Guinness21 Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Hi Guys Was wondering if you could offer me some advice. I've just bought a stingray (my baby!). My other bass is an Epi T-bird classic pro, I've had that a couple of years and had been seriously considering some pedals to use with it. However I now have an active bass with a very different sound. Stingrays are known for their 'zingy' sound, but with the hh that's just one setting - i can also get sounds similar to a precision and a lot like a jazz bass. Currently I play rock, moving between indie rock, classic rock, and heavy rock/metal. I'm looking at a number of fuzzes - the musket, the tfr, the bat pharoah, the bat lstr, and the fairfield four eyes. Does anybody out there have any experience with any of these pedals with a stingray? I've been told that even with a bright bass you can still get lost in the mix when using a muff fuzz, which is why I'm slightly favouring the musket over the tfr. I had been looking at getting a diamond bass comp to use with my thunderbird - to add smoothness and punch. Now however I have a bass that can be bright and cut through, or have a defined punch, or have a warmer sound depending on what I choose. Should I still be considering compressors focused on tone enhancing, or should I start looking at compressors that are good as limiters and even out string and note volume? In a couple of week time, I'm hopefully going to get to try out some interesting stuff - namely the darkglass b3k, b7k, vmt & vmt deluxe, the 3leaf enabler and you're doom, Xotic BB preamp and the ebs multidrive. I know that's a lot of pedals! Is it even worthwhile looking at preamp pedals? I never use the eq on my amp, but I have a good onboard one on my 'ray. What do you think? Apologies for waffling so much, didn't intend on this being so long Any help would be much appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bakerster135 Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Just buy a TFR, and if you don't like it you can sell it on here for pretty much what you paid...I'm pretty confident you will like it though, and I guarantee you will NOT get lost in the mix with the mild mid-scoop and strong low mids it has. I've tried loads, but no-one's getting my TFR off me unless they prise it from my cold dead hands... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bakerster135 Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Look at the COG Grand Tarkin too, if you haven't already. That'll do what you need! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannybuoy Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 (edited) Some overdrive and fuzz pedals can overload and sound bad with the high output from a Stingray, especially if you like to crank the bass and treble knobs, and many vintage style fuzzes apart from Big Muffs sound terrible with an active buffer before them. The Musket and TFR should be fine but no idea about the others you listed. Gotta say my absolute favourite distortion sound right now is my newly acquired SUB Ray4 through a Boss ODB-3. They sound like they were made for each other, so should be a good match with a HH 'Ray. Also, that pedal can handle a really hot bass signal better than anything else I've encountered. Give one a try if you haven't since they are so cheap to get hold of second hand, I will say though that it sounds best with a cab without a tweeter, and watch the treble control on the pedal, you certainly don't want it past noon! Funnily enough after spending loads on different basses and pedals, it's the cheapest bass into the cheapest pedal that's giving me the biggest grin! Edited March 16, 2014 by dannybuoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 [quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1395011539' post='2397820'] Some overdrive and fuzz pedals can overload and sound bad with the high output from a Stingray, especially if you like to crank the bass and treble knobs, and many vintage style fuzzes apart from Big Muffs sound terrible with an active buffer before them. The Musket and TFR should be fine but no idea about the others you listed. Gotta say my absolute favourite distortion sound right now is my newly acquired SUB Ray4 through a Boss ODB-3. They sound like they were made for each other, so should be a good match with a HH 'Ray. Also, that pedal can handle a really hot bass signal better than anything else I've encountered. Give one a try if you haven't since they are so cheap to get hold of second hand, I will say though that it sounds best with a cab without a tweeter, and watch the treble control on the pedal, you certainly don't want it past noon! Funnily enough after spending loads on different basses and pedals, it's the cheapest bass into the cheapest pedal that's giving me the biggest grin! [/quote] I love the ODB-3. Funny, it is a pedal that is both overrated and underrated at the same time, if that makes any sense at all... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannybuoy Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 (edited) I think people would be happier with it if was labelled 'Bass Metal Distortion'. The 'overdrive' label misleads those looking for a natural drive sound. The best and worst live distortion sounds I have heard were due to this same pedal. One with it going straight to the PA which sounded awful, and one going through an SVT & 810 which sounded immense! Edited March 17, 2014 by dannybuoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guinness21 Posted March 17, 2014 Author Share Posted March 17, 2014 Loving the 'driven punk' sound on this clip of the markbass tube marker - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7tTXLUDQLY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guinness21 Posted March 24, 2014 Author Share Posted March 24, 2014 Thinking of pulling the trigger on the vt bass, hoping to try it out within a couple of weeks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannybuoy Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 (edited) If it's that punk style played with a pick you're after, the VT is a great choice. Edited March 24, 2014 by dannybuoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guinness21 Posted March 25, 2014 Author Share Posted March 25, 2014 vt bass is looking like a green light - can nail tim commerford's tone spot on with that! with that being a vintage-sounding pedal, should I still go for a muff fuzz? Or should I go for something more modern sounding like a tafm and balance it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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