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bass fuzz/OD help!

B

bjparker

Mar 10, 2012
7
0
Utah
www.dangerhailstorm.bandcamp.com
#1
Hello all,
I am having a hell of a time getting a bass od/fuzz/distorion that sounds worth a crap, i play in a heavy band, but i dont want an ultra saturated type of dirt, BUT i do like to have my dirt on most of the time.. Can somebody recommend the end all be all pedal that i am after? all i use besides an od is a tuner a bass wah and a Aphex bass exciter, But i have tried TONS of pedals with no luck, i just got the Zvex wooly mammoth thinking its a great pedal based on reviews and clips i heard and its just WAY TOO MUCH, sounds cool, but i could use it in like a song or two, max, definitely not a constant type of sound, for me. Also i have the tech 21 sans amp bass driver deluxe, it sounds ok, but isnt quite giving me what im after, also i have a bass ibanez tubescreamer, sounds alright as well, but im not in love with it, i need something that is gritty and dirty enough to sound distorted and mean, but not too metally and something that would sound good left on at all times. please help, im going crazy i buy every sought after pedal i see and it ends up sucking!
 
#5
you cant go wrong with a wren and cuff pickle pie b... I love mine. it sounds similar to the green russian big muff when eq'ed right. but has a blend knob that lets you bring back your clean tone. I have been on a fuzz pedal quest lately. I just recently got the pickle pie b. I dont think ill be buying another fuzz any time soon.
 
#7
alec said:
Really needs a clean blend when you're driving it hard, but that's why I have an LS-2.
Click to expand...

I think that's it right there. Any of the above with a clean blend might just do what you're after. Or a dirt pedal with a built-in clean blend; or a dirt pedal with a low pass. Does the EBS MultiDrive have something like that? I recently put an overdrive in a loop behind a GEB-7, set the GEB-7 to cut everything below 500 hz, cranked the drive, then blended the result back in with the clean signal and got an awesome musical but very aggressive sound that was better than any overdrive I've used alone. Any pedals do that inherently? Pass lows, but overdrive mids and highs?
 
#8
I found that the pretty inexpensive Sparkle Drive works better for me than the Green Rhino did. Note the SD has a clean blend which works very well- not a straight blend, but a boost blend, before the final volume knob, which makes it so much easier to dial in.

Without having tried any of these, I'd say the faves on TB for this seem to be: Pork Loin, B3K, and the Rusty Box.

I think any of those (including the Sparkle Drive) would be a huge upgrade from the SansAmp or the Bass TS. (I own a regular Bass Driver SA and I tried the Bass TS out extensively in-store. I don't use the SA as an effect in my rig, it's a back-up of last resort, and I didn't buy the Bass TS).
 
#9
Fan of the T-Rex Bass Juice for my O/D-dirt needs: awesome for lo-gain to just dirt, clean blend, separate footswitch for a nice dirty boost and overall I use it as my "always on" pedal as everything sounds tasty after it to me.
 
#11
sillyfabe said:
Fan of the T-Rex Bass Juice for my O/D-dirt needs: awesome for lo-gain to just dirt, clean blend, separate footswitch for a nice dirty boost and overall I use it as my "always on" pedal as everything sounds tasty after it to me.
Click to expand...

I agree, for a stand alone, the only pedal you need, Bass Juice covers both overdrive (it's NICE) and distortion (not the best but very nice). It's mids are great, and with a blend and trebel roll-off you can hear lots of the frequencies you need to cut through a band. If you don't use a pick, it's attack can sound quite synthy (buzzy) when the drive is up.
Previously I would have recommended a Wounded Paw Attack Goat (and that stays on my board as it can add upper harmonics to any dark pedal, and it boosts low end) or I could also live with a TAFM only and use it's preamped clean blend as overdrive, add fuzz as needed. Finally, the cheepest, a Dunlop Bass Blowtorch can cover both sounds. It has LOTS of tone and drive control. Torch of with lowest mid EQ setting, it's a fine overdrive. Torch on and full mids middle freq. is a great cutting fuzz. What I don't care for is it's 18v separate power needs, I draw the line at 2 plugs (Rusty Box and the rest on a 1spot).
Everything is better into a VT or Rusty Box. I use them for sound, not distortion.
 
#13
....can't believe nobody has mentioned the Source Audio Multiwave Bass Distortion (Pro)! I just aquired this box o' love - wow! A TON of options - and eq!! Clean/ Dirty mix, 6 programmable presets! I even use it w/o dirt and take advantage of the eq settings/ boost!....gonna take months to fully wrap my head around this thing!:hyper:
 
#14
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#16
My favorite pedal by far has been the Fulltone Mosfet Bass-Drive. I keep it on a lot. It's very flexible on the tone and has an OD button and then a fuzz boost button. I've gone through a lot of different bass fuzz pedals and this is the one for me.

I do agree strongly with the need to have some clean tone in there to maintain that solid tone though. Personally I play a Rick with the stereo out, putting all my ODs on just one of the pick-ups.

I don't recommend it for this situation, but for all you other bass fuzz fanatics I just posted a Frantone Bassweet Germanium Fuzz on Ebay. I could be persuaded to take it down for a straight trade on an Electro Harmonix Cathedral Reverb pedal.
 

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