Ander87 Posted December 29, 2022 Share Posted December 29, 2022 (edited) Hey guys... ... Hoping you can help me out here - I am not convinced on the sound I get from my Fuzzrocious Lil Fella, for punk rock - love the grain and the amount of distortion I get, BUT, as usual with my EQ settings, I can tell it 'eats out' a lot of bass; also the problem is whilst the pedal is fantastic, I can't boost the bass/low frequencies to match the clean tone I get. In an ideal scenario I'd switch from clean to distortion with the same amount of bass. So, that makes me think I need a distortion pedal with bass controls? Playing punk rock as I do (I do like to use plenty of tight distortion when I can, even down to the metal/heavy range), with mostly passive basses (precision, Ricky 4003, stingray active but scooped and static settings) - what suits me better? I'm mostly between the B7k and the sans amp, the sans amp is an epic pedal but have never owned it, and the Darkglass I'll probs understand it well as I've had a few Darkglass pedals... the last option is the Source Audio after shock to get both tastes and knowing myself but I've got tube drive and fuzz covered with my ABM 600 and the woolly mammoth... and I rarely have patience to play with digital settings and apps etc although I could be seduced to if that can mimic those tones perfectly and be set up easily. Best, Ander. Edited December 29, 2022 by Ander87 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andruca Posted December 30, 2022 Share Posted December 30, 2022 I'm a longtime SansAmp (RBI) user and GUMA Drive (B3K clone) user for under a couple years. I play mostly HC/punk and metal. I'm more of a SansAmp fan for punk/HC and more of a Darkglass fan for metal. I play both mostly with a soft pick and quite a strong consistent (maybe guitar like) attack and lots of compression in both scenarios. My suggestion is you'll get away with this EASILY with any Zoom small footprint pedal (i.e. MS-60B). That model in particular has SansAmp emulation built in and the blendable RAT emulation allows for a very convincing Darkglass tone too. The unit can hold up to 4 effects per patch (if not enough the MS-50G, guitar model, can hold up to 6 FX, and can be easily hacked to have every effect you might need from bass models), so you can further EQ, compress, gate the noise out, even add an additional preamp if it serves your tone shaping. I've permanently assigned the SansAmp and the GUMA Drive to my studio and exclusively use any of my Zooms live. I work with 3 basic patches (2 SansAmp, 1 Darkglass paradigm). All of them are fat and heavily compressed (not squashy tho'). Most difference between my SansAmp "clean" (mostly used for playing fingerstyle, not too clean really) and crunchy (mostly pick playing) tones are just gain and blend variations . The Darkglass tone I only use in a crunchy version (100% pick work). This is the "clean" SansAmp tone plucking on the neck pickup of a cheap parts Jazz Bass... Same bath, on both pickups, pick and crunchy tone... And this is the faking of my Darkglass tone soloed, you can barely tell a difference between the Zoom and the B3k clone (same bass, bocth pickups + just the neck pickup)... I use this same scheme with any bass (I also own a -cheap- P, Musicman, Warwick StarBass, Epi EB-0, Schecter CV-5). Most videos in my YouTube channel are recorded thru' Zooms I own (MS-60B, MS-50G, G1Xon, B3, G3, B1Xfour). Please note your playing has A LOT to do with how effective your distortion timbre is and how heavy you sound. Compression helps your output level, yet can't supress all EQ "surges" if you don't pluck/pick consistently hard. Hitting hard obviously "maxes out" your signal and helps EQ (lows included) stay consistent. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuzzie Posted December 30, 2022 Share Posted December 30, 2022 Tech21 DP3X is exactly what you need The Tech21 Steve Harris is also stellar This year they will release a Frank Bello pedal That’s a lot of EQ and tight distortion If you had to go Darkglass nothing beats the AO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pbasspecial Posted December 31, 2022 Share Posted December 31, 2022 I’m currently using an EBS Billy Sheehan deluxe pedal with clean and dirt blended together. Really nice. I also use from time to time my lovely Rodenberg 808 bass overdrive/distortion pedal which is based on a tube screamer and has a bass boost switch. Both great pedals and work well stacked together too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ander87 Posted January 4, 2023 Author Share Posted January 4, 2023 Hey guys...! I am sorry on the delay, Jesus it's been busy, with new year, work and whatnot it's all been a bit busy! I just wanted to say thanks for your comments - the videos from @andruca were really good in showing the character of these boxes! I ended up going for Darkglass yet again, hoping it doesn't suck out much bass on the EQ - at home volumes I've managed to get good results, so there's hopes...! Just to make sure both clean and distorted signals are more even, I've put the distortion before the compression (you can't imagine how sophisticated I feel). The comp is a Fat General clone I just got here this morning... LOVE IT for a third of the price of the original...! I'll try that tomorrow loud over rehearsal... Also, I somehow want enough distortion that I've maxed it out 😁 love the character as is and think it will be enough tbh, but I can still hear @Cuzzie mentioning the AO Ultra, I let go of that one maybe too quickly when maybe it was the one to keep! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lidl e Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 Ive been gathering my bits for a board recently and in my research i found the aftershock to be the best digital sounding pedal to my ears/taste. I went with a custom built analog pedal, but if i hadnt gone analog, i would have gotten the aftershock. Although that darkglass ADAM sounds absolutely killer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ander87 Posted January 5, 2023 Author Share Posted January 5, 2023 8 hours ago, lidl e said: Ive been gathering my bits for a board recently and in my research i found the aftershock to be the best digital sounding pedal to my ears/taste. I went with a custom built analog pedal, but if i hadnt gone analog, i would have gotten the aftershock. Although that darkglass ADAM sounds absolutely killer. hm! I feel the aftershock may have too many models and options, but that’s just me as I don’t like to fiddle or connect pedals and gear to the laptop for edits etc etc… I may change my mind one day and explore it. I had the AO Photon and it just felt overkill but that’s just me, I know it’s a great rig! Ander. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fretmeister Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 If you want to try the Sansamp on a budget the Caline Wine Cellar and the Behringer Bass Driver are clones of the V1 (no mid control) of the Sansamp 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ander87 Posted January 6, 2023 Author Share Posted January 6, 2023 Aha! thanks @fretmeister those are actually pretty cheap, could give them a go...! As you can see by the picture I quickly maxed out the B7k's distortion @Cuzzie and @andruca ... Love the sound as is but could do with some more I reckon... Hmmmmmmm may be Alpha Omega time? Ander. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fretmeister Posted January 6, 2023 Share Posted January 6, 2023 28 minutes ago, Ander87 said: Aha! thanks @fretmeister those are actually pretty cheap, could give them a go...! As you can see by the picture I quickly maxed out the B7k's distortion @Cuzzie and @andruca ... Love the sound as is but could do with some more I reckon... Hmmmmmmm may be Alpha Omega time? Ander. The Tech21 BDDI and the clones are not really high gain either. They are based on an overdriven Ampeg rather than distortion. Their dUg and the Steve Harris pedals get really filthy though. And the Darkglass Alpha Omega has a lot more than the B7K does. As it happens I used to have a B7K and a B3K at the same time and despite DG claiming the drive on both was the same I always thought the B3K got more dirty. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ander87 Posted January 6, 2023 Author Share Posted January 6, 2023 Hmm, interesting! Guess I could open the good old debate of Microtubes X7 vs Alpha Omega, I kind of want to stick to Darkglass...! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ander87 Posted January 6, 2023 Author Share Posted January 6, 2023 Also learnt about pedal order... FUZZ FIRST has been a big reveal That also frees up the DI from the B7k in case I need to use it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirgefornovember Posted January 6, 2023 Share Posted January 6, 2023 Has the Fuzzrocious been relegated to the drawer, @Ander87? I would consider buying it back off you 😅 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ander87 Posted January 6, 2023 Author Share Posted January 6, 2023 22 minutes ago, dirgefornovember said: Has the Fuzzrocious been relegated to the drawer, @Ander87? I would consider buying it back off you Haha! Love it, the grit and character, but the guys and previous recordings are used to my Darkglass stuff, hence that! I recorded some bits on B7k/Alpha Omegas so I guess that’ll be the upcoming for the band at least for this EP round…! just posted it for sale, let me know…! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fretmeister Posted January 6, 2023 Share Posted January 6, 2023 59 minutes ago, Ander87 said: Hmm, interesting! Guess I could open the good old debate of Microtubes X7 vs Alpha Omega, I kind of want to stick to Darkglass...! I've got the Vintage Microtubes now - goes dirtier than expected, especially in the mid range, but it's not a modern metal sound like the B series. At some point I'll get another AO and between the 2 of them I'll have everything I need covered. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ander87 Posted January 6, 2023 Author Share Posted January 6, 2023 Hm, I had the vintage ultra and didn’t find myself having the cleanly distorted tone I wanted - great for an old school gritty tone though, of course! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fretmeister Posted January 6, 2023 Share Posted January 6, 2023 Yeah - that's more what I need at the moment. I really do miss my AO though. Just a shame the prices are a lot more than when I last had one! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ander87 Posted January 6, 2023 Author Share Posted January 6, 2023 Yup - prices are ridiculous, especially new!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lidl e Posted January 7, 2023 Share Posted January 7, 2023 Im sure demonfx will have a clone out if the dont already Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ander87 Posted January 7, 2023 Author Share Posted January 7, 2023 And there’s also the rhetorical question whether I should ditch the whole thing and get back to an Alpha Omega Photon that I regret not having explored enough 😁… all those pedals amount to quite a bit more than an AOP second hand…! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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