Dwarfcraft Shiva

[Knettgummi]

I currently have a Dwarfcraft Shiva on my board, and although that thing can make some awesome noise, I feel like the low end suffers a bit through it.

I typically set the volume to about 10-11 o'clock, texture at 9 and keep both the octave and squeel switches engaged. I like this setting for making controlled, melodic feedback (by holding notes pretty high up the neck and riding the volume knob on my bass), while the starve mode comes in handy for making thunder and washes of white-ish noise (running through an EHX Cathedral, and using only the inherent noise of the Shiva as a source).

HOWEVER: when I've tried to use it as a straight up fuzz/distortion it doesn't quite hold up the low end of the clean signal. I'm considering getting an effects loop pedal with a dry signal blend (like the Boss LS-2 or a custom Loooper), but I can't really fit it on my board atm, and I'm hesitant about spending money on another pedal that doesn't really "do" anything on its own...

How do you guys use your Shivas? Any good tips on getting that extra low end?

[Shish]

yeah, I had same problem. maybe you contact with Aen and see if he can modify your Shiva for more low end?
I ended up trading it for Robot Devil but I miss it.

[Knettgummi]

I'm sure he would, but unfortunately I'm all the way over here in ol' Europe, and I don't much feel like shipping the pedal back and forth overseas (not to mention it would probably cost more than just adding some dry blend to my board)...

[warwick.hoy]

I use my Shiva all the time but considering I have two other fuzzes on my board that make up for what the Shiva lacks I'm not bothered by lowend loss. My "main fuzz" being the Supercollider and my "feedback loop fuzz" is a Wolf Computer (if you like the Shiva but are turned off by it's lowend loss check out the Wolf Computer).

The Shiva's main purpose is to sputter, spit, self oscillate and motorboat into my Bass MuRF. Think of it as a noise generator.

The LS-2 is an excellent pedal. I have one that I'm not using at the moment,...but I know that there will be a time when I'm glad I still have it.

[warwick.hoy]

And to Add,...I have used the LS-2 to blend a clean signal into the Shiva and it works. Some folks don't care for clean blend. I don't mind it. I've actually found that in terms of lowend loss,...there are some fuzzes out there that are worse off than the Shiva.

Might help if you turn the octave off or put an EQ either in front or behind it.

[Knettgummi]

Hey warwick.hoy, thanks for the input! I'm also leaning towards just not using the Shiva in those situations where the low end is needed, and putting the "LS-2 budget" towards another fuzz to go along with it that is a little more versatile than the Bass Big Muff that I currently have (although I'm intrigued to hear that you've had success with the LS-2 as well).

In my experience the signal seems to drown completely in the mix without the octave enabled, but then again I do have plenty of room to go on that volume knob, so I'll have to experiment some more with this.

I recently downsized from a PT-Pro board to a PT-Junior; partially because I didn't want to lug around that giant beast to gigs anymore, but also in part because it forces me to be more creative in how I select and use those effects that I do bring. I definitely don't want to give up the Shiva's spot yet, as I think it's one of the most interesting and creative fuzz pedals I've tried. But at the same time I need to cover a lot of different sounds with relatively few pedals, and I currently find myself wishing that I could kick in that Shiva in the most explosive dynamic peaks without loosing the low end foundation.

EDIT: Just got back from todays practice, and I found that switching off the octave did help quite a bit. I've been running the BBM into the Shiva, and while the BBM alone adds a decent bass boost, it actually takes away a lot of low end when both effects are on (probably because it also adds a lot of overtones that end up "occupying" the Shiva). This hasn't been very noticable with the octave switch engaged, and that's probably why I've only been using it that way. But as long as I keep the octave off and make sure to switch off the BBM when I kick the Shiva on (keeping the input signal darker), I can get a lot better results.

[warwick.hoy]

Cool man,...

That Shiva has so much gain that there really is no excuse for getting lost in the mix

I've always found that the Octave settings are useless for me unless I play high up on the fingerboard.

The Shiva is just such an unruly crazy pedal that I love it and partially named my band after it (it's a Venture Bros reference mainly but the Pedal inspired me).

To be honest,....I've gotta make room on my pedalboard for a few pedals that have in house and need to fix,....the Shiva will probably move to a Guitar board I'mma have to build and either a Montreal Assembly Wrong Side of Uranus will take it's spot,...or I will rearrange and put the WSOU in the feedback loop and move the Wolf Computer down before the MuRF.

[Knettgummi]

Yeah, as much as I like the Shiva in my bass setup, it really gets *truly* ridiculous with a guitar.

[naruki]

Originally Posted by warwick.hoy

I use my Shiva all the time but considering I have two other fuzzes on my board that make up for what the Shiva lacks I'm not bothered by lowend loss. My "main fuzz" being the Supercollider and my "feedback loop fuzz" is a Wolf Computer (if you like the Shiva but are turned off by it's lowend loss check out the Wolf Computer).

The Shiva's main purpose is to sputter, spit, self oscillate and motorboat into my Bass MuRF. Think of it as a noise generator.

The LS-2 is an excellent pedal. I have one that I'm not using at the moment,...but I know that there will be a time when I'm glad I still have it.

How's the Wolf Computer like with active basses?

[warwick.hoy]

Originally Posted by naruki

How's the Wolf Computer like with active basses?

Works fine; sounds great.