Fuzz/OD with blend?

[mmbongo]

Looking for a good fuzz/overdrive with the ability to blend the original signal with the fuzzed signal. Also want true bypass, and must be 9v to work with a OneSpot. Also must sound great of course! Like to keep it around $150 new or used. What am I looking for?

So far on my list:
MXR Bass Fuzz Deluxe
Way Huge Pork Loin

[neadams]

DMB Bumble

dmbpedals.com

[mmbongo]

Originally Posted by neadams

DMB Bumble

dmbpedals.com

Big Dave Matthews Band fan here, so that's perfect!

Just kidding! Cool looking pedals, thanks for the link!

[neadams]

Originally Posted by mmbongo

Big Dave Matthews Band fan here, so that's perfect!

haha...

[erock0138]

I love the mxr blowtorch, but that's 18volts. You do get more headroom out of higher voltages keep in mind.

[gscroggin]

Originally Posted by neadams

DMB Bumble

dmbpedals.com

+1 on the Bumble, love the sound and features, especially at the price point. Had I not already had a Dark Driving and an Oh See Demo, I'd have bought the Bumble. Hell, I still may. The only other one in that price range with a blend (that hasn't been mentioned) that I can think of is the Source Audio Multiwave Bass Distortion.

If you're willing to go up in price, here's some other stuff you may want to check out:

Kaisser Instruments Priapos Bass Distortion - $265
- splits signals into hi and low (kind of a dry feature), tube screamer based

FEA labs dual band distortion - $275 + s/h
- versatile, lots of knobs, mild od to distortion, dry blend

AMT Electronics bc-1 - $229
- versatile, lots of knobs, mild od to distortion, two channels (blendable), more of an overall preamp

Darkglass Microtubes B3K - $300
- crazy good sounding but pricey, has blend

Iron Ether QF2 - $295
- great sounding multi band, versatile, not exactly blendable but having different frequencies can sort of get you to the same result

T-Rex Bass Juice - $219
- personally I think it sounds like a$$ but it does have a blend

Amptweaker Bass Tightdrive -@$180
- James offers the TD with a blend now, I've got an original and it sounds great when used with an external blender so it would probably kick a$$ with an onboard one

[DeltaPhoenix]

Do you want OD or Fuzz? They are pretty different.

[mmbongo]

Originally Posted by DeltaPhoenix

Do you want OD or Fuzz? They are pretty different.

Heck if I know. Whatever sounds best!

I'll be doing Dinosaur Jr. stuff, Rage Against The Machine..things like that. So Fuzz I would imagine. Or distortion. Overdrive will work too

[Grrface]

Smallsound/Bigsound Team Awesome Fuzz Machine! Run about $175 new, but you can snag deals on them used all day. And it'll go all the way from OD, which is how I used it the other night, to super awesome megafuzz. The blend is pretty great in it as well.

[caeman]

+1 for the FEA Dual Band Distortion

Plenty of fiddly knobs to get low gain to distortion.

[blindrabbit]

Heavy Electronics El Oso Distortion - it has a blend and I believe street price on it is $149.

Fender Sublime - The crossover sort of serves like a type of blend. Can be had new or used for well under $150.

Doesn't the Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive have a blend too? I'm sure there are a few others out there as well.

[DeltaPhoenix]

team awesome fuzz machine
oxide

[alec]

Tall Font Russian is TB. Doesn't have a blend. You can have it added but doesn't need it IMO.
Pickle Pie B does have a blend. Don't think its TB.
Oxide has wet & dry levels and TB.

[mmbongo]

Well, I decided to just buy a bunch of pedals to try, and keep the one I liked best while returning the rest. I bought:

EHX Big Bass Muff
TC Electronic Dark Matter
Way Huge Pork Loin
Digitech Hardwire Tube Overdrive
VHT V-Drive

I'm not going to say one pedal is 'better' than the others, they are all different. The one I liked best might not work for the next guy

The one I kept is the Digitech Hardwire. It simply just gave me the sound I was looking for...a gnarly overdriven tube sound. This is also the only pedal that still allowed my bass to sound like my bass. Everything else also got pretty muddy on the E and B strings. This thing stays clear and solid all the way down. It's built like a brick, and I love that the knobs are completely detented. For $100 I don't know why this pedal does not get more love. 'Classic' mode sounds like it has the clean signal blended in.

It came down to either the Digitech or the Pork Loin. Pork Loin sounds awesome too, but it's about $70 more than the Digitech and was a little fizzy sounding. Compared to the Digitech, it's majorly mid-scooped. It almost sounds like it has a compressor inside.

Most surprising was the VHT pedal, mainly because nobody ever mentions it. It sounds great and has tons of adjustments. However, it's the same price as the Digitech. It weighs about 1/4 as much just feels cheaper. Odd thing is that this pedal is exactly like BBE pedals. Same case, same rubber on the back, same screws...identical. They have to be made side by side in the same Chinese factory. BBE could stick a weird graphic on this and add it to their lineup. Sounds great, just not sure how long it would last.

The Big Muff is a great fuzz pedal, but I don't like fuzz. It sounds so different though, I might find a use for it.

I wanted to like the TC Electronic Dark Matter, it's the one I wanted to keep when I ordered them because I love my other TC Pedals, despite their poorly designed (I think) little short button. If you want a sh*t load of gain, this is your pedal. I just never heard my bass through this pedal, it was just ALL overdriven sound. It acutally sounded quite a bit like the Digitech when it's switched to 'modified' mode, which I didn't like at all. This pedal could benefit from a clean blend I think. Heck, what do I know?


Trust me though, if you need a killer overdrive pedal check out the Digitech Hardwire Tube Overdrive.

[Unrepresented]

Originally Posted by alec

Pickle Pie B does have a blend. Don't think its TB.

It has a really good blend, and it is true bypass.

Happy with mine, and I'm definitely guilty of traveling in Rage Against the Machine inspired areas.

[NortyFiner]

MXR M80 Bass DI+. Wide-ranging distortion channel with blend and its own adjustable noise gate.

[twhitedc]

I've used a NOC3 Pure Drive for a while, it doesn't get a lot of love on here but it's right in your price range, has a clean blend, bass, treble, gain, and level controls, with a 3 position switch for varying levels of gain/compression. I don't know how well it will fuzz, because I haven't used it that way, but it does to clean overdrive well. It can also be run at either 18V or 9V. I'll try to mess with mine, and see how gritty it can get but it's worth checking out....
However you will probably end up purchasing more than 1 pedal in this quest.... Good Luck.

NOC3 Pure Drive

[Matt Dean]

I second the recommendation for the Wren and Cuff Tall Font Russian w/blend. it's one of the pedals I use for low through high gain distortion. I also use a tweaked Phat Phuck B for light overdrive applications. And of course the I use and always recommend the Oxide, but I generally use if for EXTREME distortion and fuzziness.

[CrewsControl]

SansAmp BDDI.

[ulynch]

Originally Posted by twhitedc

However you will probably end up purchasing more than 1 pedal in this quest.... Good Luck.

No kiddin'. I started with a Hartke VXL. Clean blend, excellent DI, leave it on all the time for the EQ and just a bit of touch-sensitive grit. But then I found that there are times I'd like a boost and just hair more, umm, hair Now I find myself with a Nano Muff, a BBBOD, Bad Monkey, and an Agro and SFT on the way. I hope I can settle on just one + the VXL, and sell off the rest in a few weeks. Right?