what distotion/fuzz pedal goes best with a wah?

[eastcoasteddie]

I just got a CryBaby Bass wah, and it sounds great with my ODB-3. However, the ODB has a really thick and nazty crunch that perhaps the wah doesn't take full advantage of...sounds like it breaks up on the low end.
So I'm thinking of dong a fuzz/wah combo, which would match up nicely? big muff?

[Mark Olson]

Is it the 105Q you have? The white one, not the old black bass wah?

It's going to matter what bass you want to run, because not all fuzz pedals like having an active bass in front of them, and whether you want to go wah -> fuzz or fuzz -> wah because not all fuzzes are going to like having that buffered bypass on your wah running into them. Moreover some fuzzes might have problems with oscillation since the 105Q doesn't have a fuzz friendly buffer at the end when activated. Also, if you do want to go wah -> fuzz, some fuzzes are too saturated for the 105Q to cut through very well and give you a pronounced wah effect (a Big Muff is a good example).

As far as distortion goes, I would recommend something with perhaps a Marshall-like character, with that midrange that really helps get a pronounced wah effect. There's dozens of products like that out there. What's your price range?

[eastcoasteddie]

Yes, I have the 105Q. I use active basses only. I use wah>>ODB-3. I tried it the other way around, and it didn't sound good at all, hence the non-fuzz-friendly buffer you mentioned.
I think the ODB-3 may have that too-saturated vibe going on, too.
I'm really not looking to spend more than $100 or so.

thanks much for the input!

[TheWoodShed]

Go with the Muff!

[Mark Olson]

A fuzz friendly buffer only helps when you're running wah -> fuzz, but yeah, that distortion -> wah sound isn't my thing either, I know just what you mean.

The 105Q -> a muff doesn't really give a pronounced wah effect, I've tried it a lot. Too much saturation and not enough mids.

There are some fuzzes I could recommend, but I don't know how well they play with active basses or buffered bypass pedals in front of them as I don't own any active basses or even buffered bypass pedals to try them with. I'm strictly a passive guy.

What I will recommend is perhaps a Marshall Guv'nor GV-2 if you can find one used on ebay. I recommend the GV-2 over the original Guv'nor because the original is much more expensive when you can find them, and the GV-2 sounds better (I've owned both versions) and is more bass friendly with it's "Deep" control. The GV-2 will be, how shall I say? more amp-like than the ODB-3 and should behave with the wah much more to your liking.

[Eric!]

Supercollider?

[dannybuoy]

Wah into Supercollider sounds pretty harsh though, I wah into a Bass Big Muff or VT Bass for something more amp like. Check out Mark's wah clips going into the EHX Nano Muff and MXR El Grande!

[Eric!]

I'm not a wah guy, I just like plugging the SC whenever possible :P

[Pandafist]

[Yools]

I run a Fulltone BassDrive in front of my 105Q, and it sounds great. Use either the F.M or the Vintage settings (the Comp Cut seems to overwhelm the wah), and even just a little bit of overdrive makes the wah jump out like crazy. I also have an EHX Micro Metal Muff in front of my 105Q, and I can get a reasonable Cliff Burton sound using that one. Using both the BassDrive and the Muff at the same time is way too noisy and hard to control.

I've always preferred putting the overdrive/distortion/fuzz in front of my wah rather than the opposite. For years I used a standard Crybaby guitar wah with an old Boss Metalzone pedal in front of that, and it sounded great. I even used a s***** DOD Grunge pedal and got great wah tones on my bass.

One other thing: I split my signal and run all my effects parallel with a clean signal; if you don't do that the 105Q will suck out some of your bottom end.

-Y

[eastcoasteddie]

Originally Posted by dannybuoy

Wah into Supercollider sounds pretty harsh though, I wah into a Bass Big Muff or VT Bass for something more amp like. Check out Mark's wah clips going into the EHX Nano Muff and MXR El Grande!

gotta link?

I've been trying to listen to El Grande and Bass Big Muff vids on you tube, but there only seem to be a handlful. Even less go through the gain 100%. I want to see how hot these 2 pedals can go.

[Mark Olson]

My Custom Wah from Wilson Effects SOUNDCLIPS

I didn't recommend the El Grande for two reasons:

1) I don't know if it's going to be active/buffered bypass in front of it friendly.

2) My wah does have a fuzz friendly buffer which yours does not, and I'm not sure how that's affecting the fuzz/wah combo.

Could be it'd work totally fine, I don't know, I'm just saying I can't guarantee you that it will.

Also, the fuzz knob on the El Grande doesn't have a whole lot of affect past noon, when you get past noon it's very saturated, end of story.

[theunknowndude]

don't know how it will work with your setup but going either the flyng tomato fuzz into my weeping demon or the ibanez pd7 into weeping demon has always sounded fantastic

[eastcoasteddie]

I went to try out the EHX Bass Big Muff with my Wah. It has great distortion/fuzz; not overly fuzzy or super high frequency gain, but really smooth and tight. When using the wah, it sounded the best with the toggle switch set to dry where your dry tone is mixed in with the fuzz. It is basically exactly what I was looking for, so I bought it. My ODB-3 also has a dry signal blend, but I feel that when you blend in the dry signal, it loses much of the gain. With the Big muff, the dry signal is there and ever present, you only adjust the volume and amount of fuzz on top of that. I think that the amount of dry signal that is mixed in is exactly what makes the wah sound so good with the fuzz. The ODB is still way too saturated and the blending of the dry doesn't help.





so now it looks like I have to make a pedal board of some type....I didn't think that I'd have so many pedals as I've been plugging a bass straight into an amp for the last 15 years.