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Stoner/Doom Bassists Thread, Part 90: Maxed Out
- Thread starter Korladis
- Start date
Honestly was half the reson I flipped the Pickle I had way back, deserves another go for sure though.
I've heard good things about CMC, thanks for all the more in depth talk. BTW, if you haven't tried one before, I think they have an Elk clone. It may overtake your fav type. Like a civil war and Russian in one. Solid mids, wooly but able to cut through a mix with solid clarity to boot.
I concur with Rats. I've used em at low gain with much greater preference than high gain. In fact, isn't that the basis of the blowerbox circuit?
@saucypebble he's likely using the pre shape on the ashdowns. It adds tons of low heft and brightness, but with all the cuts he's doing that's probably tamed the highs and muddy freqs on the low end. Those ashdown amps are wicked versatile, unlike some reviews you may hear here and there saying they're old-school sounding only.
If I get some time to tweak and do so with some volume, I'll see if I can replicate his settings and see what it sounds like.
I've had the Swollen Pickle on at least 3 different occasions, but now, I'll never be without one. I currently have 3 for various boards and uses. If one pops up for the right price, I may get another!
CMC DOES have an Elk, but I'm unfamiliar with that one. Any tone examples? Your description seems like I should add it to my list... I get the feeling that over the course of the next few months I'll be collecting many of his boxes.
I had thought the Blower Box was supposed to be high gain? I know it was originally his take at Blacky from Voivod's bass tone, from when the album credited him as playing "Blower Bass". I'll have to try the Blower Box Deluxe again one day. It's still in my stash, but I didn't try it for low gain. Maybe now is the time!
Here's the Wren & Cuff White Elk I got in the holiday mystery box:
No clue what your settings are, but that is DEFINITELY gainier than I go for! Thus far, I'm liking the CMC Civil War at 9:00 for gain, and it's apparently the gainiest of the Russian varieties. I also liked it at 10:30, but can't see that being used often. I'm kind of hoping that one the other Russian clones gives me a wider range of travel on the gain knob to really hone in on the exact amount of dirt I want, so maybe I can get to 12:00 or more on those. We'll see. Either way, the Civil War sounds awesome how I have it, and I plan on keeping it. If nothing else, I'll put it on guitar, as I definitely like gainier tones on guitar than bass. It'll be a while, though, since both of my guitar amps are still at the shop for around another month or so.
This reminds me of The Jesus Lizard and Helmet at the same time. Really dig this.
Howdy, its been a while. I hope everyone has been keeping well.
Anybody use a One Control Hooker's Green Bass Machine? How's it compare to a Pork Loin? The ONLY pedal I don't have a backup tone for is my Pork Loin. Never found anything that quite does what it does. For me, it's a low gain tube drive style pedal, that can double as a slightly dirty boost into the others. I don't hear much about the HGBM, but it's piqued my interest and is affordable. I've got most of the dirt sections of my boards completely different now, which is always fun. Trying to fill in that last gap!
In other bass news, I'm planning on learning some decidedly non-doom stuff. But it should be fun.
In other bass news, I'm planning on learning some decidedly non-doom stuff. But it should be fun.
I have a HGBM but never tried a Pork Loin.
Have lots of BJFe and One Control pedals. Dig ‘em all.
However sounds to me like you’re describing something like a BlackBerry or Saturn VI. Maybe a Blueberry.
Yob’s “Clearing A Path To Ascend” is all Blueberry on bass, FWIW.
Or get a 2nd Pork Loin?
I actually have 2 Pork Loins, just looking to diversify. I've tried the Dunwich ODB and the Darkglass VMT, but neither is quite right. I'll look for those others, too. Thanks for the suggestions.
That's the same as I recall, but I could swear a lot of people said it is a take on a rat in some way. I could easily be totally wrong. Anyway, I really dig it on lower gain, round 9 to 11 o'clock. I think it would shine with a blend, the deluxe has one right?
The Hizumitas from EQD is a clone of an Elk. Wata from Boris has used one for a long time, which is what inspired the EQD pedal. It can definitely rip, but the clarity and ability for less overwhelming gain in the lower reaches were big pluses in my book. The midrange and heft was awesome too.
Only reason I got rid of it was for power supply and the need for a fuzz and a boost, hence the heavy weapon I ended up on after a couple other really good pedals.
@bassboysam great to see ya back round. These parts haven't changed too much. Pace ebbs and flows still.
Spent more time today trying to downsize the collection. I think I did a decent job adding a few to the chopping block.
Some observations that may interest some of you:
Blower Box Deluxe - Still cuts like crazy, and yet doesn't sound terribly dirty in the mix. It's like just adding treble to your signal. This was pretty much at most - if not all - settings I found usable. Also - all at 18v, which I still prefer. Tried low gain tones since I think I prefer those for Rats, but this box wasn't doing it for me today.
Iron Pig - I like the tone of the distortion, but I feel that the blend is lacking. The cleans sound dull, and it's not my strings because none of the other pedals sound like that.
Ibanez PD7 - I said a long while ago that this was a B3K killer, and I still believe that. But after A/B'ing a bunch of pedals lately, I'd say this is actually closer tone-wise to my preferred settings on my MBD2s. Which is a win, because those definitely beat out my B3K for those tones! So this is officially my modern metal tone on board 2.
HM-2s - I've come to realize I prefer less hi-fi HM-2 tones. The Bear Amps Heavier Metal is the winner here, as it's pure chainsaw, but with chunkier grit if that makes sense. The Throat Locust and old LHW both have finer grit, and seem more "natural" if that makes sense for an HM-2. And "natural" doesn't go with HM-2 tones I want.
Beyond all the jamming , learning "Only For The Weak" by In Flames, and comparing pedals, I'm impatiently waiting for my CMC Muffs and guitar amps to be ready. Only about a month for each... I spent plenty of time reading today too, so it's been a solid weekend. Back to the book - hoping to finish a study on Gawain & The Green Knight tonight.
Some observations that may interest some of you:
Blower Box Deluxe - Still cuts like crazy, and yet doesn't sound terribly dirty in the mix. It's like just adding treble to your signal. This was pretty much at most - if not all - settings I found usable. Also - all at 18v, which I still prefer. Tried low gain tones since I think I prefer those for Rats, but this box wasn't doing it for me today.
Iron Pig - I like the tone of the distortion, but I feel that the blend is lacking. The cleans sound dull, and it's not my strings because none of the other pedals sound like that.
Ibanez PD7 - I said a long while ago that this was a B3K killer, and I still believe that. But after A/B'ing a bunch of pedals lately, I'd say this is actually closer tone-wise to my preferred settings on my MBD2s. Which is a win, because those definitely beat out my B3K for those tones! So this is officially my modern metal tone on board 2.
HM-2s - I've come to realize I prefer less hi-fi HM-2 tones. The Bear Amps Heavier Metal is the winner here, as it's pure chainsaw, but with chunkier grit if that makes sense. The Throat Locust and old LHW both have finer grit, and seem more "natural" if that makes sense for an HM-2. And "natural" doesn't go with HM-2 tones I want.
Beyond all the jamming , learning "Only For The Weak" by In Flames, and comparing pedals, I'm impatiently waiting for my CMC Muffs and guitar amps to be ready. Only about a month for each... I spent plenty of time reading today too, so it's been a solid weekend. Back to the book - hoping to finish a study on Gawain & The Green Knight tonight.
It IS a Rat, just a high gain one I think. The deluxe has a low pass filter and accompanying knob, as well as separate wet/dry volumes. It's not that it didn't sound good in the mix - it certainly did. But I felt like the dirt just disappeared in the mix. And I hate that! I'll have to try your gain settings. Can't remember exactly what I did, but my go to was high gain, low blend. Maybe I'll try low gain and high blend and see how that goes.
I'll have to find some more bass examples of the Elk. The ones I've seen so far are not my style, but they've all been high gain. I tend to like lower gain fuzz on bass. Nothing too crazy. I can't see using anything gainier than a Civil War, Muff-wise at least.
Isn't the Elk very similar to a Triangle Muff? Though I know vintage Triangle Muffs are supposedly pretty variable... I'd second its probably tuned to be like the Hizumitas, since thats the Elk sound most would be familiar with and would be after.
thanks, good to be back. haven't picked up a bass in about 2 years. Hoping to start jamming with the guys again, but it will need to be something very different to keep me interested.
2 years? Dang. You're too good to not play.
I'll snag a photo of the settings I'm using. Honestly, I'm contemplating finding someone that could mod it to add a clean blend. I know what you mean about the grit kinda being lost. I notice it a bit, but the amount of cut and clarity in parallel with the dungeon master is outstanding. I set the DM to a wooly, low mid heavy fuzz with some of the octave presence. Then when I add in the Blower Box, it just jumps out with tons of clarity, brightness that's not hard, but has a weird seeming to clear up while almost seeming to increase gain too. It's so weird, honestly the reason why I love the heavy weapon.
I feel ya, I've yet to really come out of hiatus yet either. Started figuring out how to record and putting down some new material ideas, but nothing fully concrete yet. Amen on wanting to branch out in lots of different directions.
Hopefully this works, but here's the Heavy weapon used almost the whole time after you hear it engage early on. I was messing with learning how to use the new delay. Just before 3 minutes in and in bits and pieces through I add in the dungeon side as well. I'm using my sterling ss stingray in single coil mode and just a DI with simple guitar 4x12 cab sim (quilter phantom block) into the board.
Here's the settings I've been using it at, top is the Blower Box. L to R are low, high, gain, volume
@br1qbat I think you're right, like a Japanese copy or something of the triangle when it first came out. I never even heard of the Elk or saw a clone until the EQD release. So probably right about what CMC's is a clone of. Makes sense, it's a very versatile muff from what I tried. Lower-ish gain to a hell of a lot with even more output volume on tap, and a tone knob that achieves a wide sweep with some hefty mids (for a muff) and some spots that still give the solid muff scoop.
The audio sample (I assume that's what it was?) needs permission or access or something to be opened, so I can't listen to it. In regards to the settings, I'm thinking I may just not be a Blower Box fan after all. I distinctly remember trying nearly identical settings, and yes - it jumped out of the mix - but it just sounded almost completely clean. I guess I'll stick with my Volt Thrower clone/s and Bass Mountain, which are currently my go-to Rats. Tremond is an incredibly close #3.
As far as the CMC Elk/Hizumitas clone goes, it's potentially more versatile than the original. CMC has added his typical "shape" control, which is described as being a mids control. So if you like the Hizumitas as a base, this one could be better suited. I seriously think I'll be picking up a few Muffs in the near future, just for variety's sake. I'm really digging the Muff tones lately for all sorts of stuff. I was jamming to In Flames with my Swollen Pickle earlier and quite enjoyed it!
Speaking of jamming to In Flames... Anybody use a bass capo? Is that a thing? I was thinking of getting one since so many songs I want to learn are only a half or whole step off of what I already have basses tuned to. In Flames, Dismember, Amon Amarth - apparently many of the Swedish bands I would learn songs from require different tunings. I could transpose a few notes here and there and not have to set up a whole new bass with different strings, intonation, relief etc. (because I KNOW I would do that eventually since I'm a freak like that...). Is there anything I'm missing with a capo? Never really used one before, so I have no clue what's up, besides just clamping it on and having my open strings being higher pitch than usual.
