MXR Bass Fuzz Deluxe vs. Fulltone Bass Drive

[ctbass]

Any A/B's out there yet or thoughts?

[vegas532]

Never A/B'd them per se, but I've owned a Bass-Drive and now have the Bass Fuzz Deluxe. The Bass Fuzz Deluxe has more low mids on tap and, obviously, more gain and saturation.

[MingusBass]

Apples/Oranges. One is more of an overdrive, one is a fuzz. For what it's worth, I sold my Bass Drive it lost too much low end when engaged. The BFD is sweet!

[ctbass]

THanks guys. How does the the deluxe differ from the el grande

[Laurent]

A point of detail perhpas but to me the Fulltone Bass Drive is a distortion pedal; it's hotter than an overdrive. The early version of the Bass-Drive were tamer but the later, MOSFET version is more aggressive. The circuit is a tube-screamer.

So the main difference is fuzz versus distortion. If we were talking speed: overdrive = 50 miles an hour, distortion 80 miles and fuzz, 120 miles per hour.

When it comes to the El Grande and the Bass Drive Deluxe, the El Grande has a lot more gain than the Bass Fuzz Deluxe. For this reason I expect the Bass Fuzz Deluxe to be a lot more usable throughout the range of distortion the pedal offers. The other big difference is the Bass Fuzz Deluxe offers a blend between the clean and distorted signal. The El Grande attacks the issue of bass retention with a different angle. It works through it via EQ.

Ultimately I think the El Grande is more modern souding meanwhile the Bass Fuzz Deluxe has more of a vintage, old school character. Old school with the twist of the blend that is. Old meets new if you will.

Ultimately one needs different fuzzes to cover different styles. I have not found the pedal that can do it all and that's why I probably have 13 or 14 different fuzz pedals currently.

[vegas532]

The El Grande has almost too much gain and is a much harsher sounding fuzz than the Bass Fuzz Deluxe.

[ctbass]

Again....Thanks very much!!!

[Laurent]

Originally Posted by vegas532

The El Grande has almost too much gain and is a much harsher sounding fuzz than the Bass Fuzz Deluxe.

Is there anything such as too gainy?
Isn't that the equivalent of saying she's too busty?!

In all seriousness I agree, only the first half of the gain is usable IMHO.

[bassburton]

I own the El Grande... And yes... I rarely, if ever turn up the gain past halfway. It gets pretty hairy early on. About the bass retention, it has the deep switch, which actually adds quite a bit of low end even on the lowest settings.

[rob_thebassman]

I have the El Grande Bass Fuzz which I'll soon be replacing with the Bass Fuzz Deluxe, I've always found that the natural sound of the bass gets lost even with the deep switch on, the BFD looks and sounds way more versatile