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Stoner/Doom Bassists Thread, Part 90: Maxed Out

#60,961
Warlock_Surfer said:
What's your favorite setting on the Pharaoh Supreme? I got a regular Pharaoh set to the Germanium diode setting. I believe on the regular Pharaoh they are asymmetrical. Got the other toggle set on Lo with the Tone and High face away from each other, Tone is 8:00 and High on 3:00. Volume past noon and fuzz set low.
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I went Supreme because I couldn't quite get what I wanted from the standard. Here's what I've got:
Diodes - MOSFET (Supreme only!)
Tone - Min
Hi - Max
Fuzz - 3:00
Pre - 9:00

Some things I've learned about the Pharaoh over the years:
1. Tone at min and Hi at max is flat EQ. This circuit does not boost mids - though I believe other BAT fuzz offerings can. (I've been meaning to check out a Priestess...) Occasionally, I'll increase the tone or reduce the hi if the amp/bass/whatever is a littler brighter/darker, but I pretty much always keep them this way.
2. The Pre knob seems to be a "wool" knob of sorts. It can add distortion on its own with low fuzz settings, but I find that the higher this knob goes, the woolier the tone overall. I want somewhat "articulate" Muff tones (if there IS such a thing!), so I keep it low. I used to go the "lots of pre and little fuzz" route thinking that would give me a better distortion tone, but I've found that is not the case.

Hope this helps! Fuzz journeys are fun, but can take a while!

Unrelated question: anybody try one of the Blower Box Deluxes yet? I remember years ago the original was THE Rat around here, but it seems like it's rarely talked about any more. The Deluxe version has piqued my interest, and their stuff is always reasonably priced.
 
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#60,962
kleinenenten said:
I went Supreme because I couldn't quite get what I wanted from the standard. Here's what I've got:
Diodes - MOSFET (Supreme only!)
Tone - Min
Hi - Max
Fuzz - 3:00
Pre - 9:00

Some things I've learned about the Pharaoh over the years:
1. Tone at min and Hi at max is flat EQ. This circuit does not boost mids - though I believe other BAT fuzz offerings can. (I've been meaning to check out a Priestess...) Occasionally, I'll increase the tone or reduce the hi if the amp/bass/whatever is a littler brighter/darker, but I pretty much always keep them this way.
2. The Pre knob seems to be a "wool" knob of sorts. It can add distortion on its own with low fuzz settings, but I find that the higher this knob goes, the woolier the tone overall. I want somewhat "articulate" Muff tones (if there IS such a thing!), so I keep it low. I used to go the "lots of pre and little fuzz" route thinking that would give me a better distortion tone, but I've found that is not the case.

Hope this helps! Fuzz journeys are fun, but can take a while!

Unrelated question: anybody try one of the Blower Box Deluxes yet? I remember years ago the original was THE Rat around here, but it seems like it's rarely talked about any more. The Deluxe version has piqued my interest, and their stuff is always reasonably priced.
Click to expand...

I haven't tried the deluxe yet, and I should have posted up that recently a whataphaser reissue went up for a small run of 10 units...highly recommended to everyone, especially @br1qbat. I almost, and am now kinda kicking myself for not getting a second one, even without having the funds up front.

I also really need to try Matt's heavy weapon. Thing looks great and sounds even better, but I kinda already have 2 great stacking dirt choices I like for my board. I also need to finish out my board and get a couple other projects done.

kleinenenten said:
I did that for a LONG time (minus the recording), but then I ended up just getting frustrated that I didn't go anywhere, which led me to being annoyed at my bass. I've got to figure out a way to quickly record something. I can't tell you how many times I've written what seems like the bulk of a song only to have it disappear the next day after adulting for a while.
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I feel ya. That's why like for work, I've turned to texting, voice to text messages, and just plain old keeping a day planner with notes. If you didn't know you can text to yourself. Anyway, I just take quick 1-2 min or way less video recordings with my phone camera to "document" the idea. I do have a mobile digital 8 track recorder, but with my limited space, I've yet to really set it up and get quick recordings in there. Another one of my said projects. Baby steps though, that's what matters.

kleinenenten said:
Kept tweaking my Rats today - and wouldn't you know it, my favorite settings are incredibly simple. Both of these give a nice cutting tone with a bit of clank (but NOT djent). Think a modern thrash tone like Overkill or Exodus but with a bit of hair. And it's not a night and day difference in brightness between my clean tone and the Rats.

Frost Giant Bass Mountain - Literally every knob at noon, except volume to taste. MOSFET clipping. Done. Criminally easy to dial in these settings, but it took me WAY longer than it should have to figure out... Not sure if I'm happy or annoyed to have found that these are the settings I like!

Blue Colander Tremond - Blend and Distortion noon, HPF max, Tone 1:30, volume to taste. Middle diodes (none!), and Master Volume as needed. Again, pretty easy, with no in-between settings or anything like that.

So now I've got my 5 tones down - and they all pretty much work for anything I play. Just depends on what tone I want at the moment. I've got clean, "tube dirt" (Pork Loin), "smooth distortion" (MBD-2), "rough distortion" (Bass Mountain or Tremond), and fuzz (Pharaoh Supreme).

On the topic of Rats, I never hear much about the Bass Mountain or Tremond. Wonder why that is? Seems like the few people who have tried them love them, but all I ever hear about is Broughton, Dunwich/Magic, and Fuzzrocious. Just idle rambling here.

Been a great couple of days, and I hope you're all having as good of a time as I am lately. Keep on doomin'!
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The names sound familiar, but I don't know if I've heard of either. Tbh I think some of it has to be flavor of the week, but idk.
 
#60,964
Best gig of my life last Thursday. Headlined a 3-band all S/D bill we put together. Crowd was epic, great vibes among all the bands. Only glitch was our singer/guitarist/my kid’s trusty old GK (yep that’s their guitar head) going off to the great gig in the sky 2/3 of the way through the second to last song of our set. Kid KILLS as a frontman tho, so all was far from lost. We somehow were at the same time a little thinner in sound but more intense. I’ll take it. Guess I’m not selling that V-4b after all.

Pic tax paid.

F5E0DB3A-BE57-402B-A10A-F1EB465B0CD2.jpeg
 
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#60,966
Novarocker said:
I haven't tried the deluxe yet, and I should have posted up that recently a whataphaser reissue went up for a small run of 10 units...highly recommended to everyone, especially @br1qbat. I almost, and am now kinda kicking myself for not getting a second one, even without having the funds up front.

I also really need to try Matt's heavy weapon. Thing looks great and sounds even better, but I kinda already have 2 great stacking dirt choices I like for my board. I also need to finish out my board and get a couple other projects done.



I feel ya. That's why like for work, I've turned to texting, voice to text messages, and just plain old keeping a day planner with notes. If you didn't know you can text to yourself. Anyway, I just take quick 1-2 min or way less video recordings with my phone camera to "document" the idea. I do have a mobile digital 8 track recorder, but with my limited space, I've yet to really set it up and get quick recordings in there. Another one of my said projects. Baby steps though, that's what matters.



The names sound familiar, but I don't know if I've heard of either. Tbh I think some of it has to be flavor of the week, but idk.
Click to expand...
Don't tempt me with phasers...lol
 
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#60,967
br1qbat said:
Don't tempt me with phasers...lol
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Hehehe, trust me. If you have a serious phaser addiction, you need to look out for a Univox PHZ-1. I need to get mine back in fighting shape, but it is silky and velvety. I've probably posted these two vids in this thread before, but here goes.

A guy plays a country song through one, and even shows the nifty breakup you get by playing through it when you turn it off (it apparently has a bunch of capacitance) :



There's a jack for an "expression" pedal in the back. It's a momentary switch that shifts between the slow and variable settings. I learned this from the bass player of Bummers Eve, who had a momentary switch plugged into his. I'm pretty sure his never went into the off position at all during their show. It was glorious. It doesn't seem anyone makes a copy, and that's a shame. I'd pay for a pedal that reproduced it's sound and also had it's horribly named "video counter" cycling with the rate of the phaser.



And my Whataphaser is probably my second favorite phaser after the PHZ-1. I like all of them, but those are my favorites.
 
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#60,968
scabpicker said:
New Mystery Effects pre-orders are up on IdiotBox effect's page for a guitar pedal and a noisemaker pedal!
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Saw that, jumped on the noise maker...should have done both, haven't checked but probably gonna have to bite the bullet on it.

@br1qbat lol, I feel ya! If you're interested I'm more than open to loaning it out to check it out. I'm thinking of jumping on the DBA disturbance to help save on board space, so it'll probably end up a studio piece...so I'm not opposed to moving it locally either. Hell, I've even thought about sending it to RCO or like pedal pcb, to get a clone. That'd be only after seeing if Matt thinks he won't do more runs of it or add to the lineup like the dark tides.
 
#60,974
Kawai2g4b said:
I jumped on the Star Wars bass pedal preorder last month. They haven’t shipped just yet so I’m just waiting with great anticipation at the moment.
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Hehe, yeah. I had already ordered from that batch back in March. I jumped in and ordered again last month again because I have no idea what's going on. He contacted me asking "Umm, you've already ordered these, are you sure?" I replied that it was a mistake, and thanks for noticing.

My Star Wars guitar pedal should be delivered today. Like you, I'm waiting in anticipation of the bass pedal.
 

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