As I have said before,the Arion Bass Distortion Effects Pedal MDI-2 lets you blend the distorted signal with the straight signal and leaves all the bass in the mix. Plus it can be had for under $50.00. It is truly a fuzz that can do it all.
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Fuzz with clean blend, $150 or less. Go!
- Thread starter jacoby75
- Start date
I also have a clone. It doesn't cut as good as my Diabolik but I don't think anything would. It's a massive hairy fuzz machine. It's not my fuzz of choice for cutting necessarily but more of becoming the mix and adding a huge fuzzy depth to everything. That's why I have 5 fuzzes on my board. They each serve a purpose.
I have several fuzz/od boxes too, though most of them low cost. Yes, the megalith is great for that - I use it very sparingly and in key points, but when I do it sounds killer. Wish I could use it in full riffs though.
Also wish I had something brassmaster-y, but ordering a build kit has been on my mind for a while. I'm also about to start an harmonic percolator build, so we'll see about that one too.
I am sure adding a clean blend or an EQ would help with it cutting more. I stack mine with an OD so I find that it cuts better with it stacked than soloed. My two fav fuzzes for cutting through the mix are my Diabolik and the Grey Stache. Neither one of them have the amount of girth the Megalith has though. The Baby Thundaa is pretty heavy too but not like the megalith. It has a solid low end but is much more like a higher gain Green Russian. Not to mention the feedback switch can be fun.
I was also thinking of putting a feedback switch in there. I could just run it perpetually in "more heavy" mode and use the second switch for feedback. Or maybe use a momentary switch for it, since they take much less space - a third 3PDT would likely not fit in there.
Vanilla it does stack well with my mastotron and fuzz factory clones.
Nah, I'd want to switch it with my foot. I could make the more heavy switch a toogle, instead! Or use a momentary for the more heavy - wired so that it goes "less heavy" when I push it.
The more heavy on a toggle isn't a bad idea. That would probably be the most useful application.
You're right. It's not one of the worst fuzzes he's tried.
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.
I wasn't trying to say that it wasn't the worst fuzz he tried just the point about it not being bassy. Anyway I realize now after reading this thread again that my suggestions probably weren't that great for the OP's needs I was just trying to think of fuzzes that don't need a blend to be bass heavy a 7 in the morning. I wasn't trying to be a trouble maker or anything. Sorry for any misunderstandings everyone. The written word is not always the easiest way to convey opinions when you're still half-asleep.
Go Easy Dude. I'm sure everyone understood you meant the bassy lows. I was just tryin' to be funny.
My Elements suggestion wasn't the best fit for the OP either.
I've found that most fuzz pedals lose the low end. A clean blend allows you to bring that back.
My amp head has a parallel ss/tube preamp with a blend dial that will allow me to go from full ss(clean) to full tube(dirty) and anything in between. The more I use it the more I like it. If I want just a little dirt on top of a strong fundamental, I dial up the tube drive until it starts to crunch and then I blend in the clean ss bank to get just the right balance that I want. With just the tube(12AX7) stage, the onset of harmonic distortion is a little abrupt and it tends to mask the fundamental excessively. At low drive levels on the tube it sounds fine by itself. For me it's all about having the widest possible tonal palette possible, for freedom to emulate what I like and flexibility to experiment on as wide a range as possible. In my opinion it is a good thing to have that blend capability. It's not going to cost you that much more money and it could possibility give you options you might like and would not have had with just fuzz/OD alone. If you prefer just having the fuzz with adjustment only on the amp stage's gain, then you can minimize the clean stage's contribution.
I guess that's why I've understood the need for a clean blend, as all the Fuzz's I like do not lose bottom end, and in fact ADD bottom end in most cases. Stomp Under Foot, Wren & Cuff, Musket, Colossus, Bumble....all have huge low end and do not lose dynamics.
They all lose dynamics, that's what fuzzes do when they chop off the peaks and troughs of the waveforms. You can particularly feel it when playing pulsing 16th notes fingerstyle, varying the note attack as you go. I find that a tiny amount of clean put back in adds back the almost imperceptible thump to the very start of each note.
Think of a fuzz without a blend being similar to a compressor set with a high ratio and very short attack time. The low end will still be there, but the thumpy attack is lost. Even some compressors have a clean blend to work around the very same problem.
I like how a fuzz recommendation thread has sparked a clean blend debate!
Think of a fuzz without a blend being similar to a compressor set with a high ratio and very short attack time. The low end will still be there, but the thumpy attack is lost. Even some compressors have a clean blend to work around the very same problem.
I like how a fuzz recommendation thread has sparked a clean blend debate!
They all lose dynamics, that's what fuzzes do when they chop off the peaks and troughs of the waveforms. You can particularly feel it when playing pulsing 16th notes fingerstyle, varying the note attack as you go. I find that a tiny amount of clean put back in adds back the almost imperceptible thump to the very start of each note.
Think of a fuzz without a blend being similar to a compressor set with a high ratio and very short attack time. The low end will still be there, but the thumpy attack is lost. Even some compressors have a clean blend to work around the very same problem.
I like how a fuzz recommendation thread has sparked a clean blend debate!
It's Talkbass man!
Do I think a clean blend is needed? No. Especially for fuzz. Is a clean blend a useful tool? Hell yeah it is! Personally I like the saturation of the fuzz and what it does to dynamics. It makes it heavier. If some like a clean blend. Go for it! I am all for a clean blend for other things but typically I don't like how it sounds with fuzz. If others do who cares! Whatever works for you in your setup is all that matters! Blend it. Don't blend it. Do whatcha want!
+1
Well-made little bugger that offers a lot good tones, due to that dry/wet/tone/fuzz knob set-up.
- Mar 11, 2010
- 5,661
- 10,716
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Mike Lull Custom Guitars, DR Strings
Thanks for all the great advice guys. Sorry I'm a bit vague, but despite playing for 30+ years I've never owned a fuzz before, so I guess I don't necessarily know exactly what I want. I guess if I had to say I'd like something "muff-ish." Something warmer, organic sounding. Not harsh and digital. Does that mean germanium as opposed to silicon, or do I have that backwards? The only time I've ever even used fuzz in the past was when I was recording an album and the producer ran the bass through an old Big Muff for one track, but it was one of many bass tracks that were layered. I've never had one on my own. I'm just basing things off of what I've heard/read online thus far.
As for the clean blend, I should say that it's not just about losing low end. Even in my brief time of researching things online I have found that several pedals, even some not designed for bass, retain plenty of low end oomph and girth. To me it's more about liking the sound of a bi-amped system, or the sound of fuzz that is run in a loop, without having to have two amps or a loop (actually, I am currently playing at church with an ampless rig using in-ear monitors. While I could send two signals to the house, it's not real practical. The sound guys would have a meltdown trying to figure out how to blend two bass channels). I like having the attack, growl, definition of having the clean blend with the fuzz on top. But yes, it can sound like bees in a hurry. I have an MXR M80 that I use for distortion. The gain and blend are both set around 9:00. Anything beyond that sounds like you're being swarmed.
As for the clean blend, I should say that it's not just about losing low end. Even in my brief time of researching things online I have found that several pedals, even some not designed for bass, retain plenty of low end oomph and girth. To me it's more about liking the sound of a bi-amped system, or the sound of fuzz that is run in a loop, without having to have two amps or a loop (actually, I am currently playing at church with an ampless rig using in-ear monitors. While I could send two signals to the house, it's not real practical. The sound guys would have a meltdown trying to figure out how to blend two bass channels). I like having the attack, growl, definition of having the clean blend with the fuzz on top. But yes, it can sound like bees in a hurry. I have an MXR M80 that I use for distortion. The gain and blend are both set around 9:00. Anything beyond that sounds like you're being swarmed.
