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Bass Big Muff Pi help!

awilkie84

awilkie84

Jul 16, 2011
7,429
1,868
Edmonton, AB, Canada
#1
After countless months of playing with this pedal, I'm getting frustrated. I can't dial in a good old-school fuzz sound. You know, that slight fuzz that sounds like you're just overdriving a tube amp a tiny bit?

I'm playing through an Ampeg PF-500 head & a Hartke 4x10 cab, using a Spector ReBop 5DLX & a Fender P-bass.

Any help on what settings I should use?
 
#2
awilkie84 said:
After countless months of playing with this pedal, I'm getting frustrated. I can't dial in a good old-school fuzz sound. You know, that slight fuzz that sounds like you're just overdriving a tube amp a tiny bit?

I'm playing through an Ampeg PF-500 head & a Hartke 4x10 cab, using a Spector ReBop 5DLX & a Fender P-bass.

Any help on what settings I should use?
Click to expand...

Slight and Muff are antonyms in my book
 
#3
If you break down what you just said you'll see the problem.

You want a slight fuzz that sounds like an "overdriven" amp. You're using the wrong tool for the job. You should look for an overdrive that provides a hair of breakup.

Any fuzz worthy of the calling itself a fuzz will mangle the hell out of your tone.
 
#4
awilkie84 said:
After countless months of playing with this pedal, I'm getting frustrated. I can't dial in a good old-school fuzz sound. You know, that slight fuzz that sounds like you're just overdriving a tube amp a tiny bit?

I'm playing through an Ampeg PF-500 head & a Hartke 4x10 cab, using a Spector ReBop 5DLX & a Fender P-bass.

Any help on what settings I should use?
Click to expand...

Set the three way toggle switch at the dry setting. This way the volume control of your pedal becomes a blend of your clean signal and your effected signal. Maybe that works out better for you. That said the muff is a pretty dirty pedal and maybe an overdrive is more what you're looking for. I use mine for distortion and full on fuzz but have an ibanez tube screamer and green rhino for overdrive and slightly driven tube grit sound.
 
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#8
When I think of fuzz, I think of Jimmy Hendrix or The Guess Who. That old Fuzz Face style sound that muffles the sound, but leaves the note resonant and soft. The muff's definitely not doing that. It's going harsh and undefined. :(
I realize those are guitar examples, but it should still be possible on a bass, no?

Maybe I should trade it in on an OD. What would you suggest for a Bass OD that has a true bypass and doesn't lose low end?
 
#9
awilkie84 said:
When I think of fuzz, I think of Jimmy Hendrix or The Guess Who. That old Fuzz Face style sound that muffles the sound, but leaves the note resonant and soft. The muff's definitely not doing that. It's going harsh and undefined. :(
I realize those are guitar examples, but it should still be possible on a bass, no?

Maybe I should trade it in on an OD. What would you suggest for a Bass OD that has a true bypass and doesn't lose low end?
Click to expand...

The overdrive question is best left for another thread or a good search. Do yourself a huge favor and read this thread:

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f36/overdrive-fuzz-quest-882997/

Read ALL OF IT!!!! There is a tone of information and way more sound samples than you'll find anywhere else.

But guitar fuzz and bass fuzz are different animals because of the vast differences between signal size, frequency content, amp topologies, etc.
 
#14
That's why I modded my Bass Big Muff with a master volume pot addition. That way I can use the original volume knob as a gain and the new volume knob as the master output. I really love the pedal, but before it was all or nothing with a big variance in volume, now overall great control of volume and intensity.
 
#17
awilkie84 said:
When I think of fuzz, I think of Jimmy Hendrix or The Guess Who. That old Fuzz Face style sound that muffles the sound, but leaves the note resonant and soft. The muff's definitely not doing that. It's going harsh and undefined. :(
I realize those are guitar examples, but it should still be possible on a bass, no?

Maybe I should trade it in on an OD. What would you suggest for a Bass OD that has a true bypass and doesn't lose low end?
Click to expand...

I know the sound you are looking for - I love that tone myself. While you may find a lot of success with a great OD like a Fairfield Barbershop, I'm going to guess there are a few fuzzier tones that you want which will be just out of reach with that pedal.

So what you want to do is to look into getting a ss/bs TAFM. There are all sorts of tones in those, and this would be one of them. To me, it does a pretty good job of copping a fuzzface tone (which is something that a muff just won't really do). Must be the fact it has some magic Germanium inside of it.

+1 to the suggestions to review John K's overdrive/fuzz quest thread. bassfuzz.com is another good place to go to for listening to clips and reading reviews while in search of the tone you are looking for.

...I'm still going to bet though that a TAFM will nail what you are looking for. They pop up here used all the time, I wouldn't be shocked if one is up in classifieds right now.
 
#18
father of fires said:
I rather enjoy my bass big muff deluxe. It can get some light distortion sounds but it won't pull a convincing overdrive like some much better suited to the task.
Click to expand...
I agree, it can be made to produce servicable light overdrive with the 10dB pad engaged. I'm thinking of changing the volume/blend knobs to wet/dry knobs, as I think that would make the mix more versitile for subtle drive.
 
#19
blindrabbit said:
I know the sound you are looking for - I love that tone myself. While you may find a lot of success with a great OD like a Fairfield Barbershop, I'm going to guess there are a few fuzzier tones that you want which will be just out of reach with that pedal.

So what you want to do is to look into getting a ss/bs TAFM. There are all sorts of tones in those, and this would be one of them. To me, it does a pretty good job of copping a fuzzface tone (which is something that a muff just won't really do). Must be the fact it has some magic Germanium inside of it.

+1 to the suggestions to review John K's overdrive/fuzz quest thread. bassfuzz.com is another good place to go to for listening to clips and reading reviews while in search of the tone you are looking for.

...I'm still going to bet though that a TAFM will nail what you are looking for. They pop up here used all the time, I wouldn't be shocked if one is up in classifieds right now.
Click to expand...

The TAFM looks awesome. Any idea where I can find something around $100 that will sound close to what I'm looking for? I just bought a new P & am having to buy a backup head to potentially replace my PF-500 (it's having fault light issues intermittently and is in for service). Don't have much for free cashflow.
 

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