzzed sound, unless you had a two-channel amp.

[Holy War]

Originally Posted by The Lurker

From an engineering POV, if you want fuzz before any other effects (filter, wah, phaser) you'd be out of luck if you had only amp disto, since that would be after anything else unless you put it in an effects loop.

Ditto if you wanted to switch back and forth with a clean or less-fuzzed sound, unless you had a two-channel amp.

Im sorry, but that just went right over my head. To keep things simple, Im not using any other effects at all. Just ric-fuzz-clean channel on the amp

[dannybuoy]

Check out the Catalinbread SFT:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGPV4SBeF2k

[jetofuj]

^ SFT would be great for Geezer tone. It really has fat and round tube character, even more than my all tube Mesa amp But it's an overdrive, so if you want more dirt than you should look somewhere else.

Check out different clips recorded by our great TBers and let you ears decide:

BurgerMeister:
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/defa...?bandID=646894

Chronicle
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/defa...?bandID=688208

Mark Olson
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/defa...?bandid=889952

[Matt Dean]

Tangential... but, I'm using a Mesa Bottle Rocket which is supposedly the preamp that makes up the OD channel of the BB 750. I use that and a Fulltone Bass Driver (sometimes together) for my distortion source.

[Happynoj]

Originally Posted by theavondon

You could go the Troy Sanders path and get a Sanford and Sonny Bluebeard. Basically, its the most expensive and hard to find Big Muff ever.

Fixed...

[Mudfuzz]

Originally Posted by Holy War

do you guys think I will have to mix my clean signal and fuzz signal to get a usable tone in a live mix?

This all depends really on what you are after.

Right now I'm using two fuzzes for live, a Katana Sound Bass Supperfuzz which has a blend and a GGG Tuned Bigmuff that I built which does not. I use them for different things but I use the supperfuzz more as I like the tonal complexity you get with a blended signal more then for a "usable" tone. The Tuned muff works great for me as far as a muff type fuzz goes.

This is all I'm using at this point, I've about given up on all my other dirt boxes for live do to one quirk or another. Both have really pulled through for me live like no other dirt boxes I've dealt with.

I've also come to the point where [I know I'm rambling off now but I don't care....] I feel that overdrives don't work for me, I always find something to not like about them live.... pluss I don't really even need the things....... I use a mesa 400+ which sounds better driven then any OD I've tryed.... And [Oh god will he stop already...] I've also come to the realization that I [and most likely we all] go for sounds because that is the thing to do for "this type of thing" and you end up with five dirt boxes on your board for "those sounds" bah bah bah ect...

[SFjonstarr]

Originally Posted by Matt Dean

Tangential... but, I'm using a Mesa Bottle Rocket which is supposedly the preamp that makes up the OD channel of the BB 750. I use that and a Fulltone Bass Driver (sometimes together) for my distortion source.

When I had a chance to go to the Mesa Factory and ask about their new (at that time) Big Block 750 distortion channel they told me that it was based off the Bottle Rocket pedal they had done. You can find the Bottle Rockets pretty cheap on E-Bay if you have some patience. If those are the type of sounds you're shooting for you probably won't be totally satisfied without a tube power amp IMO.

[theavondon]

Originally Posted by Happynoj

Fixed...

Oh yeah. Forgot that part.

[SnakeAnthony]

Originally Posted by Holy War

do you guys think I will have to mix my clean signal and fuzz signal to get a usable tone in a live mix?

This is going to step on a lot of feet, but I'm of the personal opinion that if the pedal needs a clean blend you don't need the pedal.

Granted, this is coming from someone who has more or less given up on 'clean' tone at all. I start at really distorted and move to either boosting the volume of that for loud parts or moving down to 'not as distorted' for soft parts. But I, for one, hate giving up the character of the distortion for the sake of preserving lows or mids. There are plenty of pedals that will give you large levels of gain without cutting either of those (to reasonable levels, of course. You can't expect to max the tone of a gain pedal and expect to preserve the lows).

For what you've listed an original ProCo RAT will do wonders. It completely covers that Stoner Metal tone.

[newbold]

At least TRY a Pigtronix OFO Disnortion. Parallel overdrive/6-selection fuzz with octave distortion.

Lots of great tones, plus parallel distortion for lots of timbres. Touch Sensitive distortion and drive. Synthy, doomy, stoner, and classic fuzz...

I really dig mine for rock and electronic sounds. I put away my BMS for synth drive, and have found a lot of great uses for this pedal.

Try it. You might like it. I love the muff but find the OFO is a monster. Insanely versatile. Not a clone.

[RickenBoogie]

I wanted to love the OFO, but, like my previous Fuzz Factory, it was difficult to control. Very happy with the Mastotron though, and that sucker can get extreme, but still able to reign it in. That's my suggestion, Zvex Mastotron.

[Holy War]

thanks for all the good info guys