Bass Fuzz/Distortion Pedals?

comfortstarr · Post by **comfortstarr** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 9:16 am

Any recommendations for bass fuzz/distortion pedals? I'm not talking "warm overdrive." I'm talking, well, fuzz/distortion.

I've been trying to use my Sansamp GT2 on bass, but definitely feel like I'm losing the bass too much.

Thanks in advance

mjau · Post by **mjau** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 9:19 am

Zvex wooly mammoth is pretty amazing. I haven't tried the b:assmaster yet, but I bet it's cool based on reviews. I dig my Baja Tech da MOAF on bass. It's based on a ram's head Big Muff circuit, and creates a massive low end. Not a well-defined sound, but certainly fuzzy and huge.

Mudcloth · Post by **Mudcloth** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 9:31 am

I love my MXR Bluebox.. It's an octave/fuzz so it might not be what you're looking for but it's baddass none the less.

mjau · Post by **mjau** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 9:38 am

Speaking of octave/fuzz stuff, I recently picked up a subdecay noisebox. Holy shit. Has a cool distortion sound to it, plus some insane envelope follower stuff happening.

calaverasgrandes · Post by **calaverasgrandes** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 1:39 pm

I've always gotten a good sound with rat boxes, but I have to mess with the eq on teh amp a lot in a way that ruins the clean tone. Also, I dont care what proco says, the current rats are not the same as the one I got back in the 80's!

weatherbox · Post by **weatherbox** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 1:43 pm

The Barge Concepts stuff is pretty nice on the bass. I have the BP1 and BBjr, both are nicely nasty.

JES · Post by **JES** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 1:45 pm

For bass fuzz I'm partial to Prescription Electronics depth charge or, on a budget, the Guyatone TZ-2. Big muff can work too.

Best,
--JES

gbhansen666 · Post by **gbhansen666** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 2:40 pm

I'll second the big muff, you have to tweak with the tone knob to get it sounding good.

Marc Alan Goodman · Post by **Marc Alan Goodman** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 3:17 pm

Yip. I second the zvex Woolly Mammoth. It's amazing if you have the cash to spare.

As far as Big Muff Pi's, there are good ones and there are bad ones. Never know what you're going to get. I do know that the black russian ones they made in the late ninety's/early 2000's are surprisingly great, and cheap enough that you can pick one up and hope it's a good one (I've seen them go for as little as $20 on ebay). The pots are pieces of crap but at that price you could just replace the whole unit when they go bad (it might be cheaper than buying new pots!).

My final vote (and the expensive one) which I wish I could afford is the L.A.L. industries Super Oscillo Fuzz 88. I still haven't heard one but all I've heard are the right things about what I want from a fuzz pedal. However since I don't think they're sold in stores you'd probably be safer picking up the zvex. At least you could try it out and make your decision after having heard the thing.

-marc alan goodman

darjama · Post by **darjama** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 7:16 pm

I just picked up a sansamp classic, which does a nicer job with a driven tone than the bass driver for distorted sounds.

But it's hard to beat my ampeg sv-cl pro preamp for overdriven sounds. It's a shame the drive isn't foot switch-able.

Randy · Post by **Randy** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 7:55 pm

Voodoo Labs Sparkledrive. It has a clean mix knob that allows you to dial in enough clean signal to bring the gut-rumbly low end. It's the only distortion pedal that I have been able to use on bass and retain some of the low end.

alschnier · Post by **alschnier** » Sat Jul 28, 2007 8:15 am

I'm a big fan of the foxx fuzz, as well as the univox super fuzz. both are a little pricey, but really great studio tools (also great for keys & gtrs).

??????? · Post by **???????** » Sat Jul 28, 2007 10:05 am

alschnier wrote:I'm a big fan of the foxx fuzz, as well as the univox super fuzz. both are a little pricey, but really great studio tools (also great for keys & gtrs).

Beat me to it. These were the two I was going to suggest... the Foxx Tone Machine and (if you can find it) Univox Superfuzz.

Incidentally, there is a prominent example of the Univox on bass on the Beastie Boys "Sabatoge" if you remember that track.

lionaudio · Post by **lionaudio** » Sat Jul 28, 2007 10:37 am

Sanford and Sonny "Bluebeard" pedal is nice.. based on the big muff, but retains more low end.. no clean/ distortion blend though.. i still want to try an mxr blowtorch, but havent yet.. i normally use the bluebeard with a samsamp next in live to eq more bass into it

kdarr · Post by **kdarr** » Sat Jul 28, 2007 3:55 pm

Randy wrote:Voodoo Labs Sparkledrive. It has a clean mix knob that allows you to dial in enough clean signal to bring the gut-rumbly low end. It's the only distortion pedal that I have been able to use on bass and retain some of the low end.

+1 on the Sparkle Drive. Great for faking the SVT-style grind. Even better in ADDITION to the SVT-style grind. It'll but a great, barky fur onto a P-bass, that's for sure.

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Bass Fuzz/Distortion Pedals?

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