Or, you can go the route I went, and just go nuts and get a fuzz pedal that largely obviates every choice other than the settings on the pedal, the available watts, and the durability of your speakers. Honest to goodness, the first fuzz or distortion I owned that wasn't just the preamp cranked was my Super-Fuzz*. I traded an Ibanez chorus pedal for it. You can get Behringer SF300's all day long for $25 new (and there's someone selling a custom painted one on Reverb for $60, if you're into that). It's a clone of a Boss FZ-2, which is kind of a flexible version of my Super-Fuzz. It's not real subtle, outside of the clean boost setting. If you want to play intervals in unison besides a third or a fifth, you probably don't want this one. The overtones aren't exactly muddy, but there's so many of them that anything else gets lost in fuzzy static. Chords are just about always a vast sea of fuzz, even on guitar. You can tell you changed chords, but damned if you could tell which to which with any certainty. Buy a SF300 instead of changing your strings once if you don't already have a Super-Fuzz clone of some sort. Your strings will not matter at all while it is on, and it's just so heavy.
Ok, I lied. Flats wont make giant ROWWWWWWRRRSHRIEK noises like roundwounds will when you change position without lifting your fingers with a SF circuit. It will make much smaller rowwwwwwrrrrshriek noises, instead. That is the only real difference that most changes in bass or amp will make. Speakers will just struggle to reproduce the sound they're asked to make. In my experience, they all eventually die when you give them enough time at high volume. They are good soldiers, and will be endlessly re-coned in their quest to do my bidding. When it's on, you're playing a Super-Fuzz style pedal, which is kind of it's own instrument. In the 4003AC thread, there were some snarky folks saying that his tone made bass choice irrelevant. They're wrong, but if he was using a SF circuit, they'd almost be right.
A TO800 is easily had for the same price, if you want to try a Tube Screamer style overdrive. $50 for the pair. Both usable, until their plastic cases die. If you're crafty, you can stick it in a better case when that happens - heck, my SF has been rebuilt once or twice since I've owned it. You could do worse for less than a carton of smokes.
I'm not necessarily saying it's a smart route, or that you'll endear every band member that you decide to utilize the SF300 with. In fact, I'd be surprised if you didn't make at least one or two generally dislike you over the years if you love the sound like I do. But, it is cheap way to go the route I took, and I have few regrets. Octave fuzz is pretty great. The only reason the SF doesn't live on my board is that it is aged and beat, and it's gone on vacation at an inopportune time or two, so I use clones (and am thinking about building one). You will pry my SF from my cold, dead fingers; and it might be prudent to dig more than one grave.
Oh, and the most famous use of this circuit on a bass is probably this delicious noise. A genuine Super-Fuzz has exactly one other sound. The clones have like 7-8 sometimes, but that's pretty much what it sounds like:
Did I mention that I liked the Univox Super-Fuzz, and I think you should probably get a clone of one? You should ask me over for dinner, and I can tell you about it. Behringer makes a...
*My amp at the time was this exact weirdo 2x15 combo (yes, a combo). The neighbors were not a fan.
The next owner of it posted about it here: Polytone Custom Bass Amp He contacted me trying to get it back in my hands through here, but I didn't hear from him after I replied. @cbegue , if you're out there and still have it, I'd still pay money for that freak!
