1976fenderhead Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Following another topic I posted here, does anyone know of good pedals that sound like the Russian Big Muff (whatever version of it) but have a lot less noise at very high gain settings? Price is not an issue... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tayste_2000 Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Answered in your other thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1976fenderhead Posted July 17, 2007 Author Share Posted July 17, 2007 What about the DAM Ram Head? Been looking at their website and there's other 2 that seem interesting, although different, the Meat Head and the Ezequiel... I'll call the distributor in Denmark St and see if they stock them so I can try them... It's available on their website... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tayste_2000 Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Good luck getting a DAM pedal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1976fenderhead Posted July 17, 2007 Author Share Posted July 17, 2007 [quote name='tayste_2000' post='33044' date='Jul 17 2007, 01:52 PM']Good luck getting a DAM pedal[/quote] [url="http://www.vintageandrareguitars.com/index.cfm?method=site.product_list&category_id=71"]http://www.vintageandrareguitars.com/index...;category_id=71[/url] They have 2 of the ones I want to try in the shop, sadly... not the Ram Head... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1976fenderhead Posted July 17, 2007 Author Share Posted July 17, 2007 [quote name='tayste_2000' post='33005' date='Jul 17 2007, 01:12 PM']Other decent pedals that are similar sounding ish MI Audio GI Fuzz Tone Factor Fuzzsaw - [url="http://myselfalone.com/tayste2000/ToneFactorFuzzSaw.mp3"]http://myselfalone.com/tayste2000/ToneFactorFuzzSaw.mp3[/url] Sonny & Sanford Bluebeard BYOC Big Beaver - [url="http://myselfalone.com/tayste2000/BYOC%20Big%20Beaver.mp3"]http://myselfalone.com/tayste2000/BYOC%20Big%20Beaver.mp3[/url] Anything by Skreddy The gate will not work well, it will cut your sustain down, sometimes making your playing spluttery, there will be a tonal difference with it on and off. There are only 2 noise gates I've ever liked the first built into the Subdecay Noise Box because you'd blow your amp up with out it and it stops noise when you hold your strings, second is in the Rane DC24 Rack Compressor and again it only comes on when you hold your strings.[/quote] Whoa, of the loads of clips I managed to hear now (and couldn't find any of the Bluebeard and the GI), I have to say the Skreddy Mayo blew me away (the ICBM was a close 2nd)... It's EXACTLY the kind of tone I'm after... I just hope it retains all that tightness, clarity and punch on bass too... I think I'll order one... :-D Thanks again for the suggestions! Have you actually tried any of these (Mayo/ICBM) so you could tell me how you'd compare them? I noticed the Skreddy pedals would be probably just as noisy as my Big Muff when engaged though... Would you say the ICBM is more silent (impossible to tell from the clips)...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tayste_2000 Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Toasted has had a Mayo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toasted Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 I don't remember the Mayo that well... only had it a few weeks. IMHO, no properly put together fuzz pedal should have undue noise when yout bass's volume is set to 0. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toasted Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 [quote name='1976fenderhead' post='33028' date='Jul 17 2007, 01:34 PM']What about the DAM Ram Head? Been looking at their website and there's other 2 that seem interesting, although different, the Meat Head and the Ezequiel... I'll call the distributor in Denmark St and see if they stock them so I can try them... It's available on their website...[/quote] Vintage and Rare are liars They told me they've got a 100 person waiting list on D*A*M products. You're better going to one of the US dealers. Condering that they're made in Sheffield this seems a silly situation, eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1976fenderhead Posted July 18, 2007 Author Share Posted July 18, 2007 [quote name='Toasted' post='33584' date='Jul 18 2007, 01:38 PM']I don't remember the Mayo that well... only had it a few weeks. IMHO, no properly put together fuzz pedal should have undue noise when yout bass's volume is set to 0.[/quote] Yeah, you're right, that's exactly the thing with this Muff, just turning the volume of the bass to zero makes no difference, I really have to turn the pedal off between songs or the noise just does my head in, it really tires my brain! I have no problem with it during the songs though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1976fenderhead Posted July 18, 2007 Author Share Posted July 18, 2007 [quote name='Toasted' post='33585' date='Jul 18 2007, 01:39 PM']Vintage and Rare are liars They told me they've got a 100 person waiting list on D*A*M products. You're better going to one of the US dealers. Condering that they're made in Sheffield this seems a silly situation, eh?[/quote] Hmmm, maybe you should call them and tell them that personally and see what they say? :-p Because I called them yesterday and they said they have the Deluxe Meat Head and the Ezequiel in the store, though not the Ram Head, and I said I'd be there to try them on the weekend... But I'm not that interested anymore, after all the samples I heard yesterday, the Ezequiel doesn't seem to suit what I need now and the other 2 are too expensive. However, I called again today and they have the Mayo in store too, which I'll go and try today (and maybe buy)! Will probably have a go at the others as well... If they're lying I'll let you know ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toasted Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 [quote name='1976fenderhead' post='33629' date='Jul 18 2007, 02:03 PM']Hmmm, maybe you should call them and tell them that personally and see what they say? :-p Because I called them yesterday and they said they have the Deluxe Meat Head and the Ezequiel in the store, though not the Ram Head, and I said I'd be there to try them on the weekend... But I'm not that interested anymore, after all the samples I heard yesterday, the Ezequiel doesn't seem to suit what I need now and the other 2 are too expensive. However, I called again today and they have the Mayo in store too, which I'll go and try today (and maybe buy)! Will probably have a go at the others as well... If they're lying I'll let you know ;-)[/quote] Sorry, I wasn't being clear. I was talking about the Ram Head. Watch out for the meathead... it has a ****load of linear volume gain JP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ritch Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 Hi, If it's any use, I use an Ezekiel through an Ampeg SVT-3 and I'd say it isn't much like a big muff at all. I only have experience of a Green Big Muff but the Ezekiel is more of an overdrive distortion in my opinion(an absolutely lush one though). So at the moment I my pedal board is made up of a Green big muff for fuzz and an ezekiel for overdrive. I got my ezekiel on eBay - they do come up once in a while ... one in America here [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/DAM-Ezekiel-25-17-OVERDRIVE-FUZZ-BASS-7-STRING-D-A-M-NM_W0QQitemZ180138724722QQihZ008QQcategoryZ41411QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZVieItem"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/DAM-Ezekiel-25-17-OV...1QQcmdZViewItem[/url] but getting pretty privey. The ZVex Wooly Mammoth's a good one to try for fuzz like a Russian Big Muff, although they're immensely more extreme! Hope that's of some help. Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1976fenderhead Posted July 18, 2007 Author Share Posted July 18, 2007 [quote name='ritch' post='33777' date='Jul 18 2007, 06:37 PM']Hi, If it's any use, I use an Ezekiel through an Ampeg SVT-3 and I'd say it isn't much like a big muff at all. I only have experience of a Green Big Muff but the Ezekiel is more of an overdrive distortion in my opinion(an absolutely lush one though). So at the moment I my pedal board is made up of a Green big muff for fuzz and an ezekiel for overdrive. I got my ezekiel on eBay - they do come up once in a while ... one in America here [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/DAM-Ezekiel-25-17-OVERDRIVE-FUZZ-BASS-7-STRING-D-A-M-NM_W0QQitemZ180138724722QQihZ008QQcategoryZ41411QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZVietem"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/DAM-Ezekiel-25-17-OV...1QQcmdZViewItem[/url] but getting pretty privey. The ZVex Wooly Mammoth's a good one to try for fuzz like a Russian Big Muff, although they're immensely more extreme! Hope that's of some help. Rich[/quote] Yeah I tried the Zvex once, I thought it was way too extreme and it's way too expensive... The Ezequiel sounds nice but it's not what I need now... For that kind of distortion I got the T-Rex Bass Juice... Thx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metal-Mariachi Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 How about just modding your Big Muff [url="http://www.student.ru.nl/r.kerkhof/Taas/Mods/Big%20Muff.htm"]http://www.student.ru.nl/r.kerkhof/Taas/Mods/Big%20Muff.htm[/url] Noise gate mod; with this mod the Big Muff will be quiet when you don't play or can sound really low-fi. Add a 100k trimpot (wired as a variable resistor) parrallel to the resistor before Q3 from signal to ground (R13). Add a switch so you can also undo the mod. Turn on the pedal and tweak the trimpot to taste. When combined with germanium diodes in the Q3 feedback loop, an octave up can be achived quite easy. A $1.00-2.00 cost and a little time. MM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1976fenderhead Posted July 19, 2007 Author Share Posted July 19, 2007 [quote name='Metal-Mariachi' post='34199' date='Jul 19 2007, 04:31 PM']How about just modding your Big Muff [url="http://www.student.ru.nl/r.kerkhof/Taas/Mods/Big%20Muff.htm"]http://www.student.ru.nl/r.kerkhof/Taas/Mods/Big%20Muff.htm[/url] Noise gate mod; with this mod the Big Muff will be quiet when you don't play or can sound really low-fi. Add a 100k trimpot (wired as a variable resistor) parrallel to the resistor before Q3 from signal to ground (R13). Add a switch so you can also undo the mod. Turn on the pedal and tweak the trimpot to taste. When combined with germanium diodes in the Q3 feedback loop, an octave up can be achived quite easy. A $1.00-2.00 cost and a little time. MM[/quote] Would be great weren't I electronically challenged... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1976fenderhead Posted July 20, 2007 Author Share Posted July 20, 2007 (edited) Ok, so I got the Mayo, which is an amazing pedal... BUT... I went home, A/B'd it with my plain Russian Muff... and the Muff won! The difference is, the Mayo has a thicker, fuller 'wall of fuzz' thing going on which sounds great from the A string up, but muddies up the notes a bit on the E string when playing a bit faster... also because it has less attack... The Muff feels like it has less gain, but it's an amount that retains more of the note's definition... I also felt the Muff has a more natural violin or voice-like tone, (though a bit more warbled) that gives it more warmth than the Mayo, which sounded colder, more predictable (also not reacting much to playing strength) and more 'solid-state'-like... For guitar, I'd definitely keep the Mayo and never let go of it... for bass, especially for the kind of stuff I'm playing, it just doesn't really suit it that well, which is a shame... I really wanted to prefer the Mayo for the more manageable size and excellent build... Anyway, if this is a close enough clone of 70's Muffs (especially the more scooped Triangle version), it's put me off worrying much about looking for another, I guess it's just not for me... Luckily, Vintage and Rare Guitars were nice enough to let me return it for a refund (they usually don't do it, but since some guy told me on the phone it was fine, they couldn't go back when I was there already :-p ), and I highly recommend going to the shop and trying loads of stuff they have there. Great pedals, I tried a bunch and another one that impressed me was the Frantone Bass Cream, amazing fuzz like nothing I heard before, but also not what I'm after right now... I didn't like the Flying Tomato, the Ezekiel (1 of the milder settings was nice, the other 3 were rubbish) and the DAM Meat Head... they didn't have the Ram Head unfortunately... I'm still going to try another Frantone bass fuzz pedal I forgot yesterday, since Frantone is now a brand I'll definitely have under my radar... Oh and btw... the Mayo is at least just as noisy as the Russian Muff, if not more... I guess the Russian Muff is not that cheaply built after all... until someone shows me an exception, I guess loads of gain = noise even with bass volume at zero and there's nothing you can do about it except switching it off between songs... Edited July 20, 2007 by 1976fenderhead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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