Let's Get Down To Fuzziness

[Bazmono]

Right, I've lined up a couple of Fuzzes & I'd appreciate your thoughts, experiences & if you have any other additions, that would be great.
So basically, I'm looking for the closest to a Musey sound (I know he uses Russian Muffs, but they're mad hard to come by in Ireland, even on eBay) so real filthy fuzz with plenty of low end:

El Grande Fuzz

Blow Torch

Swollen Pickle MKII
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Pork Pie (I know this is an Overdrive, but any ideas?)

Turbo Rat

Boss Fuzz

If it makes much of a difference, I use an ACTIVE Fender Jazz, I know some pedals may be different on active basses or whatever. Cheers

 

[JamesHommersen]

I use the Rat before an EQ to add a bit more grit to my tone. Chris uses a Human Gear Animato, but those are mad hard to find. I have one, but it only really works well if you've got a clean tone running in the background. The Green Sovteks are not that hard to find. There's a bunch on ebay and one here in the classifides:
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=668103

Or e-mail Ryan at Fuzzrocious pedals. He's got two Grey Staches left, as far as I know, and they're one badass pedal with a wide range of capabilities. I also like the Colorsound Tonebender Fuzz and Foxx Tone Machine, but that's just me.

 

[Deluge Of Sound]

Just so you know, the Swollen Pickle is based on the Big Muff circuit.

 

[sillyfabe]

Just so you know, the Swollen Pickle is based on the Big Muff circuit.

+1 it works good for getting that mean fuzz sound

 

[s_mcsleazy]

http://www.madebymike.co.uk/greenmuff.shtml

 

[Bazmono]

Just so you know, the Swollen Pickle is based on the Big Muff circuit.

So is there much difference between that & say a Bass Big Muff? I had a USA Muff, but that couldn't take my use & abuse

 

[TheMutt]

IME it was more buzzy/fizzy than deep and woolly. Not what you're looking for, and the 18v power requirements were annoying at best.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

I've never used one, but it is based off of the Big Muff of the same color, or so I hear.

You may also want to look into the Z.Vex Woolly Mammoth, or a clone thereof (much cheaper option IMO).

 

[Bazmono]

Wooly Mammoth's are pretty much the most expensive bass pedal on the site I get all my gear, I'd love to get one if I had that much money

 

[RickenBoogie]

ZVex Mastotron is pretty good fuzz, and alot less money than the Wooly Mammoth. I realize it's also not the same thing, but it does do a good range of fuzz tones, and has plenty of bottom.

 

[Bazmono]

ZVex Mastotron is pretty good fuzz, and alot less money than the Wooly Mammoth. I realize it's also not the same thing, but it does do a good range of fuzz tones, and has plenty of bottom.

Hmm, seems like a fairly mad pedal, which I'd expect from Zvex. Watching a video on youtube & the guy actually says it's a bass heavy pedal. Have you got one/ tried one?

 

[Blissful_Bass]

I've used a Hughes & Kettner tube factor distortion with success. I liked it.

 

[change-jug]

I bought a Mastotron from a nice dude here at TB. It has a ton(and I mean a ton) of bass. There`s this little toggle switch that goes from 1 to 3. 1 is normal( like if you were using a guitar),2 adds back any low end that you might have lost while getting the fuzz sound you wanted and the 3rd setting pretty much emulates those sporty import cars you hear with the stereo system that`s worth more than the car. It really adds some lows! It might even be too much depending on what you need. And the fuzz tones you can get are pretty varied,ranging from a muffy fuzz all the way to a more gated sputtery fuzz. And there`s a knob that helps keep your setting the same when you switch between a passive or active bass.
I hope that helps you!

 

[Bazmono]

Awesome, cheers man. I'll definitely check that out

 

[Deluge Of Sound]

So is there much difference between that & say a Bass Big Muff? I had a USA Muff, but that couldn't take my use & abuse

There's a huge difference between the Swollen Pickle and the Bass Big Muff, but that's because the BBM circuit is pretty far removed from a standard Big Muff.

The Pickle will be much closer to the USA muff than the Bass Big Muff.

 

[Wud]

Wow, how have we got this far without the inevitable Musket or Supercollider suggestions?
I do really rather like the Pork Loin, but as you say,a Fuzz it isn't!
I've got a Swollen Pickle, but I've not really gotten on with it as of yet... (yes I've fiddled with the internal trim pots).
I'm not a fan of the two MXR's listed.
No first hand experience with the Boss.
The Rat might give you the nasty sound, but not with the low end if what I've read is correct, but I might have to investigate Rat pedals myself though!
I do appreciate some of the sounds you can get with the EH BBM, but I must admit it's not that huge compared to other fuzz's!
For that reason I have an Earthbound Audio Beast on order

 

[warwick.hoy]

Wow, how have we got this far without the inevitable Musket or Supercollider suggestions?
I do really rather like the Pork Loin, but as you say,a Fuzz it isn't!
I've got a Swollen Pickle, but I've not really gotten on with it as of yet... (yes I've fiddled with the internal trim pots).
I'm not a fan of the two MXR's listed.
No first hand experience with the Boss.
The Rat might give you the nasty sound, but not with the low end if what I've read is correct, but I might have to investigate Rat pedals myself though!
I do appreciate some of the sounds you can get with the EH BBM, but I must admit it's not that huge compared to other fuzz's!
For that reason I have an Earthbound Audio Beast on order

I'd recommend a Supercollider,...if you can get one but I have a feeling people are going to be hanging onto them. I also don't think it really nails the Muse sound.

I've never tried the Boss but I have a feeling that Fuzz is not Roland's bread and butter.

I really really like the OLC Chunky Cheese/Lovetone Big Cheese but a little caveat,...they only really work on bass with a blend (especially for a Muse sound you almost want a dry blend no matter what fuzz you are using).

Here is a shameless plug of the Vid I made for it attempting to show how much better the OLC CC works in a blend loop.

http://www.youtube.com/user/divehater#p/a/u/2/pKr7PsoanhM

Did you check out any of the Dwarfcraft Devices fuzzes? Some of them are off the charts crazy but the Hair of the Dog may be worth a shot not so much for a Muse sound but just for a good fuzz.

Doesn't Chris W also use a Woolly Mammoth?

Is the RAT really a Fuzz? I thought it was just a Disto.

 

[Wud]

Ah,

Yes,

Muse.

I forgot about that aspect of the OP's question.

I must admit they aren't really my cup of tea (so to speak).
Not meaning to self induce flaming, and I'm not trolling when I say that I fail to understand why the obsession with Mr Wolstenholme.
But that's just me and my opinion.
He's obviously done a lot more in his musical life that I have!!!

As warwick.hoy also points out, the ole Rat isn't a Fuzz at all.

 

[WalterVega]

I'll soon buy this beast: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed], and I think that with the Blend knob, you can easily have a "Muse-sound"

 

[shinobi]

i'll vote for the zvex mastotron. tons of bass, and the 'noise gate' like (similar to the woolly mammoth's 'wool' knob) control really helps for getting the muse tone. AND it's active-friendly, with respect to the OP's needs. the impedance control can actually be used to manipulate tone as well.

other fuzzes that i've used to be 'mused' include the arger capricorn+, a handbuilt pedal from holland that i REALLY liked. has an 'active sim', a knob that is similar to the mammoth's 'wool' knob, and a mosfet boost blend.

there's even a clip of 'hysteria' being played at the end of the demo, which is probably the definition of "muse tone".

i've gotten rid of them all and now i'm waiting for my source audio soundblox pro bass distortion to arrive

 

[takfar]

yea, I use a mastotron plus a muff, sometimes by themselves, sometimes mastotron into muff (heh. that sounded dirty) to get a good range of muse-ish tones.