Stoner/Doom Bassists Thread, Part 90: Maxed Out

[voosies]

To start, the MXR phase 100 or phase 45 for bass. For advanced, find a used Blackout Effectors Whetstone. For different, but startlingly effective: a Peavey Musician Mark III head (with the built-in phaser). You can blend the channels, one of which has the phaser (keep this one treble and mid heavy), and the other you can dial in your lower and mid frequencies.

I too have a Mark III Musician. Also need to get that fixed , got it for $25 but it has some nasty crossover distortion and I have a gut feeling it's leaking DC from the speaker jacks too. From the short time I have played it, the built in phaser is one of the best I've ever heard

 

[voosies]

To complement my rambling post above, what ever took me 25 years of bass to learn the absolute classic that is Black Sabbath? I decided to learn a new song yesterday, and was absolutely determined to do so, regardless of whatever else I needed to do. So as the day wore on, and the other tasks started to chip away at bass time, I figured it would need to be something relatively simple. Lo and behold, what popped up on my playlist as I did my chores but Black Sabbath. That was it! Nice, simple, thundering bass. Plenty of room for improv (not that I'm doing that, but a loose enough feel that I don't have to memorize the exact timing of his single-note fills throughout the song), heavy as heck, and just plain fun to play. Honestly, the hardest part is that it requires such volume dynamics, and my dirt pedals make that a bit more difficult without turning them on/off throughout. Certainly the Doom Hammer is lacking in the loud/quiet dynamics! Much of my dirt is in a similar situation. But that's doable as well by switching between clean/dirty tones.

As per my previous statements about the "saw" capabilities, I think I may have nailed it regarding hot pickups. With my "Designed by EMG" pickups in my C-tuned Ibanez, it wasn't quite as aggressive or "saw-like" - definitely more on the stoner/doom end of the spectrum. Can still get to "saw" territory by upping the tone to appropriate levels. Really digging this pedal. The Swollen Pickle is most certainly the better fuzz overall with its endless options, but if this is the tone you want/need, the Doom Hammer

Nearly a week later, and it happened. The Doom Hammer lives up to its name. I bought it for my guitar board, and was very much surprised by it. Generally, I'm not a fan of "all the gain" type stuff (HM-2 notwithstanding), but this one seemed different. It's much more usable than I expected, and kinda bridges the gap between HM-2 and Muff. I have absolutely no experience with other op amp Muffs, so I can't comment on how accurate it is to that era, but I'm really digging it.

It's got more bass and fewer piercing highs than an HM-2 (which I like!), but is also slightly looser and with fewer highs overall like a Muff. I'm really digging it for an HM-2 alternative, which is NOT what I expected, though I had heard some reviews mention its "saw" qualities. Of those, I seem to get into "saw" territory earlier on the tone knob than others (I get it around 1:00, others have mentioned 2:00-3:00 or so). Perhaps I'm hitting it with hotter pickups - Black Winters and Nazgul/Sentient combo - or maybe it's my solid 30 year old state Peavey rig reacting differently than the tube amps and fancy stuff that the demos used. Whatever it was, I'm not complaining. I've got it about 10:30 on the gain, anywhere from 10:00 to 2:00 on tone depending on what tone I need, and volume as needed (which is much higher than expected at 2:00ish, but still has plenty of travel left). The tone knob seems to be the most important knob, as anything past (+ or -) what I previously mentioned gets into unusable territory pretty quickly for me. Currently at about 11:00 on the tone knob, it sounds like a much gainier version of my Priestess - which I'm definitely enjoying. At 1:00 or so, it becomes a bassier At The Gates/Amon Amarth tone. Jamming to those songs sounded awesome - if you like those tones but want a bit more bass or slightly looser, this is a great fit.

On bass, I'm also rather surprised. It doesn't quite have the versatility on bass as it does on guitar (not that it's incredibly versatile on guitar, just LOTS of gain!), but it's very much usable. I use the same settings as mentioned before, with the tone usually around 10:00, and probably never above noon. With that tone setting, I don't notice any bass loss. I think the added gain just heaps on so much distortion, mid, and high end content that many people might think there's bass loss. But really, there's just a big spike in the other frequencies. For all of the extra gain and compression, I find it way more dynamic than I would have expected and far less noisy as well. I feel like my B3K (which isn't exactly quiet) is noisier. Anyway, I'd say it's very much usable for S/D type stuff on bass, and I was not expecting to enjoy it as much as I did on bass. I had assumed it'd be one of the fastest "nopes" on bass I'd ever had, as gobs of gain are NOT my thing on the low end. But instead I found myself happily jamming along to Sabbath and Metallica, and while it clearly wasn't the original tone, it was a workable one!

Anyway, I'm happy to have added this to the arsenal. Now, I may need to find an(other) affordable Russian Pickle. I think I may finally have started to enjoy more gain on my pedals the last few months. (What took me so long, hanging out in this thread all these years?)

Been wondering about those too! A friend of mine delving into doom/sludge bought one, I recommended him a few pedals he ended up adding too. Strobostomp tuner, Life Pedal V3, BOSS LS-2, and also a BOSS NS-2. He runs the Life Pedal into the Doom Hammer in one loop of the LS-2, patches the other loop with a cable to blend some clean signal in, and then puts all of the dirt into the loop of his NS-2 since his amp has no FX loop to use the 4 cable method, tuner into the actual input of the NS-2, and output of the NS-2 into the amp. He's running an Orange AD200 plus two 4x10s, or two 1x15s depending on his mood

 

[kleinenenten]

Been wondering about those too! A friend of mine delving into doom/sludge bought one, I recommended him a few pedals he ended up adding too. Strobostomp tuner, Life Pedal V3, BOSS LS-2, and also a BOSS NS-2. He runs the Life Pedal into the Doom Hammer in one loop of the LS-2, patches the other loop with a cable to blend some clean signal in, and then puts all of the dirt into the loop of his NS-2 since his amp has no FX loop to use the 4 cable method, tuner into the actual input of the NS-2, and output of the NS-2 into the amp. He's running an Orange AD200 plus two 4x10s, or two 1x15s depending on his mood

Those sound fun! I've done well not adding things to my stable for a long while. I may grab a Russian Pickle, then wait until I can find something for a steal again. I'm wondering if maybe a LSTR would be similar to the Doom Hammer, as it's described as a gainier Muff than the Pharaoh or Priestess. And I need to keep getting rid of some pedals I've hoarded and no longer use, as well as fixing up some that have gone bad. I also think one of my guitar amps needs checked - on low notes (when hit with a hefty open B) it fuzzes out. I remember something similar happening a few years ago with my 400RB, and it ended up being the preamp. So really, I'm mostly trying to maintain my gear at this point, and adding very little overall. I'm mostly GAS-free these days, thankfully.

 

[voosies]

Those sound fun! I've done well not adding things to my stable for a long while. I may grab a Russian Pickle, then wait until I can find something for a steal again. I'm wondering if maybe a LSTR would be similar to the Doom Hammer, as it's described as a gainier Muff than the Pharaoh or Priestess. And I need to keep getting rid of some pedals I've hoarded and no longer use, as well as fixing up some that have gone bad. I also think one of my guitar amps needs checked - on low notes (when hit with a hefty open B) it fuzzes out. I remember something similar happening a few years ago with my 400RB, and it ended up being the preamp. So really, I'm mostly trying to maintain my gear at this point, and adding very little overall. I'm mostly GAS-free these days, thankfully.

I have far too many pedals at this point but my most used drive on bass is a Sovtek Tall Font Green Russian Big Muff, I can't get it to sound bad no matter what I do. I am GASing for some more gear since my birthday is tomorrow but thankfully it's not as bad as it used to be. The 400RB is worth getting fixed, they're stellar amps! Possible capacitor issue, however, I would also try it with other basses in different tunings to see if it's possibly that specific bass clipping the preamp

 

[voosies]

This thing is my baby

 

[voosies]

I have far too many pedals at this point but my most used drive on bass is a Sovtek Tall Font Green Russian Big Muff, I can't get it to sound bad no matter what I do. I am GASing for some more gear since my birthday is tomorrow but thankfully it's not as bad as it used to be. The 400RB is worth getting fixed, they're stellar amps! Possible capacitor issue, however, I would also try it with other basses in different tunings to see if it's possibly that specific bass clipping the preamp

Also just realized you meant it was another amp and not your 400RB

 

[mpdd]

Facebook

www.facebook.com

y'all think they're might be something wrong with this ray?

also there's some orange peel on the back of the headstock of my newish L2000, as somebody who works at a guitar refinisher that's no bueno

 

[Kaa]

Did y'all see my NBD post? Really enjoying the bass, now I'm getting to know it better. And by that, I mean, I'm contemplating glueing the selector switch in the P-only position, lol.

sound-wise, it sounds like a nice P/J, weight isn't too bad, going from short-scales back to 34" is a bit of an adjustment, but, since I got the new shoulder, it's not painful. Doing a lot more Simandl technique though, with the wider fret spacing.

Playing along with some Meters in my basement the bass fits right in to the funky pocket. Nails the bass tone on "Poppa Was A Rolling Stone" as well.

Got some Chromes on it, and have been running my fingers through my greasy hair to get them nice and dull.

It ran me $485 out the door including the strings and tax, so, I figured it was comparable to a solid USA P/J, being made from American parts and assembled in Canada. (Before they hated us, lol.) Nice slim Jazz neck which has helped my arthritic left thumb a lot. Got the action down to about 2mm with just a little fret-buzz, so it plays pretty easy. (PSA: a nickel is 1.95mm, so I used that as my measuring tool.)

I am hoping to get to a buddy's house to run it through my amp (SABDDI V.1 into a SS combo) to see if it really sounds as good out loud as it does in my 'phones.

 

[kleinenenten]

Did y'all see my NBD post? Really enjoying the bass, now I'm getting to know it better. And by that, I mean, I'm contemplating glueing the selector switch in the P-only position, lol.

sound-wise, it sounds like a nice P/J, weight isn't too bad, going from short-scales back to 34" is a bit of an adjustment, but, since I got the new shoulder, it's not painful. Doing a lot more Simandl technique though, with the wider fret spacing.

Playing along with some Meters in my basement the bass fits right in to the funky pocket. Nails the bass tone on "Poppa Was A Rolling Stone" as well.

Got some Chromes on it, and have been running my fingers through my greasy hair to get them nice and dull.

It ran me $485 out the door including the strings and tax, so, I figured it was comparable to a solid USA P/J, being made from American parts and assembled in Canada. (Before they hated us, lol.) Nice slim Jazz neck which has helped my arthritic left thumb a lot. Got the action down to about 2mm with just a little fret-buzz, so it plays pretty easy. (PSA: a nickel is 1.95mm, so I used that as my measuring tool.)

I am hoping to get to a buddy's house to run it through my amp (SABDDI V.1 into a SS combo) to see if it really sounds as good out loud as it does in my 'phones.

New shoulder = new gear? Maybe there is a bright side to when I inevitably need something done to my knees... Sounds like a great bass!

 

[Speedor]

I went down the rabbit hole of fuzz collecting the last few months, got myself a Team Awesome Fuzz Machine, a Pharaoh, Fat Fuzz Factory, a Swamp Lord and a Black Emperor and all I found out is that I love big muffs. Now I'm stuck with too many fuzzes and using only one (Swamp Lord).

 

[Bleezar]

When I have difficulties to let go pedals I don't "need" anymore, I tend to record a demo, or a track of some sort (could be just some riffs I want to recall) to keep an archive, it gets more easy after that
Or, if you can, you can now capture it in a NAM file you can use anytime you want in your daw or a nam loader pedal

 

[kleinenenten]

I went down the rabbit hole of fuzz collecting the last few months, got myself a Team Awesome Fuzz Machine, a Pharaoh, Fat Fuzz Factory, a Swamp Lord and a Black Emperor and all I found out is that I love big muffs. Now I'm stuck with too many fuzzes and using only one (Swamp Lord).

Pharaoh is a classic. I need to get my Supremes' footswitches sorted. Probably getting a Russian Pickle soon, as I was rather happy with the Doom Hammer on guitar and want something smoother and creamier on bass to accompany it. Should be a good pairing. I've gotten rid of many fuzzes the past year, because as much as I liked them, they weren't going to get used. But I feel like the Muff family has so many excellent tones and variations that any fuzz fan should at least have a few in the stable. And from what I hear and my own limited experience, I'm almost always a Muff fan, but not often a "fuzz" fan. Assuming it's not too pricey, or I wait until I can find a deal, I often get duplicates of my favorite Muffs as I like them on both guitar and bass pretty equally. I've got a fairly arbitrary (i.e. occasionally broken) rule that if I can get the pedal for about $80, and it's good enough to be or compete with my #1 of that circuit, then I should just get a duplicate as it's very likely I'll have it on two boards simultaneously.

Here's my current Muff stable:
Swollen Pickle (x2)
CMC Effects Bubble Font (x2)
CMC Effects Fall Font
CMC Civil War
Doom Hammer
Pharaoh Supreme (x2)
Priestess (x2)

Random, but also related question: anybody else keep a log of their current gear? I've got a document that has all of my pedals, amps, cab, basses/guitars etc. and their important info (serial numbers etc.) so I can always remember what I have when GAS hits. Seems to help curb my impulses, as well as remind me of fun pedals I haven't used in a while. I also keep quick notes, like which ones are up for trade or need a fix.

 

[cornfarmer]

The spice must flow

 

[Speedor]

Random, but also related question: anybody else keep a log of their current gear? I've got a document that has all of my pedals, amps, cab, basses/guitars etc. and their important info (serial numbers etc.) so I can always remember what I have when GAS hits. Seems to help curb my impulses, as well as remind me of fun pedals I haven't used in a while. I also keep quick notes, like which ones are up for trade or need a fix.

I used to keep and update a list like that, but every time I was starting a new project, too much was being bought and sold and I eventually gave up. I miss some of the stuff, but things had to go to make place for new things. I’m at the end of another cycle like that, since my second musical project is nearing the end of writing material and unused things will be sold soon.

 

[Kaa]

Pharaoh is a classic. I need to get my Supremes' footswitches sorted. Probably getting a Russian Pickle soon, as I was rather happy with the Doom Hammer on guitar and want something smoother and creamier on bass to accompany it. Should be a good pairing. I've gotten rid of many fuzzes the past year, because as much as I liked them, they weren't going to get used. But I feel like the Muff family has so many excellent tones and variations that any fuzz fan should at least have a few in the stable. And from what I hear and my own limited experience, I'm almost always a Muff fan, but not often a "fuzz" fan. Assuming it's not too pricey, or I wait until I can find a deal, I often get duplicates of my favorite Muffs as I like them on both guitar and bass pretty equally. I've got a fairly arbitrary (i.e. occasionally broken) rule that if I can get the pedal for about $80, and it's good enough to be or compete with my #1 of that circuit, then I should just get a duplicate as it's very likely I'll have it on two boards simultaneously.

Here's my current Muff stable:
Swollen Pickle (x2)
CMC Effects Bubble Font (x2)
CMC Effects Fall Font
CMC Civil War
Doom Hammer
Pharaoh Supreme (x2)
Priestess (x2)

Random, but also related question: anybody else keep a log of their current gear? I've got a document that has all of my pedals, amps, cab, basses/guitars etc. and their important info (serial numbers etc.) so I can always remember what I have when GAS hits. Seems to help curb my impulses, as well as remind me of fun pedals I haven't used in a while. I also keep quick notes, like which ones are up for trade or need a fix.

I only have 9 pieces of gear, so, it's not really needed.

1guitar
3 basses
2 bass amps
1 guitar amp
2 pedals

 

[kleinenenten]

I used to keep and update a list like that, but every time I was starting a new project, too much was being bought and sold and I eventually gave up. I miss some of the stuff, but things had to go to make place for new things. I’m at the end of another cycle like that, since my second musical project is nearing the end of writing material and unused things will be sold soon.

I think I'm at a point similar to that right now. Getting a few things for the collection, but trimming much more off. Proceeds will likely go to repairs on various pieces of gear at this point. Nothing exciting or fancy - just footswitches (hopefully) and a guitar amp (which probably has something going on in the preamp).

 

[mpdd]

got to try out the 2009 stingray today with the practice setup, it didn't go too well
the fender rumble 25 bit the dust, it was probably the mxr poly octave on the one octave down minimum setting with minimum fuzz engaged
or it could have been the spatial delivery putting out some sub tones too in industrial accident mode

Do i need to be concerned about blowing out my orange obc115 speakers with the octave pedal and my mesa boogie d180?

 

[davedamage]

I wouldn't think so. I run a Mesa TT800 and a Traynor YBA300 into a stack of OBC115s and they've never broken a sweat. They're 400w RMS. They got balls. However, I run a HPF most times, too.

 

[mpdd]

I wouldn't think so. I run a Mesa TT800 and a Traynor YBA300 into a stack of OBC115s and they've never broken a sweat. They're 400w RMS. They got balls. However, I run a HPF most times, too.

thanks for the input, that 30 dollar homemade hpf on etsy is looking more and more appealing

 

[Novarocker]

Pharaoh is a classic. I need to get my Supremes' footswitches sorted. Probably getting a Russian Pickle soon, as I was rather happy with the Doom Hammer on guitar and want something smoother and creamier on bass to accompany it. Should be a good pairing. I've gotten rid of many fuzzes the past year, because as much as I liked them, they weren't going to get used. But I feel like the Muff family has so many excellent tones and variations that any fuzz fan should at least have a few in the stable. And from what I hear and my own limited experience, I'm almost always a Muff fan, but not often a "fuzz" fan. Assuming it's not too pricey, or I wait until I can find a deal, I often get duplicates of my favorite Muffs as I like them on both guitar and bass pretty equally. I've got a fairly arbitrary (i.e. occasionally broken) rule that if I can get the pedal for about $80, and it's good enough to be or compete with my #1 of that circuit, then I should just get a duplicate as it's very likely I'll have it on two boards simultaneously.

Here's my current Muff stable:
Swollen Pickle (x2)
CMC Effects Bubble Font (x2)
CMC Effects Fall Font
CMC Civil War
Doom Hammer
Pharaoh Supreme (x2)
Priestess (x2)

Random, but also related question: anybody else keep a log of their current gear? I've got a document that has all of my pedals, amps, cab, basses/guitars etc. and their important info (serial numbers etc.) so I can always remember what I have when GAS hits. Seems to help curb my impulses, as well as remind me of fun pedals I haven't used in a while. I also keep quick notes, like which ones are up for trade or need a fix.

I did for years keep tight track of what I had, sold, and wanted, even with some notes and margins (mostly lack there of) to keep myself in check on the taxes end. All in excel, then it got out of hand of the rate in/out (almost all pedals) and I got behind. I need to update it, but more than anything, I have it incase of a total house loss so there isn't as much of a fight to get the right funds for stuff lost. Weird, I know.

Oddly, playing music and getting back into skateboarding has been kicking my ass and free time.

got to try out the 2009 stingray today with the practice setup, it didn't go too well
the fender rumble 25 bit the dust, it was probably the mxr poly octave on the one octave down minimum setting with minimum fuzz engaged
or it could have been the spatial delivery putting out some sub tones too in industrial accident mode

Do i need to be concerned about blowing out my orange obc115 speakers with the octave pedal and my mesa boogie d180?

What @davedamage said, the hpf (even those cheap ones) will help protect a ton. Thats actually part of the reason I trend toward sealed cabs too. I like the punch more from them, and dialing in an hpf on a ported cab helps, but i like the added security of a sealed cab. It dampens cone excursion down low a bit, and increases the lower it goes (hence the tightness) vs once you go below the port frequency you run the risk of uncontrolled cone movement on ported.

I dont know a ton about it, but aged horse does of course, as others do too. I just know that once I started pushing some dirt and/or envelope filters with an octaver that occasionally I would start causing some oddness and farting on my mesa 2x12 powerhouse that could handle way more wattage than my amp could push. That was the last thing I wanted to blow a speaker on.

An hpf helped, then I realized that with enough db's, sealed cabs can cover enough lows no prob. A la the fridge, so I snagged an old ampeg v4 cab and put some bass speakers in there. Tons of punch, air movement, and more than enough lows for me. I still use an hpf just to make sure too much unusable lows go through but haven't had a problem since.

I recently rechecked, just to see if there was any user bias and with a 610hlf, mostly same results. Definitely dont have the science down, but with how heavy handed I play, it's good to know I should be okay.

BTW, I almost always avoid 2 octave down.