Stoner/Doom Bassists Thread, Part 90: Maxed Out

[Kaa]

Haha, thank you all.
I am looking to buy ONE new fuzz. Naive me thought your answers would converge on one or two model. A silly assumption

I'd be interested in seeing a bracket of fuzz pedals like the March Madness basketball tournament here. There'd be soooooo much digital fisticuffs!!

 

[Kaa]

Nothin' new to report. Noodled along to some 80's metal on Saturday night. 'Twas fun.

 

[kleinenenten]

I mean, we'd have a problem getting a consensus on a single muff style fuzz. So. . . Welcome to the rabbit hole. Lol

It's clearly that one, from that guy, it's a vintage something or other, or maybe a new take, but half the parts have tolerance levels out of whack, with a dying battery, and it's got to be played by a P Bass with flats and tort. You know - THAT one!

I'd be interested in seeing a bracket of fuzz pedals like the March Madness basketball tournament here. There'd be soooooo much digital fisticuffs!!

I 100% support this. I want to see how insane the bracket starts out. I'm sure we could probably list a hundred variations of Muffs. I think we could realistically do this with each "version" of a Muff to see which is the "best" Tall Font, Bubble Font, Civil War, Ram's Head, etc. That may be the most useful, but not necessarily the most fun.

 

[br1qbat]

We could make a bracket of just fuzz "archetypes"



Big Muff
Superfuzz
Fuzz Face
Fuzz-Rite
Tonebender
Tone Machine
Fender Blender
Scrambler
Fuzz Factory
Bee Baa
Companion Fuzz
Etc...

 

[scabpicker]

Haha, thank you all.
I am looking to buy ONE new fuzz. Naive me thought your answers would converge on one or two model. A silly assumption

Hehehe, well, if you're just looking for what your first Fuzz should be, I'd suggest an inexpensive Muff or Super-Fuzz variant. If you can't decide which to go with, then why not both? You can get a Behringer SF-300 for about $30, and a Moen Fuzz Moo for about $50. Those are the cheapest way into the two basic "families" of fuzz that I know of (but that can discussion get really off into the weeds), and you can figure out if you need anything besides those later (like when the SF-300 finally breaks, it's in a plastic case).

Because if I could have only two forms of dirt, it'd be a Big Muff variant of some kind and a Super-Fuzz. Most of the suggested pedals are a variant of one of those, or a Sola Tone Bender, which is a lot like the Super-Fuzz, if not exactly related.


Apropos of nothing, I'm gonna go to Dark Lord Day at Three Floyds as part of a trip to Chicago in May! High on Fire is headlining this year! I'm not super familiar with the rest of the lineup, but it is an interesting mix. I'm flying, so five days without a bass or guitar, but I can tote a keyboard with me. I'll probably bring the Micro Freak. If anyone has anything they suggest eating while in Chicago, let me know!

 

[bassboysam]

someone should reissue the Fender Sub-Lime, in a reasonable enclosure.

 

[kleinenenten]

If you're looking for a first fuzz and wanting to stay on a budget, I'd recommend the Swollen Pickle. It is readily available, incredibly versatile, affordable, and can take a beating. Of course, it can take time to find your exact tone, so if you're not one to twiddle knobs, I'd go for one of the readily Muffs being mass-produced these days. Many of the current EHX run are solid, as well as the Way Huge Russian Pickle.

 

[davedamage]

Hehehe, well, if you're just looking for what your first Fuzz should be, I'd suggest an inexpensive Muff or Super-Fuzz variant. If you can't decide which to go with, then why not both? You can get a Behringer SF-300 for about $30, and a Moen Fuzz Moo for about $50. Those are the cheapest way into the two basic "families" of fuzz that I know of (but that can discussion get really off into the weeds), and you can figure out if you need anything besides those later (like when the SF-300 finally breaks, it's in a plastic case).

Because if I could have only two forms of dirt, it'd be a Big Muff variant of some kind and a Super-Fuzz. Most of the suggested pedals are a variant of one of those, or a Sola Tone Bender, which is a lot like the Super-Fuzz, if not exactly related.


Apropos of nothing, I'm gonna go to Dark Lord Day at Three Floyds as part of a trip to Chicago in May! High on Fire is headlining this year! I'm not super familiar with the rest of the lineup, but it is an interesting mix. I'm flying, so five days without a bass or guitar, but I can tote a keyboard with me. I'll probably bring the Micro Freak. If anyone has anything they suggest eating while in Chicago, let me know!

Kumas!

Kuma's Corner – The Best Burgers on the Planet

 

[scabpicker]

Kumas!

Kuma's Corner – The Best Burgers on the Planet

Hehehe, my friend that I'm going to Dark Lord Day with has mentioned them. Even though I'm personally offended they don't have a Melvins offering, I'm pretty sure a Melvins burger would challenge whether you knew what a burger was in the first place. So, I'll lobby to eat there one day. Hopefully we can have them right after check into our hotel, because I'm sure we'll be hungry by then.

 

[Deleted member 380707]

Big Muff
Superfuzz
Fuzz Face
Fuzz-Rite
Tonebender
Tone Machine
Fender Blender
Scrambler
Fuzz Factory
Bee Baa
Companion Fuzz
Etc...

Have to try one of each then. poopie! (edit: wait what...tb autocorrects s*h*i*t to poopie? thats hillarious!)

if you're just looking for what your first Fuzz should be, I'd suggest an inexpensive Muff or Super-Fuzz variant.

Thanks! I own several muff variants (all EHX) and a fuzz factory. The latter I dont like, too glitchy. Mostly concerned with good live sound. Therefore should be heavy but somewhat tame so FOH doesnt get scared for their PA. The muffs do a good job for a compact, riffy sound but are not heavy enough for the full-on doom parts. Also the tone knob is not ideal. I want to have the pushing lows AND the cutting high mids, not either or.

If you're looking for a first fuzz and wanting to stay on a budget, I'd recommend the Swollen Pickle.

Budget is not that much of a concern but I heard good things about the pickle. Its a muff variant right?

 

[kleinenenten]

Budget is not that much of a concern but I heard good things about the pickle. Its a muff variant right?

Yes, it's a heavily modified Muff. It can be a bit intimidating, but I've found this video to help immensely in understanding how it works. When I really need to mess with it, I find that re-watching it helps.

 

[Matt-J2]

Watching with interest since I too want a first fuzz/muff/etc.

But then...what's the difference between a muff and a fuzz? Or was that mentioned recently and I missed that?

 

[davedamage]

All muffs are fuzzes but not all fuzzes are muffs.

 

[scabpicker]

But then...what's the difference between a muff and a fuzz? Or was that mentioned recently and I missed that?

Well, that kind of gets into my mentioning that this discussion can get off into the weeds. Short answer: there's no sharply defined difference between distortion and fuzz. It's really a question of degree. When it starts to get capable of really high gain, people start calling them fuzzes. For instance, in my mind the HM-2 is a basically a fuzz because it can get so nasty. Most people call it a distortion.

A Muff goes about creating its large amounts of gain by cascading several different gain stages, basically stacking several distortion pedals. A Super-Fuzz goes about it with a set of diodes and IIRC, one gain stage to generate the octave. Different ways of going about altering your signal, but they sound kind of similar to our ear, so we call 'em fuzzes.

 

[Matt-J2]

Well, that kind of gets into my mentioning that this discussion can get off into the weeds. Short answer: there's no sharply defined difference between distortion and fuzz. It's really a question of degree. When it starts to get capable of really high gain, people start calling them fuzzes. For instance, in my mind the HM-2 is a basically a fuzz because it can get so nasty. Most people call it a distortion.

A Muff goes about creating its large amounts of gain by cascading several different gain stages, basically stacking several distortion pedals. A Super-Fuzz goes about it with a set of diodes and IIRC, one gain stage to generate the octave. Different ways of going about altering your signal, but they sound kind of similar to our ear, so we call 'em fuzzes.

Thanks!

 

[br1qbat]

Have to try one of each then. poopie! (edit: wait what...tb autocorrects s*h*i*t to poopie? thats hillarious!)


Thanks! I own several muff variants (all EHX) and a fuzz factory. The latter I dont like, too glitchy. Mostly concerned with good live sound. Therefore should be heavy but somewhat tame so FOH doesnt get scared for their PA. The muffs do a good job for a compact, riffy sound but are not heavy enough for the full-on doom parts. Also the tone knob is not ideal. I want to have the pushing lows AND the cutting high mids, not either or.


Budget is not that much of a concern but I heard good things about the pickle. Its a muff variant right?

Since you already have checked out several Muffs, I'd heartily recommend a Superfuzz, as it sounds closer to what you are after.

 

[br1qbat]

Also a cheap way into trying out Fuzzes are the cheapo brands on Amazon.

For example if you'd like to try out my fave flavour of fuzz, the Foxx Tone Machine, there's the Joyo Voodoo Octave, usually like $30ish. I have one which I keep as a backup and it's a dang fine Tone Machine. Also the old plastic Danelectro French Toast which can also be had for cheap.

 

[scabpicker]

Also the old plastic Danelectro French Toast which can also be had for cheap.

Yep, though it is discontinued, and can be kind of pricy used. I think I got the last new one from GC in 2020, because it took them like a month to ship it. I love it. The only used one I see on Reverb right now is $65, which is twice what I paid for mine new. Though there is someone selling a combo of the Tuna Melt, BLT and French Toast for $125. So if you want a trem and an echo, that's not a bad deal.

 

[cornfarmer]

Danelectro Cool Cat Fuzz is basically a Muff, with good bass response. Kind of under the radar and prices vary wildly. It's a fun/cheap project rehousing it into something cooler and getting rid of the horrid original enclosure.

 

[Novarocker]

Hehehe, well, if you're just looking for what your first Fuzz should be, I'd suggest an inexpensive Muff or Super-Fuzz variant. If you can't decide which to go with, then why not both? You can get a Behringer SF-300 for about $30, and a Moen Fuzz Moo for about $50. Those are the cheapest way into the two basic "families" of fuzz that I know of (but that can discussion get really off into the weeds), and you can figure out if you need anything besides those later (like when the SF-300 finally breaks, it's in a plastic case).

Because if I could have only two forms of dirt, it'd be a Big Muff variant of some kind and a Super-Fuzz. Most of the suggested pedals are a variant of one of those, or a Sola Tone Bender, which is a lot like the Super-Fuzz, if not exactly related.


Apropos of nothing, I'm gonna go to Dark Lord Day at Three Floyds as part of a trip to Chicago in May! High on Fire is headlining this year! I'm not super familiar with the rest of the lineup, but it is an interesting mix. I'm flying, so five days without a bass or guitar, but I can tote a keyboard with me. I'll probably bring the Micro Freak. If anyone has anything they suggest eating while in Chicago, let me know!

Nice! Didn't even know about this...gotta see if I got room for it. How do you like the micro freak? Live mi micro brute, grab and go making awesome sounds instantly is so fun.

For those looking into fuzzes, lots of good advice all round. Honestly it's a journey and there's no telling what's gonna be it for ya.

Not sure how true it is, but fuzz first came about from a circuit that partially failed and clipped the signal way hard. Can't remember the full story but it was on a recording console and happened during a bass solo no less. Some either country or possibly a Mrs. Sinatra track. I believe it was first replicated by essentially square wave clipping. Clipping the signal so hard it no longer had any "curvy wave" with cut off peaks and valleys (like overdrive and distortion), just straight cliffs up and down.

I'm no tech novice even, but if I understand it remotely right from an electronics perspective, @scabpicker is essentially right. Any clipping of an audio signal is considered audio distortion. The degree to which it's clipped seems to essentially be subjective and ranging from mild harmonics and clipping from overdrive, through distortion (which can also be wicked high gain), to fuzz which is just no holds barred battle royal sound wave annihilation. That's not to say low gain fuzz can't be all that and a bag of chips though.

I concur on all the talk of the cheap clones and fuzzes out there. Great way to try stuff, especially when bought used. RCO, CMC, sketchy sounds, and countless others make great affordable but really well built clones and modded pedals. Most all of em do custom work too. These would be a step up generally in part quality and probably durability on average too.

If you have a couple muffs, I agree on the SF/Foxx tone path. Check out Andy demos to get a feel for the differences between the two. Obviously guitar, but you'll get the idea of what character and voicing they have to offer. I'm sure there's tons of other demos too. Green amps Hornet is a Foxx tone I think as well, idiotbox has an excellent SF and a ton of other heavy gain pedals. The dungeon master might actually be what you're looking for. You want the lows and the high mids, it has both in spades. It's got nasty muff breakup, but adds in some SF octave character too.