• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

(Stacked) Bass fuzz/distortion suggestions...

M

Moloch666

Guest
Apr 22, 2012
376
0
#1
Looking for a fuzz/distortion to add to my pedalboard.

My rig is currently - BC Rich Warlock (Dual split P pickups) into Korg Pitchblack, '82 DOD 250, MXR Blowtorch into NYC Mig Muff with tone stack bypass. Run into a "custom" solid state amp into a vertical 4x12 cab.
(The amp was built from a mail order kit in the 70s/80s and then modified for bass. Not known if it is based on another circuit or some bespoke design from the mail order mob.)

I play bass for a black/death/thrash metal band and I do not have a clean bass tone. The Blowtorch is always on, set in fuzz mode (Torch switch engaged) with blend at around 70%. All pedals are setup so they sound good individually and stack together nicely - apart from the Big Muff. When I engage the Muff with the Blowtorch I'm getting some nasty 'farting' coming through, even when I'm using another amp/cab.

Looking to replace the Big Muff with something else that will allow me to add extra distortion/more heavy when needed for those special parts of songs when we all go flat out. The guitarists kick on extra distortion, I hit the Big Muff.

Perhaps something a bit smoother in terms of fuzz, but it needs to add extra sonic destruction for that extra OOMPH when we need.

Any suggestions appreciated! :D
 
#2
As far as a distortion pedal goes... I love my fulltone bass drive. It stacks nicely with a bluebeard and an osd. It's my first dirt/fuzz on my board.

Maybe try a tone bypass modded muff. I'm wondering if that's just a muff thing. My old muff was the same way. That's why I love my bluebeard.
 
#7
i've had this problem a bit. I'm not a big fan of stacking dirt pedz. If I want fuzz, I want fuzz, so I got the most wild one, the Swollen Pickle. Which, IME, does not stack with other pedals well. Stacking overdrive and distortion CAN work though.... My suggestion to you, would be maybe to look at a second distortion or OD rather than a fuzz, if you are set on stacking. Another option could be an octave pedal if your after tonal difference, or a good boost pedal.
 
#8
+1 on buying a second distortion/OD

I have a deluxe big muff pi which has a built in noise gate. I stick it at the end of my chain when I know i'm going to be stacking so it doesn't get any awful fizzes or hisses. IMO stacking only works when you are going OD or distortion into a fuzz not two fuzzes together. I play in a Tech metal / grunge band but I rarely use a lot of heavy distortion, especially live. Unless your sound guy knows what he is doing it can end up being a bit of a wall of sound.
 
#9
DethByDoom said:
As far as a distortion pedal goes... I love my fulltone bass drive. It stacks nicely with a bluebeard and an osd. It's my first dirt/fuzz on my board.

Maybe try a tone bypass modded muff. I'm wondering if that's just a muff thing. My old muff was the same way. That's why I love my bluebeard.
Click to expand...

+1 on the Fulltone. I dont have a bass drive but I do have the OCD they make and I've heard its very similar to the bass drive its just doesnt provide as many options. I've been on the search for a "perfect" distortion/OD pedal for a long time now. Tried many different ones. I have a B7K by Darkglass coming in the mail this week sometime and I cant wait! I do know that the OCD cuts through like no other pedal Ive had. And I have heard nothing but awesome things about the B7K. I also used to try and stack my MXR Bass Fuzz Deluxe with other OD/distortion pedals and I cant say it always sounded poopy, but most the time it just felt redundent to me and the fuzz usually never made it through the mix anyway. I guess what Im trying to say is have you thought about just finding a bad a** distortion/OD? I recommend the B7K or B3K. I have heard wonderful things about the Fuzzorocious stuff as well. Their stuff sounds super raunchy to me, which is a good thing. Good luck! Hope this helped a little.
 
#12
DethByDoom said:
As far as a distortion pedal goes... I love my fulltone bass drive. It stacks nicely with a bluebeard and an osd. It's my first dirt/fuzz on my board.

Maybe try a tone bypass modded muff. I'm wondering if that's just a muff thing. My old muff was the same way. That's why I love my bluebeard.
Click to expand...

+1 on the Bass Drive. I stack that with my Pickle Pie B. The blend on the Pickle Pie B allows for me to blend the grindy fuzz with the grindy overdrive.

It's my go to aggressive sound and all over the recordings in my sig links if you wanted to hear it in a mix.
 
#14
Thanks for the replies, looks like I have a few suggestions to try out.

The reason why I say fuzz onto fuzz as I'm not after more volume, I'm after more distortion/fuzz! Time to do some experimenting with the pedalboard though...

Had a brainwave, the Blowtorch is very mid-focused in it's fuzz and with a tone bypassed Muff the extra mids might be what's causing the unwanted noise. Need to try with the bypass off on the Muff for comparison and see what happens.
 
#15
Tested the Muff without the tone bypassed, still got the noise.

...although the amp I was using that the noise was made apparent on had blown a fuse and an internal pot had been tweaked without anyone realising.
 
#16
Fuzzrocious BDPG behind your muff to add that insane tone is what you should be after instead of replacing the muff as that will really do wonders for both your with and without your fuzz. I love mine so much that at one point I had a second one to run two in a row for super crazy gain stacking. Check out Earthquaker Devices, Wren and Cuff, Dwarfcraft Devices and the rest of the Fuzzrocious range. Let us know what you decide to do?
 
#17
I think for stacking you may want to try a fuzz with a clean blend. And from your description, you may like the MXR Bass Fuzz Deluxe. I recently did a trial with one of these against a Grey Stache and Tall Font Russian and the MXR is a very smooth, punchy fuzz that has less top end break up than the other two. It' stays smooth and punchy no matter what, and with the clean blend whatever dirt you run into it will still be there and you can adjust the level of it.

As a standalone fuzz, the MXR is not the one I chose for ME...but considering the price and what you are looking to do I think you'll love it.
 
#18
I just added a Fuzzrocious Ram the Manparts to my board a couple weeks ago... Great OD, but it has a voltage starve that is a very cool sounding when I run it in parallel with my Bass Big Muff Pi. Fuzzrocious has some stacked samples on their site. I would love this combo for metal if I still played it... really unique sounding, thickness, especially for the stacked scenario.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back