Wren and Cuff Phat Phuk B Germanium Bass Booster Soundclips

Mark Olson · #1 07-20-2010, 06:12 PM

This is a cool little box. One knob. Crank it up, feel the glory. Has a bit of wooly grit of it's own, works extremely well as a low gain overdrive. Not the absolute in transparency, that's not what it's intended for, but great as a tone ballsifier. If you're not getting enough fat, ballsy growl out of your amp, this pedal is what you need.

Here it is with my Fender Mustang Bass with Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder Precision pickup, roundwound strings, Phat Phuk B set for some boost, into my Marshall 2061x Lead and Bass set very clean, into my Ashdown ABM115 Compact and mic'd up with an SM57:

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page...songID=9424332

The amp isn't really distorting, but it sure does gain some growl from the pedal. Excellent light overdrive tone, and the fur from the Phat Phuk is nice and dynamic too. You have to dig in to get it.

KarateKid25 · #2 07-20-2010, 06:16 PM

Thanks for the clip!

Mark Olson · #3 07-20-2010, 06:31 PM

You're welcome! Here's another clip, first with the Phat Phuk B off, then with it on. The sound is kind of dry and weak, but comes to life with the addition of the Phat Phuk.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page...songID=9424460

I can tell that this would work great as a preamp before going direct to breathe some life into your tone.

TaySte_2000 · #4 07-20-2010, 06:55 PM

Sounds good, gives me a contender for the Catalinbread Chilli Boost that I've been meaning to buy.

Going to see how the next couple of weeks work out and maybe get both, it certainly got a similar tone to what I was using the Cream Pie Deluxe for which I just can't seem to resnag.

Mark Olson · #5 07-20-2010, 07:28 PM

Yeah. If you guys are interested I can post a gut shot.

KarateKid25 · #6 07-20-2010, 07:35 PM

Colour me Interested!

I would compare it to the Cream Pie as well Tayste.

Mark Olson · #7 07-20-2010, 07:39 PM

Ok, not a great shot, it's a smeary cell phone pic, but should give you the idea:

KarateKid25 · #8 07-20-2010, 07:58 PM

Cheers. Not much to see really other than it looks like what the Wren & Cuff site says it is

You can see the JFET in the upper middle on the right and the germ at the bottom with the trim pot for the voltage bias.

So is the Pickle Pie on perf board as well?

Mark Olson · #9 07-20-2010, 09:22 PM

Yeah, I wouldn't know but maybe Matt from Wren and Cuff can chime in.

PostApocalypso · #10 07-20-2010, 11:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KarateKid25

So is the Pickle Pie on perf board as well?

I was a little surprised to to see it as well. Considering just how good this booster sounds, I think a printed circuit board might be in the near future

From the clips, this sounds like an outstanding booster. It doesn't distort or muddy the bass, but adds a nice little bit grit. It definately makes the bass fuller and rounder. It is very impressive to my ears.

I first thought the price was a bit high, but this is probably the best booster I've heard yet. Very well done.

dannybuoy · #11 07-21-2010, 12:06 PM

AFAIK, the PPB has a PCB (IIRC).

Mark Olson · #12 07-21-2010, 06:32 PM

If it matters, my Phat Phuk is serial number 2. I'm having some fun cranking this pedal up into my little Vox amp. Takes her from clean to mean!

Mark Olson · #13 07-21-2010, 08:27 PM

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page...songID=9429260

Here's the Phat Phuk adding a bit of fur to my Custom Wah tone. I dig it.

Wren and Cuff · #14 07-22-2010, 12:13 AM

glad u like it mark. thanks for taking the time to make the clips. I understand the price seeming a bit high, but if you take a look at the guts (since mark put up the pic) you can see that there's quite a bit more going on there as opposed to a rangemaster-type with a large input cap for instance. The tricky part was employing a neg gnd JFET and a pos gnd germ, while keeping it all happy with a neg gnd pow supply/batt (common boss type) keeping the whole thing stable, happy and very very quiet.
Its not incredibly complicated from an electronics stand-point, but it is considerably tricky compared to most boosters and a good amount of work. But I had an idea of making a boost that was unique, very practicle, didn't get weird if you put it in different places in your chain (like many germ based pedals can), was ok with active pups, and just added a gritty "goodness" that would make it a pedal that never leaves your board. The 169.99 isn't arbitrary, its a legitimate and calculated price based on parts, labor, and that pesky little thing called profit. However, the "$170 for a boost"...??" reaction is understandable, but I hope that after people look into the details, they'll understand why its worth the amount.
I must say I am very flattered by all of your responses, thank you. I really do enjoy making pedals specifically focused on the bass guitar. It really is a whole different animal when it comes to effects pedals, and that's not just considering the lower range being dealt with. The way a bass hit's a circuit, hits the amp, and intermingles with drums and guitars makes it a challenge to accommodate, but when you do get something that makes a bass player say: "hell ya, this person was thinking like a bass player when they came up with this", is a very satisfying feeling.
Regarding the perf/proto board. There were a grand total of five made this way. All others are PCB, but the highest quality PCB's you can get. Double sided through-hole, no SMD, hand-loaded. All of the protos are gone now though. Mark's was in that first mini-batch.
thanks everyone!

Robertron · #15 07-22-2010, 12:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wren and Cuff

It really is a whole different animal when it comes to effects pedals, and that's not just considering the lower range being dealt with. The way a bass hit's a circuit, hits the amp, and intermingles with drums and guitars makes it a challenge to accommodate, but when you do get something that makes a bass player say: "hell ya, this person was thinking like a bass player when they came up with this", is a very satisfying feeling.

You just became one of my favorite builders.

Mark Olson · #16 07-22-2010, 12:40 AM

Thanks for chiming in! In my honest opinion this pedal is worth the price tag, it's top notch, and very unique. Having a unique design justifies a price tag. As someone who has to use a lot of guitar pedals to get the sounds I want, it's very nice to have something made for bass that actually really works well for bass! I've owned a lot of "bass" pedals that just didn't cut it on bass.

I also plan on ordering one of your custom Fuzz Faces if you're still doing those, either on the 30th or 31st of this month if that's feasible for you. Let me know!

I've also been playing with this pedal more and I really like the way it growls with roundwound strings, so I've switched back to rounds on my SG. If anyone wants to hear this pedal with the SG I can do some clips of that too. Unfortunately I can't really play loud enough in my apartment to kick my amp into full on distortion with the pedal, but I can assure you it sounds great for that application as well!

Mark Olson · #17 07-22-2010, 08:03 AM

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page...songID=9430785

Here's another clip of the Phat Phuk pushing my amp into a little overdrive. The volumes on my amp aren't even on one, so you can see that this pedal has no trouble pushing the amp into OD at gig level volumes.

By the way that clip is with the SG Bass with rounds, both pickups I think.

jetofuj · #18 07-22-2010, 08:39 AM

Hey Mark, could you record a clip with less chords and less aggressive playing in general?

You've got your own style of playing and sometimes it's so invasive, that it's hard to tell anyting about the pedal itself

TaySte_2000 · #19 07-22-2010, 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jetofuj

Hey Mark, could you record a clip with less chords and less aggressive playing in general?

You've got your own style of playing and sometimes it's so invasive, that it's hard to tell anyting about the pedal itself

So you want him to turn down the awesome? hmmmm don't know about that

Unrepresented · #20 07-22-2010, 10:11 AM

Mark, thanks for the clips. Definitely put this on my radar.

As usual, your tone is awesome.

If I've got an extra $170 burning a hole in my pocket I'll pick one of these up to put right next to my Pickle Pie B (which has managed to work its way up to my current favorite pedal).