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Swollen Pickle or Mastotron

I

Irtemed

Apr 6, 2009
99
0
www.youtube.com
#1
So I won two Ebay auctions, (a WH Swollen Pickle and a Zvex Mastotron) but I'm probably not going to be able to keep both. I've been looking for a synthy, bass-friendly fuzz that would sound nice, yet still keep the bottom end somewhere in the realm of tight.

I currently have a Lakland 44-02 and a 12" Mesa Walkabout Scout, so would tubes make a difference? My only other dirt is an EBS Multidrive, and since it's flat setting sounds kind of like a Paul McCartney "Think for Yourself" fuzz, what I want in a fuzz must be much more modern sounding.

I've heard the Swollen Pickle can become somewhat muddy in a band mix, but I've also heard that it also sounds much better when you adjust the inner trimpots so if you comment on the Swollen Pickle could you please say if you have or have not adjusted it's trimpots?

I have heard much good and some bad on the mastotron. I like that it isn't too extremely high gain and has the impedance setting (since I have an active bass) and it has a pseudo-gate with the pulse width control. The only other thing is my guitarist has a mastotron, so would me getting a mastotron clash at all with his?
 
#2
I've tried the Pickle, own the Mastotron.

The pickle is less synthy, more of a muff type. It has decent bass response, depending on how you use its EQ.

The mastotron has one setting: SYNTH!! Well, you can do kind of a standard fuzz with the PW knob, but I think it feels synthy even at the normal side. It has a sub switch with 3 positions. 2 is normal. On 3, there seems to be more low end than when I have it off. It can take any impedance, and if you turn it further left it gets to be a softer fuzz. The tone knob is HF rolloff, which is bass friendly.

Personally, I'd recommend the Mastotron, though you might want to wait for more details on the Pickle. Maybe AB them when they show up.
 
#6
I own and really like both. But they are completely different animals. The Swollen Pickle is a really adjustable Muff-esque fuzz. I use it primarily for Gilmour style soloing up high. Can be quite creamy. The Mastotron is a Silicon based "splatty" fuzz. It is my go to synth fuzz (combined with an OC-2).
 
#7
spaz21387 said:
I own the swollen pickle and hate it. Its probably going up for sale soon. I adjusted the trim pots it still didnt have a good sound. It just sounded way too muddy and I got lost in the band mix. It just doesnt compare to my W&C pickle pie b, or the green russian big muff.
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I had the same experience. Could not get on with the bloody thing. Messed with the internal knobs several times without success. However, I still use it for guitar. ALthough, may sell it to fund other toys.

I now have a black Russian Big Muff.... it doesn't have as much sustain but it sounds WAY better imo.

Never tried a mastotron... but am intrigued :ninja:
 
#9
Similar response - personally, I could never get the SP trimmed to my liking. It didn't sound good mixed with the other pedals on my board and yes I have to admit it was kind of muddy. PLus I hate pedals that have hidden pots. If I need access to them - put them o the top of the box. Come on man!

The mastodon works for me - I ordered one from GC just in case I wanted to return it. It gets a lot of good press from bassist here and on other sites. It definitely has a distinct synth tone - a lot of adjustments, love the pulse width and it works well with all the other filters and fuzzes on my board.

It really depends on what you want to do - the Mastodon is not a MUFF and the SP is not a synthy fuzz.
 
#11
hamfistUK said:
The Mastotron stacks REALLY nicely with other mild dirt pedals. It really fills out the inherently slightly thin, synthetic nature of the Mastotron's core tone. Try it out.
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I do this with the EBS Valve Drive. The two of them combined deliver quite a full-bodied fuzz experience. Otherwise, yes, the mastotron is rather thin and synthetic sounding, but if you dive into it knowing that it only really does one thing well (synth), you can get some nice sounds out of it.
 
#12
hamfistUK said:
The Mastotron stacks REALLY nicely with other mild dirt pedals. It really fills out the inherently slightly thin, synthetic nature of the Mastotron's core tone. Try it out.
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With fully CW PW with the subs switch in the middle, it can be thin. I've found turning the tone to about 8 o'clock with subs on 3, PW at about 9 o'clock and push/relax at noon, it can be kinda fat.

I do agree that running it into distortion or OD makes it amazing sounding though. Into OD it still sounds pretty angry but with distortion it sounds significantly smoother. Into light distortion with a little high cut on full CW PW, it sounds a bit like Worstenholme's tone on Time is Running Out. Not perfect, but a reasonable approximation.
 
#13
VincentSalizeri said:
I do agree that running it into distortion or OD makes it amazing sounding though. Into OD it still sounds pretty angry but with distortion it sounds significantly smoother. Into light distortion with a little high cut on full CW PW, it sounds a bit like Worstenholme's tone on Time is Running Out. Not perfect, but a reasonable approximation.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't it be better to run the distortion-->fuzz, not fuzz-->distortion? I always seem to get better results when I stack my gain-based pedals from lowest to highest. Maybe it just depends on the pedals...
 
#14
Have you tried the Dunlop Bass Blowtorch? It's very synthy with the torch on and mids cranked and it has a blend (although there is mucho low that can be dialed in to the distortion sound) I know it's been around for awhile so it doesn't get the press.

Since you mentioned "synthy" the Mastrotron is more synthy than the S.Pickle, but I like the Pickle (use it in a blender with octave down) and sold a Mastrotron because the Blowtorch sounds better, is more stable and has a blend.
I also like TREX Bass Juice, TAFM, and JHS 4 Wheeler (the only non-blended fuzz I like, a Whooly Mammoth clone that's VERY fuzzy & synthy with no low end loss.)
 
#15
Yeah, to me it seems like if you're going for synthy, the Mastotron should win handily. I think one of the key features there is the pulse width control. I think something like this, or a gate control, is pretty much a requirement for bringing out the square wave characteristics in the fuzz pedal and being able to tailor that to your input source.
 
#16
HaVIC5 said:
I do this with the EBS Valve Drive. The two of them combined deliver quite a full-bodied fuzz experience. Otherwise, yes, the mastotron is rather thin and synthetic sounding, but if you dive into it knowing that it only really does one thing well (synth), you can get some nice sounds out of it.
Click to expand...
I have an EBS MultiDrive, and I was just wondering last night how it would sound before or after the Mastotron. (The Swollen Pickle would probably be too muddy. With my amp, the MultiDrive is very heavy on bass and low-mids; it is basically impossible to make that pedal sound thin.
BassBrass said:
Have you tried the Dunlop Bass Blowtorch? It's very synthy with the torch on and mids cranked and it has a blend (although there is mucho low that can be dialed in to the distortion sound) I know it's been around for awhile so it doesn't get the press.

Since you mentioned "synthy" the Mastrotron is more synthy than the S.Pickle, but I like the Pickle (use it in a blender with octave down) and sold a Mastrotron because the Blowtorch sounds better, is more stable and has a blend.
I also like TREX Bass Juice, TAFM, and JHS 4 Wheeler (the only non-blended fuzz I like, a Whooly Mammoth clone that's VERY fuzzy & synthy with no low end loss.)
Click to expand...
I actually like all of those pedals, but I already won both the Mastotron and the SP, so in your opinion which would be a better choice?
 
#18
meursault42 said:
Wouldn't it be better to run the distortion-->fuzz, not fuzz-->distortion? I always seem to get better results when I stack my gain-based pedals from lowest to highest. Maybe it just depends on the pedals...
Click to expand...

I've done both. It's probably the kind of distortion pedal I've got, but I prefer fuzz first. With distortion first I always lost the character of it in the fuzz. But with fuzz first, it really evens things out.
 
#19
This is kind of a funny thread, honestly. You're going to be receiving both of these pedals and will be able to form your own opinion based on 1st hand experience. Other people's opinions/speculations aren't going to matter.
 

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