Should I Be Content Or Upgrade? - Creation Audio Grizzly Vs...

[TheAndinator]

Hi all!

I am planning on upgrading my pedalboard and while doing so, I need some advice from you! Here's where I'm at:

My main uses for this pedalboard are for CCM/Rock/Funk/Pop. I have upgraded my fuzz to a Beetronix Royal Jelly which includes both a fuzz and hard-clipping overdrive/distortion circuit. Through a few other pedals, I plan to finish out the board with a JHS Colour Box V2 for a lot of EQ flexibility and a little bit of gain. I usually run that either directly into a sound system or into my Markbass Little Mark III w/ 4x10 cab.

That all being said, I want my main drive (post fuzz, pre-EQ) to be a tube-like overdrive/preamp that gives the bass a warm and distinct tone. I currently have a Creation Audio Grizzly on my board that is a champ in many ways. The huge upside is that the overdrive is warm and touch sensitive, but I feel like it is slightly missing the gritty tone I am pursuing.

Here are the challengers:
Solidgold FX Beta V (My favorite at this point)
Broughton SV-Pre
Aguilar Agro
Darkglass Vintage Deluxe/Ultra
Catalinbread SFT
Tech 21 Geddy Lee Sansamp

While there are always going to be good alternatives, my big question is, "Is it worth ditching the Grizzly for something else if it barely changes anything?" Assuming there is a difference, which of these pedals takes the cake for the best saturated tube tone? Would the JHS color box be able to shape either my current or potential overdrive to hit the spot? I am not able to try all of these pedals in person and the big thing lost in online research is how the pedal plays (touch sensitivity, dynamics, how strong the difference in settings can be). What are your experiences with these pedals?

Thank you all in advance!

 

[dedpool1052]

I have a Grizzly, and a Broughton SV-PRE.
Used to have an SFT.

Actually just plugged in the Grizzly for the first time in a while, and A/B'ed it against the Broughton.

Not taking anything away from the Grizzly, but the Broughton is where I lean.
Far more flexible, and the breakup sounds better to my ear.

I briefly borrowed a DG Vintage (small box version, 4 knobs)
Found it too dark for my tastes.

 

[Parzival]

The YYZ is great for harder more midrange driven tones, but you can dial in an awesome subtle grit sound with it as well.

 

[GMC]

Asking anyone on this gear forum about NOT getting better gear is like waving a bag of weed in front of weed addict and saying…I’m thinking of smoking less…how about you?

 

[odarellmc]

Hi all!

I am planning on upgrading my pedalboard and while doing so, I need some advice from you! Here's where I'm at:

My main uses for this pedalboard are for CCM/Rock/Funk/Pop. I have upgraded my fuzz to a Beetronix Royal Jelly which includes both a fuzz and hard-clipping overdrive/distortion circuit. Through a few other pedals, I plan to finish out the board with a JHS Colour Box V2 for a lot of EQ flexibility and a little bit of gain. I usually run that either directly into a sound system or into my Markbass Little Mark III w/ 4x10 cab.

That all being said, I want my main drive (post fuzz, pre-EQ) to be a tube-like overdrive/preamp that gives the bass a warm and distinct tone. I currently have a Creation Audio Grizzly on my board that is a champ in many ways. The huge upside is that the overdrive is warm and touch sensitive, but I feel like it is slightly missing the gritty tone I am pursuing.

Here are the challengers:
Solidgold FX Beta V (My favorite at this point)
Broughton SV-Pre
Aguilar Agro
Darkglass Vintage Deluxe/Ultra
Catalinbread SFT
Tech 21 Geddy Lee Sansamp

While there are always going to be good alternatives, my big question is, "Is it worth ditching the Grizzly for something else if it barely changes anything?" Assuming there is a difference, which of these pedals takes the cake for the best saturated tube tone? Would the JHS color box be able to shape either my current or potential overdrive to hit the spot? I am not able to try all of these pedals in person and the big thing lost in online research is how the pedal plays (touch sensitivity, dynamics, how strong the difference in settings can be). What are your experiences with these pedals?

Thank you all in advance!

I can tell you if you have your compressor in front you're limiting your grizzly, open it up a bit, run your compressor last.... simple right if you restrict your dynamic range in the beginning you limit everything else in the chain...or run a eq before the grizzly to bring out any frequencies you wish..

 

[chiphaleonbass]

Have you tried just running the other side of the Royal Jelly as more of a light saturation instead of an all out fuzz? I currently have this pedal on my main board and it's covering three ranges of dirt, left side is set all the way to overdrive, right side about 75% of the way to fuzz with enough cleans coming through, then I hit the middle switch with the fuzz to take it even further. Has worked for me quite well.

 

[Parzival]

Just noticed you were looking for the best saturated tube tone. Have you considered Sushibox? Pedals are tube driven and are really great at the touch of overdrive sound.

 

[TheAndinator]

Have you tried just running the other side of the Royal Jelly as more of a light saturation instead of an all out fuzz? I currently have this pedal on my main board and it's covering three ranges of dirt, left side is set all the way to overdrive, right side about 75% of the way to fuzz with enough cleans coming through, then I hit the middle switch with the fuzz to take it even further. Has worked for me quite well.

Honestly, that’s a good suggestion! It may help to view it as gain staging (ie: 1st Stage - Grizzly, 2nd Stage - add RJ Overdrive, 3 - Add RJ Fuzz, 4th Stage - Treble boost switch) instead of just 2 separate channels.

 

[TheAndinator]

Just noticed you were looking for the best saturated tube tone. Have you considered Sushibox? Pedals are tube driven and are really great at the touch of overdrive sound.

A fair suggestion! I’ll give them more of a look!

 

[chiphaleonbass]

Honestly, that’s a good suggestion! It may help to view it as gain staging (ie: 1st Stage - Grizzly, 2nd Stage - add RJ Overdrive, 3 - Add RJ Fuzz, 4th Stage - Treble boost switch) instead of just 2 separate channels.

Personally I like the drive that I get from the Royal Jelly but do miss a tone setting preamp style saturation like the Grizzly or in my case what has been a Benson Pre, MBD-2 or Sushi Box Underground Accelerator etc... So seeing as you've got a great preamp styled drive in the Grizzly I could imagine this would work great. Can't recommend the Sushi Box products enough btw.. they're so well made, sound great and simply do the thing they're intended to do.