Fuzz/dirt with active pre amp bass

[Jonathan Bee]

Greetings :-)

I may have missed an obvious point here but I'm struggling with using any fuzz and not getting a lot of noise. I have an Ibanez ebd600 bass that has an active pre amp. It has been fine with octave and filter pedals, but as soon as I add any dirt it's noise even between notes. Recently tried a woolly mammoth clone and is very noisy even with no other pedals. Also a Cubic copilot has same issues. Even on my SA Manta it gets noisy if I add a lot of dirt from it. Any solutions? Any dirt, especially gated fuzz, any of you have found to work with basses with active pre amps?

[Jonathan Bee]

ps ...how is the mooer fog with active pre amp basses?

[Al Krow]

Sounds like a noise gate could be the solution here. If you have a Zoom MS-60B there are a couple of useful noise gate effects (the Noise Gate and the ZNR) that you could try out without forking out for a dedicated pedal.

[Quatschmacher]

4 hours ago, Jonathan Bee said:

Greetings :-)

I may have missed an obvious point here but I'm struggling with using any fuzz and not getting a lot of noise. I have an Ibanez ebd600 bass that has an active pre amp. It has been fine with octave and filter pedals, but as soon as I add any dirt it's noise even between notes. Recently tried a woolly mammoth clone and is very noisy even with no other pedals. Also a Cubic copilot has same issues. Even on my SA Manta it gets noisy if I add a lot of dirt from it. Any solutions? Any dirt, especially gated fuzz, any of you have found to work with basses with active pre amps?

Woolly Mammoth is well-known for not liking active basses. Try the Mastotron as it has an impedance control which makes it work well with active basses. 

[Quatschmacher]

24 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Sounds like a noise gate could be the solution here. If you have a Zoom MS-60B there are a couple of useful noise gate effects (the Noise Gate and the ZNR) that you could try out without forking out for a dedicated pedal.

Also worth a try. The TC sentry is good and not too pricy. 

[Quatschmacher]

Or get something like the Source Audio OFD or Aftershock which give you a choice of dirt and a noise gate which can be used on any model. 

[Jonathan Bee]

Thanks for your input guys :-) will try the noise gate option using the one on the Zoom b3 I have, to calm the noise on the Manta when using extreme drive settings. Just tried the Woolly Mammoth Clone (little bear) on a passive bass (fretless so not my main instrument) and it sounds great, so as you say, it does not like my active!  I'll be on the look out for a replacement.

[Quatschmacher]

3 hours ago, Jonathan Bee said:

Thanks for your input guys :-) will try the noise gate option using the one on the Zoom b3 I have, to calm the noise on the Manta when using extreme drive settings. Just tried the Woolly Mammoth Clone (little bear) on a passive bass (fretless so not my main instrument) and it sounds great, so as you say, it does not like my active!  I'll be on the look out for a replacement.

I’ve just realised you said you’re using this with the Manta. Have you made sure that the Manta’s drive type and drive levels are set to zero (fully anti-clockwise)? I found that it sounded horrendous running the Mastotron into the Manta when its own drive model was running. Turning it off made a huge improvement.

Edited May 27, 2018 by Quatschmacher

[Jonathan Bee]

Thanks :-) I meant I was getting noise when just the Manta was on when using a lot of it's internal distortion. Although it hasn't been a problem until now when I've been adding more gain to my signal, I'm thinking my two power supplies daisy chaining numerous pedals might also be adding to the noise in the case of the Manta.

[dannybuoy]

Yes, a Zoom B3 on a daisy chain is a recipe for disaster when it comes to noise! Many digital pedals are, certainly everything by Zoom and EHX that I've tried. I can't recall what the Source Audio stuff is like in this regard.

[Al Krow]

9 hours ago, Jonathan Bee said:

Thanks :-) I meant I was getting noise when just the Manta was on when using a lot of it's internal distortion. Although it hasn't been a problem until now when I've been adding more gain to my signal, I'm thinking my two power supplies daisy chaining numerous pedals might also be adding to the noise in the case of the Manta.

 

1 hour ago, dannybuoy said:

Yes, a Zoom B3 on a daisy chain is a recipe for disaster when it comes to noise! Many digital pedals are, certainly everything by Zoom and EHX that I've tried. I can't recall what the Source Audio stuff is like in this regard.

+1^^

Aha! I hadn't appreciated that you were daisy chaining your pedals! As DB suggests, I agree that could be the root of your problems right there.

Shameless plug for you considering getting either one of these (or a.n.other decent isolated PSU):

 

[Jonathan Bee]

Yes, I need to sort out my powering situation eventually, but with regards to your 'shameless plug' i'm not quite financially ready to go completely isolated yet! Thanks for your input :-)