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Fuzz Shootout - Making My Bass Go ROAR!!

#66
Try lowering the pre on the Musket below noon to ease up on the compression. I've gone through a similar shootout myself recently involving the Musket, Supercollider Beast, Pickle Pie B, Big Spider, Megalith, and Bass Big Muff. My faves (and the only ones that stayed) are the Supercollider Beast and Bass Big Muff.

My favourite sound is the BB Preamp going into the BBM, however I need to try and mod the BBM with a clean volume control so it doesn't have a massive volume boost in dry mode.
 
#67
dannybuoy said:
Try lowering the pre on the Musket below noon to ease up on the compression. I've gone through a similar shootout myself recently involving the Musket, Supercollider Beast, Pickle Pie B, Big Spider, Megalith, and Bass Big Muff. My faves (and the only ones that stayed) are the Supercollider Beast and Bass Big Muff.

My favourite sound is the BB Preamp going into the BBM, however I need to try and mod the BBM with a clean volume control so it doesn't have a massive volume boost in dry mode.
Click to expand...

Did you post the shootout on TB anywhere? If not, could you give a run down on this thread?
 
#71
savinggrace said:
Did you post the shootout on TB anywhere? If not, could you give a run down on this thread?
Click to expand...

I didn't post my results anywhere as it was more of a long drawn out personal shoot out rather than a public experiment, but here's my thoughts on the ones I have tried:

Supercollider - great sound, throaty midrange lead tone when used with a P-Bass. The tone control does not lose lows when turned up like the tilt EQ on most muffs. The Beast version has awesome and useable oscillation. Only drawback is it gets overloaded easily if you have a hot signal going in and you have the depth control down low where it belongs.

Bass Big Muff - smooth, creamy, vintage tone with gobs of low end and very fat low mids. Pretty versatile with good sounds to be found in each of the 3 modes. Not massively high gain, some say it sounds too plain and boring, but then again you can't have searing lead fuzz all the time. Blend is nice to have but stupidly designed as you can't control the level of the clean signal which is always 100%, hence huge volume boost.

Musket v2 - THICK tone, high gain and not at all spitty like some fuzz pedals. Can't get sizzling highs due to the tone control losing bass as you turn it up. Doesn't extend as far into the low range as the SC or BBM but has a good midrange presence that will be heard in a mix.

Pickle Pie B - Similar to the BBM but with more gain on tap, more useable blend, and focussed more around cutting upper mids rather than girthy low mids. Some good sounds to be found but not for me.

Fender Sub-Lime - Innovative crossover blend, which really works at keeping the lows solid and punchy. The fuzz is in the same ballpark as the BBM but not as fat, and it's quite muffled even with the tone cranked. I liked it though and would probably have kept it if it wasn't SO FREAKING HUGE.

[sfx] Micro Fuzz - A tiny Colorsound bass fuzz replica. More low end than all the others put together, but pretty scooped in the mids. Like a super muff with more gain, bass and treble, sounds like a overweight Wooly Mammoth at high-ish gain, then gets a B:Assmaster like synthy sound with the gain cranked. Chris Wolstenholme would buy one on the spot if he heard it, sounds great for Time Is Running Out and Starlight fuzz sounds.

Mountainking Megalith - A bit of a disappointment, too thin and spitty for my liking, sounds better as you scoop out the mids which makes it more stable. Still, Al gets some great sounds on the most recent Om album and apparently this is what he used. Need to try it again with a Ric and a Matamp (I wish)!

Verellen Big Spider - Another one that didn't live up to my expectations, but I think that's because at the time I had a Markbass combo with tweeter, and the awesome clip I heard was put through a huge stinky tube amp and vintage style cab. Like the Megalith, avoid if you have hifi solid state gear but could be worth a shot if you have a rig that qualifies as doom-ready.

Guyatone TZ-2 - Fun pedal, great buzzsaw like timbre but accompanied by severe low end loss. Recommended if you play guitar!
 
#72
dannybuoy said:
I didn't post my results anywhere as it was more of a long drawn out personal shoot out rather than a public experiment, but here's my thoughts on the ones I have tried:

Supercollider - great sound, throaty midrange lead tone when used with a P-Bass. The tone control does not lose lows when turned up like the tilt EQ on most muffs. The Beast version has awesome and useable oscillation. Only drawback is it gets overloaded easily if you have a hot signal going in and you have the depth control down low where it belongs.

Bass Big Muff - smooth, creamy, vintage tone with gobs of low end and very fat low mids. Pretty versatile with good sounds to be found in each of the 3 modes. Not massively high gain, some say it sounds too plain and boring, but then again you can't have searing lead fuzz all the time. Blend is nice to have but stupidly designed as you can't control the level of the clean signal which is always 100%, hence huge volume boost.

Musket v2 - THICK tone, high gain and not at all spitty like some fuzz pedals. Can't get sizzling highs due to the tone control losing bass as you turn it up. Doesn't extend as far into the low range as the SC or BBM but has a good midrange presence that will be heard in a mix.

Pickle Pie B - Similar to the BBM but with more gain on tap, more useable blend, and focussed more around cutting upper mids rather than girthy low mids. Some good sounds to be found but not for me.

Fender Sub-Lime - Innovative crossover blend, which really works at keeping the lows solid and punchy. The fuzz is in the same ballpark as the BBM but not as fat, and it's quite muffled even with the tone cranked. I liked it though and would probably have kept it if it wasn't SO FREAKING HUGE.

[sfx] Micro Fuzz - A tiny Colorsound bass fuzz replica. More low end than all the others put together, but pretty scooped in the mids. Like a super muff with more gain, bass and treble, gets a synthy B:Assmaster like quality with the gain cranked. Chris Wolstenholme would buy one on the spot if he heard it, sounds great for Time Is Running Out and Starlight fuzz sounds.

Mountainking Megalith - A bit of a disappointment, too thin and spitty for my liking, sounds better as you scoop out the mids which makes it more stable. Still, Al gets some great sounds on the most recent Om album and apparently this is what he used. Need to try it again with a Ric and a Matamp (I wish)!

Verellen Big Spider - Another one that didn't live up to my expectations, but I think that's because at the time I had a Markbass combo with tweeter, and the awesome clip I heard was put through a huge stinky tube amp and vintage style cab. Like the Megalith, avoid if you have hifi solid state gear but could be worth a shot if you have a rig that qualifies as doom-ready.

Guyatone TZ-2 - Fun pedal, great buzzsaw like timbre but accompanied by severe low end loss. Recommended if you play guitar!
Click to expand...


Very awesome breakdown! Thank you! From your likes/ dislikes, it sounds like you would prefer more of a Superfuzz type of pedal tone than a regular fuzz tone.
 
#76
Ebennetts said:
I got the PPB in the mail today, and I even got to try it out in the mix at a band practice. Some basement playing and recording tomorrow.

I've been GASing hardcore for a TAFM, since I've been dealing with Brian from ss/bs waiting on a new pedal and he couldn't be nicer of a guy.
Click to expand...


You NEED to bust that shoot out, pronto! Even just what you have currently. You can always update it later.
 
#79
Awesome post Eric and Danny! I really liked the BBM, but the lack of an adequate clean blend control really did it in for me. Maybe the PPB will be the one for me? I do have a Tentacle Love Super Fuzz on the way...:hyper:. I'll post my thoughts when it gets here, I hope I'm not disappointed. After prying Eric's Musket out of his hands, I've found that I really like it and it definitely does not get lost in the mix (unless you scoop the mids for that that classic muff tone, then you've gotta compensate with volume) which was surprising to say the least. I definitely can't wait for a clean blend to arrive though. I think its more of the sound that is in my head (that was the case with my GeminiDrive, which will NEVER leave).


P.S. This thread should be stickied.
 
#80
Colin, I'm flattered!
NO way I'm getting stickied though. Not nearly enough effort into it, IMO.
You should definitely keep me in the loop on the TLSF ;)

I keep teetering between the PPB and SC. The SC has a certain bite that I'm trying to replicate with the PPB. It gets CLOSE.
The best way I can describe it, the SC does one tone VERY well, and it's tweakable to your liking. The PPB offers a LOT of very good and usable tones.
 

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