has anyone got a video comparing the two pedals? highly considering selling my big muff to get the swollen pickle for the extra little features the pickle has. anyway any advice would be great
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
swollen pickle vs big muff
- Thread starter parker_mysterio
- Start date
I haven't own a big muff nor a swollen pickle, but I do dig how the big muff sound on bass. the swollen pickle sounds sounds cool too, but I like the big muff better.
I wanted to clarify, my setup involves a LS-2 Line Selector, with one chain most times filling dry bass in. The swollen pickle added a lot of sub harmonics IMHO. It really got deep and boomy. I really never adjusted the internal pots, but it was deep. No low end loss.
The muff sounds great with the LS-2 as you still get the bass, but also the ripping muff tone.
The muff sounds great with the LS-2 as you still get the bass, but also the ripping muff tone.
I don't particularly care for the big muff, but I love the pickle. It has enough fuzz on tap that past about halfway on the fuzz knob is practically unusable on bass. That being said, the extra knobs and especially the internal pots make a huge difference over the muff. With the muff, I'm always fighting to be heard in the mix, but the pickle can dial in enough mids to be heard pretty easily. It can have TOO much low end at times though, and I do go for a more mid-focused sound with it. I could never find a tone I really liked on the muff, but I'm more than happy with the tone I get out of the pickle. I'm a knob turner, and the pickle has plenty of knobs to turn 
. If you can, definitely test the pickle out.
. If you can, definitely test the pickle out.
Bought the "Way Huge" pickle and it is the "Fat Boy" of ebg pedals. It widens the sound but doesn't necessarily 'clearly' fuzz it out. With my Boss OD preceding it in my current chain, the fuzz comes through, however, it is not crisp.
Pedal boards are just money pits....but I'm still working on mine.
Pedal boards are just money pits....but I'm still working on mine.
how does the swollen pickle sound with the boss ls-2? ive been wanting to try this
As I said before, the LS-2 is mostly a mixer to add clean through. Cheaper and more versatile than a blender.
That being said, if the Pickle is pushed hard, it gets too deep/boomy and note are sometimes muffled (no pun intended).
I have great success with the LS-2 and Muff. The muff is the only fuzz on chain B. Chain A has an Animato, Hematoma, P+C and an OC-2. Chain B has Line 6 FM4, Deep Impact, Muff and BSW.
I love every tone I can get out of this board.
That being said, if the Pickle is pushed hard, it gets too deep/boomy and note are sometimes muffled (no pun intended).
I have great success with the LS-2 and Muff. The muff is the only fuzz on chain B. Chain A has an Animato, Hematoma, P+C and an OC-2. Chain B has Line 6 FM4, Deep Impact, Muff and BSW.
I love every tone I can get out of this board.
i know the swollen pickle can go really low, but imo it takes some of the high end off
I have a little big muff and a swollen pickle.The pickle can do everything the LBF is doing plus much more but you have to open it and adjust the inner pots.
No offense, but if you haven't tried the internal trim pots on the Pickle, then you haven't really tried the pickle. They make a huge difference in the sound of the pedal. You still may not like the sound, but you can't make an accurate statement about the sound of the pedal if you haven't worked with them.
-JV
PS - I've tried both and I have a WHSP on my board for keeps (beat out a Pickle Pie B, too)
-JV
PS - I've tried both and I have a WHSP on my board for keeps (beat out a Pickle Pie B, too)
While I can agree that my input was very short sighted, I bought a pedal, placed it on my board and played with it. If you are not the kind of person to what to adjust unmarked internal pots, you are going to leave them be. In that case as was stated before, it was muffled with highs rolled off.
I am fairly certain adjustment to the internal pots would make a difference. That being said, when it is pushed to the limits like a stock muff, it is very boomy and not a real desirable sound IMHO.
I am fairly certain adjustment to the internal pots would make a difference. That being said, when it is pushed to the limits like a stock muff, it is very boomy and not a real desirable sound IMHO.
I'm really not trying to give you a hard time about it, I just wanted to make sure that the original poster realized that there was more to the pedal than you had experienced. He (or you) still might not like it, but I've honestly found it to be a tremendously versatile pedal BECAUSE of those internal trimpots. I agree that they're not convenient, and I think it does over complicate things, but in my case at least it was definitely worth the trouble. I also agree that many folks might not want to open it up to tweak them, or might not even be aware of them. In your case, they may have been tweaked badly before you got it, and maybe you never had a prayer at getting a decent sound out of it. Who knows? I know I had tried it in the store and didn't like it at all, but wasn't able to pop it open. I took a chance and bought one and absolutely love it now...
-JV
-JV
++
Got to play with the internal trim pots if you are going to use it for bass. If this was a pedal that was specifically tailored and marketed towards bass players, then I could understand why the internal trimpots would be an annoyance. The trimpots are really a set it and forget it type of thing though. Once you find that optimal setting, all your other adjustments can be done with the outboard knobs.
FWIW, at least with my rig, the Swollen Pickle had very little in the range of usable volume...meaning that it was quiet and then OMG freaking loud, with about one degree of perfection where the output was perfect. Whereas the Wren & Cuff Pickle Pie B seems to have more usable range.
Thanks Blast, it was just what I was searching for!
I might have to sit down with one, and fiddle... I just lost interest in it when I had it, and had no desire to go further. I also had the following dirt on my board:
Animato, Woolly Mammoth, Muff, Hematoma, Blowtorch and Swollen Pickle...
So, It may have been too close to a few that were already there as well.
Animato, Woolly Mammoth, Muff, Hematoma, Blowtorch and Swollen Pickle...
So, It may have been too close to a few that were already there as well.
SmallEQ,
Awesome!!! SO glad you dig the PPB. It sounded great, but I had found a sweet spot on my WHSP that for me was just.....sweeter than the PPB.
I tend to separate gain pedals from effect pedals in my head. I use 'effects' (like Flanger or Octave) usually as a subtle little flavoring here and there. I use medium OD the same way, actually, to color the sound a little differently. I use my Agro as my 'high gain channel' to really drive a riff home, and the SP as my "OMG the world is coming to an end!!!" Effect!!!
-JV
Awesome!!! SO glad you dig the PPB. It sounded great, but I had found a sweet spot on my WHSP that for me was just.....sweeter than the PPB.
I tend to separate gain pedals from effect pedals in my head. I use 'effects' (like Flanger or Octave) usually as a subtle little flavoring here and there. I use medium OD the same way, actually, to color the sound a little differently. I use my Agro as my 'high gain channel' to really drive a riff home, and the SP as my "OMG the world is coming to an end!!!" Effect!!!
-JV
