Stoner/Doom Bassists Thread, Part 90: Maxed Out

[scabpicker]

I recently bought a Swollen Pickle clone for dirt cheap since I love my Pickle so much. I'll say this - I think something's wrong/different with it, but I love it. I instantly got a different tone from it, but it's amazing. I've spent hours trying to get that same tone from my original SP, but haven't quite gotten there yet. Either way, I may just need both... And my Pharaoh Supreme...

I know that my Pickle (not sure what revision) has two internal pots that change the character of the fuzz a lot. Something to consider.

 

[kleinenenten]

I know that my Pickle (not sure what revision) has two internal pots that change the character of the fuzz a lot. Something to consider.

Yes - both of my pickles have these. I've tweaked them plenty! At identical settings, I get rather different tones. I'm thinking maybe differences in caps or something? I don't know - that's above my knowledge. But for instance, the closest I've gotten so far has the original's gain about noonish - but the clone's is around 8:30ish. Each knob is in a little (or sometimes a lot) different position. Still tweaking the original to find this tone. Slowly getting there, but it's great. I may just end up with two different awesome fuzz tones in the end!

 

[kleinenenten]

I think it needs to be seen as the tool that it is, not that tool some people want it to be. It isn't magic. In some mixes, on some basses, it is pretty cool. In others it is terrible.
I found that if I'm not playing a P bass with a pick, there was just no way to make it work. And since I never do either, there wasn't a good one for me. I have a Grey Stache in my closet should a doom\stoner band ever come a-knocking, but aside from that, I am happier with my TS clones, and my RAT clones.

Whatever works for you! I found that flats helped tremendously. Helped me keep the lows when the fuzz dropped them. I also find that my Pork Loin is amazing for doom - two totally opposite ends of the dirt spectrum. Barely there, or full on fuzz. Both are fun and sound good, which is all that matters!

 

[El_Charro]

That picture made my tinnitus worse.

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Thanks! \m/

 

[El_Charro]

Well, you have a big hurdle already cleared since you are self-aware enough about what you want and being satisfied by it or something else. That's a great understanding to have. And paying a premium for a quality item is always best, if it doesn't come before making the payments for necessities.

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Well no, of course it wouldn’t mean that I would cease to being fiscally responsible in other areas in order to acquire said bass gear…

I mean c’mon…I’m not the US Government… *insert eye roll emoji here*

Lol-Sorry…Too soon to make that joke???…

Thanks! \m/

 

[El_Charro]

I LOVE my Pharaoh Supreme. Best fuzz I've ever played.

I recently bought a Swollen Pickle clone for dirt cheap since I love my Pickle so much. I'll say this - I think something's wrong/different with it, but I love it. I instantly got a different tone from it, but it's amazing. I've spent hours trying to get that same tone from my original SP, but haven't quite gotten there yet. Either way, I may just need both... And my Pharaoh Supreme...

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LMAO-The company’s name that makes that pedal is called “Black Arts Toneworks”???…

Oh man…Now I wanna try one (lol-The company name alone makes me wanna try one of their pedals)…

Thanks! \m/

 

[scabpicker]

But for instance, the closest I've gotten so far has the original's gain about noonish - but the clone's is around 8:30ish.

Wait, maybe I misunderstood, one's a clone of a Pickle?

Either way, yeah, any of the components being different or being in a slightly different layout can change the tone a lot, depending on what's changed.

 

[YawningJorin]

Man I Love Frogs

I love her so much

 

[Kaa]

I LOVE my Pharaoh Supreme. Best fuzz I've ever played.

I recently bought a Swollen Pickle clone for dirt cheap since I love my Pickle so much. I'll say this - I think something's wrong/different with it, but I love it. I instantly got a different tone from it, but it's amazing. I've spent hours trying to get that same tone from my original SP, but haven't quite gotten there yet. Either way, I may just need both... And my Pharaoh Supreme...

Don't we all.

 

[Kaa]

Man I Love Frogs
View attachment 4427418

I love her so much

Hmmm....the red eyes make me leery. I do like frogs a lot though. We had an African frog once, named him Shaka Zulu, then discovered it was a her, so we changed the name to Shaka Khan. She got some bad feeder fish and passed on the the Great Aquarium In The Sky. We were pretty bummed out about it. She was a ferocious predator.

 

[YawningJorin]

I mostly utilize my high gain distortion, which consist of relatively high gain Mosky Black Rat in Turbo RAT mode, mixed almost equally, slightly higher, in parallel, via one of my Boss LS-2 pedals, with a Joyo Orange Juice, relatively low gain overdrive, staked into a Boss MT-2 Metal Zone with a quite low gain setting.

It sounds absolutely massively ballsy and heavy and also quite raunchy with a quite fuzz-esque quality, but actually at the same time it is surprisingly well defined and articulate.

I do use fuzz on a few tracks though, which is handled by my Behringer SF300 Super Fuzz, mixed in parallel, via one of my Boss LS-2 pedals, with an almost equal amount of clean signal.

The Behringer Super Fuzz is a great fuzz for bass no doubt, and not just for the ridiculous little money they cost, but I am not absolutely in love with the tone I get from it like I am with my high gain distortion setup, which, as said, actually also got a quite fuzz-esque quality, and which just seems to fit absolutely perfect for the songs we are working on.

Just for a couple of songs the raspier but also considerably less massive and somewhat thinner tone of the Super Fuzz is better suited, though still not absolutely perfect like I think my high gain distortion setup is.

Which is why I plan on getting me an Orange Fur Coat octave fuzz at some point, which is massively grunty, judging from the demos I've heard featuring it an absolutely amazing sounding fuzz and probably the best fuzz for bass ever, that likely then will replace the Behringer Super Fuzz (the Behringer obviously is based on a Univox SuperFuzz octave fuzz, but with added active treble and bass controls, and the Orange Fur Coat on a Foxx Tone Machine octave fuzz, but with full control over the level of the analog fuzzy octave up signal, and with the option of switching it off completely via an additional food switch.

The Orange Fur Coat kind of has some of the same character as the Super Fuzz, just with massively bigger balls, and I can see how being able to control the level of the octave up effect can be useful (judhing from the demos I have watched featuring it the Fur Coat actually sounds amazing with the octave up circuits completely turned off as well, really massive and grunty).

Here's a great demo of the Orange Fur Coat octave fuzz:



Maybe I should add that I play in a sort of psychedelic stoner/doom rock bass and drums duo (though we ponder on finding a keys player that also can handle the vocals as well, cause me singing while playing bass is not going to happen, and some organ and synth would fit the songs we are working on really well), called "all I nil", with the bass I use being a 28,6" scale 4 string Ibanez Mikro Bass with just an EMG Geezer Butler P pickup installed, wired directly to the output jack socket, tune to F# standard tuning, as in 2 half steps above regular 4 string E standard tuning, and run through an always on 1 octave up effect, giving an effect similar to that of an 8 string bass, to fill out some more sonic space, and accommodate an approach to writing riffs closer to sort of a crossover between how you would play a traditional bass, baritone guitar and regular guitar, rather than traditional bass lines.

I've really been lusting for an octave fuzz lately. I had the Superfuzz for a while but despite loving the original, the Behringer wasn't quite up to my standard. It seemed a little bit thin both in lows and highs. I'm patiently waiting for Magic Pedals to run the Witchfinder, but it's taking a while to say the least and I've been very tempted to find an option. The fur coat isn't exactly a Hyperfuzz, but it's among the best octave fuzzes I've heard and it matches my feature requirements of blendable + footswitchable octave

 

[Kaa]

Gonna have a jam with some friends Friday night. Rig will consist of home-brew shortscale jazz into a Peavey Combo 300. Possibly use my SABDDI. We will be playing the same songs we have been playing for 20 years. I may remember how to play 1/4 of them. LOL. It's really 50% jam, and 50% hang, TBH. We're all so old and decrepit that we have to take "My hands hurt" breaks. LOL.

 

[Kaa]

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Well no, of course it wouldn’t mean that I would cease to being fiscally responsible in other areas in order to acquire said bass gear…

I mean c’mon…I’m not the US Government… *insert eye roll emoji here*

Lol-Sorry…Too soon to make that joke???…

Thanks! \m/

Good to hear. I didn't want to have to go all Ben Stein on you and lecture you about the evil of high interest credit.

 

[Flamingo21]

@Tendril You've become wordy all of a sudden. Not saying it's a bad thing, but I remember you not knowing what to say.

No offense intended.

 

[Kaa]

@Tendril You've become wordy all of a sudden. Not saying it's a bad thing, but I remember you not knowing what to say.

No offense intended.

I have a thing where I swing from one hobby to another. I ghosted this forum for a good long while because I was all-in on golf. Now, I feel that waning and my bass interest ramping back up again. So, I'll be posting in this thread more, and lurking TB a lot for the foreseeable future. Bass has become my number one again.

 

[Flamingo21]

Totally relatable.

 

[kleinenenten]

Wait, maybe I misunderstood, one's a clone of a Pickle?

Either way, yeah, any of the components being different or being in a slightly different layout can change the tone a lot, depending on what's changed.

Correct - I have a Swollen Pickle and (what is claimed to be) a direct clone by PedalPCB. Yes, I knew that slight component differences would be a big change, especially depending on cap size etc. As far as the specifics, that's above me, but I get the general idea. But the actual layout as well? That's new to me. This definitely has a different layout - the two internal trim pots are in opposite positions, and it's in a much smaller enclosure. Regardless, I'm loving both of them. I've currently gone back to my "original" settings on the Pickle. It's hard to tell which I prefer with their current settings - the original or the clone. Time will tell.

 

[El_Charro]

Good to hear. I didn't want to have to go all Ben Stein on you and lecture you about the evil of high interest credit.

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LMAO…

Thanks! \m/

 

[El_Charro]

I have a thing where I swing from one hobby to another. I ghosted this forum for a good long while because I was all-in on golf. Now, I feel that waning and my bass interest ramping back up again. So, I'll be posting in this thread more, and lurking TB a lot for the foreseeable future. Bass has become my number one again.

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As someone who personally both loathes and despises golf (mostly bc it heavily contributed to the demise of my parent’s marriage) I would say you made a wise choice…

Creating something that improves the human experience is probably more rewarding than trying to hit a ball into a tiny hole that’s 400 yards away…

I mean if you enjoy it, good for you & keep after it especially if you walk a lot, but it took me literally YEARS before I would even do Top Golf (which less face it - That’s probably more like bowling with golf balls)…Just never understood the appeal (I’m also too low class for it, but that’s another story)…

But take that w a grain of salt and a shot of Cuervo bc I’m also in a mode right now where I think that Exercise is great and all, but seems to become less fun once it becomes all consuming was more the point I was failing to articulate…

Chased that dragon for a VERY long time (would not recommend)…

For me (YMMV)-I like practicing bass bc it forces me to be more balanced…

Usually manages to keep the working out to under 90 mins instead of more…

There are only so many hours in the day after all…

Thanks! \m/

 

[Kaa]

I love golf, but won’t dog anyone for their like or dislike of the game. And a game it is. I refuse to call an activity that you can smoke and drink while doing a “sport”.