Get my fuzz attack under control....

[Rootdogg]

Question:

 

I want to give my fuzz pedal more precision, better attack. Just the one pedal though. My Prunes and Custard has wonderful sustained drive and harmonics, and I don't want to change that. How can I modify the behavior of just my bass fuzz? I want my fuzz pedal to be more crisp, less extraneous noise between notes. Ya know? Suggestions much appreciated.

[guitargod0dmw]

Buy a new pedal...you might want to try distortion instead of fuzz...it sounds like you want a slightly cleaner sound.

[Poltergeist]

maybe an EQ pedal with a 2-way pedal to turn them both on at once?

[Super Bass]

Buy a new pedal...you might want to try distortion instead of fuzz...it sounds like you want a slightly cleaner sound.

 

 

+1 Sounds like you want a distortion pedal and not a fuzz.

[LanEvo]

Getting a good distorted bass tone is pretty tough. Lots of guys seem to find that splitting the signal does the trick.

 

Some guys use a cross-over to send only the highs through the effects. It keeps your bottom end from farting out when you use effects like fuzz and chorus.

 

Some guys just split the signal and mix the dry (no effect) signal with the wet (effected) signal. You can use a small mixer (like one of those Behringer cheepies) or the effects loop of your amp. Most high end amps with an effects loop will include a wet:dry knob.

 

Emre

[guitargod0dmw]

 

or the effects loop of your amp. Most high end amps with an effects loop will include a wet:dry knob.

 

 

Sure, but that bring a whole nother problem of putting a pedal the FX loop.

[LanEvo]

 

Sure, but that bring a whole nother problem of putting a pedal the FX loop.

Yeah, that's why I mentioned the mixer idea. Personally, I haven't found that distortions, fuzzes, etc. sound very good when they're placed after the pre-amp for some reason. Modulation effects and compression seem to work better.

 

In my case, the only "effect" I use regularly is compression...and I stick mine before the amp. Sounds better to me (though I don't really understand why).

 

Emre

[Rootdogg]

Distortion needs to be placed before the preamp. So you naturally overdrive it.

 

Here is some more info.

 

Right now, I have a Blackbox X-Ray fuzz. Minimal tone loss, retains bottom well. Good grind and bark. I was planning on switching to another pedal anyways, perhaps a Prescription Electronics Depth Charge, which has a blend knob, much like my Crowther Audio Prunes and Custard. That is besides the point though. It's not a tone problem. I just want to keep it quiet when it is receiving no signal.

[Optimus Prime]

I need to get a good fuzz pedal.

[Poltergeist]

Sonny & Sanford Bluebeard Fuzz

 

[guitargod0dmw]

 

Yeah, that's why I mentioned the mixer idea. Personally, I haven't found that distortions, fuzzes, etc. sound very good when they're placed after the pre-amp for some reason. Modulation effects and compression seem to work better. In my case, the only "effect" I use regularly is compression...and I stick mine before the amp. Sounds better to me (though I don't really understand why). Emre

 

 

Well...most pedals are intrument level (IL). Most FX loops are looking for a line level (LL) signal. Rack units are usually LL...so they will sound better than a IL pedal. It really doesn't matter too much about what kind of effects it is. If it's a pedal...keep it out front, if it's rack...put it in the loop.

 

Of course these are just generalizations, and there are always exceptions to the rule. What sounds good for some doesn't work for all.

[toolmybass]

The Colorsound Tonebender Fuzz is a great pedal. An easy way to avoid any of the negatives above about tone loss and bottom end is that you put your fuzz in a separate loop (DOES NOT HAVE TO BE SEPARATE FROM YOUR CHAIN) but if its a true by-pass looper it will be separate from you chain when turned off. Then you add an equalizer at the end of that loop (if you have more than just the fuzz in it, any loss of tone or bottom end can be brought back to where you want it with the eq) Any potential problem solved. You can hear my fuzz on the solo in Vicarious.

[Rootdogg]

 

The Colorsound Tonebender Fuzz is a great pedal. An easy way to avoid any of the negatives above about tone loss and bottom end is that you put your fuzz in a separate loop (DOES NOT HAVE TO BE SEPARATE FROM YOUR CHAIN) but if its a true by-pass looper it will be separate from you chain when turned off. Then you add an equalizer at the end of that loop (if you have more than just the fuzz in it, any loss of tone or bottom end can be brought back to where you want it with the eq) Any potential problem solved. You can hear my fuzz on the solo in Vicarious.

 

 

 

That is a SICK fuzz pedal, but so freakin' expensive. I like the Depth Charge because the price is reasonable and the reviews are excellent.

 

Trye bypass and loss of bottom is not my problem. My current fuzz is true bypass. I want to keep it quiet when it is ON, and I'm not playing anything. I want the attack to be sharper, more controlled. No noise, or overlapping harmonics in between notes.

[toolmybass]

That is a SICK fuzz pedal, but so freakin' expensive. I like the Depth Charge because the price is reasonable and the reviews are excellent. Trye bypass and loss of bottom is not my problem. My current fuzz is true bypass. I want to keep it quiet when it is ON, and I'm not playing anything. I want the attack to be sharper, more controlled. No noise, or overlapping harmonics in between notes.

i would say try different fuzz pedals. Also if its in a loop you can have it on all the time and when you need it you hit the loop instead of the pedal. Not sure where you are coming from when you say"I want to keep it quiet when it is ON, and I'm not playing anything" One "most" fuzz pedals aren't "quiet" and if your not playing anything why would you want it on?.....If its a spot in the song or something where you are joining back in you can just hit your loop right before or use the volume control on your bass!

[Poltergeist]

maybe an Hartke Bass Attack?

[Gruntollio Bass]

I went through this a while back and went to a bass store and A/B/C/D'ed some different fuzz, distortion and overdrive pedals. Getting the right amount of dirty blended with your clean is a very personal thing..........everyone has a different idea of how it should sound.

I tried a Sansamp, a Boss ODB-3, a big-muff, an Ashdown and a couple of others.

I really liked the sansamp and the Boss out of all of them.

I went with the boss in the end because of it's simplicity and tone I could get from it and found that I could get the best blend of dirty/clean that works for me without loosing the bottom end thump. It was also a few hundred bucks cheaper than the sansamp. The things that the sansamp had over the Boss was flexibility of having multiple set tones from very wet to very raspy and dry and being able to combine tones. The pedal also had a built in DI.

The other pedals didn't really do it for me but these are the best 2 I would recommend.

[Kindness]

Distortion needs to be placed before the preamp. So you naturally overdrive it.

 

 

It might just be poor grammar, but in most cases you don't overdrive the preamp.

 

It also helps to grab the schematics so you know what type of distortion/fuzz/overdrive you are using. There really are only a couple of designs out there. Everyone else is just making slight variations on known designs and selling them for hundreds of dollars more than they are worth.

[Jazz Ad]

I want to keep it quiet when it is ON, and I'm not playing anything.

This is simply impossible on a fuzz unless you use a noise gate. It is the nature of the beast. You can't have transistors chasing each other for more gain without adding hiss and static.

I want the attack to be sharper, more controlled. No noise, or overlapping harmonics in between notes.

Now this can be achieved and is mostly a matter of technique. You want to strictly mute unused strings, avoid slapping the strings against the frets and just play really cleanly.

[Rootdogg]

This is simply impossible on a fuzz unless you use a noise gate. It is the nature of the beast. You can't have transistors chasing each other for more gain without adding hiss and static.Now this can be achieved and is mostly a matter of technique. You want to strictly mute unused strings, avoid slapping the strings against the frets and just play really cleanly.

 

Ahh here we go. I will look into a noise gate.

[Rootdogg]

It might just be poor grammar, but in most cases you don't overdrive the preamp.

 

 

Correct. Overdriving the preamp stage. Pushing the preamp tubes harder with a hotter signal.

[REMUS]

Correct. Overdriving the preamp stage. Pushing the preamp tubes harder with a hotter signal.

 

I thought it was mostly the power tubes that provided over-driven tone?

 

My mistake

[Kindness]

 

Correct. Overdriving the preamp stage. Pushing the preamp tubes harder with a hotter signal.

 

 

I guess you did write it correctly. It just seems an odd way of achieving your tone. If you are simply looking for a hotter signal to overdrive your pre a boost pedal or your volume knobs are the first place to look. One of the main advantages of using a pedal for your overdrive/distortion/fuzz is to not have to drive the amp into non-linearity in order to achieve the tone you are looking for. I never overdrive my pre or power sections when I'm using pedals (unless I'm playing guitar).

[der oxenrig]

I like to overdrive speakers as well as the preamp and the power amp. But at that point, I'm too {censored}ing loud, and drowning out everyone else. So I got one of these instead:

 

 

Simulates all of that saturation reasonably well, at much more sane (aka practice) volumes.

[Kindness]

I like to overdrive speakers as well as the preamp and the power amp. But at that point, I'm too {censored}ing loud, and drowning out everyone else. So I got one of these instead: Simulates all of that saturation reasonably well, at much more sane (aka practice) volumes.

 

I use the same pedal with a different set of similar mods.