Fuzz Options - Musket or Pickle or Mastotron or Supercollider or ???

[David Studenick]

Here's my dilemma - I need a fuzz.

and I need it to do basically whatever my Tech 21 VT Bass can't do.

I'm leaning towards the synthy side of things. My budget is $165 tops.

Options under consideration:

Wounded Paw Attack Goat
Way Huge Swollen Pickle
Zvex Mastotron
Earthbound Supercollider
Blackout Effectors Musket Fuzz
smallsound/bigsound Team Awesome Fuzz Machine

Please provide opinions. There's no way I'm going to be able to demo all of these.

I'm looking for something that won't suck all the bottom end out of my tone and also something that is fairly idiot proof, so if any of these are really "tweaky" and difficult to use, please LMK.

[Robertron]

I found the Mastotron really easy to use, and with the sub switch at 3 there's definitely no loss in low end. It's really quiet which is nice. I was able to get 3 good fuzz tones out of it before I sold it.

[Eric!]

I've used:
Pickle
Mastotron
Supercollider

My favorite:
Supercollider

The SC is fairly idiot-proof. Almost always get a good tone out of it.

[MarshallLaw]

I've only tried the Pickle and the Mastotron out of those... the Pickle was the best fuzz pedal ive ever played, and the Mastotron sounded like crap.

[Unrepresented]

I demo'd the mastotron, and it was satisfying in a vintage way, but didn't excite me. As said good low end retention when properly dialed in. I purchased the Pickle Pie B (a clone of the swollen pickle but with a blend knob), and it currently is able to cover my "doomy" needs.

Haven't played with a Super Collider, but it clearly has the coolest looking graphics of the bunch.

[Deluge Of Sound]

New Supercollider art doesn't do it for me.

Its a really dark muff variant, which may or may not be what your looking for.

Actually, for my money, the Supercollider really sounds like the bees knees when you're tuning down a couple steps... If you're staying in Standard I might think about using a different fuzz.

have you checked the clips at bassfuzz.com?

[FunkyLemz]

Wounded Paw Attack Goat - on my board - gated/synth/heavy - awesome pedal
Way Huge Swollen Pickle - very ballsy and a great deal- a/b/c'd w/ the goat and zvex
Zvex fuzz factory - out of control, but pretty narly pedal. i liked the goat more
Earthbound Supercollider - never tried it nor the mastotron
Blackout Effectors Musket Fuzz - tweakable - on my board too - can go all out dirty
bass big muff pi - similiar to the goat, but with less cut/control and more balls - also on my board and a great deal

[David Studenick]

Thanks for the replies guys. I'm leaning towards the musket more and more.

I have a VT XXL that covers most of my overdrive needs and am looking for a really flexible fuzz rather than a 1-trick pony sort of fuzz.

Swollen pickle is intriguing, but irritates me that I have to open the case and mess w/internal pots.

So in terms of versatility - any suggestions?

FWIW, I'm not really into doom/sludge so much. I'm looking for something I could use in a loop with an envelope filter and octaver.

[Deluge Of Sound]

I suggest you give the Bass Big Muff a shot.

[David Studenick]

Oh, one more thing - I play active basses including a 5er tuned BEADG (I understand this is an issue w/ the Mammoth, but IDK about others).

[Bassnut62]

The Goos by Take Flight Pedals looks very interesting and has synthy fuzz too i beleive.
i think there's one for sale on TB for $145 at moment.

Catlinbread SFT seems good for crunch, dirt and OD; but maybe not full-on fuzz

Pickle Pie B looks very nice too and sounds great too in demos, blend is neat but I think the SFT may have the edge over it due to dynamics.

Great bunch of opinions for some one who's never tried any of these in the flesh!! I've listened to a lot of demos on all of them tho and GASsed alot over them! Probably going to pull the triggerr on an SFT v.soon myself.

[Sound Chaser]

Have the Musket, it's great. Used a Pickle before, very synthy with "I hope my speakers are gonna be okay" low end... not organic enough for me, though. Not a good sustainer either. The Musket, on the other hand, is the best dirt unit I've ever used (8 others, ehx, mxr, line 6, boss, digitech, Morley, Ampeg, n way huge.)

[Smallequestrian]

Originally Posted by David Studenick

Thanks for the replies guys. I'm leaning towards the musket more and more.

I have a VT XXL that covers most of my overdrive needs and am looking for a really flexible fuzz rather than a 1-trick pony sort of fuzz.

Swollen pickle is intriguing, but irritates me that I have to open the case and mess w/internal pots.

The internal pots are really something that you set once and never deal with again. I wouldn't let that be the deciding factor.

[Deluge Of Sound]

Originally Posted by David Studenick

Oh, one more thing - I play active basses including a 5er tuned BEADG (I understand this is an issue w/ the Mammoth, but IDK about others).

Muff circuits (i.e. the musket, the super collider, the swollen pickle) don't have a problem with active basses--that's more of a fuzz face issue.

[Valerus]

MUSKET

*leaves*

[CliffD]

Originally Posted by Deluge Of Sound

New Supercollider art doesn't do it for me.

Its a really dark muff variant, which may or may not be what your looking for.

Actually, for my money, the Supercollider really sounds like the bees knees when you're tuning down a couple steps... If you're staying in Standard I might think about using a different fuzz.

have you checked the clips at bassfuzz.com?

I couldn't agree more, I had a beast super collider and feel the same. I'm really digging my nano metal muff, but if and when I get a boutique muff it'll be a musket v2, I had v1 for about two years a loved it.

[bobulibobium]

Supercollider - it gives you everything and more

[theunknowndude]

used a mastotron and supercollider,..

mastotron isnt your everyday fuzz, mostly either really synth or that 8 bit crackly sound, can sound pretty good in a variety of positions to me but its not exactly a classic fuzz or good for everyday sounds/filter (unless your going for synth tone)

supercollider is jack of all trades to me, the depth, tone and mids means you can dial in all sorts, biting, agressive or a bit more classic,... only thing I disliked where the knobs on mine were easily moved transporting my pedal board and I always lost my tone I dialed in. Never owned a muff but I believe is a souped up muff and more. I really liked dialing in the mids/treble and getting a dark agressive biting tone out of it, sounds especially mean on E and B strings.

Only other option I can think of is devi ever hyperion, however devi's pedals arent for everyone, they have a large range of 'not usable for most people' tones but the hyperion is very muffish and is the more subtle of her range.

[riotriot]

Own a Musket and love it! Love the fact that you can tighten it up to get a more od kinda response which works really well for bass.

[FuzzAddict]

Well, if your after a synthy sound, the Mastotron would be a good choice. But, the Supercollider is one of the most incredible fuzzes out there. The choice is yours, but I highly recommend the Mastotron for synthy stuff.