Harmonic percolator for bass - any opinions/experience?

[moon-bass]

The title sez most of it. I love me some fuzz, and lately I've been hearing about harmonic percolators for bass as a unique type of fuzz - I see a ton of pedals, but they follow pretty much the same basic format.

So before I get too much GAS - does anyone use one. do you like it, pros/cons, brands to try/avoid, etc.

Thanks!

 

[bassbrad]

We are always searching for the pedal that does that thing for our sound and one phrase that catches interest seems too be "harmonic percolators" to punch up or excite our sound. To my ear they are various textures and shades of fuzz that still have fundamental or original characteristics often described as the dreaded "transparent". Currently I am using a Bass Jive for this result for a bit of boost and saturation at the end of my signal chain.

 

[moon-bass]

We are always searching for the pedal that does that thing for our sound and one phrase that catches interest seems too be "harmonic percolators" to punch up or excite our sound. To my ear they are various textures and shades of fuzz that still have fundamental or original characteristics often described as the dreaded "transparent". Currently I am using a Bass Jive for this result for a bit of boost and saturation at the end of my signal chain.

Yeah that's what I'm thinking as well - various flavors of fuzz, and maybe a little boring at that. At this point I have boring fuzz covered, I want weird poopie lol.

And I'm using the Bass Jive for the same thing ... And the Origin DCX.

 

[sunbeast]

I always associate the Harmonic Percolator with Steve Albini's guitar in Shellac- super bright, brash, and thin. I've never heard of using one with bass, and at least to my ears it does seem to be losing significant lows unlike his assertions that it doesn't (he is "retaining lows" by boosting significant output in the clips). That isn't necessarily a deal-killer in a synthy chain though

 

[rockear]

I've got a Theremaniacs / Chuck Collins Harmonic Percolator. This is the video that sold me on trying one. Old video and the quality is a bit garbo but IMHO it conveys what it does pretty well. I'm not a pedal circuit expert but in my mind it's more of a distortion than a fuzz. A very, uh... "harmonic" distortion. Tone is in the eye of the beholder but I wouldn't call it thin.

 

[MrDinsdale]

Really liked the EAE Dude Incredible percolator, lots of bright spluttery fuzz goodness. Heard good things about the Red River Haxafoil but never played with one.

 

[sunbeast]

I've got a Theremaniacs / Chuck Collins Harmonic Percolator. This is the video that sold me on trying one. Old video and the quality is a bit garbo but IMHO it conveys what it does pretty well. I'm not a pedal circuit expert but in my mind it's more of a distortion than a fuzz. A very, uh... "harmonic" distortion. Tone is in the eye of the beholder but I wouldn't call it thin.

That sounds great! I suspect there is a decent amount of bass roll-off happening to keep the fuzz so tight sounding, but there is a beefy enough midrange presence that it wouldn’t necessarily be missed depending on the context. I may have to try a DIY one at some point

 

[rockear]

That sounds great! I suspect there is a decent amount of bass roll-off happening to keep the fuzz so tight sounding, but there is a beefy enough midrange presence that it wouldn’t necessarily be missed depending on the context. I may have to try a DIY one at some point

Yeah it definitely cuts a bit of your low end. I used it the most in a drums / guitar / bass trio where my sound was more low-mids focused anyway. Sort of the classic "I'm gonna kick on some dirt for this melody part" power trio thing. It stacks well with fuzz too IMHO. I used a Devi Ever Bass Fuzz before it.

I think the fact that guy in the vid is playing through a pretty hefty amp probably helps it to stay thick sounding as well. I've also heard Albini say that it reacts differently with solid state and tube amps, and that he always ran a noise gate with a buffer in front of it. Battery vs. power supply definitely changes the sound too. It's not the most predictable pedal ever.

 

[Feral Feline]

Add an LPF blend of just lows to the Perc, that way you don't get the oil-on-water, ie "Fuzz-floating-on-clean", syndrome.


If you're looking for more "unusual" fuzz alternatives, I'll suggest the Prunes & Custard circuit — available from various builders or DIY it yourself.

 

[mrwood4]

I got one two days ago (EHX version). I am always looking for the perfect pedal that keeps "my sound" but adds a little hair in a pleasing way. This pedal's goal is probably not that. Out of the box, experimenting for about 30-40 min, it wasn't doing it for me, and I was going to return it to Sweetwater. Today I remembered about the internal trim pot. The manual says turning the trim pot completely clockwise sounds most like a vintage Percolator. I tried that today, and I am much more pleased with the sound I am getting on both the drive and fuzz sides. It does loose low end, more pronounced on the drive side than the fuzz side. I play through a mesa BD800, so I engaged the deep switch when using the percolator and that helped a lot as a quick fix. It's not going to be my everyday go to for the sound I'm thinking of, but now I do think I'll keep it and enjoy it. All of this was at home, I do have a show Friday, and I will take it with and see how it sounds in a live setting.