Frustrations of Finding a Fuzz

[olliedf89]

So I know this is a fairly well trodden path I'm heading down here with the 'help me find a fuzz' questions, but I'm still a bit stuck. I do, however, know what I'm looking for and have a few ideas, I just need opinions from people who have used the pedals or know more than me about them!
I've bought a couple of Fuzzes thus far, EHX BBM, which I didn't get along with and the Swollen Pickle which didn't appreciate my bass's bass heavy high output. I use an Ibanez ATK 300 & 400 into a GK 700RB/210RBH and am more than happy with that as it is. I just need to narrow down my fuzz ideas before I click the trigger and buy one.

Normally I would go and try the pedals out and let my ears and hands decide which is best, but unfortunately I can only find half decent demos or unsuitable demos of these pedals and nowhere near me stocks any of them.

These are the ones I've favoured and have had suggested to me so far...

Earthquaker Devices Hoof Fuzz
COG Tarkin
Wren & Cuff Pickle Pie B
Devi Ever Shoe Gazer

Can anyone tell me if they work well with hot signals from active basses? The Shoegazer & Pickle Pie are my favourites so far.

Any other suggestions welcome as long as it does smooth quite well and (preferably) has a blend. And doesn't cost a million quid. Alright I exaggerated, more than about £160.

[Sibob]

You're using active basses so you'll struggle a little with Fuzz.
I have a lot of suggestions for awesome Fuzz for passive basses, but active, I'd either have a chat with Tom at COG about a Grand Tarkin with with an Impedance control, or check out the Zvex Mastatron.

Si

[Wooks79]

I have had a few Devi Ever pedals, and my fave for bass is by far the Ruiner.

If you are ever up the North East, feel free to try any of my pedals out.

[alanbass1]

The only Fuzz that I have got to work well with my Warwick Thumb is a D*A*M Meathead. Truly outstanding on bass and guitar and retains the bottom end real well.

[phil.i.stein]

postage/tax on this would take it slightly over budget, but it's the best i've tried so far. i use it with active basses. quite aggressive sounding, so may not suit. try some demo's out.

[url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Prescription-Electronics-Depth-Charge-Bass-fuzz-distortion-GAIN-/251315914167?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item3a839885b7"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item3a839885b7[/url]

Mastotron as previously mentioned is also great, but more synth-like, and no blend, although bass retention is very good.

Fuzzrocious's offerings might be worth a look too.

Edited August 10, 2013 by phil.i.stein

[paul_5]

I'm using a Coloursound Bass Fuzz clone and I'm loving it. Slightly over budget, so I built one for a fraction of the cost.

[olliedf89]

Thanks for all the help so far guys, much appreciated. Looks like I don't have many options!

[quote name='Sibob' timestamp='1376156992' post='2170390']
You're using active basses so you'll struggle a little with Fuzz.
I have a lot of suggestions for awesome Fuzz for passive basses, but active, I'd either have a chat with Tom at COG about a Grand Tarkin with with an Impedance control, or check out the Zvex Mastatron.

Si
[/quote]

Just looking at the Zvex, it looks good especially as it has the input impedance knob to help soften things up. Thanks!

Synthy and aggressive is fine by me!


[quote name='Wooks79' timestamp='1376158034' post='2170405']
I have had a few Devi Ever pedals, and my fave for bass is by far the Ruiner.

If you are ever up the North East, feel free to try any of my pedals out.
[/quote]

Yeah I'm liking Devi Ever more and more, you suggested the Ruiner to me previously I think. I'll look into their extensive catalogue and see what else comes to mind. And thanks for the offer!!

[olliedf89]

...just had an idea... instead of matching my bass' original volume on my compressor, what if I turned the output volume right down low (and compensate for this on my amp vol), would that then quieten the signal enough for a fuzz to handle? Or am I talking out of my backside?

[clauster]

[quote name='olliedf89' timestamp='1376166981' post='2170522']
...just had an idea... instead of matching my bass' original volume on my compressor, what if I turned the output volume right down low (and compensate for this on my amp vol), would that then quieten the signal enough for a fuzz to handle? Or am I talking out of my backside?
[/quote]

I think it's more an impedance matching issue than signal strength. Actives have much lower impedance.

[olliedf89]

[quote name='clauster' timestamp='1376220947' post='2170860']
I think it's more an impedance matching issue than signal strength. Actives have much lower impedance.
[/quote]

Without sounding ignorant... could you briefly elaborate on that a bit?

[clauster]

[quote name='olliedf89' timestamp='1376224186' post='2170917']


Without sounding ignorant... could you briefly elaborate on that a bit?
[/quote]

Errm, not extensivley. But I do know two things that active electronics (and a lot of pedals) do. They provide a lower output impedance (which preserves the original signal better through cables) and provide a buffer. One or the other or both affect traditional fuzz. The mastotron has a knob you can adjust to compensate for this. I remember, a good few years back, one members quest for a "variable impedance buffer in a box" to achieve the same end.

I think.

[olliedf89]

[quote name='clauster' timestamp='1376251944' post='2171402']
Errm, not extensivley. But I do know two things that active electronics (and a lot of pedals) do. They provide a lower output impedance (which preserves the original signal better through cables) and provide a buffer. One or the other or both affect traditional fuzz. The mastotron has a knob you can adjust to compensate for this. I remember, a good few years back, one members quest for a "variable impedance buffer in a box" to achieve the same end.

I think.
[/quote]

Ah now you've explained it within a context I understand a bit more. It's not the 'volume' of power but the 'pressure' of the power that is affecting the fuzz. The Mastotron's knob looks great (so to speak). I'm surprised more pedals don't have that option.. (at least internally)

Thanks!

[hamfist]

What is it that many fuzzes are supposed to do wrong with active basses ?

Just tried my active Yam TRBX504 through my Tarkin and it seems to work just fine.

[Sibob]

It's just that some fuzz circuits and transistor types don't get on with the impedance. The best thing to do is try pedals for yourself and decide.
I think the issues are often exaggerated, however a small tonal issue might be enough to put you off a particular pedal.
Can't offer too much more as I use passive basses haha

Si

[thisnameistaken]

Some of the classic fuzz circuits were designed for passive pickups, because there were no active pickups. The Fuzz Face certainly sounds bad with actives, it gets nasal and reedy. Muff circuits aren't as bad, so the Pickle Pie may work OK for you. I had a Pickle Pie B a few years ago and I seem to recall it sounded good with my Thumb.

[iceonaboy]

I had an ebm distortion pedal and was very happy, but I tried after hearing about the Ashdown distortion, I decided to try it, and wow,what a beast it is, I wont look back !

Edited August 14, 2013 by iceonaboy

[dannybuoy]

My favorite is the Team Awesome Fuzz Machine - older ones aren't great with active basses (sounds thinner and lows disappear) but apparently the newer ones are slightly redesigned to solve this.

[thodrik]

My found that when using a active bass , the bass fuzz I obtained was by using a valve preamp pedal (English Muff'n/EBS Valvedrive/Blackstar Distx) or driving the hell out of a valve amp. That or buy a 'grit' rather than fuzz pedal (Catalinbread SFT, Aguilar Agro) if you don't want to go down the impedance buffer issue. That or just using a passive bass!

[Nessy]

They're a pain to find (no longer made) but I use an Earthbound Audio Beast with my active Ibanez SR506 - it seems made for bass. It's basically a EHX Russian Big Muff on steroids. There's a mids adjustment and 'Depth' knob, which works really well with low end - no loss of bass whatsoever to my ears and loads of saturation available. There was one for sale on the forum for £100 not long ago (they were about £160 new shipped from the US).

There's also the Supercollider, which is a Beast without the 2 feedback loops, cheaper if you can find one. All subjective of course, but to me it's the first and probably last boutique fuzz I'll ever buy. And they look cool.

[Beer of the Bass]

It's specifically the Fuzz Face and Tonebender based designs that behave oddly with active basses or with a buffer in front of them. That covers a huge number of contemporary fuzzes though, and it can be hard to find out which. Big Muff based pedals are usually OK, as are derivatives of the Univox Superfuzz.
It's a shame manufacturers are often cagey about owning up to whose topology they've borrowed, though perhaps understandable given the size of the boutique "not quite a tubescreamer" market for guitarists...

[burno70]

I had very similar issues and have gone through loads of fuzzes in the last 5 years.

The issue I had was, with my active Shuker bass, most of the fuzzes I tried were either way too noisy (usually the muff bass ones) and this couldn't be resolved even with an ISP Decimator, or the volume knob's were completely unusable - I would have to set them incredibly low and if the volume pot moved a hair the increase in volume was crazy which meant I was never comfortable using them live.

Recently found a solution and now use a Silent Fly Micro Fuzz. The first fuzz I've ever owned with a usable volume pot! It's based on a Tonebender I think and has a Pad built in which helps with active basses. This is by no means the best fuzz I've used - that would be the TAFM, but this is the only Fuzz that I can use on a practicle level - and it does sound great and I'm really, really, happy with it.

Other fuzzes I've tried that didn't get on with my bass, (that I can remember):

Swollen Pickle, Musket Fuzz, TAFM, Maleko B:Assmaster, EXH Big Muff, Iron Ether Oxide and a pickle pie B (that I can remember).

[olliedf89]

Wow, thanks for all the advice guys. Basically it seems that I'm gonna struggle to find a straight up fuzz that sits well with my active Ibanez ATK.

I've got a few to look into though, however I have been looking into the Darkglass B3K, as I'm also after an OD but from what I've seen and heard of it, you can blag a half decent fuzzy tone, plus it works nicely with actives, which is good

All the advice is great guys, even if it just helps me eliminate pedals and saves my bank account!!

[chriswareham]

I can thoroughly recommend the Darkglass B3K. Check out the You Tube videos to see what it's capable of. I'd previously tried various things such as EH Muffs, a Rat and a Companion Fuzz clone with mid scoop control added to it. They all sounded awful on an active bass, but the Darkglass sounds great.

[Sibob]

It's a grey, often debated topic, but there's a different between Fuzz & Distortion. All Fuzz is a type of Distortion, but not vice versa.
I would argue that a B3K is an overdrive/distortion pedal as opposed to Fuzz, but it's often down to saturation. Really go crazy on gain and a lot of distortions start to sound like over-saturated fuzz, pull a fuzz pedal back to low gain, some nice low-overdrive sounds can be had.
Again, it simply comes back to trying a load and seeing what you like, the B3K is a very popular pedal with active and passive players alike.

Si

[olliedf89]

[quote name='Sibob' timestamp='1376917103' post='2180770']
It's a grey, often debated topic, but there's a different between Fuzz & Distortion. All Fuzz is a type of Distortion, but not vice versa.
I would argue that a B3K is an overdrive/distortion pedal as opposed to Fuzz, but it's often down to saturation. Really go crazy on gain and a lot of distortions start to sound like over-saturated fuzz, pull a fuzz pedal back to low gain, some nice low-overdrive sounds can be had.
Again, it simply comes back to trying a load and seeing what you like, the B3K is a very popular pedal with active and passive players alike.

Si
[/quote]

I know it's an OD but according to their website and a few reviews I've seen it can apparently pull off the fuzz thing quite well, so I thought it might be better. I don't realistically need a proper fuzzer if I don't have to, I can use other things in it's place so long as there's a bitta fuzz for me covers stuff.
Maybe the B3K is the way forwarrrrd!