Hey hey hey GP gang!

I'm gearin' up (literally) fer the start of my new band which will entail sax, bass and drums only...

As the bass player, I really wanna killer fuzz sound ...something gnarly yet not makin' my bass sound too treble-ly...ya dig?

Also, if I go the pedal route, I needs something that will allow direct (aka un-effected) signal through in addition to the fuzzed out signal to my amp...gots to maintain a true-blue bass thump!

Any and all help/talk appreciated, 'natch

Yeah we've been using' the Boss Fuzz FZ-3 fer the last year on our bass sound (with varyin' levels of natural gain/overdrive from an assortment of bass amps)...highly wreck-o-mended if ya don't mind havin' to re-EQ yer sound to compensate fer the loss of the low end (the FZ-3 is a guitar pedal so it acts strange w/ a bass)...never got around to the Boss Bass Overdrive tho, but they make stand-up, straight-ahead stomp boxes that can take a lickin'...so if this Big Muff Bass Pi ain't exactly right we'll give the Overdrive pedal a testdrive...

Bobby said:

I've always liked the Boss Bass Overdrive pedals.  They're pretty simple, but have a great sound.

I've always liked the Boss Bass Overdrive pedals.  They're pretty simple, but have a great sound.

Lordy I know this is an ancient thread, but wanted to send out a new shout-about...

So after many fuzz stomp sessions since the Get Wets began, I've decided upon the Bass Big Muff Pi...it's worth statin' that tho I ain't the bass player anymore (I just sing/shout/stomp & shake a tambourine now) I still care a snot-ton about the bass fuzz sound of my band...with that in mind, we're on the verge of addin' back into our beat combo mix a sax-blower and a brand new baritone guitar-slinger (who will also be playin' thru a fuzz if I have anything to say about it)...

...I'm curious how a baritone guitar would respond to a bass eq'd fuzz box...I'll let y'all know once we get to rehearse with the new baritone goon this week...

Devi Ever is the queen of fuzz, she makes them for both guitar and bass. Check out her site, many product videos.

http://www.blackouteffectors.com/?page_id=402

 

The Musket is a pretty damn good fuzz.

 

Cosmic Psychos have a great fuzz basss sound...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuPfCm8KMg0

Hey man, My bass player used to use a reissue Colorsound Tonebender, awesome on bass and guitar as I used one too! You can hear it on the tracks here. http://www.myspace.com/theblacksliderband

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yq8VZDz5lEc&feature=related nuff said.

I recommend a Big Muff or an Electro Harmonix Black Finger tube compressor. That way, you get a natural bass tone, but you can naturally overdrive it with the tube preamp in the compressor. Check it out.

I play with a guy who uses one of these. It is Behringer but it hasn't fallen apart on him yet. It's super inexpensive. I'll have to ask him how fuzzy it can get.

Fuzz pedals made for guitar don't usually sound good on bass. Bass needs a fatter signal. I've tried some of the best Vintage guitar Fuzz boxes on bass & I found that once I try to play with a full band, they did not cut through. When I sat in with The Ghastly Ones on their Pacific NW tour last year I used an Ibanez Phat-Hed Bass overdrive. It was exactly what they were looking for. I also used this pedal when I recorded the bass VI fuzz solo on the Beat Killers song Gimme A Kiss. It roars. Fender has just put out a pretty cool looking bass fuzz that I plan to check out soon as well. Over-driving an amp with a bass might give you a cool sound for a while, but you can really damage an amp, especially a guitar amp by pushing a bass signal through it. Back in the 60's, before bass amps were designed with hi wattage, basically that's what you had, over-driven distorted amps. It's not as easy to control as a pedal. I have a 67 Gibson EB2. That fat humbucker has blown out a few speakers in its day.

Try a ProCo Rat. They have a really dirty sound, but notes ring through nice.

I get a great overdriven bass sound just plugged into a Fender Super Reverb. The Hartke "BASS ATTACK" pedal I use too... you can dial in and switch in and out of effect. It also helps to raise the pickup very close to the strings and pick or pluck around the 10th fret where the harmonic interval rings about a 3rd over the root note. It sounds like technical nonsense, but just try it with a new set of strings and dial in the tone on the bass just a bit.
RBT

I'm getting fat fuzz out of my Ampeg Scrambler. Sounds best with my '75 Fender P-bass, treble boosted on my Sunn Sonaro head. Been using a single 15'' ElectroVoice cabinet but would love to go back to 10'' speakers.

the Nackers said:

Another option can be the UNIVOX superfuzz (60's blue grey) which i like on my rick'. There a good sound apporximation on you tube.
If you can't find it there are severals clones out there.
I am buying one now. I'll tell you I it sound

Please do! ...I'm no longer the bassist in my band but that's fine cuz I got replaced by a killer bass-basher who has been usin' a Tube Screamer (fer guitar mind ya) on my trashy bass to purty good results! ...Still interested in all this noise about bass fuzz tho so keep it comin'...

Another option can be the UNIVOX superfuzz (60's blue grey) which i like on my rick'. There a good sound apporximation on you tube.
If you can't find it there are severals clones out there.
I am buying one now. I'll tell you I it sound

zvex woolly mammoth

has anyone tried a bullhorn and a coffee can? steve schmitt said:

for authentic garage fuzz, attach a paperclip (loosely) to string(s) near the bridge.

Well....for what it's worth - I used split my signal and run two amps (an Ampeg B50R and B100R). I'd run direct to the B100R and thru a Sovtek Big Muff (regular, not bass) to the B50R. I'd keep the level lower on the B50R and crank the volume on the Big Muff.....so, clean, the majority of the volume was from the B100R, but both were running clean. Then when stepping on the pedal, the fuzz would kick in nice & loud, but the same volume level of clean bass was coming from the B100R. I used these 2 amps eventually because they're fairley inexpensive, light, have a small footprint and you can stack 'em. To begin with, I used the same idea only used an Ampeg V4B thru a 2 15" Kustom cab for the clean and a Marshall 100 watt Lead thru a 4 12" cab for the fuzz.......sounded fucking great, but too much shit to haul around. Anyway, that's how I got the "screwdriver thru the skull" sound.

for authentic garage fuzz, attach a paperclip (loosely) to string(s) near the bridge.

UPDATE TIME:

So after all this discussin' I went with my wild hare and tapped a friend into buildin' me a bass fuzz pedal from scratch!

Haven't got it yet but he promises a sound between a Mosrite Fuzzrite and a Big Muff (esp. EQ'd fer bass 'natch)

Will report back once I get a chance to test drive the sucker...thanx again fer all the help and info, gang...

SNMC said:

I'm with the idea of over driven amps... (though I've used big muffs for recording). Depending on how loud you are going to be, what kind of sound reinforcement there will be changes which amp is the most rockin' Best bang for the buck is a Supro Taurus, though Bassman 100's break up quick if you use the right cabinet, and if you have the money and need to get silly the original Ampeg SVT shit thumps and gets fuzzy.

Thanks gang fer keepin' it comin' ...unfortunately I'm sold on my current amp set-up: a late 1960s(maybe very early 1970s) Sunn tube amp head runnin' a cheap-o Peavey full stack...most venues I can only "crank" it to 3 or 4 on the volume before ear drums split!! so I can't easily overdrive it all natural-like ....hence the need fer a pedal (much to my dismay as I loath bassists with pedal rigs) AAhhhhhh! Wish I could just test out a bunch o' the above suggested pedals...& the search continues...

I'm with the idea of over driven amps... (though I've used big muffs for recording). Depending on how loud you are going to be, what kind of sound reinforcement there will be changes which amp is the most rockin' Best bang for the buck is a Supro Taurus, though Bassman 100's break up quick if you use the right cabinet, and if you have the money and need to get silly the original Ampeg SVT shit thumps and gets fuzzy.

I think most fuzz pedals (at least the new ones) sounds too much stoner/grunge/metal and lacks bottom. What kind of amps did the bassplayers use in the 60´s? I guess they didn´t have pedals, just overdriven (is that a word?) amps. Also, from what I´ve heard the new Big Muff isn´t as good as the old ones. Here´s a guy showing off the new Big Muff with a terrible riff: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeCAJQcgeTA&annotation_id=annotation_256565&feature=iv

A-thank-ya to everyone fer the tips...that MXR M182 or Bass Big Muff...too many options...now I just gotta find one a these bad boys used or on the cheap.