Ambient/Post-Rock/Textural bass playing thread

[SquareWaveSymph]

Thanks! Recovery Effects is an effects maker in Seattle: Recovery Effects And Devices I pretty much used his stuff exclusively for the last couple years because they're probably the most organic sounding effects I'd ever heard. The only one of his I still have on my board is the Sister Tiger phaser, but on this track I was also using the Dead Session filter bank, the Cutting Room Floor delay, and the Dirty Murals delay/reverb. They all have a really warm character and seem to overdrive very easily in a really pleasant way. IMO they're a welcome entry to the pedal scene with all the heavily digital tweak-every-parameter stuff going on. Just have a good sound on their own, even if overall they're maybe a little warm for bass. That worked here because I just wanted to drench everything in a warm fuzzy blanket.

Appreciate the crust @Feral Feline I was hoping for at least one!

Gotta love Recovery Effects. Their Cutting Room Floor was (one of) my first "boutique" pedal/s. Still brings me joy about 8 years later.

 

[Spectrum]

Gotta love Recovery Effects. Their Cutting Room Floor was (one of) my first "boutique" pedal/s. Still brings me joy about 8 years later.

OMG dude I did not need to know this existed, my wallet is gonna hate you someday soon.

 

[SquareWaveSymph]

OMG dude I did not need to know this existed, my wallet is gonna hate you someday soon.

It's well worth the money. Trust me. Haha.
I'm really intrigued by the Phantom Operator. That one's on my want-list for sure.

 

[theunknowndude]

So after thinking about the source audio issue… - what’s a good synthy fuzz? Darkglass duality? Any gated fuzz? Or is this more for the fuzz thread hah

 

[SquareWaveSymph]

So after thinking about the source audio issue… - what’s a good synthy fuzz? Darkglass duality? Any gated fuzz? Or is this more for the fuzz thread hah

Anything gated and sputtery should work nicely. I know people seem to get mixed results, but the Woolly Mammoth works great for synthy bass sounds, if you ask me. Janek Gwizdala has some nice videos featuring that one. Duality is great, too, imo, but quite aggressive, most of the time.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

So after thinking about the source audio issue… - what’s a good synthy fuzz? Darkglass duality? Any gated fuzz? Or is this more for the fuzz thread hah

I think Fuzz expert here is JES…??? Maybe Steubig or Monster T have some good ideas also for what you are looking for.

I only own one actual “Fuzz” pedal.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

Anything gated and sputtery should work nicely. I know people seem to get mixed results, but the Woolly Mammoth works great for synthy bass sounds, if you ask me. Janek Gwizdala has some nice videos featuring that one. Duality is great, too, imo, but quite aggressive, most of the time.

Holla at the Gwiz, he’s sure to google his own name to answer ASAP.

 

[steubig]

imo, the duality is a nice device, but i ended up selling mine as i think it has a baked-in sound that is hard to escape (my main beef about most dg stuff).

spluttery and gated aren’t my favorite flavors, but i recall the prunes and custard i had (a million years ago) to be spluttery. iirc, the ie oxide does both of those things. i had both of those pedals, but no more.

i don’t recall if the teen awesome fuzz machine does that, but that is one i liked and kept (though rarely use right now).

@emjazz might want to weigh in one this.

 

[hieronymous]

how about doing it by trading tracks.
i aint the same as live, but hey, its better than nothing. I dig the vibe you 2 get together.

Thanks, I wish we could work together more. He went to Berklee in the 80s, left to join a band that played out a LOT. When that ended in the early 90s, he never really transitioned into the "real" world, so he's living pretty hand-to-mouth these days. I used to go back east a lot more often, kind of want to start doing that again at some point.

Anything gated and sputtery should work nicely. I know people seem to get mixed results, but the Woolly Mammoth works great for synthy bass sounds, if you ask me. Janek Gwizdala has some nice videos featuring that one. Duality is great, too, imo, but quite aggressive, most of the time.

Just beware the the Woolly Mammoth doesn't like active instruments. The Z Vex Mastotron plays much better with active instruments but doesn't sound exactly the same.

 

[emjazz]

Get the ssbs mini. It has a knob that can choke the sound. Sounds great from low drive to fuzz.

 

[steubig]

Get the ssbs mini. It has a knob that can choke the sound. Sounds great from low drive to fuzz.

interesting. i’ve aways just used my mini as an overdrive. the bonus for me is that, to me, it also sounds like the front end of a dual showman.

 

[emjazz]

interesting. i’ve aways just used my mini as an overdrive. the bonus for me is that, to me, it also sounds like the front end of a dual showman.

Those are amazing little pedals. They can cover so much territory. The bias knob will give you a super open sound, or a sputtering, dying fuzz.

 

[lordradish]

OMG dude I did not need to know this existed, my wallet is gonna hate you someday soon.

I think out of all of theirs, this is the only one I might be interested in, but I also think I can already do this with some other stuff I already have.

Not too long ago I saw a new pedal that is basically like the Denise Bad Tape plugin I love so much. Does all the things a dying tape player does, but I can't remember the damn name of it.

 

[Moody Tuner]

So after thinking about the source audio issue… - what’s a good synthy fuzz? Darkglass duality? Any gated fuzz? Or is this more for the fuzz thread hah

The Duality will give you a synthy fuzz and that’s the role it serves on my board. I constantly try to replace it and swap pedals in and out but I always go back to it. It’s great at what it does.

What I don’t like about it is that there is no gain control and it’s rather one-note. There are two fuzz flavors in it, but I tend to stick to the fully clockwise setting. The blend knob is nice, but the lack of gain control makes it less versatile. Great synth tones. I like having it in my arsenal, but it’s not locked-in on my board like it once was.

 

[monsterthompson]

So after thinking about the source audio issue… - what’s a good synthy fuzz? Darkglass duality? Any gated fuzz? Or is this more for the fuzz thread hah

I had a Source Audio Aftershock and couldn’t find much to like about it other than the barely acceptable Fuzzface engine. I know it is popular but it sounded artificial and awful. I later tried a Duality and couldn’t return it fast enough. I’m probably the wrong person to ask about either of those pedals.

I am not interested in synthy fuzzes and don’t really know much about that world. I like my Dunwich Wizard and my new Box Of War. I couldn’t get the B:assmaster to work for me. That’s about the extent of my fuzz experience when it comes to pedals.

 

[monsterthompson]

... I might give these a look, but there aren't many demos.
Deathimizer — Hilbish Design

The Deathimizer -

Introducing our newest and noisiest collaboration with King Buzzo from The Melvins...The Deathimizer! This is no transparent overdrive, amp like distortion, or smooth fuzz. The Deathimizer is a fuzz with ear drum wrecking highs stacked with an analog two octave down circuit for maximum chaos. Don’t expect H9000 tracking, the Deathimizer unpredictably blips, bloops, groans, and drones its way to give you the most brutal noise making machine possible. With the octave control off you have crusty fuzz tones that sound like rusty nails shooting from your speakers, as you mix in the two octave down signal you can conjure 8-bit leads, synth sounds, and unpredictable drones.

Controls:
Fuzz- Controls the amount of fuzz, going from mild drive to all out buzz-saw madness
Volume - Overall effect level
Filter - Low pass filter control
Octave - Blends between straight fuzz and a fuzz tone two octaves down for maximum chaos!

For more sputter
T-Fuzz — Hilbish Design

 

[monsterthompson]

Fun playing with a delay. Not a big ambient wash, but still interesting. Not my usual type of playing, but I like this guy's style for some reason.

 

[dukeorock]

Fun playing with a delay. Not a big ambient wash, but still interesting. Not my usual type of playing, but I like this guy's style for some reason.

That was a pretty fun jam

 

[monsterthompson]

That was a pretty fun jam

The dude has several fun ones. This is a bit more funky and might be my favorite of his posts so far.
Far from ambient.
I do need to look into the bass builder. That thing is insanely cool.

 

[theunknowndude]

Thanks for all the replies…
Yeah have to say only settings I liked on the aftershock were the experimental ones and the octave fuzz… I’m guessing ultra wave is just an upgrade with the multi band distortions / comp and tremolo. but aftershock it didn’t play nice live and the other engines just couldn’t compare to my analogue overdrives etc so I guess will sit on the fence a bit more… I’ve done the mastotron, muff clones, super fuzz and bead fuzz ( bassmaster clone), I’m hoping duality fits the bill for the little time I need a fuzz… enough bass on a low B, enough harmonics to use with a wah and at least it’s a knob per option so could dial in live pretty quick I guess!

mmm that down time between fun toys and then actually having them be useful!