Katanasound SUPER BASS FUZZ Review w clip by Mudfuzz

Mudfuzz · #1 03-28-2009, 05:16 PM

This is my take on the Katanasound SUPER BASS FUZZ

This is a pedal that I thought a long time before getting and took a lot of e-mail and phone tag to get. I the end I got it from the Us distributer which their site is listed wrong on the Home page of Katanasound, but a bit back tracking I found them. Which is a good thing because the price was over $100 lower then what all the Japanese web stores had it listed for.

I found out about this pedal by digging through Discofeq's and forgot about it in till grygrx brought it up in a thread. I have been going through a lot of fuzzes of late even building a few clones along the way[Bigmuffs and Shin Ei Companion Fuzz], this pedal sounded too good to be true for what I wanted, but the price put me off for months...... Then I got my tax return!

So................

This is a very nice Fuzz pedal, it works with active and passive bass just fine, and has a Supper wide range of sounds. The octave is switchable so you can get both the grey and the orange'n blue supperfuzz sounds.

About the "bend"
There is no blend control, there are two volume controls: Dry and effected and you can use it as a clean boost if you turn the effected volume down and the dry up

The tone control is conventional, it rolls off highs.

Sound wise:
This is THE fuzz sound for me in terms of a all around fuzz, there are other fuzzes that I dig more but they all have too many quirks for a general use fuzz, where if I all I could take was one FX box.....
As to saying it is a good sound or a bad sound is irrelevant because we all have a different sound we need. I will say it sounds better then any of the fuzzes based on the same pedal as this one is that I have tried.

Build:
It is a tank! No shake rattle, heavy box, good knobs, and switches; One of the first things I noticed when pulling it out of the box was the nuts on the foot switches are the old knurled type like on old MXY and EHX boxes, sweat!

The down sides:
The only issues I can find are that when the octave is engaged the fuzz volume goes down a little. Also When the octave is engaged it acts like a whole different animal so you might end up having to reset everything. Also there is not a lot of extra output on tap like a muff, it will get loud but not bigmuff loud.

And here is my clip!
The clip is a Pbass w flats through a Mesa 400+ into a Sunn 1X15 cap with a celestion BN15-400X in it, one side it it the mic the other is the mesa's direct out.
Please excuse the timing, I was adusting knobs while playing.

Oh and pictures as well.

RCCollins · #2 03-28-2009, 05:22 PM

i'm kinda tired of that riff now but i am curious as heck about this fuzz

Mudfuzz · #3 03-28-2009, 05:44 PM

I understand about the riff but I didn't want to mess around and distract from the actual sound with playing anything important. I'm glad I piqued your curiosity though.

RCCollins · #4 03-28-2009, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mudfuzz

I understand about the riff but I didn't want to mess around and distract from the actual sound with playing anything important. I'm glad I piqued your curiosity though.

oh, I think you chose the right approach. i have occasionally been accused of snarkery

**DosiYanarchy** · #5 03-29-2009, 04:08 AM

sounds sick, the Katanasound site has a clip too.

How much was it? id love one but the Tone Benders website doesnt have anything about katanasound, and my Japanese is a little rusty (ok, i cant read japanese), Also as i live in the UK so I reckon im gonna have a hard time getting one anyway, but I think it sounds really cool

jetofuj · #6 03-29-2009, 05:43 AM

To my ears this clip sounds very similar to B:Assmaster. On the other hand sample from Katana's website is more harsh and extreme which reminds me SuperFuzz itself.

TimmyDX · #7 03-29-2009, 06:03 AM

and cos i have a mouse

a link to the actual clip : )

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page...songID=7467901

that's a really versatile fuzz, i quite like it, some really great sounds in there.

RCCollins, don't worry about it, your awesome snarkery is one of the main reason's i visit the effects forum on a daily basis, you make the sarcastic comments we only dream about having the hairy stinky balls to say.

RCCollins · #8 03-29-2009, 07:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jetofuj

To my ears this clip sounds very similar to B:Assmaster. On the other hand sample from Katana's website is more harsh and extreme which reminds me SuperFuzz itself.

if you listen through to the end, you can hear the harsher effects.

Mudfuzz · #9 03-29-2009, 08:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DosiYanarchy

sounds sick, the Katanasound site has a clip too.

How much was it? id love one but the Tone Benders website doesnt have anything about katanasound, and my Japanese is a little rusty (ok, i cant read japanese), Also as i live in the UK so I reckon im gonna have a hard time getting one anyway, but I think it sounds really cool

I paid $265.00 plus shipping, ask for Andy.

Chronicle · #10 03-29-2009, 09:31 AM

Yeah this fuzz has a lot of sounds... I like it

rcubed · #11 03-29-2009, 09:33 AM

I need to listen to the whole clip, but from what I've heard, it's hard to form an opinion on it since there sections where the volume drops off.

RCCollins · #12 03-29-2009, 09:37 AM

ya know what i changed my mind i think it sounds pretty cruddy and cheaply built see my sig for trades!

**DosiYanarchy** · #13 03-29-2009, 09:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mudfuzz

I paid $265.00 plus shipping, ask for Andy.

ouch *backs away from thread*

*thinks about it*

about the same price as a B:Assmaster over here.

although Id get battered for import tax.

shame, It does say on the Katana site that these pedals arent cheap, but i guess the assumption is that you get what you pay for.

RCCollins · #14 03-29-2009, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rcubed

I need to listen to the whole clip, but from what I've heard, it's hard to form an opinion on it since there sections where the volume drops off.

the drops happen less further into the clip. I'm suspect they're merely a byproduct of the settings

Mudfuzz · #15 03-29-2009, 10:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rcubed

I need to listen to the whole clip, but from what I've heard, it's hard to form an opinion on it since there sections where the volume drops off.

Do you mean where I was pausing to adjust? Or the different adjustments?

The tone and sustain and the fuzz volume are all interactive so if you adjust one you will need to up or down the fuzz volume and the dry [if you are using dry] this is just how these types of fuzzes are, the Voodoo labs supperfuzz is the same way but it never gets loud enough and also the lastgasp art laboratories 88-super oscillo fuzz does big voume shifts depending on the setting but luckily it has much volume on tap, many of Devi Ever's fuzzes cange volume when you adjust the control ect, ect, ect.

rcubed · #16 03-29-2009, 10:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mudfuzz

Do you mean where I was pausing to adjust? Or the different adjustments?

The tone and sustain and the fuzz volume are all interactive so if you adjust one you will need to up or down the fuzz volume and the dry [if you are using dry] this is just how these types of fuzzes are, the Voodoo labs supperfuzz is the same way but it never gets loud enough and also the lastgasp art laboratories 88-super oscillo fuzz does big voume shifts depending on the setting but luckily it has much volume on tap

I've done clips of pedals where it's hard to deal with the different settings. But I try to get all settings such that the volume levels were similar. So I would prefer if you paused to get the volume level to a similar level for the different settings as best as possible.

**grygrx** · #17 04-02-2009, 07:21 PM

Thanks for the updates and clips. As I mentioned, I had a hard time laying hands on one of these on the three occasions that I tried. It sounds very nice, a Univox Super Fuzz variant I'd gather... which are some of my favorites. I may have to take another stab and snagging one.

JimmyM · #18 04-02-2009, 09:43 PM

Liked it on some settings, not so much on others. I think I like the increased harmonic content of the Assmaster more, but it's a good no-frills no-tricks fuzz. Of course I'd never pay what they're asking for either, but overall a very good sounding pedal.

Joe Gress · #19 04-02-2009, 10:19 PM

Does the clip slowly move in and out of stereo for anyone else?

Mudfuzz · #20 04-04-2009, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyM

I think I like the increased harmonic content of the Assmaster more

I can see why one would like that aspect of the Assmaster but as I have said in another thread I'm not very fond of any of the clips of the Assmaster, some like apples some like grapfruits.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyM

but it's a good no-frills no-tricks fuzz. Of course I'd never pay what they're asking for either, but overall a very good sounding pedal.

And that is what I wanted, price beside the point. With the octave off it gets VERY close to a HAO the ROAR [another hard to find Japanese fuzz] which is about my all time favorite sounding fuzz [I did a clip in the wiki long ago] but with much better lows and without the tweakyness about power, signal chain and bass electronic's impedance.

One more thing about this pedal I have really started to notice is that it's voicing is very much in the mids so you don't loose punch or lows except in octave mode with the tone cranked, but then there is the blend to fix that so you never get lost or just sound like a guitar. It really is a anti-muff as was said about the guyatone The Fuzz, and it can get a lot of the same sounds as the TZ-2 which makes since because they are both derived from the Univox Supperfuzz.