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Fuzz for 150 or less..

Dpduder

Dpduder

Mar 27, 2007
166
2
Gorham, ME
#1
Alright, when my taxes get in theres a few things i need to pick up. a DI box for one, and a fuzz pedal to expand a certain cover range for my band. But im going to paly it safe and limit myself to spending only 150ish on said pedal..

what are some recommendations? Im in love w/ the zvex wooly mammoth.. but cant justify 300 for a single pedal that'll maybe only see 1-2 songs outa a 12 song set.

im more than willing to look into the used prices to get something ata better bargain.
 
#6
Dpduder said:
Alright, when my taxes get in theres a few things i need to pick up. a DI box for one, and a fuzz pedal to expand a certain cover range for my band. But im going to paly it safe and limit myself to spending only 150ish on said pedal..

what are some recommendations? Im in love w/ the zvex wooly mammoth.. but cant justify 300 for a single pedal that'll maybe only see 1-2 songs outa a 12 song set.

im more than willing to look into the used prices to get something ata better bargain.
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Hmm. I think the Mess Drive Hybrid is a great pedal, but it doesn't really sound like a Mammoth. A Big Muff is a bit closer, but lacks the gate and is a smoother fuzz than the ZVex.

I personally haven't played anything else that sounds like a Mammoth, but that's a good thing IMO, since I found it a bit cold and industrial sounding and a bit of a one trick pony. I think Zachary Vex makes some amazing guitar pedals, but the Mammoth just wasn't my thing. However, if that's really the sound you want, you might have to shill out the cash to get one.

Personally, I'd rather have a Mess Drive Hybrid +.
 
#8
metalmariachi said:
In your price range one of the Devi Ever pedals should fit the bill.

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Of course narrowing it down to which one can be confusing.

I can also highly recommend the MI Audio GI fuzz, which is very versatile.

MM
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I've never tried any Devi Ever stuff, though I keep meaning to. Especially since some of the eBay stuff runs less than $100.

As for the GI Fuzz, I ended up returning it. It was one of the few fuzzes that worked well with my active bass, but I found it a bit too nasally and a bit too harsh sounding. I exchanged it for a Neo fuzz which was smoother sounding but still a bit nasal for my tastes.

Definitely good pedals though. I think I'm a bit too picky about fuzz pedals.
 
#11
To be honest, if you know that the Mammoth is the sound you want, shell out the extra cash for the mammoth. It's worth the extra cash now to not realize you're dissatisfied with your tone later and end up buying another pedal at half of the cost of the mammoth because you still don't want to shell out that big amount at once... trust me, you'll probably end up spending more.
 
#12
assboglin said:
To be honest, if you know that the Mammoth is the sound you want, shell out the extra cash for the mammoth. It's worth the extra cash now to not realize you're dissatisfied with your tone later and end up buying another pedal at half of the cost of the mammoth because you still don't want to shell out that big amount at once... trust me, you'll probably end up spending more.
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I can appreciate that point of view (buy what you really want), but on the other hand, there are hundreds of other fuzzes out there, and it's unlikely that the original poster's heard them all. Gathering suggestions to use for researching a <$150 fuzz is worth doing.

I'm on a fuzz hunt myself. One pedal that I don't personally own, but seems like a contender based on audio clips is the Home Brew Electronics Hematoma. Another one I'm interested in is the Prescription Electronics Depth Charge. I think they are both in your budget (roughly 150 dollars each, I think) especially if you can buy them used.

BTW, I've been getting a lot of help checking out effects pedals by watching demo clips on YouTube.
 
#13
It's true that the sound one wants may change when presented with more options or for any number of reasons. I was just going with the simple solution and assumed the original poster had made an educated decision... but I guess that's what people come here to do.

My overdrive and fuzz hunts are over with the Box of Rock and the Hendrix Classic Fuzz. I'm pretty happy. Check out my soundclips of the Hematoma here:

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=362773
 
#16
Thx guys! yeah this is more or less a search for fuzz based upon a relatively small knowelege of these. i only cited the mammoth after trying it and being impressed, but after that my knowlege is rather limited. more of a bass--> amp guy and leave it at that..
 
#17
MysticBoo said:
Also consider the MXR Blowtorch. It's under your $150.00 budget. I prefer it to the Mammoth for a mid-heavy and flexible modern fuzz that'll even let you blend your clean sound in.
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I just got one of these and I'm really impressed with it. I wanted a Woolly Mammoth mainly for the gated sounds, but the price and the fact that I play active basses kept me away. The Blowtorch can have a very quick decay and is very quiet, so it's very close to a gated fuzz. Picked mine up for $71 used+shipping, so they're definitely in the price range.

I like the LBM as well, although the bottom really drops out if you don't have some clean signal mixed in.
 
#19
dancehallclasher said:
I can't fathom people always saying this. The LBM has lots of bottom. The mids are what drops out.
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That's cool- everyone has the right to be wrong if they choose :D

J/K As it was set up it didn't carry the same amount of bass as several other fuzzes I've played, but my experience with one was very limited, so I probably didn't play with it enough to get a good grasp of everything it can sound like. I did like what I heard of it though.
 
#20
Bryan R. Tyler said:
I just got one of these and I'm really impressed with it. I wanted a Woolly Mammoth mainly for the gated sounds, but the price and the fact that I play active basses kept me away. The Blowtorch can have a very quick decay and is very quiet, so it's very close to a gated fuzz. Picked mine up for $71 used+shipping, so they're definitely in the price range.

I like the LBM as well, although the bottom really drops out if you don't have some clean signal mixed in.
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whats the big difference between active and passive basses in this situation? I use two basses mainly, an active sr4 and a passive jazz. how would this effect the fuzz search?
 

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