Speaking of fuzzes... Face with more gravel?

[bongomania]

So my fave fuzz by far is a Bassweet, which is apparently "just" a Fuzz Face clone dialed for bass. The one thing I wish it could do is a more gravelly, guttural sound. Like I don't want "more intense fuzz" at all, I actually prefer the least extreme settings of this fuzz. But sometimes I wish for coarser texture.

I've listened to all the soundclips around (thanks grygrx!!!) but haven't heard what I'm looking for yet.

Anything that has the warmth, depth, and thickness of the bass Face-types yet with more gravel, a coarser texture, without necessarily going into shrill "xtreme" distortion territory?

Or a distortion that has all that gravel, yet can also get the thickness and richness of the Face-types, without losing any low end?

BTW I have a nice blender, but I'm not interested in any suggestions that will only sound good with a blender.

Thx!

[dannybuoy]

Check out Mark Olson's clips of the MXR 108 fuzz - it's pretty full on and has a buffer switch that makes it brighter.

[bongomania]

Hey, that was a good tip, thanks. At least based on that clip it's not quite there for me, especially on the higher notes, but on the lower notes it had some nice gravel. Seemed to not have much low end though--anyone confirm or deny that from their own experience?

[tomhanzo]

well this is just an idea. I use an EHX Hot Tubes for light rich amp Fuzz sound. I have a Bad Monkey for that ampeg bit sound. I keep the Bad Monkey infront of the Hot Tubes.

If i turn both of them on at once, it turns my soft fuzzy HT into this gritty sounding fuzz.

Have you tried using some sort of overdrive with higher treb infront of your FuzzFace clone?

[scotch]

It sounds, to me, like you're outlining a tone moving out of "fuzz" territory and in to a lighter "distortion" zone.

The lines between distortion/fuzz can get blurred. While you're not looking for the typical singing distortion, it sounds like a high-gain overdrive might approach what you want?

I would argue that a properly set-up Bass-Drive Mosfet in "boost" mode can accomplish a very gravely, almost (but not quite) fuzz sound. It's definitely on the "coarse" side. Low end loss is reported by a lot of TB'ers, but my experience is that in a band context this pedal works great with the volume set appropriately (i.e. higher volume settings for aggressive song sections). If you need unity volume, though, the Fulltone isn't the best choice...

A Bass Big Muff set to "dry" mode with the tone rolled off a little may give you the fuzz you crave, without the shrillness of a Brassmaster type effect.

Just a couple of ideas!

[18eranaRic]

There are two that I might recommend and are worth a definite "check out"

1. Blackbox Xray Bass - the older hand painted ones only. really 3-dimensional.
2. Zvex Wolly Mammoth - can actually do exactly what you said, not fuzz it out, just add a rich deep texture that will floor you.

2cents.

[dannybuoy]

Originally Posted by scotch

It sounds, to me, like you're outlining a tone moving out of "fuzz" territory and in to a lighter "distortion" zone.

Yeah, I thought of that too... Boss HM-2 is what I use when the Bad Monkey isn't bad enough, and the Supercollider is to full-on for what I want.

[bongomania]

Originally Posted by 18eranaRic

1. Blackbox Xray Bass - the older hand painted ones only. really 3-dimensional.
2. Zvex Wolly Mammoth - can actually do exactly what you said, not fuzz it out, just add a rich deep texture that will floor you.

I will check out the Black Box for sure. I owned a Mammoth, and did not like it.

[kevteop]

Have you tried running it into a Bassballs? Might sound like an odd suggestion but it certainly does "gutteral".

[bongomania]

Originally Posted by tomhanzo

Have you tried using some sort of overdrive with higher treb infront of your FuzzFace clone?

Sorry, but this is way off base. I don't mean that to be rude, just putting it out there as clarification for other ideas that may be suggested later. There is no way on earth boosting gain into the fuzz, nor boosting treble before or after it, has anything to do with the sound I was trying to describe. That would just increase the harshness and intensity of the fuzz.

Of course everyone will interpret wildly subjective terms like "gravel" differently, so maybe I should try to narrow it down tighter.

I agree with the assessment that I'm probably looking at more of a "distortion" than a "fuzz". The reason I didn't describe it that way at the get-go is that most of the distortions I've used were designed for screaming-lead type sounds, which is not what I'm after, or outrageously intense snarl, which is also not it. I also said "fuzz" just because the tone of my fuzz is exactly what I like, but the texture is what I'm looking to change.

I just now remembered that there's a version of the 3XFX Fatman with a treble rolloff... I should give that one a go. The regular V2 was too intense for my tastes, but maybe this other version will do it.

Keep 'em coming folks!

[RCCollins]

brassmaster with an output knob?

[Jared Lash]

bongo, have you heard the samples of the FaceDrive?

I get the feeling it's design might be going the wrong way for you as it is touted as somewhat of a Muff/Fuzz Face hybrid for bass. Seems like it might be too smooth for what you're describing but the samples are worth checking out.

[rcubed]

Sounds like you'd want a hybrid Fuzz Face that has a silicon and germanium transistor in it.

[RCCollins]

Originally Posted by rcubed

Sounds like you'd want a hybrid Fuzz Face that has a silicon and germanium transistor in it.

interesting concept!

[tomhanzo]

lol yeah i miss understood what you meant, but i see what you mean now.

Unfortunately i dont know what to tell you now

[rcubed]

Originally Posted by RCCollins

interesting concept!

The Bass Face will have a switchable second transistor between germanium and silicon.

[RCCollins]

Originally Posted by rcubed

The Bass Face will have a switchable second transistor between germanium and silicon.

when, in 2112?

[bongomania]

Originally Posted by TheBigO

bongo, have you heard the samples of the FaceDrive?

I get the feeling it's design might be going the wrong way for you as it is touted as somewhat of a Muff/Fuzz Face hybrid for bass. Seems like it might be too smooth for what you're describing but the samples are worth checking out.

Good suggestion, but also you're exactly right that it's smoother than I'm looking for. Cool sound though.

[Mark Olson]

Here's the 108 Fuzz with a P/J:

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page...songID=7375478

Any apparent lack of bottom is due to my pickup selections, my playing style, and my anemic amp/cab choices (and my Jazz is quite anemic too, and I believe the SG clips were all with just the bridge pickup, which is very guitarlike). If anything, the 108 Fuzz gives me thicker and creamier low end than I've actually got on my clean signal, something that might be evident if I had taken the time to do clean soundclips... I do like to boost my sound a little with the fuzz as well, you probably know that when using dirtboxes the distorted and therefore more harmonically complex tone will sound "louder", so in order to retain the bottom with a dirtbox even when it isn't cutting your fundamental any is to bring the fundamental up to unity gain, which overall will sound a little louder than unity gain.

[smo]

I use a MI Audio GI Fuzz to get some pretty brutal sounds. A very tweakable fuzz, and it can clean up (well...sort of) to get a clean sounding low gain fuzz too.
It does lose a little low end tho, so I only use mine with a blender......dunno if it's what you're after....