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

#61
jd-ns said:
I loved the BFD at home and solo... but found it got lost in the mix live.
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I had the same experience. I really dug the metallic quality the BFD could get but it seemed like no matter what I did, how I set it, I was always buried. Its been a long time since Ive had the pedal. I dont miss it thats for sure. I guess it would have a lot to do with the kind of music you play and what the other guitarist(s) are using for fuzz/dist in the band. Thats how I see it anyway. But I do remember trying for months to get the BFD to work in a band setting because I dug what it sounded like so much. Then it just came off.

Meanwhile, I have a TAFM on its way!!! :) Cant wait for it to get here tomorrow. So stoked for this one.
 
#62
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 had that same issued too when I borrowed it from a friend of mine. I couldnt believe how hot the output was on that pedal! I dont think I got much past 7 or 8 oclock. And that was WAY loud. Cool sounding fuzz though. Too bad I never got to use it in a band setting.
 
#67
gregmon79 said:
I had that same issued too when I borrowed it from a friend of mine. I couldnt believe how hot the output was on that pedal! I dont think I got much past 7 or 8 oclock. And that was WAY loud. Cool sounding fuzz though. Too bad I never got to use it in a band setting.
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I swapped out the pot off the back of the board and moved it to the front with a standard 100K lin pot. I then dialed in the deep tone as a blend, it seems to pull down the overall volume a lot. My volume knob was set at 7 o'clock...so just off min. Now it's set to 11 o'clock with a far more controllable output range.
I have no idea why but bringing this pot to the front and dialing an EQ blend with it has effected the overall gain and tamed the Vol knob. It's a far better pedal for it and the Vol knob has a greater range of turn (if that makes sense). MXR were crazy in banishing the shelving switch and this trim pot to the back of the unit. It REALLY needs to be on the font.
 
#70
Frenchy-Lefty said:
Whatever fuzz you can be talking about on the effect forum, there will always be somone to say that they have a better fuzz than yours.
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:D For sure! But seeing as how I really don't want to become a fuzz hoarder, I think I'm going to have to let go of the idea that someone may have a better fuzz than me, and I'll just be happy with what I have...hopefully. Or I'll end up getting assimilated into the Fuzz Borg and have 30 of them by this time next year...the more I play different ones, the more I understand what motivates a fuzz hoarder. But dang it all, I'm going to resist being assimilated. I have enough pedals I'm not using ;)
 
#71
JimmyM said:
:D For sure! But seeing as how I really don't want to become a fuzz hoarder, I think I'm going to have to let go of the idea that someone may have a better fuzz than me, and I'll just be happy with what I have...hopefully. Or I'll end up getting assimilated into the Fuzz Borg and have 30 of them by this time next year...the more I play different ones, the more I understand what motivates a fuzz hoarder. But dang it all, I'm going to resist being assimilated. I have enough pedals I'm not using ;)
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Its contagious too. Seems like half the breeder thread went fuzz crazy in the last two months. I now have four on my board. Not sure what happened. :)
 
#73
PJFlatts said:
I've just acquired a JohnK Zeke pedal - clone of the DAM Ezekiel. It is a brilliant fuzz! If you get a chance, try it out.
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sorry...wasn't meant to derail or claim mine's better or fuzzier or bigger. Just that it is a great fuzz, IMO, and worth checking out should the opportunity arise.

I have a small herd of dirt pedals...if the Zeke had come along earlier, I would have fewer...dirt pedals, that is. Probably more of other flavors.
 
#75
LOL Frenchy!

Hey, we all have our favorite fuzzes. I'm cool with that. I was just giving a few props to a pedal that I heard a few bum raps about that I didn't think were so accurate when I got my hands on it.
 
#77
Frenchy-Lefty said:
Whatever fuzz you can be talking about on the effect forum, there will always be somone to say that they have a better fuzz than yours.
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I guess so, but in my instance it's not about better...just something I like more. There's lots of great fuzzers out there, each with their own voice and footprint. Some I like, some I really like, some are OK and others aren't for me. But that's not to say others wouldn't really like the once I passed on.
 
#78
I think having a blend knob on a bass distortion or bass fuzz is key; it's the only way to ensure you don't lose low end.

The discussion about using a fuzz with a tube amp vs a solid state amp caught my attention. The primary reason for pedals like the Tube Screamer is to tickle or slam the power amp tubes into more drive. Adding a fuzz into a lightly overdriven tube amp should similarly provide a really cool result.

I just bought a Streamliner 600, a hybrid amp 3 preamp tubes (12AX7s) and an effects loop. The common wisdom is to put dirt pedals into the amp (not the effects loop), and I'll probably do that. But I'm really wondering now what fuzz and blended fuzz are going to sound like with my set up. I also wonder what dirt pedals do specifically to preamp tubes. Is it dramatic like slamming power amp tubes? Anyone?

I have a Green Big Muff and a Wren and Cuff Box of War, and both sound great, but they almost sound too much for what I want in a fuzzed-out bass sound. I've tried the MXR Bass Fuzz Deluxe at a store, and I really like how I could dial the right amount of fuzz; BUT, there was something almost generic sounding about the fuzz. I kind of like that, because it made me feel like the amp (in the store) sounded like it was gainy; rather than thinking: 'Oh, that's a Big Muff sound.' That's what Tube Screamer-type pedals do; it's not the sound of the Tube Screamer that matters, rather, they make your amp sound better. I wonder if the people who complained about having the fuzz get lost in the live mix were really craving a more muff sound instead of an amp on higher gain.

I'll be making a decision soon to either get an MXR BFD or a Prescription Electronics Depth Charge (which is way crazier, but has a blend knob).
 
#79
When you are pushing the front end of an all-tube amp you are just pushing the preamp tubes- no different than just cranking the Gain, except that by adding the different flavor of Gain with a pedal you don't have to crank the amp as much (and often times pedal drive sounds better than straight preamp drive).
 
#80
Right, but my amp is a hybrid. 12AX7s + class D solid state.

In an all-tube amp, the tube pre is pushing the power amp tubes, and in my hybrid guitar amp (Roland Bolt 60) that has a solid-state pre and power tubes, any overdrive pedal works just about as good as the amps pre and slaps the power amp tubes.

But do preamp tubes get slammed? I'm sure they do, but to what extent? and is it negligible?
 

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