Stoner/Doom Bassists Thread, Part 90: Maxed Out

[thombo]

@socialleper, I have not ever owned a Verellen but I've played Meatsmokes a few times. Along with loving the tone, I found them to be was very responsive to my playing heavy music: The amount I dug in with either my fingers or pick led to a very immediate response and approbate levels of grit. Unlike Sam, I am a big fan of the Fender tonestack.

 

[Jolagh]

Do any of you guys and gals have any Verellen gear? What do you have, and is it all that?

I have a meatsmoke and a loucks. I like it aesthetically and thry both sound great. I wouldnt say theyre way better than any other gear but theyre definately very loud and have been very reliable for me.

 

[br1qbat]

All this DIY pedal talk has got me interested in building something. Maybe a Univox Super Fuzz. Thoughts?

 

[oZZma]

All this DIY pedal talk has got me interested in building something. Maybe a Univox Super Fuzz. Thoughts?

Do It!!!

 

[hardtop]

Do any of you guys and gals have any Verellen gear? What do you have, and is it all that?

I owned a Meatsmoke. I thought it sounded amazing. Preferred it to my SVT Classic and SVT II np. They all sound great, but the Meatsmoke was the greaterest The dirt channel was a little too dirty for use in our band, and because most venues DI the bass, it would sometimes only be on stage. Still a very cool gnarly distortion that was bassey as hell. All that said, I don't really miss the Meatsmoke; My Orange sound great too; different, but great.

 

[Jolagh]

I owned a Meatsmoke. I thought it sounded amazing. Preferred it to my SVT Classic and SVT II np. They all sound great, but the Meatsmoke was the greaterest The dirt channel was a little too dirty for use in our band, and because most venues DI the bass, it would sometimes only be on stage. Still a very cool gnarly distortion that was bassey as hell. All that said, I don't really miss the Meatsmoke; My Orange sound great too; different, but great.

This 100%. Love my verellen stuff, the build quality is great. But i owned a loucks amd bought an orange because it did morr of what i wanted than the loucks tone stack could manage.

 

[TSmith92]

Do any of you guys and gals have any Verellen gear? What do you have, and is it all that?

I've used their Hybrid meatsmoke (tube preamp and SS power amp) including my custom built one with a blendable gain channel. They are ok but the dirty channel isn't very versatile IMO. I plan on selling mine now that I have a Science Amps Mother.

 

[Novarocker]

Build the super fuzz! Love the sound of those, never had a chance to try one myself though.

Well, the LED works....

Bummer man I know a similar feeling. I can't get the ground loop figured out on a test mule I'm working on. It's been intermittent, but all the joints check out with the multimeter.

 

[Kriegs]

Well, the LED works....

It turned out that Victory was a double edged sword for me.

I finally was able to nail down the cause of my pedal not working On of the opamp IC's had a pin with a hairline break in it. If I put (and held) pressure on it to hold all of the legs firmly in their sockets, everything worked! Swedish Chainsaw Tone of Death If I let go completely, at first everything worked and then, as gravity moved the IC moved away from the pin, it would cause a short and then the board would begin oscillating, causing this horrible, screeching feedback loop. Once I realized what was happening, I gently began to remove the IC and the offending pin and ANOTHER one that was adjacent both broke off of the IC I can't tell you how careful I was being, but there must have been some damage to that IC somewhere along the way.
I don't know if it came that way from the vendor or if it was the result of something that I did during the build, so I went out to the interwebs, found a source for the IC and ordered 10 of them (minimum order required). So, next week, I'll have some fresh IC's and that sweet black metal chainsaw tone that I loved as a kid!

 

[Jolagh]

It turned out that Victory was a double edged sword for me.

I finally was able to nail down the cause of my pedal not working On of the opamp IC's had a pin with a hairline break in it. If I put (and held) pressure on it to hold all of the legs firmly in their sockets, everything worked! Swedish Chainsaw Tone of Death If I let go completely, at first everything worked and then, as gravity moved the IC moved away from the pin, it would cause a short and then the board would begin oscillating, causing this horrible, screeching feedback loop. Once I realized what was happening, I gently began to remove the IC and the offending pin and ANOTHER one that was adjacent both broke off of the IC I can't tell you how careful I was being, but there must have been some damage to that IC somewhere along the way.
I don't know if it came that way from the vendor or if it was the result of something that I did during the build, so I went out to the interwebs, found a source for the IC and ordered 10 of them (minimum order required). So, next week, I'll have some fresh IC's and that sweet black metal chainsaw tone that I loved as a kid!

Could just be me but ICs can be really sensitive to heat when soldering. Ive definately cooked a couple if you soldered directly to the board.

 

[Kriegs]

Could just be me but ICs can be really sensitive to heat when soldering. Ive definately cooked a couple if you soldered directly to the board.

No heat applied to the IC's in this case. They supply sockets, which get soldered to the board, then the IC's get put into the sockets. I had one of our techs here at work inspect the IC under a microscope and he found evidence of the metal having been bent and a couple of other pins that were well on their way to breaking off.

I know I didn't bend the IC pins at all, so it must have happened before I got it. I had him check the two other IC's and they were fine, so it turns out that I got one that was a lemon. No biggie, the problem is identified and replacements are on the way

 

[Novarocker]

Man that's rough, at least the parts are cheap and it'll make the satisfaction from playing it that much better.

That'd be my luck to have something like that happen.

 

[Kriegs]

Man that's rough, at least the parts are cheap and it'll make the satisfaction from playing it that much better.

That'd be my luck to have something like that happen.

*warning nostalgia ahead*
I'll say this though, for the few minutes that it was working well, I was able to rip out some old tunes that I didn't even know that I remembered.
I was, briefly, whisked back to 1984....

I had ducked out of high school early that day and headed to the music store. I was sick of trying to get the tone that my Little Big Muff pedal (the closest thing to distortion that I could afford at the age of 13 when I bought it in 1983). I was playing metal and I wanted to sound like it!
The guy behind the counter held out the HM-2 and said, "We just got this in. Wanna be the first to try it?"

I replied, "Heavy Metal pedal huh? Well, that is what I'm trying to sound like.... "

*plugs everything in, and strums*

After regaining the ability to speak, I yelled over the echoing awesomeness in my head... "I'LL TAKE IT!!!"

 

[Kriegs]

Once the dead IC is replaced, I'll post a few clips of the Swede's tone. I'll post guitar, 4 string bass and 5 string bass

 

[kleinenenten]

Once the dead IC is replaced, I'll post a few clips of the Swede's tone. I'll post guitar, 4 string bass and 5 string bass

Or, if someone can’t wait, listen to something by Dismember, Bloodbath, early Entombed...

 

[kleinenenten]

Weird observation, looking for confirmation. My guitarists are in a weird tuning that has me slightly tuning up my bass. It seems that the extra tension really helps in clarity on my pedals. Is it just my head? I play the identical notes on another bass (6 string version of previous bass) and they just don’t sound the same. What’s happening? Science, or psychoacoustics?

Also, still inching towards isolated power. Now my amp randomly starts to hum after a while being turned on. Removed the pedals from the equation and it’s gone. So now it’s causing filter and hum issues. Man, wish I had the money to spend on something more exciting, but it is what it is, I guess.

 

[Jolagh]

Weird observation, looking for confirmation. My guitarists are in a weird tuning that has me slightly tuning up my bass. It seems that the extra tension really helps in clarity on my pedals. Is it just my head? I play the identical notes on another bass (6 string version of previous bass) and they just don’t sound the same. What’s happening? Science, or psychoacoustics?

Also, still inching towards isolated power. Now my amp randomly starts to hum after a while being turned on. Removed the pedals from the equation and it’s gone. So now it’s causing filter and hum issues. Man, wish I had the money to spend on something more exciting, but it is what it is, I guess.

Its probably just the tuning up changing the way the pedals react. Even if you are playing the same notes the harmonics presented to the pedal will be different. Thats why sometimes i hear pedals and think theyre super cool and when i get them they just dont work with drop b. Ive had several pedals ive gotten rid of because of that.

 

[br1qbat]

I've heard a difference in the way my notes ring out playing in C standard with a BEAD set of strings uptuned 1/2 a step vs EADG gauge strings down 2 steps. I would haphazard a guess that the tension helps deliver a fuller sound then a floppier string.

 

[NOLA Bass]

This is why (in my band that tunes CFBbEb) I use a 35” scale 4 string Spector with the LaBella drop tune set (designed for downtuning with a mire comfortable gauge - 111 on the low string) and a Dingwall Dbird (36.25” scale on the low string) with a custom Kalium set. I still want my basses to feel and sound like a 4 string. Using a 125 or 130 low B string was not working for me tonally.

 

[socialleper]

This is why (in my band that tunes CFBbEb) I use a 35” scale 4 string Spector with the LaBella drop tune set (designed for downtuning with a mire comfortable gauge - 111 on the low string) and a Dingwall Dbird (36.25” scale on the low string) with a custom Kalium set. I still want my basses to feel and sound like a 4 string. Using a 125 or 130 low B string was not working for me tonally.

Agreed.
It is hard to get a proper sounding C or lower on a 34" scale bass. A 35" messed with the E a little, but what you get on the B makes it totally worth it. I had so much trouble finding a good B until I splurged on a Spector Euro 5LX. It is so perfect for my current project it is stupid.
The only other 5 I'd want is a Warwick Streamer Stage 1 with double humbuckers.