Malekko Diabolik - loudest pedal ever?!

[Philip Mackenzie]

Agreed, it DOES sound good. But I was glad to see that I'm not the only person out there having to keep all the knobs at around 9 o'clock. I'm fairly new to the multiple-pedal game; I was afraid I was doing something wrong.

 

[dannybuoy]

I love the sound, but the volume taper is just badly designed, no way around it. Because the knob is so sensitive, you can't just set the knob to say 08:30 and be done with it - just tiny amount of travel in either way makes a big difference to the volume output. Anything from 9 o'clock onwards is so loud it's unusable, so most of the knob travel is wasted.

Still, it's not a reason to ditch the pedal, I'm just surprised I'd not heard people complain about it like we used to hear constantly with the original VT Bass - at least that pedal had a reason behind it so that it could be used always on to drive a power amp. I don't think there are too many people using their Diaboliks as an always on preamp though!

Also, again about the low end. The fuzz signal itself has hardly any low end, all the lows are coming from the clean blend. It is capable of massive lows in the same way that plugging my bass straight into my amp has loads of low end. The pedal does not boost the bass frequencies in any way.

 

[chaosmic]

I don't own a Diabolik but own/have owned a B:Assmaster, Oxide, Depth Charge, etc. which are all based on the Brassmaster circuit. IMO, all of these pedals react this way in regards to fuzz volume which leads me to believe this is inherent to the Brassmaster circuit.

 

[dannybuoy]

It's pretty simple to fix by adjusting resistor values though, nothing special about the circuit that means they have to be that way.

 

[bassmusic17]

I have mine dialed in just fine. I don't mind the extra headroom. It's my go to fuzz when I really wanna rip through the mix.

 

[vegas532]

I have actually used the fuzz sound by itself for certain special effects. The inherent tone of it creates a cool ripped speaker sound.

 

[Driven Crane]

MXR El Grande is the loudest fuzz.

 

[rizzo9247]

I have both the fuzz and clean volume around 9-10 o'clock and squish set pretty high, maybe 2 o'clock with an active bass. Even with these settings, I pull my bass volume down maybe a quarter of a turn to lower the overall level as it does get loud! I love it!

 

[Lebowsky]

Since I was gone a few months, I'll answer to the October posts...

I think the volume thing might be dependent on your bass and pickups (active/passive, etc...), or even what other buffers you might have in front of it.

I also had trouble dialing in a tone at first with my Ripper, but vegas and Paul Barker helped me here's Paul's take on this if you're interested:

Ripper- awesome!
The Fuzz is volume only, although it will affect everything after it if the gain is above unity. And different amps react differently to the fuzz output. I can't really get it past 10 o'clock without ridiculous amounts of volume, unless I'm running into something which absorbs the level…
The Squish is a saturation setting. At a low setting you have fast attack and snappy fuzz, and maxed out you get full sludgy compression with a slow swelling attack and harmonic-rich fuzz. For maximum low end you need to have the dry signal blended in. Try setting your low end with the fuzz off and the clean on, then bring in the fuzz to taste.
As for the wobble in pitch when you rock a low E and let it ring, that is a natural occurrence when you really pluck the string hard. If you try playing the low E fairly softly, there shouldn't be any pitch change.
I have no idea if the guys in the video (the Pedals and Effects vid, I assume) have sweetened the sound after recording, although it doesn't sound like there is unachievable amounts of low end…
OK, I don't know about you, but I always set my amp's bass knob to max and go from there. I use Ampeg, Traynor and Sunn heads. If you've never tried that, you might be surprised. Also, I haven't played a Ripper in about 30 years, so I don't know what will happen…
I hope I've answered your questions. Have fun with that pedal!

 

[CHILDISHGAMBINO]

My Gnomeratron is ridiculously loud. I have not tried the Diabolik but it seems like maybe they use the same taper in the pots. I can't turn the fuzz volume up past 7 o'clockish on most settings. I keep it in a loop of my LS-2 to make it easier to dial in.

 

[MattStonewall]

Well, there's always a point to everything. In the case of the Malekko Diabolik it is true that it's insanely loud, but it sits well in a mix. I'm totally not understanding Lethgar saying it sounded thin live. There is MASSIVE lows in that pedal! The Diabolik is the only pedal that I've broken my "move it if you don't use it rule." I still mainly use my Silicon B:Assmaster due to its versatility, but that Diabolik isn't going anywhere! This was that little loop I did:

I've thought about trying out the B:assmaster as well. What kind of sound difference is there between the Silicon and Germanium? I think the Diabolik sounds great and cuts through the mix. I play with a lot of low's dialed in anyways so maybe that's why it doesn't sound "thin" to me.

 

[bassmusic17]

I like the silicon ones better. Just sounds right.

 

[vegas532]

The Silicon and Germaniums are totally different animals. The Germanium is less gritty and over the top, but is has a really unique character to it. They can be a bit finicky, however. If you dig the Diabolik, go with the Silicon. Those are the buzzsaws of the gods. lol

 

[heatoise]

I got my red LED silicon B:Assmaster about a week ago. When I started using it during band practices, i immediately noticed how overwhelmingly loud it was (I had everything set to noon like a fool) and had to back off from there. Im looking forward to using it more in practices where I can really dime it to a band setting before using it live, because I LOVE its industrial, over the top instant-ministry bass tone sound. Although, it is fun to watch the looks of terror on our guitarists faces when I throw it on. I think I just need to mess with it more.

 

[Alien8]

Try using the boost properties to layer a od/dist/fuzz behind it. The buzz saw cuts through, and the clean gets treated like it usually would. Makes for some really great gnarly sputtery tones.

 

[ole Jason]

One thing to remember is that overly loud pedals can work really well with tube amps. You can get the power tubes cooking and send a super hot signal in to melt faces. Doesn't really work the same with solid state amps.

 

[eveilleu]

Just got one of these yesterday and it's the loudest pedal I've ever used! I have to keep the fuzz volume around 8 o'clock, even at 9 o'clock it's stupid loud, which makes it quite tricky to dial in.

I had something similar with a Stomp Under Foot civil War. The volume knob on it was essentially an on/off switch for me and I set it at about 8-9. Then @nshuman suggested a blender. I got the small one from wounded paw, it has a blend AND a volume. I love my fuzz now!!

Eric

 

[MilkyMcMilkMilk]

It's the loudest pedal I own or have owned. Sometimes I feel I'm probably missing out on some cool sounds that I'll never get
because I can only move the fuzz knob the tiniest bit before faaarrr exceeding unity.
But I do like it a lot and it's one of few pedals that I tell myself I will never sell.

 

[jwr]

If you think that's the loudest pedal ever, then steer clear of the Black Arts Toneworks Destoryer (literally blew my cab), and the Ohnoho Blowing Up. These things are ear piercing loud.

 

[ole Jason]

If you think that's the loudest pedal ever, then steer clear of the Black Arts Toneworks Destoryer (literally blew my cab), and the Ohnoho Blowing Up. These things are ear piercing loud.

The Destroyer is made with tube amps in mind from what I recall