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ZVex Woolly Mammoth - GAS attack - help!

EricF

EricF

Habitual User
Sep 26, 2005
7,829
536
Pasadena, CA
www.myspace.com
#1
I've heard the clips, I've seen the video. Is the Woolly Mammoth really as good as it sounds for bass fuzz?

Someone please convince me it's over-priced and over-rated...or, tell me it's the most amazing thing in the world and I shouldn't be without it for another day.

I love my English Muff'n for what it does (I use it as a heavy OD), but I'm still looking for a second dirt pedal, and the ProCo Rat just wasn't it. The hunt is on...again.
 
#2
The Wolly Mammoth is overrrated.

I've tried one out at a local shop, and I just wasn't impressed. Well... I was, but for the price, I wasn't impressed enough.

Besides, I'm fond of active basses, and I've heard they don't sound too great on them.

I don't think forking over $250 is worth it for just one pedal.

[stabs GAS]

:ninja:
 
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#4
Ahhh ... I just went thru the same "FUZZ quest" myself, starting with a vintage Big Muff ... now mind you, we ARE talking FUZZ here not OD... anyway my quest led me here ... and that's where it stopped ... Invalid Link Removed

I do use it mostly with passive basses but sometimes with Stingrays and Ibanez ATKs



:eek: ... Think 1000lb bumble-bee ... NO think "ANGRY" 1000lb bumble-bee!
 
#5
I owned one for a few months, and I have to say it is overrated. It does two sounds well: inarticulate over-the-top fuzz suitable only for industrial music, and a nasal pinched gated fuzz suitable only for Devo/Residents/weirdcore. The sound is very abrasive. I'm the kind of guy that will shell out that kind of money for a single pedal if it's "that good", but I sold the Mammoth after only a few months because the sound was only usable in a couple of limited settings.

It's perfect for industrial/experimental music, though, and I would have kept it for that purpose except I'm trying to get more melodic and articulate these days.

[Edit:] Check out my thread reviewing the Pigtronix Disnortion. It has a bigger variety of usable sounds for less money.
 
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#6
Uh-oh!

My local shop actually has a WM in stock, and I had a chance to try it. With an MIA P bass and a cheap amp, it was all sweet fuzzy goodness with as much low end as you could ask for. I can see how some people might not care for it, but for the music I play (indie-rock with some noise tendancies), it's a good fit. If it wasn't $320, I would have bought it on the spot.

Crap. I was half hoping it would sound lousy. Now I'm going to have to go shopping...
 
#8
Well the mammoth isn't for everyone

I own one with an active bass (Pedulla Rapture with the single Soapbar pu)
I replaced the original input wire from the input to the circuit bored with a much bigger gauge of wire. Which seems to handle the power of the active PU much better. So it doesn't have that compressed sound often associated with people complaing that it doesn't sound good with an active bass.
Not There anymore

The mammoth can be used in many types of music as long as you know how to adjust it properly.
Adjusting the EQ down makes it not as "abnoxious" (as some would say). And turning it up of course brings it out of the mix for a almost metallic sound

I love it and use it as my main distortion.
Also when added with a bassdrive it truely brings out the mids and and lowend making it even more desirable.

For me it was worth the money
I plan on buying a SeekWah and seeing how that or the SeekTrem work along side it
 
#11
If you have a laptop with a decent soundcard or something like a M-Audio Mobile Pre along with ASIO drivers, you can run your signal through VST effects with very little latency. And in the world of VSTs, there are many many many Woolly Mammoth-esque VSTs that you can download for free mostly.
 
#13
psi said:
If you have a laptop with a decent soundcard or something like a M-Audio Mobile Pre along with ASIO drivers, you can run your signal through VST effects with very little latency. And in the world of VSTs, there are many many many Woolly Mammoth-esque VSTs that you can download for free mostly.
Click to expand...

i would hesitate to rely on an m-audio interface for my bass sounds. MOTU or RME definitely, but m-audio's gear can be too sketchy sometimes. however the idea of using plugins is a good one. Invalid Link Removed has pretty much every plugin listed (and available for download if it's free)
 
#14
I got mine from ebay for $240 so I think that was fairly lucky. I like it. Opening up makes me question the price a little just because there are so few parts but those few parts are done right to make an awesome pedal, if it is your sort of thing. I haven't gotten to play mine loud with a band yet so my review isn't the best. I play in hardcore, punk, bands and always used distortion. The ones I have liked so far have been, green russian big muff (first one I bought and still have), The boss obd-3, it works for what it is and was fairly cheap ended up liking my big muff a little better but still own it, and the wooly mammoth. I've tried a few others, mostly cheaper ones though. I did try the Bass overdrive and didn't care for it. It didn't have enough distortion, fuzz for me but did sound awesome for what it did I just couldn't justify the cost for somehting that wasn't exactly what I wanted. For rock, slightly gritty kind of bass sound, the bass overdrive is great. I had a rat but it cut out too many lows for me. I tried a couple tube ones but didn't care for them either. Anyway..... search ebay and see if you can find a deal. I contacted the seller of mine and got him to put a buy it now up for me.....
 
#15
psi said:
If you have a laptop with a decent soundcard or something like a M-Audio Mobile Pre along with ASIO drivers, you can run your signal through VST effects with very little latency. And in the world of VSTs, there are many many many Woolly Mammoth-esque VSTs that you can download for free mostly.
Click to expand...

And how, exactly, would I put that on a pedalboard, or use it for playing live? ;)
 
#16
Zvex is making cheaper pedals that arent hand painted but are the same in every other aspect. Which to me makes a lot of sense. I wouldnt buy a pedal for the paint job, Id buy it for how it sounds. I know they make the fuzz factory like this. Im not sure if the mammoth is being produced like this or not yet.
 
#17
Well, the Mammoth has come and gone. In my typical need-it-now fashion, I went back to the local shop, talked them down on price, and walked out the door with a stoopid-expensive little box of fuzz. That night at band practice, I was hoping that this would be the end of my fuzz-quest. Unfortunately, I'm still hunting. Through a SVT-CL and an 810 with my MIJ 57RI P Bass, I just didn't love the sound. It sure was fuzzy and kept the all of bottom end, but it was just missing something - kinda sterile, I guess. :( Today, I returned it to the shop for a full refund.

Based on opinions on TB, I'm now highly interested in trying:
1. Frantone Lo-Tone
2. Roger Mayer Voodoo Bass

Man, GAS sucks!
 
#18
I haven't tried the Roger Mayer yet, but I'm keen to. I had a Frantone Bassweet (from what I understand, a more extreme version of the Lo-Tone) and it was definitely NOT sterile sounding. I ended up selling it, but I actually wish I hadn't. It was very fat.
 
#20
I agree that the WM is not very versatile. It's either very fuzzy, or ridiculously fuzzy. Don't get me wrong, I love fuzz. But the WM is on the verge of being too fuzzy for me, even at it's least fuzzy setting.

Then I bought an all-tube amp.

I recommend that you put that 300 dollars towards an all-tube amp. Then you won't need a pedal to try to reproduce those tones.

I no longer need a fuzz pedal, but I'm hanging on to the WM, in case I ever get a solid state rig again.
 

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