frantone bassweet

irvinz · #1 08-05-2008, 05:26 AM

so i've been offerred to in a trade the frantone basssweet.
i cant find any decent bass clips of it online.
anyone with experience with it? its supposedly a muff clone of sort?

what would you do? the trade item is worth a fair bit amount less too. but i wouldnt be able to do much in terms of reselling, because of the crappy new zealand market i would think.

cheers

fuNKmaster83 · #2 08-05-2008, 06:06 AM

the bassweet is a beast... i don't know if any pedal is similar cuz i have jet to see or hear the same effect... its like a bulldozer...

and it has tons of low end and a sustain tat lasts forever... i was terrified of it when i first tried it...

KarateKid25 · #3 08-05-2008, 08:25 AM

Bongo has a clip in the Wiki

bongomania · #4 08-05-2008, 10:21 AM

It's not a Muff clone, I'll tell you that. It's a super-heavy super-creamy stoner fuzz. If you like Om, Sleep, or any of those slow heavy wall-of-sound bands, the Bassweet is perfect. I do mean perfect. If OTOH you like clear articulation and have to cut through busy guitars, the Bassweet is the wrong tool for the job.

rustynuts · #5 08-05-2008, 01:25 PM

Kyuss tone? I've always liked the bass on Kyuss' releases.....'Course, half that is probably his Ricks.

irvinz · #6 08-05-2008, 01:55 PM

hmm, then the muff clone from frantone was the cream puff? nevermind =)
dont think i need that kinda sound at my dispense for now anyway, dont think i'll do it.
cheers

Dark Horse · #7 08-05-2008, 05:59 PM

I'm not sure about the Bassweet, but the Sweet is basically a Big Muff with germanium transistors as Q2 and Q3.

Valerus · #8 08-05-2008, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bongomania

It's not a Muff clone, I'll tell you that. It's a super-heavy super-creamy stoner fuzz. If you like Om, Sleep, or any of those slow heavy wall-of-sound bands, the Bassweet is perfect. I do mean perfect. If OTOH you like clear articulation and have to cut through busy guitars, the Bassweet is the wrong tool for the job.

Whoa. Really? I need to get one of these...

bongomania · #9 08-05-2008, 06:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dark Horse

I'm not sure about the Bassweet, but the Sweet is basically a Big Muff with germanium transistors as Q2 and Q3.

Interesting- I had only said it wasn't a Muff clone just because it didn't sound like one to me, but it's entirely plausible that with a couple of germ xtrs in there, and a different frequency range voicing, it could well have started off as a Muff circuit.

irvinz · #10 08-05-2008, 06:46 PM

its almost sounds like a muff, just a lot thicker. on the clips that i've heard atleast. which is definately a plus

Jared Lash · #11 08-05-2008, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valerus

Whoa. Really? I need to get one of these...

Careful, it's spitty.

I have a Bassweet that I'm keeping for now, but it won't be on my main pedalboard. It definitely can do the dark, rich wall-of-fuzz tone I wanted but there are two caveats. One, as bongo points out, it does NOT cut through a mix real well. I imagine it would do well for a doom band, but I actually used it more as an abrupt change when my guitar player was playing clean.

The second thing to know is that it kicks out some nasty sounds with the gain up. I can't think of another word than "spitty" to describe it. I'm not sure I'll keep it longterm. It's a cool fuzz, but I'm not sure it's useful enough to justify its price tag.

Valerus · #12 08-05-2008, 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBigO

Careful, it's spitty.

I have a Bassweet that I'm keeping for now, but it won't be on my main pedalboard. It definitely can do the dark, rich wall-of-fuzz tone I wanted but there are two caveats. One, as bongo points out, it does NOT cut through a mix real well. I imagine it would do well for a doom band, but I actually used it more as an abrupt change when my guitar player was playing clean.

The second thing to know is that it kicks out some nasty sounds with the gain up. I can't think of another word than "spitty" to describe it. I'm not sure I'll keep it longterm. It's a cool fuzz, but I'm not sure it's useful enough to justify its price tag.

Hmm...I'll take your experience into serious consideration.
Hell, I just want to TRY one out.

Butterbass · #13 08-10-2008, 06:31 PM

I gotz one a couple years back after listening to Bongo's clip. Funkmaster is right, i was terrified of the thing when I first tried it out; albeit that was with an active Ibanez. Have since switched to a passive fender P and after several attempts to sell the Bassweet I've finally found some uses for it. I reign in the tone and use it to ape Sting's throaty blooming fretless in some police songs. I also use it in front of some of my OD's to drive them into raging fiery meteorite through the musical stratosophere territory. Germanium wall is prolly a better name for the pedal. Late!

Dark Horse · #14 08-10-2008, 07:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bongomania

Interesting- I had only said it wasn't a Muff clone just because it didn't sound like one to me, but it's entirely plausible that with a couple of germ xtrs in there, and a different frequency range voicing, it could well have started off as a Muff circuit.

These are board pictures and a link to the schematic for the Sweet. I'm not sure what the differences are between the Bassweet and the Sweet though.

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m...cture003-1.jpg

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m...cture004-2.jpg

http://www.freestompboxes.org/downlo...=578&mode=view

Butterbass · #15 08-12-2008, 07:14 PM

Oooh almost forgot! Another great sound you can get out of its germy innards is the overdriven distorted 70's goodness of Mel schacher from Grand funk! Especially the noize from the Red Album! Dig it!

bongomania · #16 09-21-2008, 10:27 AM

FYI you can only post "WTB" posts in the "WTB" forum, and you have to be a supporting member to do that.

irvinz · #17 09-21-2008, 02:38 PM

there is one in the classifieds too. if you really want one. you should really be looking in the right places

Easy mojo · #18 09-22-2008, 05:01 AM

sorry, im not up on the etiquette. will check the classifieds

Sir Edward V · #19 09-22-2008, 07:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by irvinz

its almost sounds like a muff, just a lot thicker. on the clips that i've heard atleast. which is definately a plus

That would explain the sustain they were talking about.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBigO

Careful, it's spitty.

I have a Bassweet that I'm keeping for now, but it won't be on my main pedalboard. It definitely can do the dark, rich wall-of-fuzz tone I wanted but there are two caveats. One, as bongo points out, it does NOT cut through a mix real well. I imagine it would do well for a doom band, but I actually used it more as an abrupt change when my guitar player was playing clean.

The second thing to know is that it kicks out some nasty sounds with the gain up. I can't think of another word than "spitty" to describe it. I'm not sure I'll keep it longterm. It's a cool fuzz, but I'm not sure it's useful enough to justify its price tag.

as far as the 'spitty' thing goes, if it is really a muff circuit, then if you are using an active bass, you might be overdriving the circuit. I know with my LBM, if I have the EQ controls normal on my bass, I overdrive the circuit into some weird, boomy sounds, then eventually it goes normal when I sustain. It can sound cool for high notes that you sustain a lot, but it sucks for low notes, or parts where you play a lot of notes. But when I turn the highs and lows all the way down on my bass, the LBM acts a lot more like it does for guitar.

So what I am saying is if you were using an active bass, try turning the EQ knobs down all the way.

Jared Lash · #20 09-22-2008, 08:04 AM

No, it's just the nature of the beast. Active bass, passive bass, even an active with an impedance control - they all get some nasty sounds when you turn up the gain.