All Bass Pedals Suck....

[chief redcok]

B3K.

 

[zsahadak]

I recently got the tech 21 bass boost fuzz... It's pretty fantastic, versatile levels of fuzz with clean blend and boost.

 

[BawanaRik]

The xotic X blender has a phase switch which, thereorectically would alliviate that problem.

Bass sound is much more involved that a guitar. The phasing counts.

One thing is that fuzz compresses your signal quite heavily, which flattens the big wave peaks that can make our low end sound ballsy and potent. There are a variety of ways of working with or around that fact, but one of the common ones is just using more power, by cranking up the volume on the fuzz, and using a very powerful amp rig.

Blending can also work well, but there can even be pitfalls there--for example the fuzzed wave and the original wave can sometimes cancel out each others' low end. Depends on the specific fuzz.

Boosting the mids and/or low mids, with EQ, is a good starting place, to fix the mid scoop of many fuzzes.

 

[mackinawpeaches]

Run your drive pedal through the JHS Blender and mix in some of your clean signal.

 

[RedMoses]

I feel your pain, ive been through many dirt pedals, the answer is Woolly Mamouth!

 

[Mansel93]

I've noticied with most pedals, bass specific or not, you lose a lot of low end. I've been using a sansamp bass driver, which colors your tone, but seems to restore an bass loss you'd normally lose with your pedals. I've had the most success running my pedals before the BDDI as well.

 

[HunterBurgan4Me]

I only really buy pedals with Blend knobs on them, gives you some lovely effect with your wonderful low end as well.

Deluxe Bass Big Muff Pi = Jizztastic fuzz

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

IMO the Bass Big Muff is terrible.

 

[Mansel93]

big muff through the BDDI actually creates a fuzz sounding pedal.

+1 to pedals with blend knobs.
That makes a huge difference.

 

[Crystalman85]

If you play in a band where guitar players use a lot of distortion, an overdrive pedal or a boost pedal would be more suitable for your needs. the voodoo lab sparkle drive and the way huge electronics pork loin would be a good choice for overdrive pedals. the devi ever dark boost and the xotic bass bb preamp would be a good choice for boost pedals.

 

[HolmeBass]

TAFM - clean blend right on the pedal. Just turn the fuzz volume all the way off, set the clean volume to match your bypassed volume, and then add the amount of fuzz you want to add. Sweetness.

 

[Nephilymbass]

pedals with blend controls are a huge benefit if you want to retain the thickness of your clean sound. Or if you really like the character of a specific pedal but don't like how it sucks out all your low end look for a blend pedal. They are great especially for overdrives/fuzz/distortion pedals where you want to mix the clean and dirty.

 

[BawanaRik]

I'm going to throw a shout for the Hematoma. I would also recommend that just about any bassist with a pedal board should consider a Boss LS-2 or similar pedal that allows a blend.

Badger would be good.

 

[Downunderwonder]

Hmm, a blending pedal, I have blending effects but no blender. The only one I can think of is the Boss, LS-2, which is a bit excessive for me, but a more simple one could be handy on my DI gigs.

 

[Soppy Hat]

As far as I know, the LS-2 is about as minimal as it gets as far as blenders go (at least- I haven't seen any).

Word on the street is that they are well worth it, especially with more extreme fuzzes or distortions (also handy for me, because my RAT's footswitch is broken and can't bypass). Perhaps the blendy type of deal is what you're looking for.

Check ebay/GC used, you can pick one up far cheaper than most places are asking.

 

[Crystalman85]

+1 on everyone suggesting the boss ls-2 line selector. if anyone is concerned about low-end losses, a blender pedal like the boss ls-2 line selector would easily fix that trouble. that way you'll be able to have a killer bass sound without obliterating lows.

 

[carbonfold]

If you love the "muff" or "fuzz" tones, you need to check out Ryan's Fuzzrocious Grey Stache. I think he hit the nail on the head by having a mid control/boost in the circuit.

Muff/Fuzz tones isn't for everyone. Like Bongo said, it does compresses your overall sound. I personally have NEVER and I mean NEVER been told my tone or punch was lost when I switched on the Grey Stache. I always get, "what the hell is that green pedal?!" ha

 

[DethByDoom]

Sanford and sonny bluebeard fuzz. Also anything fuzzrocious makes.

 

[lmascheri]

Have DeltaLabs DBFX1 bass pedal. It adds white noise, less in the Direct mode than with FX patches, but still noticeable. I have a new carvin MB210 combo amp, but heard same noise with previous amp. This is my first pedal experience. Is this just a problem with all digital FX pedals that I'm supposed to iive with?

 

[Ubersheist]

I feel your pain, ive been through many dirt pedals, the answer is Woolly Mamouth!

Well, even though this thread is over 7 months old, I'll put in my two cents -

As mentioned before, the OP's problem is probably that he wants OD, and he'll probably want a good one with real tubes in it.

Next, he said that he looses presence when mixed with the band. That's probably because there's lots of competing frequencies that are fighting for the ear's attention. If the bass sounds good alone and/or you loose your tone in a band setting, then probably someone else is stepping on your sound in some way, and the the band isn't listening to the band as a whole and how an individual instrument's tone affects the whole of the song.