Fuzz lost in the mix

[RHCP250]

I'm currently using a Bass Big Muff for a heavily distorted sound on some of my bands songs. It sounds great on its own, but once I use it with my drummer and guitarist, no matter what setting I use on the pedal, my sound seems to vanish. I've even tried setting the pedal so it has a volume boost when on, to no avail. I'm thinking of upgrading to a super-collider or mastotron, do these pedals do better in a band setting?

[kevteop]

Is/are your guitarist(s) using lots of distortion? If they are you're probably going to get swamped no matter what you do.

Have you tried using a grindy overdrive or something instead?

[Din Of Win]

How are you EQ'd relative to your guitarist? I use a BBM(with an ODB-3) and i never get lost even with my guitarist playing through 8 12's.

[thesmallprint]

As a big user of fuzz myself, I can tell you there is no real solution to this. I get away with using it as we only have one guitarist and he plays a lot of minimal stuff or stuff where the fuzz is really good at filling out the sound.

No fuzz pedal is going to cut through much more than a Big Muff, it's just the way it is playing bass, your mids/highs will almost always be drowned out in heavy parts when the guitarist(s) are playing, especially live and in the rehearsal room. You could probably sort it out when recording but the bands sound is of course much more important than your sound.

The best you can do is probably a bit of Eq'ing, depending on your band but if you only have the one guitarist, you should be able to find a sound where the fuzz sits nicely underneath the rest of the sound.

Otherwise get a bigger/louder amp!! (Don't blame me if the guitarist complains though)

[RHCP250]

Not so much getting drowned out by the guitarist, he doesnt use an overly distorted sound, I guess you could compare his sound to Jimmy Page. I usually only use the pedal on parts where the guitar isn't playing as much, and its mostly bass and drums, and that where I get lost. Running clean, hearing myself is no problem. So I guess my question here is, would my sound change much if I were to switch to a SC, Masto, or Battering Ram?

[IanAllison]

Clean blend pedal.

I wish I'd been hipped to this years ago.

Here:

http://www.bargeconcepts.com/vbjr.html

Or here:

http://www.xotic.us/effects/x_blender/index.html

[kirkm24]

I think the MXR Bass Blowtorch is the most effective fuzz pedal for combating this because of its focus in the midrange (and it can be selected between 3 mid range frequencies). If you don't want to change your pedal out, try boosting your midrange frequencies in your EQ. It's not a volume problem so much as a frequency shift when you engage the pedal. Most bass specific fuzzes boost the highs and the lows and leave the mids out resulting in you getting buried in a mix. It seems that a lot of guys have better luck using fuzzes designed for guitars. You lose low-end for sure but at least you can be heard in a full band mix. It just depends on what you value.

[thesmallprint]

Originally Posted by RHCP250

Not so much getting drowned out by the guitarist, he doesnt use an overly distorted sound, I guess you could compare his sound to Jimmy Page. I usually only use the pedal on parts where the guitar isn't playing as much, and its mostly bass and drums, and that where I get lost. Running clean, hearing myself is no problem. So I guess my question here is, would my sound change much if I were to switch to a SC, Masto, or Battering Ram?

Ok, so perhaps you want a clean blend? I highly recommend the Boss LS-2 on the mix setting (One channel Muff, the other clean). You can use it for heaps of other stuff too. I use it to blend my Big Muff with a harsher synth like fuzz which sounds incredible. They are very cheap too.

[Bassenstien]

Set the BBM to 'Dry' mode so you can blend some clean back in.

[asherthemachine]

turn it up and blend it. problem solved.

[bassman1185]

Originally Posted by Bassenstien

Set the BBM to 'Dry' mode so you can blend some clean back in.

Just what I was thinking. That way, at least, you won't possibly cut through any LESS than when you're running it clean.

[rratajski]

I agree w/ the ideas to use a blend. Also look into Wounded Paw's Blender.

The Big Muff Pi removes mids from your tone. You may want to turn the tone knob more clockwise (at least past 3:00) to appear more in the mix. Boosting your mids on your head will help in general, but the Big Muff will still reduce them. Using a blend is your best bet. I have my blender set at 75% muff 25% clean and come through just fine. The fuzz is not as apparent, but it's there!

[rcubed]

Originally Posted by rratajski

The Big Muff Pi removes mids from your tone. You may want to turn the tone knob more clockwise (at least past 3:00) to appear more in the mix. Boosting your mids on your head will help in general, but the Big Muff will still reduce them. Using a blend is your best bet. I have my blender set at 75% muff 25% clean and come through just fine. The fuzz is not as apparent, but it's there!

Yeah, I go with EQ or amp changes over pedal changes for now.

[Vic Winters]

If he's using the Bass Big Muff, he doesn't need a blend since it has the built in DRY mode.

[rratajski]

Doesn't the blend only blend @ 1 level and is not adjutable?

If this is true, then it's not the same as a separate blend pedal.

If it does have an adjustable blend control, I stand corrected.

[RCCollins]

Originally Posted by rratajski

Doesn't the blend only blend @ 1 level and is not adjutable?

If this is true, then it's not the same as a separate blend pedal.

If it does have an adjustable blend control, I stand corrected.

well, the blend is adjustable but it's still not the same as having a seperate blend pedal. in BBM dry mode, the "vol" knob becomes a blend knob, and there is no output level control. This CAN be useful but you can't get every tone at unity level. Then again, that isn't so simple with a blend pedal either

[Ric5]

Are you using an active or pasive bass? How do you EQ the bass. I find active 2 band preamps with distortion don't cut through the mix.

I run 4 effects in parallel to get a sound that cuts through. Also my basses are all 5 stringers with 3 or 4 band preamps. A proper EQ is necessary to cut through the mix.

here is my pedal board.

[warwick.hoy]

I settled on the Supercollider specifically becuase of it's mid control. I crank the mids, and I keep my low mids up on my amp. I hear it just fine.

You mention that it is your drummer that is drowning you out,...could it be that you just aren't loud enough? There is nothing listed in your profile so we would have a hard time telling you what might be the problem. What is your amp? What is your bass?

I can't comment on the BBM, I can only assume that there is little to no low end loss since it's the BASS Big Muff. For my purposes, the SC has no low end loss. My guitarist is playing trough an AC30 and his tone is more indie than metal. Fuzz helps me fill in the holes. Drummer is frantic. I push 500 watts through a four ten cab and have no issues hearing my fuzz.

[Vic Winters]

Originally Posted by rratajski

Doesn't the blend only blend @ 1 level and is not adjutable?

If this is true, then it's not the same as a separate blend pedal.

If it does have an adjustable blend control, I stand corrected.

Dry mode leaves your signal untouched. With the volume all the way to the left it's your normal signal at unity. Turning the volume to the right adds fuzz and volume.

[Valerus]

get a Blackout Effectors Musket Has a mids knob and an input signal boost