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Fuzz with clean blend, $150 or less. Go!

#23
So, lots of great people on here have given great answers already. Here is my very similar take on it:

You ABSOLUTELY need a clean blend on a fuzz IF the fuzz loses low end.

You ABSOLUTELY DO NOT NEED a clean blend on a Fuzz that retains enough low end.

Now, you need to first figure out what flavour of fuzz you want: Muff, Brassmaster, SuperFuzz, Fuzz Face, etc.

Then, find a good one.

So, cheap, good quality:

-Diabolik for Brassmaster style fuzz
-For Muff: Swollen Pickle, SGFX Imperial, Vick Black Russian, used Stomp Under Foot Civil War
-FF: used TAFM
-SuperFuzz: IdiotBox makes one

Now, a lot of other suggestions in here have been great (@bassmusic17 , @mmbongo , @blindrabbit , @skulletwhip , @yaksonator , @JimmyM ). Again, you need to figure out what kind of fuzz you want and what you are willing to spend.

I ahve to say that I have been very happy with the low end retention on the SGFX Imperial.
 
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#26
dannybuoy said:
But it's very nice to have! I wish more people realised clean blends are useful for adding back dynamics and note definition - they are not just for bringing back lost low end!
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I agree, which is why I have a Wounded Paw Blender v4 on my board ;)

I just wanted to make the point that it is not necessary, if the pedal retains enough lows. Given limited budget, limited board space, limited cables, limited power, limited whatever, sometimes, it's just better or more convenient to go with one pedal that retains enough lows to be useful.

I am not against clean blends at all, I love them. I do have to be honest, though, and say that I prefer a separate clean volume rather than a blend. I like pedals like the Diabolik, Oxide, Woodchipper, etc, that have the ability to adjust clean and effected volumes separately and the ability to bring either volumes beyond unity. I find that more useful than just a blend.
 
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#27
You know, a clean blend is something worth suggesting to the good people at Fuzzrocious for the Grey 'Stache, et al. I'm not sure how significant a project it would be to mod a 'stache thus, but they go pretty deep with the mods already available.

There's benefits to it even for fuzzes that lose no low end (or ones that can BLAST YOUR WHOLE SOUL INTO DOOMSPACE WITH LOW END like the Pickle); a more complex sonic envelope than BTTW (Balls To The Wall) would add flexibility for sure.
 
#28
Team awesome fuzz machine by Smallsound\Bigsound.
You can find a used one for a nice price and it's the best fuzz I've ever had, it's very versatile and god can it scream.

About the blending option: I wouldn't say that it's only to retain the low end, althought that's one of the reasons. It's also useful to get back some note attack and to get a more "focused" sound. Sure if you use too much of it you get the "clean bass with bumblebees" effect :D (I love this definition!) but then that's your fault, not the pedal's ;)

If you've never used a fuzz with blend, I would suggest you start with 0 clean signal, find the distortion tone you like and then deal back some clean signal, slowly. When you feel it's more focused without it sounding like two separate signals, you've reached the spot.
 
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#31
Rattlehead1971 said:
I would say a Electro Harmonix Bass Big Muff Pi. It has a 3 way switch on it and one setting is "Dry" where it mixes your clean signal with 40% of the fuzz/distortion. For $80 new you can look into that as well.
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I've used on for a long time: while I loved the sound, the dry mode has a problem: when you engage it, the Volume knob becomes a Dry\Wet control, which means you don't have a Volume one anymore. I often found myself wanting a bit less clean signal, but that also meant having way too much volume.

If he can find a modded one (with an added volume control) than it's perfect and cheap!
 
#32
Actually with the BBM, dry mode is 100% clean plus whatever fuzz volume you dial in. To get the desired wet/dry ratio, I have to crank the volume to 2 or 3 o'clock and then reign the overall volume back with the master volume pot I added to the pedal. EHX have a history of not giving a fudge about getting the volume right on their pedals.
 
#33
Real Soon said:
You know, a clean blend is something worth suggesting to the good people at Fuzzrocious for the Grey 'Stache, et al. I'm not sure how significant a project it would be to mod a 'stache thus, but they go pretty deep with the mods already available.

There's benefits to it even for fuzzes that lose no low end (or ones that can BLAST YOUR WHOLE SOUL INTO DOOMSPACE WITH LOW END like the Pickle); a more complex sonic envelope than BTTW (Balls To The Wall) would add flexibility for sure.
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The good people at Fuzzrocious have just joined forces with the good folks at Dunlop/MXR and are releasing the MXR Bass Distortion in a couple weeks or so. It's a Rat modded for bass with wet and dry knobs.
 
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#34
If you desire more low end for your fuzz sound, I second the idea of using the Boss LS-2 to mix in ANY fuzz pedal - even those with built-in dry blend IMO will not sound as good/full unless sufficiently wet with distortion. I love my LS-2 and will never part with it, even if it's not on my pedalboard anymore. I'm all about weird glitch modulation these days, but the LS-2 would be perfect for my CoPilot FX Orbit to bring back some traditional bass into the mix.
 
#35
stambroker said:
If you desire more low end for your fuzz sound, I second the idea of using the Boss LS-2 to mix in ANY fuzz pedal - even those with built-in dry blend IMO will not sound as good/full unless sufficiently wet with distortion.
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And that's exactly what I do with them...make sure they're sufficiently wet ;) I really don't want to have another pedal on my board that doesn't do anything fun. I've got 3 already.
 
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#38
CHILDISHGAMBINO said:
There's at least 3 people in the breeders thread that would disagree with you.
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Well it would be boring if we all agreed on everything!

It's got a cool name and a 'more heavy' switch, and I'm an Al Cisneros fan so I really wanted to like it... but it sounded weedy and raspy with no body or weight to the notes, it went straight back. Anyway I doubt it's a good fit for the OP's needs.
 
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#40
CHILDISHGAMBINO said:
dannybuoy said:
Megalith drops lows and is one of the worst fuzzes I've tried.
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There's at least 3 people in the breeders thread that would disagree with you.
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You're right. It's not one of the worst fuzzes he's tried. :woot:


Okay, it's not a Fuzz per se, but it has a blend and its distortion gets pretty close to fuzzy territory... The Elements.

There, I said it. What can I say? I love the Elements. I should stop pushing the Elements just because I like it... doesn't mean everyone is going to like it... The Elements, what's not to like? Don't answer that. I don't want to know.

Get The Elements in the TB GASsifieds for $150, saw one as cheap as $130.
 

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