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Just bought some new effects, need advice

A

abu treysh

Apr 29, 2012
18
0
#1
Hey everybody, I'm a semi-longtime lurker on these boards and I have decided to finally take the plunge and get down with y'all :)

I wanted to ask you all for some advice regarding a bunch of pedals I have purchased for myself on my birthday :D

I got the Aguilar Tonehammer pedal, Electro Harmonix mini-POG, and the Source Audio Bass Envelope pro.

I will be using these in tandem with my 1971 Rickenbacker 4001 Bass and Ernie Ball Musicman Stingray 4-string, primarily for recording purposes (I play funk and hip hop primarily).

Was wondering how to set up the order of my signal chain with these pedals, as the POG and BEF have me slightly confused due to their watery nature... I suppose the Tone Hammer has to come first as a given.

Thank you all so much in advance.

PEACE!
 
#2
The Tonehammer can go anywhere you want to put it. If you were to follow manufactures instructions on pedal placement then everything goes first. If I had the pedals in you setup I would go POG>Tonehammer>BEF. You could put the Tonehammer last but I don't like the sound of dirt after filters, maybe you do though. You can't hurt/break anything by experimenting. Have fun.
 
#3
tone hammer is just tone control not much different than what is on the amp. I thought it was a DI so if your are using it as a DI and you want it at the end of the chain. so all the effects would be heard on the main PA.

otherwise as a pre tone control to the tone control on your amp.
you can use it any where to cut or boost frequencys lost by other effects. So if you use a envelope or distortion or any effect that you loss response . just boost it by putting it after the effect that you need to boost or cut.

otherwise the envelope is just a triggered filter. so place it after whatever you want to be filtered. you can put it anywhere. before the pog you would have clean filtered bass going into it
the octave. or after the octave you have octave being filtered.

I wanna say usually octave effects sound better before distortion. and filters sound better after distortion.
no rules really. some make more sense. or some combinations get messy. like a ton of delay before distortion.
but some instances like a wah or envelope sound better before distortion.

likewise good filter effects make sense after octave. so you can set the sweep or filter to work with whatever frequency is coming in. if it is a octave up the "sweet" spot of the filter is going to obviously be higher. and likewise if it was octave down.

so maybe try octave> envelope> tone control
and get familar with the octave/envelope reversed to see what the differences are and what you like.
that is the order of the signal chain. not how they arraged from right to left on the actual ground or pedal board.
 
#4
I would go POG > BEF > TH
But I would also add a MWBD Pro (or other fuzz) between the POG and BEF because filters are much better with a fuzzed signal IMO. The MWBD will give you EQ and a vast array of sounds that would be great for your styles of music.
In that setup the TH would be for adding some finishing polish to the sound and for DI.
 
#6
Thanks everybody, any more advice from other forum members will be much appreciated as well.

Roger on the fuzz, besides the MWBD Pro, which ones would you all recommend?

Also, I am thinking of adding a compressor and EQ pedal to the chain. Is that a good idea? If so, any recommendations?

Thanks again!
 
#7
The Multi-Wave Bass Distortion pedal isn't fuzz, it's distortion. It is a pedal that people love or hate. I am in the hate catergory, I had one and didn't jive with it. I do like the BEF Pro from SA though...a lot.
Anyways, Fuzz. I will list a few and there are tons more that are great as well. Pure verstility smallsound/bigsound Team Awesome! Fuzz Machine (ss/bs TAFM around here) with a gate switch. It can be pretty smooth, it can get big and angry, the gated switch helps it get synthy when used with an octaver and filter (oct>TAFM>filter). It has a clean blend, and mids control so you don't get lost in the mix.
Iron Ether Oxide is another pretty versatile fuzz. It has 2 sides (2 sounds essentially). It can have a gated sound it, it can be a more "classic' sound. Not quite as versatile as the TAFM and it may be a little angrier sounding.

Other Brand names to maybe check out: Fuzzrocious, Wren and Cuff, MountainKing Electronics (my fave)..and there are a ton more. MXR has a new fuzz that seems cool, you could probably try one out at a Guitar Center.

Of course, the classifieds here are a great source for used pedals.
 
#8
Thanks a lot for the recommendations. I checked out MountainKing, his array of fuzz types honestly got me intimidated (in a very good way), which one is your favorite?

And since we're on the topic of fuzz: what's your opinion of the ZVEX Woolly Mammoth?
 
#9
If you're interested in trying out a fuzz pedal I would strongly suggest a Way Huge Swollen Pickle. You can find them at Guitar Center so that you can try it out in person, and they can be found used for $100 or less quite frequently. Plus it sounds really good and is versatile. Or you can spend $200 or more for a "boutique" fuzz which is what most people in here are going to suggest to you.

The Woolly Mammoth is a cool sounding fuzz, but way overpriced in my opinion. Check out ilovefuzz.com (or the classifieds here very occasionally) and you can probably find a clone way cheaper. I bought one from ILF (a guy on there builds clones of quite a few pedals...his user name escapes me at the moment) and it sounds identical to the Zvex version.
 
#11
abu treysh said:
Thanks a lot for the recommendations. I checked out MountainKing, his array of fuzz types honestly got me intimidated (in a very good way), which one is your favorite?

And since we're on the topic of fuzz: what's your opinion of the ZVEX Woolly Mammoth?
Click to expand...

May I suggest a Wren and Cuff Tall Font Russian.

BEAST of a tone! In my opinion, its a very heavy distoriton/boarderline fuzz-muff. Very nice.

I would have kept mine but it proved to be too much for any use in my band setting..
Still my favorite muff so far!
 
#12
AmpedSilence said:
May I suggest a Wren and Cuff Tall Font Russian.

BEAST of a tone! In my opinion, its a very heavy distoriton/boarderline fuzz-muff. Very nice.

I would have kept mine but it proved to be too much for any use in my band setting..
Still my favorite muff so far!
Click to expand...

I'll second that....absolutely love the W&C Tall Font Russian!
 
#14
abu, are you going to be using the BEF full-time? cos some fuzzes work better than others with that.

But for fuzz for fuzzes sake, a big +1 on the TFR. That thing will melt the balls of a brass monkey at 100 paces. Also have a lot of time for the TAFM, Oxide and Pickle Pie B.

The Oxide is probably the best suited for funk and hiphop, of the ones I've played.

I had the MWBDBEFpro setup but it was too digital sounding for me. The MWBD didn't appeal to me as a stand alone pedal, but it suits the BEF really well. But the sound wasn't fat enough for me. If I was making electronic or wacky bass music it would have been great but as soon as I got an Oxide and Xerograph Deluxe, I put them up for sale didn't touch them. That Oxide Xero combo is so riduculously thick and funky it stains my tweeds.
 
#16
abu treysh said:
And since we're on the topic of fuzz: what's your opinion of the ZVEX Woolly Mammoth?
Click to expand...

Well, it is a very synthy sounding fuzz, can be smooth or gated. I like it, but it is not renowned for playing well with active basses (your stingray) or heavily buffered bypasses (many boss type bypasses in a row), so you may want to check out the Mastrotron or clones of that. It has a "relax" switch that makes it play better with an active bass. However, the WM and mastrotron aren't really very versatile, they do 1 sound excellently, but you will always have the same basic sound. Also, they have a very compressed sound especially with the pinch (gate) turned up, you may like this, some may not.

But if you are at all handy with a soldering iron then DIY. The circuit is dead simple to make and the Mastrotron can be made by putting a switch with a 100K resistor on the input. The circuit is easy to make and would cost you about 1/10th of the cost of a new one.
 
#17
Thanks a megaton for all your thoughtful contributions to my wonderful "problem", I really appreciate it.

I checked out samples of the W&C TFR and I really liked the tone. I want to go out and try it, as I think I saw it in a bunch of local stores here in NYC. I think it's at the top of my list now.

I suppose I will have to try out the Oxide in person, since I was unable to find something too enticing demonstrating its tone online. But will definitely seek it out.

The new MXR pedal seems pretty good as well, but is it worth the price tag? It costs almost as much as a "boutique" pedal :p

Thanks also for the words of caution regarding compatibility with the BEF and active circuitry of the Stingray. I think the BEF will be an important component to developing my sound, so other pedals need to probably play nice with it. Although I was apprehensive of its digital nature at first but its preservation of the low end coupled with its versatility made me throw wads of moneys in Source Audio's general direction. I don't want an even more digital sound, so I suppose I will avoid the MWBD.

DeltaPhoenix, those pedals look killer, would love to test drive them. After you pointed me in their direction, however,I am more interested in their P.O. Box. Have you ever tried it?

Also, I have seen this awkwardly named pedal, the B.ASSMASTER fuzz, it seems to have a nice fuzz tone to it from what I saw online. Anyone used it? If so, what are your thoughts?

Finally, any particular compression and EQ pedals worth adding to my arsenal? Unhumble opinions most welcome :D

Much love everybody, and pardon the endless querying...
 
#18
Compression:
If you want a GOOD inexpensive pedal - DOD Milk Box
A better, very Transparent in tone/color comp - MXR Bass Compressor M87
I have experience with both and really like them!

I have in my sights right no a 3leaf PWNZR, I've heard some demos and it sounds really good to me. adds a nice bit of color to the tone but doesn't completely change it :)

as far as EQ, I had a Boss GEB-7 for a very short while, and although it is a great EQ pedal, I decided pedalboard space was more important at the time so I do all my EQ at the amp and preamp pedal I use.
 
#19
I use an MXR Bass Compressor. Its the only compressor I've tried and I love what it does for my tone. After using it for several months I thought that perhaps it wasn't doing much for me so I took it off my board and the difference in my tone was immediately noticeable....everything just sounds so much better with it. But this is a personal thing and ymmv.

I have a Tone Hammer as well and I use it last in my chain for overall tone shaping so a separate EQ pedal is redundant for me as I am able to dial in exactly what I want with the Tone Hammer. Again though, ymmv.
 

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