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What should be my next Bass Fuzz Try out


matybigfro
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So although skint I'm still gassing for a new Fuzz Pedal that hit's the right spot. I've pretty much given up on fuzz face based designs due to trying a load already. I'm after something between the 90's fuzz-rock bass tones of Dinosaur Jr/Pavement/Yuck to that modern bass heavy electronic/dub influenced fuzz sound similar to that heard in Radiohead(national anthem)/Mars Volta/Elbow(grounds for divorce).


I play in a post-punk/ noise-rock/indie band see sig for links
I have the EHX knockout to sculpt tone and add a low freq boost for a subby sound when required but need the fuzz to feed into it.

Been through the following Fuzz's for the following reasons

Fender Sub:lime - Almost perfect but a bit too subtle and nice, not enough bit/treble, also found myself struggling with the clean dirt cross over sounding a bit middy
Wooly Mammoth - Too Bassey and one trickish
Rat w/ruetx mod - Sounded too much like motorhead and too much low end loss
Mojo Tone Huckleberry - Too much low end loss, just didn't sit right
Sub:decay Flying Tomato - Too much low end loss/mid emphasis, sound not what I have in my head figure fuzz face tone is just not me
Bogdan Polish Hate - not fuzzy/aggressive enough

I want something with a full freq response, no loss of lows some aggressive highs and bite

Currently I am eying up the following options a Brassmaster Clone (looks like it would be a custom request at the moment) , the Team Awesome Fuzz Machine or a Tone Bender derivative (MXR Bass Fuzz Deluxe, [sfx] Micro Fuzz and Myrtle Corvid Fuzz)

Opinions or suggestions invited?

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i'm into aggressive fuzz too, and my fave so far is my Prescription Electronics Depth Charge.

it is expensive to import though, that's the downside.

i was mightily impressed with Shep's Fuzzrocious Grey 'Stache demo, and that would be worth checking out.

have a listen to some of the demos on mr excane's youtube channel too, that'll throw some curveballs at ya ..

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I've been through a few of the main contenders but keep coming back to a Russian Big Muff - it's got the 'tone suck' when bypassed, but it's not a difficult mod to change it to true bypass. There's just something about the filthy, scooped sound of a Muff that does it for me.

The standard advice on here is to use a Boss LS2 (or similar) to add some clean tone to help retain low end. Dirty, filthy bass is really all about the mids, so once you've got that right then you've pretty much cracked it.

The DHA VT1EQ also does a broad spectrum of dirty bass...

http://youtu.be/cYpdDY3dMxo

the "fuzz" starts about 3'40" ish.

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[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1340364090' post='1703314']
Way Huge Red Llama. I guess it's technically not considered a fuzz but I love it for high gain stuff I would personally describe as fuzz.

Mine is a clone so I hope it's the same as the pedal i'm recommending!
[/quote]

also a simple build isn't it? that's the one with one ic chip?

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I've used the Joyo JF-12 which i have currently (Being true bypass has no tone suck when off, not bad for £30) although it's mostly being used for the octave up effect. One of my favourites is the Boss MT-2, despite it being a distortion not a fuzz, but it's really versatile with the on board EQ. I need to get my hands on another one of those to be honest.

Liam

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No point in building the Red Llama if you didn't like the Polish Hate as it is a clone of that.

Devi Ever Ruiner is worth a try for the Radiohead tone you are after.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BA7OustDCLI

I also love the Boss FZ-2 and (and also it's Behringer clone). This is a Univox superfuzz with an added tonestack. Fender Blender is maybe worth considering as well?

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I didn't build my red llama so no idea how easy it is. I love it for it's "transparency" in that nothing seems to be cut EQ wise. Normally you get a bass cut or a mid cut but this thing just seems flat. I've never had the drive on full and do use it for a fuzz sound, so i'd be surprised if it was "not fuzzy/aggressive enough" but then I do play with a bi-amp rig meaning I can hear my "dirt" a lot more clearly than through your average bass amp. Anyway, it is subjective, just trying to add useful info.

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I see you mentioned the MXR Bass Fuzz Deluxe. I tried one out and wasn't that impressed to be honest so I opted for the El Grande instead. Plenty of usable tones, relatively easy to come by second hand, dead simple to use and with the internally adjustable 'Deep' switch you can add plenty of bottom too. :)

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I tried a El Grande a few weeks ago in Hot Rox and didn't do much for me found it difficult to set to a sound i liked although I was playing it througha guitar amp so not ideal.

I'm not a great DiYer I've still got a bunch of guitar overdrive clones that I've not boxed cos they didn't work great so I'm gonna stear away from trying that again and am happy to put some money the way of the interesting UK builders that have popped up over the last few years

I'm gonna ahve to check out the Ruiner when I get home

I'll admit I'm a bit Boss/Behriner phobic not a great fan of their buffer's to be honest

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Maybe look out for A Bogdan Polish Love, it's largely considered to be the higher gain version of the Hate. I've got one and it sounds great, although needs a good service for unwanted hiss.
I also have a Fuzzrocious Grey Stache incoming, gated and oscillatiing :D.
Look at CoPilot FX's offerings too, I have the Orbit and it's a pretty versatile Fuzz with VCO

Si

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Brassmaster is a very wild thing - you love it or hate it. I guess you might not like it for that kind of music. Oxide might be a good choice as you can get brassmasterish and woolly mammotish sounds and fine tune them to taste.

People rave about Team Awesome Fuzz Machine, but I wasn't really impressed and sold mine the next day I got it. It sounded muddy and lifeless to me and I didn't like how controls work.

"National Anthem" was probably recorded with Lovetone Big Cheese (which is pimped Fuzz Face). I had two custom clones of the pedal with added clean blend and while I loved them on guitar, not so much on bass - they were too metalic sounding. Changing one of the transistors for germanium one could probaly be a good idea.

Jumbo Tone Bender is similar to Big Muff (I guess it has one gain stage less), but it's good for bass, as part of lows aren't distorted, so you can hear a bit of your clean signal.

If you want aggressive, I would suggest some sort of custom SuperFuzz variant like Katanasound Super Bass Fuzz.

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I use a big muff (guitar version) and I love the sound but the problem is there seems to be a volume drop. I've fiddled around with the settings for bloody ages and every time I think I have it sussed it goes again. It's got so frustrating I actually stopped using it.

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[quote name='Rubbersoul' timestamp='1341862052' post='1725363']
I use a big muff (guitar version) and I love the sound but the problem is there seems to be a volume drop. I've fiddled around with the settings for bloody ages and every time I think I have it sussed it goes again. It's got so frustrating I actually stopped using it.
[/quote]

Big Muff should have so much gain available that volume drop shouldn't be an issue. Maybe it is because the guitar version is cutting so much low end that you are hearing it as a volume drop?? The Green Russian/Sovtek one is the way to go :)

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[quote name='mancunianfox' timestamp='1341866675' post='1725461']


Big Muff should have so much gain available that volume drop shouldn't be an issue. Maybe it is because the guitar version is cutting so much low end that you are hearing it as a volume drop?? The Green Russian/Sovtek one is the way to go :)
[/quote]
Love mine, it's sat on my board next to the wooly mammoth clone.

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