Mastotron or Swollen Pickle?

[tombaker]

Hey,

so im finally startin to build up my pedal board and im lookin for a good fuzz. Being in Australia, i cant try the pedals i would like to try.

Im lookin at either getting a Mastotron or Way Huge Swollen Pickle. What would you guys reccomend? They are both around the AU$200 from America.

If theres any other fuzz pedals you would reccomend that would be awesome!


Cheers,


Tom

[Pitbull Growl]

Hey Tom,

Help us help you man. What kinda Bass(es) will you be using, and more importantly... what kind of music will you be playing? Are there any particular sounds you're trying to emulate? (I know you want fuzz tones, but are you going for a Mastodon type of sound? a Wolstenholme type of sound? Something else?)

The fuzzes in question are 2 totally different animals so it'd help us to advise you if we knew what you were trying to achieve w/your selection.

[tombaker]

Well im currently using a Warwick RockBass Corvette and a Warwick Profet 3.2 with a 410 cab.

Im not exactly sure what music id be playing but i know for sure that Mastodons bass sounds very cool with the fuzz he uses. Especially in Blood and Thunder.

Im mostly into metal and i know that most metal bass players use a distortion like the VT bass. Hmm.. Now that i think of it, im probably better off with a distortion. I do have a muff in my ME-50B...

[Valerus]

I'd suggest not getting the Mastotron. It's a cool fuzz but I found it very unusable.

If you like Troy Sanders from Mastodon's bass fuzz, a muff-based fuzz would be closer.
So of the two, I'd suggest the Swollen Pickle.

[BassBrass]

I'd suggest a Wounded Paw Attack Goat! Amazing fidelity, esp with tone far left to let through all mids, a beautiful sound and a blend. An Xotic BB Bass pre sounds Great through the Attack Goat too. (or any other overdrive like Badder Monkey)
There's something I like about the Mastotron's sound, it's synthy. But recorded it looses definition. I enjoy using it as a kind of overdrive (very little fuzz) at home. Temporarily it's in a blend loop 75% effect vs 25% effect for a Devi Ever BIT (amazing in a blend), but it's staying there is in doubt...some other Devi Ever will probably take it's place...which reminds me, a DE Hyperion is said to be muffish. Mastoton's bass player has 3 or 4 muffs on his board.
Someday I'll get a Pickle, but so far I've only tried one in a store on a small amp so I have no idea if it retains lows at the right level for me without being in a blend. It certainly has the midrange variety. It's immediate problem is just it's size...I just have room left for an MXR sized box.

[Jared Lash]

Originally Posted by Valerus

If you like Troy Sanders from Mastodon's bass fuzz, a muff-based fuzz would be closer.
So of the two, I'd suggest the Swollen Pickle.

+1

Other reasonably priced Muff-based fuzzes to check out:

EHX Bass Big Muff
EHX Reissue Russian Muff
Earthbound Supercollider
Wren & Cuff Pickle Pie B

or if you can find one (or wait to have it built) you could order the pedal that Troy uses which is I believe a Sanford and Sonny Bluebeard fuzz.

[Holy War]

Originally Posted by Jared Lash

+1

Other reasonably priced Muff-based fuzzes to check out:

EHX Bass Big Muff
EHX Reissue Russian Muff
Earthbound Supercollider
Wren & Cuff Pickle Pie B

or if you can find one (or wait to have it built) you could order the pedal that Troy uses which is I believe a Sanford and Sonny Bluebeard fuzz.

ya, troy uses the bluebeard, but he also has some other muffs on his board. For that kind of sound Id be looking muff based fuzzes

[smo]

Hi there aussie,

I've been through quite a few muff type fuzzes out there, and it really pains me to say that there's not many aussie made fuzz pedals that do the job on bass guitar, without losing some low end, or having the Bass EQ centered in the low mids.

The MI Audio Neo Fuzz and GI fuzz are both AWESOME.
The GI especially, is voiced for guitar, so whilst they're great, you may lose a bit of lows with the GI, just due to the way it breaks up.

Big Muff's - the russian ones - can be very different animals.
I've played through 3 side by side before, and all three were different.
One was pretty good, the other two were... "meh"
No wonder the net has so many opinions on them.

The Supercollider is the best sounding muff type fuzz for bass I've tried/owned IMO.
BUT, it does sound pretty different with actives, like a Warwick.
It doesn't like a hot output.
If you can somehow limit the output of your bass, to not over saturate the pedal, it can work pretty well.

Good Luck.

[tombaker]

Originally Posted by smo

Hi there aussie,

I've been through quite a few muff type fuzzes out there, and it really pains me to say that there's not many aussie made fuzz pedals that do the job on bass guitar, without losing some low end, or having the Bass EQ centered in the low mids.

The MI Audio Neo Fuzz and GI fuzz are both AWESOME.
The GI especially, is voiced for guitar, so whilst they're great, you may lose a bit of lows with the GI, just due to the way it breaks up.

Big Muff's - the russian ones - can be very different animals.
I've played through 3 side by side before, and all three were different.
One was pretty good, the other two were... "meh"
No wonder the net has so many opinions on them.

The Supercollider is the best sounding muff type fuzz for bass I've tried/owned IMO.
BUT, it does sound pretty different with actives, like a Warwick.
It doesn't like a hot output.
If you can somehow limit the output of your bass, to not over saturate the pedal, it can work pretty well.

Good Luck.

Ive had a look at MI Audios distortions but not there fuzzes. Ill check them out. Thanks!

Anyone checked out an MXR El Grande Bass Fuzz? I know Mastodons bassist uses it. (btw i dont think he uses the Blue Beard because i was readin an issue of BP mag and it showed his pedal layout. He uses a vintage Sovtek Big Muff, MXR El Grande Bass Fuzz and a Cobrahawk B12 Fuzz )

[theunknowndude]

one comment about the supercollider and the hyperion.,.. they are both sometimes called 'muffish' but to me I think tho based (I think?) off muff they are entirely different...

I love the supercollider for its versatility, use of the mids knob can make things very biting and agressive,... I think this explanatiion of the hyperion from the devi ever page is the best to describe it:

The best way I can begin to describe the Hyperion is to give this analogy. Do you know of those yummy Thai peanut potato chips in the red bag? If not, they're salty, sweet, tangy and spicy all at the same time. The Hyperion, as well, is full flavored and suitable for many styles. I found the sound to be creamy at first then noticed it had some crunch and bite too! It's just awesome!

edit: I was totally wanting a el grande bass fuzz for ages cos it was in the mxr enclosure and I love small pedals... but after listening to umpteen different reviews it seemd a bit 'vanilla' and after realising there are soooo many other fuzzes in the world just forgot about this till you mentioned it...

[WildTrkey]

I tried the Swollen Pickle (we have one at the rehearsal space) and I have to say it sounded rather anemic to my ears. I experienced some loss of lows and note to note definition wasn't very good. Both of my guitarists thought the same thing when they tried it. Can't speak for the Mastotron.

[Holy War]

Originally Posted by WildTrkey

I tried the Swollen Pickle (we have one at the rehearsal space) and I have to say it sounded rather anemic to my ears. I experienced some loss of lows and note to note definition wasn't very good. Both of my guitarists thought the same thing when they tried it. Can't speak for the Mastotron.

Loss of lows???? Really?

[WildTrkey]

Originally Posted by Holy War

Loss of lows???? Really?

Yeah. How is yours set up? To get a good chunky fuzz, I really had to tweak, which is to be expected I guess when using a new pedal. But it just did not produce any girth. I myself was a bit surprised at the drop in lows. I went from unity on up and I gave it a fair shot. Kicking it on was like a bass un-boost. A defective pedal perhaps?

[vegas532]

That would have to have been defective, you can damned near blow cabs with mine!

[MaxMaps]

Of the two I would say my vote would be a swollen pickle.

[Holy War]

Originally Posted by vegas532

That would have to have been defective, you can damned near blow cabs with mine!

Ya, thats what Im saying. My SP seems to ADD lows to my signal.

Did you play with the trem pots at all?

[sillyfabe]

loss of low end on the swollen pickle? i've had one for about an year now unless the filter and scoop are set wrong then you GAIN lots of low end. its a beast! love the damn thing so

[Chronicle]

Originally Posted by sillyfabe

loss of low end on the swollen pickle? i've had one for about an year now unless the filter and scoop are set wrong then you GAIN lots of low end. its a beast! love the damn thing so

+1 The swollen pickle has plenty of low end. A little too much if you ask me sometimes

Originally Posted by theunknowndude

one comment about the supercollider and the hyperion.,.. they are both sometimes called 'muffish' but to me I think tho based (I think?) off muff they are entirely different...

I love the supercollider for its versatility, use of the mids knob can make things very biting and agressive,... I think this explanatiion of the hyperion from the devi ever page is the best to describe it:

The best way I can begin to describe the Hyperion is to give this analogy. Do you know of those yummy Thai peanut potato chips in the red bag? If not, they're salty, sweet, tangy and spicy all at the same time. The Hyperion, as well, is full flavored and suitable for many styles. I found the sound to be creamy at first then noticed it had some crunch and bite too! It's just awesome!

edit: I was totally wanting a el grande bass fuzz for ages cos it was in the mxr enclosure and I love small pedals... but after listening to umpteen different reviews it seemd a bit 'vanilla' and after realising there are soooo many other fuzzes in the world just forgot about this till you mentioned it...

Going to have to disagree on the Supercollider comment. It sounds just like a muff to me but with a better controlled sound. You can still get that nice grind you expect from a muff but tweak it to your liking.

[sillyfabe]

its has tons of low end and really helps the hysteria im finally trying to learn (pretty easy song but sounded a lot harder!)

[Chronicle]

Bleh, it's all about the fingering!