Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
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.
Behringer announces Bass Brassmaster Fuzz
- Thread starter mattattack187
- Start date
Too bad that Malekko appears to be done. Paul made the best BM clones.
I'm interested.
Ralphe Armstrong was a big early influence for me, and it would be cool to cop his 70's distortion tone.
Nope, the clean signal is high passed…at least in the 3 different clones I had, you don’t get loud clean lows
, i got that earlier from @Rod Maine.
D
This is one of those pedals that I had some fun with when noodling alone at home, but I never found it even remotely usable with a band. It's not that I don't like fuzz. I love fuzz with the right song/arrangement, but the Brassmaster just didn't work for me at all with a band. Even when playing alone I found that most settings sounded absolutely horrible and I had to dial it in to some very specific settings to get anything I liked out of it. I guess it depends on what type of music you play.
To be honest I'm not exactly a fan of Behringer so I wouldn't have have given them my money no matter how good it is.
To be honest I'm not exactly a fan of Behringer so I wouldn't have have given them my money no matter how good it is.
Both. This is TBI've just seen their Tone Bender yesterday and was about to buy one. Now I've got to reconsider which one to get...
I’m with the never found a good use for my bead v1…
It sounded awesome but was always too overbearing for my bands mix and never stacked well. Lusted after the later versions with more controls but can’t justify the expense.
For a home board can see this being a nice addition if it does get built / stays cheap but wish it was Bead size and not massive box.. ah well at least it’s top jacks!
It sounded awesome but was always too overbearing for my bands mix and never stacked well. Lusted after the later versions with more controls but can’t justify the expense.
For a home board can see this being a nice addition if it does get built / stays cheap but wish it was Bead size and not massive box.. ah well at least it’s top jacks!
What’s the story there? Seems they decided to just shut down and not say anything…ironic that this pedal just emerged.
D
I've just seen their Tone Bender yesterday and was about to buy one. Now I've got to reconsider which one to get...
I love a good Tone Bender for GUITAR but I don't think I've ever tested Tone Benders with bass. My gut feeling tells me there would be some loss of lows, but don't quote me on it. My only current Tone Bender is a clone by Ramble FX which can be switched between Mk II and Mk I.V as well as some other additional functions (bias knob, impedance knob that makes it more useful when used after other pedals and a tone switch for added mids or lows). This is the best sounding and BY FAR the most versatile Tone Bender clone I've played. I massively prefer either the Mk II or Mk I.V setting but I can't remember which one.
I have no idea which version the Behringer clone is based on. I'm guessing the Mk II, because that's the one Jimmy Page used and therefore seems to be the most popular with guitar players.
I guess it also remains to be seem whether Behringer's version is actually a good sounding clone, but Tone Benders aren't exactly rocket science. There's only a handful of parts inside. The Brassmaster is a lot more complicated design that I suspect must be much harder to get right, with that little transformer inside and a lot more parts than a Tone Bender.
My experience with the Brassmaster is the opposite, I don't think I've ever tested it with guitar, only bass. But I didn't like it very much to be honest. Like I said before, it was fun when playing alone (when carefully dialled in to settings that didn't sound horrible...) but I never found any use for it with a band or for recording. I wouldn't buy it again, not even a cheap clone.
Just remember that Tone Benders need to be first in your signal chain to work the way they are supposed to. They can make some really insane, cool tones (for guitar anyway) when they're used after a buffered pedal too, but then we're in the realm of totally SQUASHED fuzz tones with no touch sensitivity whatsoever. I'm not sure how usable that would be with bass...
Last edited:
It's true that I'm buying the Tone Bender for guitar use. I've built a Mark 2 clone, but I'm also interested in the more gated velcro tone of the Mark 1.5. I still wonder if it's germanium or silicon? I'd prefer not to downgrade from my germanium build.
The Brassmaster will likely be bass-only. I've owned a Malekko B:Assmaster for a while, and found it a bit too splattery for either instrument. Now maybe I could get it better, since I've got more experience with smoothing it with the amp overdrive.
D
Both the Mk 2 and Mk 1.5 SHOULD be germanium. I believe the Mk 3 was silicon.
I have no idea about what the Behringer clone is though. Probably the cheapest they could get away with in every possible way. I strongly suspect that the clone you've built is better, and that if you want a Mk 1.5 your best option would be to build one yourself (or buy a more high-end clone).
In my opinion the Brassmaster is mostly of historical interest and totally useless for most types of music. Like you said, very splattery, and that's on the BEST settings. On most settings I personally think it sounds absolutely horrible. But some people love it for bass, so I guess it's a matter of personal taste.
For $70 bucks who cares if it sits in a mix or not. It's a no brainer buy. Behringer is KILLING it with their analog synth clones. Finally putting out affordable gear. The more cork sniffers it pisses off the better imo.
