Fuzz that doesn't get lost in the mix?

[Gonzo476]

I bought a Zvex Mastotron a year ago and at first I was very happy with it, but I've come to realize that in a mix, either live or recorded, it simply disappears. I've got the chance to sell it for 90€ and buy a Woolly Mammoth clone for the same price. When I tried the Mammoth some time ago I loved it, but I found it was too expensive. So now I have two questions:
1)Will the Woolly Mammoth have the same problem as the Mastotron? If any Mammoth owners could post here I would be grateful.
2)If the Mammoth won't cut through, or at least be heard, in a mix, what other fuzzes can get a high gain fuzzy, even synthy, sound? I play in two bands, a rock band and an electronica two piece band, so sometimes I need a wall of massive, gated, fuzz.

[varunkapahi]

any fuzz you can find will be lost in the mix if the guitar player wont turn off his imo

[FunkMetalBass]

Can you run it through an EQ pedal at all?

Distortion, but nature, squares up the waves and compresses them to soften the attack. There's also a mild mid-scoop. If your guitarist has any distortion at all, you're going to feel lost in the mix.

[Gonzo476]

My guitarist has some dirt most of the time, but not much...just a bit of overdrive. I'm afraid that I can't run it through an EQ pedal because I don't have one.

[jmattbassplaya]

The bass big muff IMHO holds it's own very well in dry mode.

[Gonzo476]

Originally Posted by jmattbassplaya

The bass big muff IMHO holds it's own very well in dry mode.

I find that it has too little gain. I play in a rock band and in an electronica two piece band, so sometimes I need a massive, full-gain, synthy fuzz sound for some songs. I bought the Mastotron because of the ability of shaping the wave to create a gated fuzz effect for those occasions.

[rratajski]

Your thread title and desciption don't match up...
Do you want to know about fuzzes that let you stand out in a mix, if the Wooly Mammoth will cut in a mix, or both?

Otherwise, this thread is going to go off topic very quickly...especially since no one has mentioned the WM yet...

[Gonzo476]

Originally Posted by rratajski

Your thread title and desciption don't match up...
Do you want to know about fuzzes that let you stand out in a mix, if the Wooly Mammoth will cut in a mix, or both?

Otherwise, this thread is going to go off topic very quickly...especially since no one has mentioned the WM yet...

Yeah sorry. I've been studying all day for my last uni exam and my brain doesn't work as it should . I will edit it right now.

[Pedalmonger]

Gonzo,
from my experience on both sides of the fence, things you can try to solve for this:
1. Get a Boss LS-1 - it's a fairly versatile loop pedal, check it out. It'd allow you to mix your dry bass signal with the fuzz tone, meaning you're going to get your regular bass tone, thus retaining your low end AND the fuzz on top. Your guitarist can't cop those low frequencies (unless he's tuned to C# and below...). It'll come through in the mix;
2. Have your guitarist play on his treble pickup whenever he switches on the fuzz - he can also EQ his fuzz to stay in the treblier end of things (all fuzz pedals go from lo- to hi-). Hope this helps.

[knumbskull]

B:Assmaster holds its own in the mix...

(it does have a clean blend/boost)

[Gonzo476]

Originally Posted by knumbskull

B:Assmaster holds its own in the mix...

(it does have a clean blend/boost)

I started a thread a couple of days ago about octave up fuzzes and decided that I was going to buy a Bogdan clone, but I would like to have also a standard fuzz.

[serein2j]

Use it with Xotic X-Blender

[scotch]

Originally Posted by serein2j

Use it with Xotic X-Blender

+1

Also, the Fender Sub-Lime might work for you. I'd characterize it as a "Muff-on-steroids" with less mid-cut.

[FreaqyFrequency]

I'm going to stick by my OLC Chunky Cheese. If you feed it a lot of mids, it will cut like a champ.

[Jared Lash]

So there are two very specific questions in the OP with a much more general question for a title. I'll see if I can answer each.

1)Will the Woolly Mammoth have the same problem as the Mastotron? If any Mammoth owners could post here I would be grateful.

The Woolly Mammoth has a different TONE than the Mastotron but if you aren't cutting through now, I don't think a WM will be the fix you want. The Mammoth does have more of a square wave, "chunky" tone vs the more "velcro" fuzz sound of the Mastotron. Whether that makes a difference in your band's mix I have no idea.

2)If the Mammoth won't cut through, or at least be heard, in a mix, what other fuzzes can get a high gain fuzzy, even synthy, sound? I play in two bands, a rock band and an electronica two piece band, so sometimes I need a wall of massive, gated, fuzz.

A number of fuzzes can get the sound you want (I like and use a Chunk Brown Dog for all my fuzz needs, including synthy, gated sounds and love a blended Big Cheese or OLC Chunky Cheese as well). But the reality is that again, if you aren't cutting through now I don't think a different flavor of gated, synthy fuzz is your answer.

This leads to the question in the title:

Fuzz that doesn't get lost in the mix?

There are several factors at work when your fuzz tone is getting lost in the mix.

One is that by nature a fuzz pedal is clipping your tone and reducing note definition. There's no fuzz that by itself will help you cut through a mix it will ALWAYS give you less clarity. Muff type fuzzes often exacerbate this by additionally scooping your mids which are the frequencies where bass "cuts through" in a mix to begin with.

So how do you make a fuzz better heard in a mix? There are a couple ways:

1. Have the fuzz louder than unity. When practicing by myself the settings I have for my fuzz often seem WAY too loud, but in a mix it very often helps to have it significantly louder than your clean tone.

2. Blend in clean tone either with a fuzz with a built in blend or a blender pedal. This doesn't make the fuzz "cut through" any better, but gives the bass overall more presence in the mix.

3. Work with your bandmates to carve out appropriate sonic space. This is the most important aspect. If you want fuzz to be heard you need to have room in the mix for it. Otherwise it will just sound like the bass disappeared among the cacophony. It's why I often discourage metal bassists who are asking for a distortion or fuzz for their bands. If you're competing with two heavily distorted guitars, the best way to cut through is to be clean with a bump in the low mids.

Likewise, if you ARE going to use fuzz on bass, the best time is when your guitar player is relatively clean and not stepping on your frequency range.

My two cents anyway.

[Gonzo476]

Thanks to everyone for the quick replies. I think that I will have to talk to my guitarist about his dirt levels and/or buy a clean blend. Anyway, I think that I'm going to pull the trigger on that Woolly after watching some youtube videos.

G.A.S.-1
Gonzo476-0

[Luke666uk]

I like the EBS multidrive , playing with 2 guitarists and a drummer in a punk band it can hold its own!!

[DosiYanarchy]

MXR Bass Blowtorch will cut through anything, whether you like the tone or not is another question.

Also +1 to everything MR. Lash said.

also try and find a bass fuzz with control over the midrange: Earthbound Audio Supercollider.

[loendmaestro]

Originally Posted by scotch

+1

Also, the Fender Sub-Lime might work for you. I'd characterize it as a "Muff-on-steroids" with less mid-cut.

+1

[rratajski]

Originally Posted by Gonzo476

I think that I will have to talk to my guitarist about his dirt levels and/or buy a clean blend

Have fun with that! 8 times out of 10, guitarists aren't interested in having the dirt, level, and frequency discussion.