Synth like drive

[green3101]

Hi all,

Wasn't sure what to name this thread, but i'm after a specific drive/fuzz sound

Essentially i'm after a pedal that will give me a mild synthy type drive, as close as possible to the drive stage of a Moog (Disclaimer: not sure if this is Sawtooth or Square Wave, so haven't put that Ha!). I'm not after the envelope or Octave, just the drive stage - i'll be achieving that side of things separately with other pedals before or after in the chain

Think Boogie on Reggae Woman (I use that song as reference but pretty much most songs with Stevie playing the Moog bass from Talking Book, Innervisions, Fullfillingness) Flashlight, Chameleon, P.Y.T. etc.. you get the idea

I know there are a lot of Fuzz pedals out there that people recommend as having a synthy quality, however a lot of these are incredibly harsh (Woolly Mammoth, B:Assmaster etc) - although these pedals are amazing, i'm after something that will help me achieve the gain stage for the above mentioned

Would something like the 3leaf Doom 2 achieve this? or are there any pedals set at a low gain setting that might work?

Does anyone have any first hand experience with this sort of sound?

 

[DosiYanarchy]

I think the Doom 2 is definitely a great option, also maybe a Crowther Prunes & custard or a Tech21 Red Ripper

 

[the baint]

3leaf You're Doom or Doom 2. Most organically musical, synthy fuzz I've heard.

 

[the baint]

And I'll say, no matter how you set it, you can get some awesome tones. It's VERY responsive, and playing lightly or palm-muting gets so nasty good.

 

[sunbeast]

The pedals you listed are fuzzes specifically catered to emulating aspects of a synth waveform- specifically the gated fuzzes you mention, but much of the tone of a synth is from the specific filter section used (and the envelope of it). Most of those fuzzes essentially emulate the inherently harsh raw waveform of a synth voice (saw or square wave), and are their most synthy when paired with a filter (that biting tone feeds tons of harmonic information into a steep filter that cleans it right back up). The 3 Leaf Doom has both a more mild fuzz and envelope-esque characteristics so it is better as a stand-alone synthy voice.

If you really just want the drive tone of a Moog without emulating the note or filter envelope aspects of a synth then the (discontinued) Moogerfooger Drive pedal is a variation of the filter-based Moog drive circuit. It’s definitely unique and I think particularly useful paired with other synthy voice pedals like a sub-octave (OC-2). You could also track down an MF-101, whose Drive circuit is always engaged (no true bypass) and it’s still one of the best filter pedals of all time...

It sounds like you are actually looking for something that does more to emulate the tone and note envelope of a synth though, which requires thinking outside the box a bit since a bass signal is much different than a square/saw/etc wave that are generally the raw tones of a synth.

 

[rratajski]

You might fare well with an analog, monophonic octave up into a drive to get the voicing closer to synth. Some pedals come stacked with this and some brands can do this as a custom order.

 

[bassbrad]

The Source Audio Aftershock has several of those sound engines available that are exactly the sounds you are asking for. The C4 and Spectrum can do those drive sounds as well and SA is currently working on a new pedal that will do exactly what you are looking for and much more. Source Audio MultiWave Distortion were also pretty much what you are looking for.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[theunknowndude]

Bead fuzz set fully wet (although sounding a bit octave up due to no blend) definitely gets a very synthy drive... but hard to tame as it is very harsh though being brassmaster based. Closest I have found was aftershock with a few engines in it or the your doom but couldn’t get them to sit right in my band mix.

 

[FilterFunk]

The one that impresses me most in demos is the Iron Ether Subterranea.

EDIT: Sorry I don't have first-hand experience, but I thought the Subterranea was worth mentioning.

 

[Pauly 4001]

The long discontinued Korg G5 will give you a whole range of responsive and usable synthy tones.

 

[green3101]

Thanks for your suggestions! Some great recommendations and examples!

just to be clear, I’m not after any dedicated synth pedals such as the Korg G5, Panda Audio Future Impact etc. Just the Fuzz/drive to replicate the gain stage of a Moog type key bass synth. The other elements (octave, filter etc) I’ll arrange separately. I do not mind suggestions with Fuzzes having synthy elements to them though, like the description above for the Doom 2.

 

[DDXdesign]

First thing I thought of was the Prunes, but the Red Ripper can decently emulate that sound AND go a more traditional fuzz route, for about half the price.

 

[Grapevine921]

3 leaf you're doom, moog minifooger drive, and the darkglass duality all do a good job for this sound. Moog is the most subtle and the darkglass is the harshest.

 

[Lammchop93]

Darkglass duality?

 

[_One//Man//Mutiny_]

I spent a lot of time trying to get that sound! For me I use a Dedalo Byte to get that tone. I also leave a Meatbox on by board after my fuzzes and before my Distortions/overdrives to get similar tones with different flavors. Meat box into distortion makes for a fat synth lower end with pointed high end attack and the harmonic content of the fuzzes make for a huge, rich authoritative fuzz tone.

 

[MTN.bass72]

3leaf You're Doom or Doom 2. Most organically musical, synthy fuzz I've heard.

And I'll say, no matter how you set it, you can get some awesome tones. It's VERY responsive, and playing lightly or palm-muting gets so nasty good.

Was literally about to order one last night, but held off for some dumb reason... now I guess I gotta go blow some cash ...

 

[getBAK]

The Keeley Synth-1 should cure what ales you
Synth-1 Reverse Attack Fuzz Wave Generator - Robert Keeley

 

[SLPimp]

Hi all,

Wasn't sure what to name this thread, but i'm after a specific drive/fuzz sound

Essentially i'm after a pedal that will give me a mild synthy type drive, as close as possible to the drive stage of a Moog (Disclaimer: not sure if this is Sawtooth or Square Wave, so haven't put that Ha!). I'm not after the envelope or Octave, just the drive stage - i'll be achieving that side of things separately with other pedals before or after in the chain

Think Boogie on Reggae Woman (I use that song as reference but pretty much most songs with Stevie playing the Moog bass from Talking Book, Innervisions, Fullfillingness) Flashlight, Chameleon, P.Y.T. etc.. you get the idea

I know there are a lot of Fuzz pedals out there that people recommend as having a synthy quality, however a lot of these are incredibly harsh (Woolly Mammoth, B:Assmaster etc) - although these pedals are amazing, i'm after something that will help me achieve the gain stage for the above mentioned

Would something like the 3leaf Doom 2 achieve this? or are there any pedals set at a low gain setting that might work?

Does anyone have any first hand experience with this sort of sound?

Digitech Dirty Robot. Does drive, fuzz, synth.

 

[Vitamin Beer]

That Keeley Synth-1 video blew my mind.
I’m buy that right now!

 

[theunknowndude]

Digitech Dirty Robot. Does drive, fuzz, synth.

mmm not really? It does a synth sound sure... but not really a synth drive sound. It’s more a filter with blend plus chorus plus start/stop plus a touch of square wave bite but not what I’d call a drive by itself like the your doom/doom 2.

edit: I took mine off and have for sale my dirty robot as only used for filter sweeps... replaced it with my sy1 and expression pedal for better filter sweeps.. if you wanted a “not much variation” the sy1 set statically would get you a saw/square/ many other synth sounds but not sure that meets your original post requirement of “drive”.