• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Bass Big Muff Replacement?

K

Kusabi

Aug 12, 2009
61
0
Buffalo, NY
#1
Hey guys, I've been using an EHX Bass Big Muff for the past couple years and recently I've become unhappy with it. I just can't seem to get a tone I'm happy with out of it. That's what brings me here; I'd like to find a suitable replacement.

It seems to be a common consensus on the net that the sft cannot actually get this tone. Is there a pedal that can?
Catalinbread SFT: Bass Guitar HEAVY DOOMY - YouTube


I play a Fender Precision with TI Jazz Flats and a Sterling Ray34 tuned to C with Rotoflats. Amp is an Acoustic B200 combo.

My chain at the moment is:
Bass>Line6 M5(used as a compressor and sometimes an octave)>Tech21 XXLB(set for a heavy OD/light distortion)>Tech21 VTBass(set for light OD and always on)>BBM>Source Audio Bass Envelope Filter>Dano Cool Cat Chorus>EHX Memory Toy>Amp

Budget is about $150 but I'd be willing to stretch it for something amazing. Thanks for the help :hyper:
 
#4
That demo is oh so close to the tone in my head. To clarify, I've never played through the SFT personally but in a few threads on here and elsewhere it is mentioned that the pedal cannot nail the tones in that demo :(. If only it could! Things would be so much simpler.
 
#5
Do a search on this pedal and you will see that many people have not been able to duplicate the tones in the promotional youtube video. I tried the pedal twice and could not get near it either under 9 or 18 volts. It might be the tone you are looking for but I recommend you try this pedal first at the risk of being disapointed if you don't.
 
#7
I'm gonna go with "Upgrade your amp"

Not a doom-y guy myself, but it seems that all of the threads here seem to emphasize maximum speakers/wattage/etc. A 200 watt SS combo just ain't gonna get you there. Neither are TI Flats, IMO. Try some SS round wounds, through a 2x15 or 8x10.

Also, they used a $1200 ribbon mic to record that demo, through god knows what amp.
 
#8
Somewhere in my dusty brains I remembered a sound like that. It is produced by a $70 pedal, which is meant for guitar. My son happens to have one, so I played some stuff through it. It resembles the sound from the YouTube clip quite a lot. Listen for yourselves. I included some MP3 files I produced just a minute ago. I hope Lemmy doesn't mind I replaced his bass by mine.

Invalid Link Removed

View attachment Sample.mp3
View attachment Whiplash.mp3
 
#9
I'd go with a either a Musket, Blunderbuss, Supercollider, Hoof, Pickle Pie B, Pharaoh or Grey Stache if you're looking for a killer Muff style fuzz that'll give you much better tones than the EHX BBM in my opinion. The Oxide and TAFM are also killer bass fuzzes.....just not tonally similar to a Muff. There's a ton of other options of course. Hope this helps.

Cheers!
 
#10
Jay2U said:
Somewhere in my dusty brains I remembered a sound like that. It is produced by a $70 pedal, which is meant for guitar. My son happens to have one, so I played some stuff through it. It resembles the sound from the YouTube clip quite a lot. Listen for yourselves. I included some MP3 files I produced just a minute ago. I hope Lemmy doesn't mind I replaced his bass by mine.

Invalid Link Removed
Click to expand...

That sounds pretty cool for a budget friendly alternative. Have you used this in a band context? I'm curious as to how the low end holds up vs. bass-specific pedals.

EDIT: Oh, and what sort of bass/setup did you use in the sample?
 
#11
No, I haven't used this in a band, as my son and I are just playing for fun. The low end holds up amazingly well. The pedal was designed for cranking up the low end of a guitar. The amp I use is a Behringer BXL1800A. As I'm not gigging, this is more than sufficient. In the samples the settings for mid and high were halfway and the control for low was set to some 75% of its scale.
I use a pretty cheap bass: An Ibanez GSR200EX. It has two humbuckers. It used to have a pre-amp, but I took it out of the circuit. It simply sounds better and doesn't use batteries anymore. The strings I use are flatwounds, d'Addatio Chromes, 45 to 100. For these specific samples, I used the bridge element at some 50%. The other element was not used. The tone control was set for full highs. The bass was connected to the input of the pedal. The output of the pedal was fed into a rather simple line 6 BackTrack recorder. The recorded track was mixed with Whiplash afterwards.
I hope this answers your questions.

PS: I played this finger style. A pick makes it even more agressive.
 
#12
Yeah, I've had two SFT's and it was a barrel of farts both times.
The only useful thing it does on bass is very low on the gain.

On guitar, it's another story.

Try an Attack Goat, I enjoy mine and it's pretty nuts.
Any big muff clone with a mids knob will do the job too, I particularly rate the Musket.
 
#13
Jay2U said:
No, I haven't used this in a band, as my son and I are just playing for fun. The low end holds up amazingly well. The pedal was designed for cranking up the low end of a guitar. The amp I use is a Behringer BXL1800A. As I'm not gigging, this is more than sufficient. In the samples the settings for mid and high were halfway and the control for low was set to some 75% of its scale.
I use a pretty cheap bass: An Ibanez GSR200EX. It has two humbuckers. It used to have a pre-amp, but I took it out of the circuit. It simply sounds better and doesn't use batteries anymore. The strings I use are flatwounds, d'Addatio Chromes, 45 to 100. For these specific samples, I used the bridge element at some 50%. The other element was not used. The tone control was set for full highs. The bass was connected to the input of the pedal. The output of the pedal was fed into a rather simple line 6 BackTrack recorder. The recorded track was mixed with Whiplash afterwards.
I hope this answers your questions.

PS: I played this finger style. A pick makes it even more agressive.
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing! I'm definitely going to give that pedal a test drive when I get a chance.
 
#19
im abit tired off my BBM. the blend is cool, and it was nice and cheap. but meh.. ill probably keep it, but i now have a Way Huge SP which makes the BBM sound cheap in comparison. it will be coming off my board when i get my rat tail. (waiting on this and a pedaltrain 1 to post pics of my board:bassist:)
 
#20
Jay2U said:
Somewhere in my dusty brains I remembered a sound like that. It is produced by a $70 pedal, which is meant for guitar. My son happens to have one, so I played some stuff through it. It resembles the sound from the YouTube clip quite a lot. Listen for yourselves. I included some MP3 files I produced just a minute ago. I hope Lemmy doesn't mind I replaced his bass by mine.

Invalid Link Removed

View attachment 232584
View attachment 232585
Click to expand...

No dont get the death metal it sounds way to high. It cuts alot of lows out of your tone and gives bad feedback. I had one it sold a while back... check out the way huge swollen pickle. It holds low end amazingly well. Sounds similar to a big muff only way bigger sounding.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back