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MXR Bass Fuzz Deluxe---I'm digging it

#21
JimmyM - your post inspired me to get my BFD (first dirt pedal I bought) out of the box and plug it in. I'd like to know what settings you like.

I'm playing an Aerodyne (swapped out the original J pickup for a Super 55) with nylon flats and play with fingers. I ended up with dry around 11, wet around 9:30, tone at 3 and fuzz at 10.
 
#22
PJFlatts said:
JimmyM - your post inspired me to get my BFD (first dirt pedal I bought) out of the box and plug it in. I'd like to know what settings you like.

I'm playing an Aerodyne (swapped out the original J pickup for a Super 55) with nylon flats and play with fingers. I ended up with dry around 11, wet around 9:30, tone at 3 and fuzz at 10.
Click to expand...
Still not settled on THE setting, but I like fuzz and wet all the way up, tone and blend anywhere from 10:00 to 2:00. Not sure how much blend I like yet, not sure how bright I like it. I just know I like to crank the fuzz. I may be in an oldies band but I don't use fuzz for subtle sounds. I use it for stuff like "Dance To The Music" where I want everyone to know I'm playing fuzz bass.
 
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#27
kleinenenten said:
Didn't even know it was discontinued!
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me neither. I just built and tested an El Grande today using the factory schematic. the original is all SMD (tiny surface mount devices), but I made mine with all thru-hole components and etched a pcb for it.
i'm also bringing the internal freq switch selector to the outside as well as the +&-15db boost control for it.
I just need to box it up now. here's a pic of the PCB:

ElGrandePCBcompleted.jpg
 
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#30
I bought a BFD for a fly-in date and didn't get along particularly well with it all at all- I was playing my flatwound-equipped Ric through an old Ampeg V4 on the gig that belonged to one of the other bands and ended up using the BFD more as a gritty boost than anything. I found as a fuzz it was too compressed and buzzy/bright for my taste- totally lost the character of my bass without a ton of clean blend, at which point the fuzz pretty much got buried in the mix (luckily pushing the V4 sounded plenty fuzzy on its own!). It did work better with roundwounds when I brought it home, but still lacked the midrange punch and character that I look for in a drive/fuzz.
 
#31
the El Grande has pretty strong mids. even though it has a big muff tone control, the 100K resistor in place of the 22K one flattens it out (it has almost zero scoop). plus the fact that you can cut either 87hz or 115hz, it can get very mid heavy. I just finished building one and luckily it still did fit in a 1590B. IMO, it's a nice sounding bass fuzz.

ElGrande-01.jpg
 
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#34
dannster said:
El Grande is awesome to record with but day to day the level was just way too hot. John, did you pull down the level control at all. I think it would be near perfect if it had a little more level range before pegging the signal all to hell.
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i don't really have a problem with the level, but you could easily remedy that with an audio taper volume pot instead of the stock linear one, but I did lower the gain at the input of the pedal on mine so that it could get a bit less dirt at the lowest settings. it still has more than enough fuzz with the fuzz turned up.
 
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#35
Listened to a couple demos of the El Grande and it does have a sound. Still, I'm not finding anything to complain about with the BFD. When I run it into your Greedtone clone or the VT Deluxe, the highs rolloff and extra little dirt gives it a little extra kick where I like it. There are a handful of sounds in it that make me go "Ewww," for sure, but I've been getting some killer sounds out of it as well.
 
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#38
johnk_10 said:
the El Grande has pretty strong mids. even though it has a big muff tone control, the 100K resistor in place of the 22K one flattens it out (it has almost zero scoop). plus the fact that you can cut either 87hz or 115hz, it can get very mid heavy. I just finished building one and luckily it still did fit in a 1590B. IMO, it's a nice sounding bass fuzz.

ElGrande-01.jpg
Click to expand...

John...how come your El Grande's got 4 knobs and mines' only got three? Whatcha been doing to it?
 
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