Woolly Mammoth with active/passive bass?

[DylanB]

I've done a search on this and found nothing.

I know the Z Vex Woolly Mammoth supposedly has issues with active basses and works best with passive. What about my Sadowsky, which has both active and passive capabilities? Would disabling the active circuit on my bass give me the best sound, or would the very presence of the active circuit in the bass affect the sound even in passive mode?

[Jared Lash]

I had no issues with active/passive basses run in passive mode.

[fitz420]

nor did i

[DylanB]

Wonderful, thank you. Did you notice a difference in the pedal's sound when switching between active and passive?

[Jared Lash]

Originally Posted by DylanB

Wonderful, thank you. Did you notice a difference in the pedal's sound when switching between active and passive?

Yes. It gets very compressed, more spitty and generally "worse" sounding. Now, for use as part of a synthy combo (octave, WM, Low pass filter etc) it still does the job of approximating a square wave. But as a straight fuzz tone, it sounds much better (IMO) with a passive bass.

[jam.majors]

I have never played a Wooly Mammoth, but from the sound clips I've heard, the Mastotron is incredibly similar. Also, it has an input impedance knob that lets one tailor the pedal to fit the output level of your bass. Check out the video (on guitar, though) at the top of the page, here.

I have a stingray and really enjoy my Mastotron.

[BroKenSticKs]

Originally Posted by Jared Lash

Yes. It gets very compressed, more spitty and generally "worse" sounding. Now, for use as part of a synthy combo (octave, WM, Low pass filter etc) it still does the job of approximating a square wave. But as a straight fuzz tone, it sounds much better (IMO) with a passive bass.

hmm...so it still works well for the synthy kind of sound? I've always wondered how people use it after an octave pedal like an OC-2 if it doesn't work well with active basses since a pedal like that has the same effect on impedence as an active. Or does it?

[Jared Lash]

Originally Posted by BroKenSticKs

hmm...so it still works well for the synthy kind of sound? I've always wondered how people use it after an octave pedal like an OC-2 if it doesn't work well with active basses since a pedal like that has the same effect on impedence as an active. Or does it?

It does. Putting the WM after buffered pedal like the OC-2 makes it sound the same as when using it with a bass with active pickups.

And the WM is good for synth sounds because it does a good job of approximating a square wave signal. And if that's your goal, then the additional artifacts created by using it with an active bass and or a pedal that effects the impedence it sees in front of it isn't a big concern.

But if I wanted to use the Mammoth strictly as a fuzz I'd use a passive bass and have it either be first in my effects chain or only behind pedals that were true bypass.

It is a finnicky beast.

[BroKenSticKs]

Very interesting thanks for that.

[DylanB]

Thanks for the responses, I've found a woolly mammoth pretty cheap so I'll get it! Thanks to this question I've discovered the passive mode of my sadowsky, which I think I actually prefer.

[silky smoove]

Originally Posted by Jared Lash

But if I wanted to use the Mammoth strictly as a fuzz I'd use a passive bass and have it either be first in my effects chain or only behind pedals that were true bypass.

+1

If you're going for that gated, square-wave, synth sound, the active/buffered problem doesn't really seem like much of a problem to me. You're trying to squash the wave down so much that there isn't much room left for anything to negatively impact your tone.

If you want a more traditional fuzz, get it out front, even in front of a tuner that's not true bypass, and you'll really like it. I need to get some pics of my "Grumpy Elephant" clone up... Hmmmm.... Hopefully do that tonight.