Help make my LBM sound good!

::Saint:: · #1 02-03-2008, 01:08 AM

Having some issues with my Little Big Muff... in recordings I can get it to sound pretty good - decent cut-through and presence against guitars and drums .. but in a live band setting I am having a lot of trouble getting it to really perform.

I find that it is sucking most of my low end and the rest of it is just getting completely lost in the mix. I would like to turn up the volume on the pedal, but it is just SO damned noisy when I do that. . . I have it in a loop with my OC-3, and the octaver helps when I am playing bass lines in the upper registers, but not down low.

Is there anything I can to do cut through more, or increase the usable volume / presence of the fuzz without all of the noise? Would a compressor or noise suppressor help much in this situation?

Any suggestions would be very helpful .. Mysticboo - I'm talking to you, man!

Jimbob Jones · #2 02-03-2008, 03:21 AM

try turning the tone closer to zero, this adds a lot of bass and means you will cut through more. Another option would be to either put an EQ pedal afterwards and use it to boost the mids, or use a blend pedal so that you have a dry signal underneath, also adding more cutting power

hope all that helps

JBJ

::Saint:: · #3 02-03-2008, 11:55 AM

Those are all things I have considered as well .. I have a Zoom B2.1u which I generally use more as an EQ than anything else .. the weird thing is I find when I don't have it first in my chain, that the LBM sounds odd.. it starts to get splotchy and really loses a lot of its edge. I really don't now why. I have an active bass with a passive mode .. I used to think maybe the output was too hot and the Zoom was sort of cooling it down before passing the signal to the LBM, but I've actually been finding the volume is louder AFTER the zoom, rather than before .. I do actually have an LS-2, which I could use as a blend, but I have 2 loops setup, that I need to switch between in different songs .. I guess I could blend them together for the time being but I guess eventually I will need a dedicated blender.

I do have the LBM's tone turned all the way to the left and it is a little better, but still doesn't but through very well. Anything else I can do to increase the volume of the pedals without increasing the noise so much?

Max Roberts · #4 02-03-2008, 11:57 AM

Blending your bass signal with the fuzz should make you cut through a bit more.

The Barge Concepts VFB-2 seems to be liked a lot round here.

superbassman2000 · #5 02-03-2008, 01:25 PM

blend in some clean!!!

JanusZarate · #6 02-03-2008, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ::Saint::

Is there anything I can to do cut through more, or increase the usable volume / presence of the fuzz without all of the noise? Would a compressor or noise suppressor help much in this situation?

Any suggestions would be very helpful .. Mysticboo - I'm talking to you, man!

So, here's the deal... to make the LBM stand out, it's gonna get noisy. In a live situation, you can probably live with that noise. Here are some tips to make it work better for you:

Turn down the Sustain, and turn up the Volume. By cutting back on the distortion, you should get a "cleaner" sound.
Try blending it with your clean sound.
I know it's very bassy with the Tone all the way to the left... but if you want to cut through, that's probably a bad idea. It's very dark on that side... try messing with higher Tone settings.
What you describe about the LBM's reaction with the Zoom doesn't seem out of the ordinary. You can get some weird behavior and volume issues with active basses. My best recommendation would be, again, to turn down the Sustain. It usually goes nuts with active basses if the Sustain is cranked and the Tone is low.

::Saint:: · #7 02-03-2008, 03:40 PM

I'm actually using my bass primarily in passive mode, but whether or not it is "true" passive or not is up for debate.. I really don't know. It's a Fender Jazz Bass Plus 5er. So instead of going low down on the tone with the sustain .. turn sustain down, tone up and volume up .. hmm.. I'll have to give that a try. I don't want to lose that sort of synthy deel to the fuzz though. I'll see what blending it can do as well.

JanusZarate · #8 02-03-2008, 06:22 PM

If you blend, do try turning the tone up - in other words, distort the top, and keep that bottom clean. Use toilet paper if necessary.

::Saint:: · #9 02-03-2008, 11:10 PM

I actually did something that ended up sounding kinda cool - I have my LBM and OC-3 on one loop of my LS-2, and my Blowtorch on the other loop.. usually I use the LS-2 to switch between them, but today I tried blending together, with the LBM on a high tone setting with lower sustain, and the blowtorch set on a bassy fuzz setting with a lot of low end with a medium amount of fuzz. The result was a very cool sound, which I am hoping will yield a good amount of cut-through.

During chorus parts I turn off the LBM and just go Blowtorch. We'll see at my next jam how it actually sounds through a speaker (I was just playing through the DI on my SA450 - > Mixing board & headphones) .. only problem now on the one song is having to go from the chorus part, with just the blowtorch on, to having the BT off and the LBM and OC-3 on instead .. there is a pause before I have to come in, but not a long one.. I'll have to become really adept at switching those pedals .. or just buy a dedicated blender pedal.

Sir Edward V · #10 02-03-2008, 11:18 PM

I could never get the LBM to cut through when I was in a band, but recently I tried turning the tone knobs on my bass down all the way and the LBM sounds so much better. it actually reacts like it does with a guitar hahaha

lately all my effects have been unplugged other than this one, I think I'm going to bring them out soon though

also, blending with the clean signal doesn't help the fuzz sound be heard in the mix, just the clean sound can be heard and the fuzz is still burried IME I like the EQ after idea much better, i've had more success with it

JanusZarate · #11 02-04-2008, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sir Edward V

also, blending with the clean signal doesn't help the fuzz sound be heard in the mix, just the clean sound can be heard and the fuzz is still burried IME I like the EQ after idea much better, i've had more success with it

Hence, why I suggested to focus the distortion "upwards" - make it more trebly, and rely on the blend to provide the bottom.

It doesn't really work as well if it's the other way around, IME.

EQ sculpting works, too, but then you start to move away from the Big Muff's natural tone

::Saint:: · #12 02-04-2008, 10:10 AM

Good advice from everyone - I will definitely give it all a try .. if I can't get the dang thing to stand out in a mix I may have to either turf it or reserve it only for sections without much guitar... too bad because I really do like the fuzz off of it. Oh well.. I'm planning on getting a B:Assmaster at some point, so I may just have to drop the LBM if it doesn't perform ...

Sir Edward V · #13 02-04-2008, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MysticBoo

EQ sculpting works, too, but then you start to move away from the Big Muff's natural tone

I don't care so much about the tone of the LBM as much as the character of it's sound. I love the creamy texture of the fuzz, and that isn't lost when you add a mid bump to rectify its loss.

dancehallclasher · #14 02-04-2008, 12:08 PM

The LBM isn't really a "cut through" kind of fuzz. It's a thick foundation for the rest of the band to skate around on top of. If you've got guitarists competing for the same space with heavy power chords, there'll be trouble.

::Saint:: · #15 02-04-2008, 01:30 PM

True enough I suppose, yeah. And that may very well be what I end up using it for if I can't get a little more out of it. I have an Ibanez SB-7 coming soon that may end up taking some of the LBM's duties on, while I use the Blowtorch for more in-your-face situations.