fuzz, distortion and overdrive in what order?

[adamsmatthewj]

Don't use a "distortion pedal" right now, but I'm a BIG fan of od and fuzz!

Personally, I put my od before my fuzz. I do it that way for stacking.

I feel like fuzz doesn't usually "bite" the same way. By that I mean the initial attack of the note doesn't have the same punch as an od, or even as a clean tone. Generally speaking, bass fuzz kinda takes the "initial attack" off the note. This is a desirable effect! It makes the note fuzz-mazing! But, od retains that punch and attack, and depending on your settings, can add more initial attack on the note.

All that being said, when I put the od before the fuzz and kick em both on, I really like the way the od pushes the fuzz to have that initial "punch" or "attack". So I then have 3 options: od, fuzz, and od'd fuzz.

 

[sloppysubs]

I don't really use the distortion I have right now, but it's there.

I have a Woolly Mammoth fuzz and I don't know about other people but I've never been able to get this thing to play well anywhere other than first in the chain.

That said I run bass into fuzz into OD into distortion.

I use a Hematoma for OD and a modded MXR Distortion + for distortion (even though I rarely ever turn it on).

I like the sound I get and have never had any issues. Doesn't matter what I have on, all of my distorted/fuzz tones sound really great and not buzzy or fizzy at all.

 

[Unemploid]

what if your overdrive as always on, where would you put the fuzz?

 

[Unemploid]

based on the video, fuzz after od gets you more of the fuzz tone. od after fuzz was a like a od with some fuzz.

do you guys agree or disagree?

 

[Adamixoye]

based on the video, fuzz after od gets you more of the fuzz tone. od after fuzz was a like a od with some fuzz.

do you guys agree or disagree?

I agree, that's usually how it works.

 

[Teijo K.]

So basically whatever effects you are using, the last one is most up front so to speak? You want a hint of modulation in your dirt? Put modulation to dirt. You want clearly modulated sound that has some dirt in it, put dirt to modulation. And so on. So to OD, dist, fuzz, the last one is going to be most obvious. I think I am going to test some new ways of chaining dirt when I get my new PB. The always on OD last might be my new starting point.

 

[bassmusic17]

I go fuzz, distortion, OD. I used to have my RK after OD but when I got a new Rat it sounded better before the OD. So even though there is a general outline you can follow it is not always the same results. Certain pedals interact with others differently. That's why experimenting is always the best option. Even if it doesn't make sense, if it sounds good, that's all that matters.

 

[MCS4]

Fuzz -> distortion -> OD.

While every combination of pedals is different, in my experience adding an OD or dirty booster after a heavier fuzz/distortion tends to give a beefier sound that remains articulate (often there is actually an increase in clarity/high end). Running an OD into a fuzz/distortion more often tends to just push the gain higher or make a wild fuzz go even more out of control (which can be fun as well). Since I have more use for the former rather than the latter -- and my Grey Stache already has more gain on tap than I'll ever need -- I prefer the former option.

 

[Dark Barn]

The order that gives the most flavor is the one you want. Generally this is fuzz first OD last in my experience. However anything with a clean blend built in is a good candidate for last also, this let's you add more flavor to what precedes it in the chain.

So heres my personal order:

Fuzz, then distortion, then OD, then repeat for pedals that have clean blend going fuzz, distortion, OD.

Finally I put gated fuzz before other fuzz as I want to be able to set and forget how the gate will respond to dynamics/attack. Put anything before it and it becomes harder to predict.

 

[lavinci]

I use my ears....

no rules, and when recording, use what sounds good.

same for live-play.

general rule for some older fuzz pedals - they like to see the bass pickups

YMWV

 

[Teijo K.]

Fuzz -> distortion -> OD.

While every combination of pedals is different, in my experience adding an OD or dirty booster after a heavier fuzz/distortion tends to give a beefier sound that remains articulate (often there is actually an increase in clarity/high end). Running an OD into a fuzz/distortion more often tends to just push the gain higher or make a wild fuzz go even more out of control (which can be fun as well). Since I have more use for the former rather than the latter -- and my Grey Stache already has more gain on tap than I'll ever need -- I prefer the former option.

I am changing my order, thank you. At least for a while, need to test this with my bands naturally, but at home the new order with always on OD being my last dirt pedal seems rather better for me.

 

[eveilleu]

This is funny because turns out animato into oxide or a muff is great. And that's a dist.

I don't think there's any rule here aside from.. Depends.

 

[Driven Crane]

Just one example, but I actually prefer Fuzz -> OD when using my Empress Multidrive and Darkglass B7K. The fuzz on the Multidrive is kind of smooth, so the B7K really "messes it up" in a good way. The other way around, it just sounds like fuzz.

The B7K is considered an overdrive that gets into distortion territory, and I've had some good luck "pushing" it by putting a different OD in front of it (the Multidrive's OD, or the ODB-3). So in that case, I like OD -> OD or OD -> Dist.

Just depends on the pedals.

I have noticed that when i run my clean sound straight to B7K - i do not like result if blended more to clean than dirty. If it's dirty - the best way to run with clean to B7K. Otherwise - overdriven at low gain or even (clean) boosted to B7K.

 

[shinybeast]

I'm in the OD-last camp in general. I like high gain pedals with blends. I like using low gain full range OD after the blended gain pedal(s). This tends to make the high gain and "clean" blend more smoothly, in my opinion. But different pedals interact differently and there are no rules.

 

[taylor16]

Thought I would bump this thread. After experimenting with the Darkglass VMT and Stomp Under Foot Civil War, I really like the tone of the overdrive going into the fuzz. Fuzz on its own seems to lack some mids that the VMT provides. I preferred the tone of VMT into CW, myself... Curious if anyone uses multiple pedals in this fashion to get the best of both worlds...