Woolly Mammoth and active preamps... yay or nay?

[OriginalCrash]

I know, it seems most people say the two don't play along nicely. But I have seen some people on here (sporadically... that's why I'm not just searching to see exactly what they said) say they have no problems with them. So feel free to share your experiences, whichever side of the fence you're on. And I'm interested to see just how much the nays beat out the yays...

Brian

P.S. I made sure to make the poll multiple choice, so you can say yes or no and still say something about carrots.

[Jared Lash]

The answer is no, they don't. It really isn't a matter of opinion. They work much less effectively with active basses.

But there are still people who use it and presumably like it. It's been a long time since I tried one briefly but I saw a clone available in the classifieds for a reasonable price so I figured I'd give it a try, but I doubt I'll keep it long term.

[bongomania]

It's not really yay or nay... Either you like the sound or you don't. Those who say "yay" happen to like the sound with an active bass.

But the more sensible, wise, artistically sensitive ones among us recognize that it sounds much better with a passive bass.

[rcubed]

It doesn't "work" as intended with active basses. I haven't gotten around to working on a fix yet, but it's doable.

[B.C.]

Depends. It works, but I like passive better.

I've got a mod, shoot me a pm if ya wanna know

[Mingus Addict]

The mammoth is essentially a modded fuzz face. Fuzz face (and other vintage fuzz) pedals don't sound the way they're "supposed to" with active electronics before them. The reason is, passive instruments have a high impedance which means they don't transfer the signal as efficiently as they could (that's one way of putting it). This results in a loss of high end. Vintage fuzz pedals were designed to work with passive instruments and so the designs naturally compensated for this high end loss. Plug in an active instrument with a low impedance and you get a harsher sound because the impedance mismatch isn't there to smooth out the high end. The harsher sound isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's just a different sound that you may or may not like. I saw someone put a Barge GLZ in front of a Mammoth (in the PYPB thread) and that is a great idea because you can adjust the output impedance of that pedal. I imagine it would be somewhat like adding another control to the Mammoth. Hope that makes sense and answers your question.

[jokerjkny]

no fuzz i've used sounded good w/ my sadowsky pumping heavy into it.

[JohnDavisNYC]

i use the woolly mammoth after a buffer, and sometimes with an active bass (fodera), and while it doesn't sound as good as with a passive bass/no buffer, it is totally fine, and great for electronic stuff...

for a regular 'fuzz' sound, it is much better with a passive bass.

john

[DyerWolf]

Does anyone have anything to say about this same with the Prescription Electronic Depth Charge? I've had it for about a month or so now and been using it with my Roscoe (Bertolini pickups/preamp) and while I occasionally find spots where it sounds decent but then sometimes I'll leave it at that setting, come back later and find I don't like it. It seems like it could be a similar problem as stated in the Mammoth, because there seems a lot of top end bite and it sounds unorganic, even when blending heavily to the dry signal.

[CliffD]

Mine sounds fine with passive pickups and an active preamp.

[kevteop]

My Mammoth sounds pretty good with my Warwick (stock MEC everything) but bad with my f/less Stingray (again, stock pup/pre).

[bassterix]

Originally Posted by Mingus Addict

I saw someone put a Barge GLZ in front of a Mammoth (in the PYPB thread) and that is a great idea because you can adjust the output impedance of that pedal.

I did not know if it would work, so it was an "experiment", but now I´m happy that I gave it a try. The GLZ alters the sound a little bit though, but I can live with that.

Although I´m happy, that my other basses work with the Mammoth now, passive basses still sound best.

Originally Posted by kevteop

My Mammoth sounds pretty good with my Warwick (stock MEC everything) but bad with my f/less Stingray (again, stock pup/pre).

I made the same experience. My Warwick does not sound bad with the Mammoth, especially if you boost the mids. But with my other basses the sound you get is pretty much useless.

[bovine mind]

Originally Posted by DyerWolf

Does anyone have anything to say about this same with the Prescription Electronic Depth Charge? I've had it for about a month or so now and been using it with my Roscoe (Bertolini pickups/preamp) and while I occasionally find spots where it sounds decent but then sometimes I'll leave it at that setting, come back later and find I don't like it. It seems like it could be a similar problem as stated in the Mammoth, because there seems a lot of top end bite and it sounds unorganic, even when blending heavily to the dry signal.

the mammoth + my stingray 4 = a horrendous spitty mess. i mean, that mess would sound great if i was in harsh noise project. i wouldn't use it for bass lines.

the depth charge is the most high gain aggressive pedal i've tried with my sting, but i've found it's still a little too unruly. i like almost all my clean signal overpowered by fuzz, but without a compressor or limiter before it it sounds way too unstable. the hiss is also a big problem for me with this pedal. i'm going to try a watson superfuzz today, something tells me it could be what i've been looking for, an incredibly nasty high gain fuzz with no low end loss that can be heard in a band setting.

[kevteop]

Incidentally the Brown Dog circuit in my O.S. seems to work the same with both my basses, so if you're after a gated fuzz that might be worth looking at.