Another great option is the Civil War or Russian Big Muff. They're available at every price point: EHX version for $109, Fuzzrocious Grey Stache for $145, Wren and Cuff Tall Font Russian for $199 or JAM Red Muck Bass at $239.
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good distortion/fuzz to add to Octaver for sorta synthy stuff?
- Thread starter richntiff
- Start date
It's a quality piece of equipment for sure. And like you, I do have a soft spot for dedicated pedals. Although for synth sounds I did recently buy a C4 pedal.
Don't even bother to look for one of these beasties, I have several Electronix pedals that mysteriously have stopped functioning and I cannot get anyone to even consider taking the time to try to fix them. I have access to several highly competent techs and none will even touch them.
FWIW Spectrum can get more usable sounds as can Aftershock and other SA offerings
Not really. You can download presets for it, there are a lot of those, and you'll be ready to go.
Of course you can tweak the presets a bit to shape them to your liking. And by doing so you won't be starting from scratch and be overwhelmed.
EAE Eldritch Blast and RML Electron Fuzz are both capable of some lovely gleent gank. Which of course results in synthy goodness.
I just bought and received the IRIN TALENT OCTAVE Pedal(Blue), w -1, -2, and a +1 that is a FUZZ effect exclusively. The 2 lower are clean. It's great. $17 on Ali Express. Yer gonna love it! Just do it. I'm a cheap guy, and have Behringer pedals on my board. The last 2 in the chain are a (B=Behringer)B Limiter/Enhancer into the B-BDI21 Pre-Amp pedal. Everything else is behind those. >Tuner> B-Compressor Sustainer> IBANEZ Auto Wah> IRIN Talent Octave/Fuzz> B-Ultra Chorus> IRIN Flanger> B-Limiter Enhancer> B-BDI21 Pre-Amp.
rsmith601
Commercial User
- Apr 14, 2009
- 4,461
- 8,356
- Disclosures
- CEO and Co-Founder, Source Audio
It's only time consuming if you want it to be. The deep dive is optional. Agree that Spectrum is better for your needs.
I played around a lot after being inspired by the Ian Martin Allison videos someone shared earlier in this thread. I currently run a synthy tone I really like using the OC-5, EHX Big Muff (Fuzz), and Bass Clone (Chorus), all of which are great pedals that don't break the bank.
Of course using a synth pedal like Boss SY-200 or something like HX Stomp with a ton of options may be easier, but it was honestly more fun and fulfilling to play around with multiple pedals and lock in a sound that made my band go "woah!"
Of course using a synth pedal like Boss SY-200 or something like HX Stomp with a ton of options may be easier, but it was honestly more fun and fulfilling to play around with multiple pedals and lock in a sound that made my band go "woah!"
- Jun 5, 2008
- 216
- 65
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Spector, Godlyke, Hartke, Hipshot, & AMT Electronics
I've played that song and used the Pigtronix Bass Fat Drive (you can get these cheap) with my Octavbre and chorus and it nailed it. The Fat drive sounds really good with an octave. Here's a video I did a while back with it at the 2:37 mark.
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I was chasing the synth sound on my bass for a while. I have a Spectrum along with a Darkglass B7K Ultra plus a few other pedals.
The Spectrum is a serious piece of gear but I was never able to really get my head around the interface (I’m a bit of a Luddite) and had difficulty finding the sounds I wanted on their forums. I wasn’t able to modify the sounds I did find to get what I wanted from them. Add the difficulty of switching from one sound to another in the middle of a song… mine is going up for sale soon.
I decided to look at the HX Stomp or HX Effects. The Effects can use any preset from the Stomp as long as it does not include amp, cab, or preamp blocks. I’ve found a lot of great outdoing synth presets that do not include those blocks. I went with the Effects. It is less expensive, especially on the used market, and has a friendlier interface than the Stomp IMHO. For the things it does, it sounds exactly the same and it uses the same software. The Stomp has the ability of using amp, cab, or preamp blocks plus has a digital interface and headphone out that the Effects does not.
The Spectrum is a serious piece of gear but I was never able to really get my head around the interface (I’m a bit of a Luddite) and had difficulty finding the sounds I wanted on their forums. I wasn’t able to modify the sounds I did find to get what I wanted from them. Add the difficulty of switching from one sound to another in the middle of a song… mine is going up for sale soon.
I decided to look at the HX Stomp or HX Effects. The Effects can use any preset from the Stomp as long as it does not include amp, cab, or preamp blocks. I’ve found a lot of great outdoing synth presets that do not include those blocks. I went with the Effects. It is less expensive, especially on the used market, and has a friendlier interface than the Stomp IMHO. For the things it does, it sounds exactly the same and it uses the same software. The Stomp has the ability of using amp, cab, or preamp blocks plus has a digital interface and headphone out that the Effects does not.
Very surprised to read such negative words from you regarding Electronix after you spent years championing their pedals on this forum. I even bought a Submarine, inspired in part by your gleaming words of praise and how exceptionally useful it was... I had to look back to doublecheck and make sure I wasn't misremembering that it was you who wrote those posts about being a constant and happy user of their pedals. I thought it was an excellent endorsement for you to make back then! Sorry to hear that your opinion of them has taken such a drastic turn.
In any case, all I can go by is my own experience and I've found their pedals to be of superb quality and all-around rock solid, as many others have expressed in their reviews. The Messdrive is the only bass fuzz I've ever been really happy with. This one I have now, after foolishly selling my first one some years back, looks like it's been through hell, then dragged up through the bottom of the Bayou before finding it's way to me, and it still works perfectly and sounds great with any bass I've played through it. None of their pedals I owned over the years have failed me. The knobs glide and function smoothly, foot switch and jacks are of highest quality, etc. I don't use pedals much anymore, but when I want some fuzz in my signal, I'm stoked to have this one.
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Since you say you are "not a big effects guy," @richntiff, I'd stay away from the Source Audio C4 (great product, but it's not for a casual effects user). Any fuzz after an octaver will get you in the ballpark, but some pedals I find work well for synthy tones:
Two additional notes:
- Iron Ether Subterranea (no need for an octaver in this case)
- 3 Leaf Audio Doom 2 (yes, I know it's been mentioned and discussed already, but it's such a good option it's worth mentioning again--see below for an audio sample)
- Broughton Audio Sentinel
- Smallsound/Bigsound Team Awesome Fuzz Machine
- Any Brassmaster fuzz variant: Iron Ether Oxide, Broughton Audio Maestro, etc.
Two additional notes:
- If you want a more industrial synth sound, then a bit crusher/sample rate reducer after an octaver makes for a fantastic synth sound.
- A filter after the fuzz really helps bring out the synth. The Iron Ether Xerograph Deluxe is the best pedal for this, but any envelope filter will work.
Os burned a lot of bridges and good will with his broken promises at the end. It is true that I was a supporter of his venture but his broken deals and boxes changed my opinion.
A DOD Carcosa fuzz can also offer you a lot of drive range. Very useful fuzz which also has a gated fuzz sound as well with the Bias control.
It's not very expensive either.
It's not very expensive either.
One of the reasons I'm a big fan of the SA Aftershock is that I can take any distortion engine and add a gate to it. So i'm not limited to one sound per dirt pedal. With the Aftershock, I can have a gated RAT, a gated high gain Muff (which sound more synthy to my ears) or a gated single transistor type of fuzz. The problem with a lot of analogue gated fuzzes, is that they are one trick horses. You can literally have a pedal board full of all these different dirt pedals, but hardly use them because they are very context specific. This is why a SA Aftershock is SO useful. Once purchased...there's no more investment and it's a small pedal real estate for a literal world of dirt exploration.
The SA Spectrum & C4 have a few great internal dirts available. A simple Overdrive, Muff type OD/Fuzz and a simple gated fuzz,
