Electronix Messdrive Hybrid+ Bass Fuzz Review

[Joe Gress]

Overview The Electronix Messdrive Hybrid+ is a bass specific fuzz that does not lose any bottom end. I ordered mine with their submarine yellow paint.

Value/Durability This pedal cost me $115.00 shipped to my door with a custom paint job. Their TB price is $115.00 for the basic pedal, and $5 or $10 (for the life of me I can’t remember what he said) for custom paint options. They did not charge me for the paint as the pedal would not be able to be built until the week after I ordered it. It is made with super strong parts that do not wiggle or move at all when you fiddle with them. All the knobs feel solid and tight, but are still easy to move and tweak. The whole thing is incased in a regular size housing with a tight screw-on lid that does not wiggle either. Inside the pedal the pots, wires, board, and caps are all soldered very well, I do not see any that have weak points at all. The parts are all in tight, but not cramped or squished anywhere. The battery is kind of tight, and is a little bit of a pain to get in and out, but that means there is no battery flopping around and touching important parts and mucking things up. I’ll be using a power supply so it won’t be a problem. The paint job is absolutely amazing and flawless; it should stand for many years of abusing to come. And the yellow is just kickin’ awesome!

Sound WOW! When they say that this thing loses no bottom end they are right! The fuzz is very smooth and controllable and can go from fairly modest amount of break up, to a full on super rippin’ fuzz without any loss of low end or harsh top end. With the tone knob all the way down, I would say that there is a cut in the top end, and with the fuzz at minimal and the tone all the way down, you can get your own tone, but with deep end and no top. Turn up the tone knob and you can get a very synth-like fuzz that nails the hysteria sound. The sound is a fairly modern fuzz, not mid scooped or anything like that, but fairly in-your-face and pronounced. The knobs are extremely functional and it is easy to dial in the right tones, without having to go back and forth twenty or thirty times to get it just right. The modern/vintage toggle is fairly use full as well. It allows you to go from a milder, smoother fuzz on the vintage setting, to a more cutting, harsher fuzz. To me it almost acts like a boost switch, but with little change in volume. This combined with a wah pedal before it sounds just killer. Not Burton screaming wah, but more of a deep and controlled filtered fuzz.

It’s also very dynamically controlled especially in the vintage setting. You play soft and restrained, and it stays smooth and modestly breaks up depending on the fuzz level. Dig in a bit and it will get rougher. It’s kinda’ cool to be able to play a smooth bass line with just a bit of fuzz, and then dig in a bit and let it lose and just rumble. The switch from the vintage to the modern setting loses a bit of this, and adds a lot more fuzz to the tone. I think I like the vintage setting the best. What would be cool is if there was a stomp switch to switch between the two settings. (maybe in the future, eh?)

In comparison to the only other fuzzes I’ve tried, this definitely takes the cake for the best stand alone fuzz that does not need any extra pedals to make it sound awesome. It also has the best bottom end. My big muff sounds all right, but the mids seem scooped and the top end is where it lives. The blowtorch had hat weird mid thing going on, and it kinda’ sounded like crap. But the Messdrive is all bottom end and mids, with the top end nonexistent unless you coax it out. Exactly what I was looking for.

One of the other things I was looking to do with this pedal was to pair it up with my qtron+ in its effect loop to get a real synthy growly type sound. It worked just fine for this, but I think I like the muff just a little better since it affects the top end the best. The Messdrive was perfect before the qtron+ though.

I'm really sorry, but I have no way that I can post sound clips.

Customer Care When I sent him a pm asking if they could do a few custom options, they replied that they could paint it the custom color, but it wouldn’t be till the next week that they would be able to build it for me. No problem, and I got the custom paint at no extra charge. The end of the next week came and he said he had it built, painted and out the door. It came in the next Tuesday. Absolutely great guys to communicate with and they sent a few emails explaining the progress. Total time from when I first ordered the pedal to when I got it was two and a half weeks. Pretty swell if you ask me.
PICS:


Red LED:


PS I must add that the pedal was built like a tank, but maybe could have used a blend. (Just kidding, it’s perfect)

[Valerus]

Very nice review!

I love mine.
When you turn yours on, do you hear a noticeable hum?

[tomvelsor]

Originally Posted by Valerus

Very nice review!

I love mine.
When you turn yours on, do you hear a noticeable hum?

i have a regular messdrive, and it has a reasonable hum but only with my MIM jazz bass..so i blame the bass for that.

the messdrive is THE BEST sounding fuzz i've ever tried, and ive tried just about all the "bass" fuzzes out there (as well as guitar ones that are bass friendly.) theyre really pleasant people to deal with, and their products are absolutely top notch.

A+++++ for electronix.

[Valerus]

Hmm. Even without my bass in the loop, once i stomp the messdrive, i get an instant noticeable hum.

[jk3]

nice review.
i'd like to know how the mess drive hybrid compares to the MXR El Grande...

[Joe Gress]

No, no hum at all. Probably my quietest pedal.

[BassIsFun17]

i love my messdrive + .... i got it in a trade, prolly the best deal i have made.
mine does have a little bit of hum, but only when i use it at high volumes.
i love the sound of it with my morley power wah.

[B.C.]

I am so close to getting one myself.

[Valerus]

Hmm, maybe i should get mine checked out

[DosiYanarchy]

i actually traded mine with my Ampeg Scrambler for a B:assmaster, but i will say that Os and the guys at Music Electronix are great people to buy from, really helpful and nice about any questions you have, and i personally thought my Hybrid + was THE definition of bass fuzz, however, i also have a sovtek big muff, a mxr blowtorch, and now a Malekko B:assmaster so while it was a real shame to see the hybrid+ leave, it wasnt getting the attention it needed (it was sitting in my q-tron+ effects loop looking unloved)

also - the price, cheap as chips, i mean seriously, it was £70 with the exchange rate over here, and its way more versatile than my sovtek big muff, which was double the price(i had to keep the muff tho, just for sentimental value) i think ill probaby buy the normal messdrive at some point too. i still have the Submarine pre-amp which is great coz my MIA Deluxe Jazz doesnt have a tone control (3-band eq, pickup pan, but no tone control)

[musicelectronix]

Thanks for the nice words guys!

[tomvelsor]

Originally Posted by B.C.

I am so close to getting one myself.

do it, very worth it.

[Dpduder]

im in the market for fuzz. right now im unsatisfied with my blowtorch, and was looking @ the wooly mammoth, how does the messdrive hybrid stack up against it?

[Valerus]

Originally Posted by Dpduder

im in the market for fuzz. right now im unsatisfied with my blowtorch, and was looking @ the wooly mammoth, how does the messdrive hybrid stack up against it?

It's definitely not as crazy as the mammoth.

You get what you pay for. The mammoth can be like 3x as expensive.

I played around with a mammoth last week and I was unimpressed.

[Dpduder]

call me simple, but whats the big difference in the messdrive and messdrive hyrbrid? ive yet to hear clips of the hybrid (something wonky with the site ATM). Im rather a fan of stupid simple instead of lots of tweaking, and the cheaper price is appealing if its on the same quality level.

[Joe Gress]

Well, quality level will probably be the same, but I've never tried a regular one. I got the hybrid+ for the tweakability, and because you can adjust the level of fuzz. But if they sound the same, and your looking for something easier to fiddle with, id say get it.

[Joe Gress]

Originally Posted by Valerus

It's definitely not as crazy as the mammoth.

You get what you pay for. The mammoth can be like 3x as expensive.

I played around with a mammoth last week and I was unimpressed.

Oh yeah, I forgot about the mammoth, the only other fuzz I've tried. Way too over the top for me, very thick, and to me, not enough bottom. The messdrive sounds much more bassy and refined.

[Valerus]

Os actually said the two are quite different.
He said something like they are two entirely different beasts.

[Dpduder]

One last question. How does the messdrive work with active vs passive basses? i know alot of fuzz pedals have a difficult time with active electronics.

[Joe Gress]

It will work with either. It has a buffer or something like that. I took the pedal to guitar center to see how it sounds with other basses and amps. It worked just the same with a music man and an active corvette.