The Mystique of Dirt

[JonnyAngle]

I have a great selection of dirts.

Muff, Rat, guvnor, brothers, mini, elements, ram the manparts, fuzz factory, mastotron, distortron

I will switch it up from time to time but I can get good sounds out of all stuff. When trying something new, sometimes i can’t find tha sweet spot like i can with my stiff

[kbit]

what about other pedals after it?

At the time I had it I don't recall trying it in that configuration, because I was thinking of it more as the pre-amp-right-before-my-recorder type deal. It probably would be fine as long as the pedal(s) after it were cool with being driven harder.

[Eivind August]

Oscillating fuzzes, fam.

Which, yes, was all about me finding out what I needed to produce the sounds I wanted, then a process of testing out a variety of different ones until I found the selection that fit me the best. I guess it's different for those of you who want a great variety rather than "your sound". So, it's all about testing stuff out and seeing what works for you. Nothing wrong in being critical, it probably just means that you are chasing a certain sound.

Also, a fuzz thread on ILF? What is this sorcery?

[coldbrightsunlight]

It's very refreshing

[codetocontra]

I am not a collector of things but somehow I have acquired and maintained 6 dirt pedals, which is basically 66% of my current pedals if you count a tuner. At a moment in life where I don't feel compelled to purge them... but that day is inevitably coming as a byproduct of self loathing that I sugarcoat in a layer of going zen. Actually have some sentimental attachment to a few, which is something I try to avoid by referring to them as merely just noise tools. I don't enjoy doing shoot outs but this just naturally happens when I pull out more than two dirt pedals, and then any creative process is just lost while endlessly tweaking knobs and comparing the pedals into different amps.

There will always be a few new dirt pedals that look and sound enticing. Basically comes down to three options: either choose to be content with a setup that works, give in to the buy/try/flip cycle of chaos, or just collect your favorites.

[rfurtkamp]

Have you tried the source audio la lady or king maker? Suggesting because with the app editor you can tweak so many damn parameters on it, that you might tweak it to perfection. even if you don’t really like the sound of the pedal, the tweaking might help you determine what aspects (frequencies, cutoff, etc) are key to getting the sound you are after. Bonus, either pedal can be loaded with the sounds of the other, and it’s got onboard presets, so you can load od, fuzz, and distortions. It helped me a lot with narrowing down styles of pedals that worked for me.

Even if you don't love the dirt - you can load on ANY of the other One series pedals onto it with a text editor.

[rfurtkamp]

As far as the baseline question, though...I REQUIRE two things to be always true: it has to sound good at unity gain or so, and it isn't a Muff tone stack unless it blows itself up to a point where it's more squealing noisemaker than dirt.

It also must sound good into a clean amp, as that's what I use 95% of the time.

Past that, I'm not picky if there's a sound I like in the pedal. Usually I find that, and leave it on that setting 95% or more of the time - then see how that interacts with the other stuff and running parallel etc.

[JonnyAngle]

I am not a collector of things but somehow I have acquired and maintained 6 dirt pedals, which is basically 66% of my current pedals if you count a tuner. At a moment in life where I don't feel compelled to purge them... but that day is inevitably coming as a byproduct of self loathing that I sugarcoat in a layer of going zen. Actually have some sentimental attachment to a few, which is something I try to avoid by referring to them as merely just noise tools. I don't enjoy doing shoot outs but this just naturally happens when I pull out more than two dirt pedals, and then any creative process is just lost while endlessly tweaking knobs and comparing the pedals into different amps.

There will always be a few new dirt pedals that look and sound enticing. Basically comes down to three options: either choose to be content with a setup that works, give in to the buy/try/flip cycle of chaos, or just collect your favorites.

The funny thing is, when I play with a band, i only use one dirt pedal. I don’t hear enough difference to justify 3-4 dirts.

I don’t consider myself a collector, per se, but I will constantly change up the dirt section when recording. So I do like to COLLECT a variety of sounds. That being said I have one muff. One of each flavor is enough.

[Jwar]

Jack, you gotta stack them different bro! There's always a need for moar fuzz! MOAR FUZZ!!!

Fuzz is lyfe.


I can't wait to start hoarding fuzz pedals again. One day soon my love. One day soon.

[fcknoise]

I've been boosting the fuck with an HM-2 and fuck its glorious

[chromandre]

I had a question that doesn't really deserve its own thread , but on the topic of owning a ludicrous amount of dirt boxes...

do you all think the roger mayer mongoose and spitfire are fuzz or just plain old distortion? I was looking at the schematics it seems fairly easy to build with parts I have lying around but it also looks like it might just be like a DS-1/RAT type clipper, I'm sure is great but I don't really need another one at the moment

[Dark Barn]

I’ve speculated before that dirt is an emotional relationship, compared to the objective relationship that I (maybe you too) have with other pedals. I still believe it, something about right-dirt is precognitive, you just know it when you hear it.

[adamajah]

I had a question that doesn't really deserve its own thread , but on the topic of owning a ludicrous amount of dirt boxes...

do you all think the roger mayer mongoose and spitfire are fuzz or just plain old distortion? I was looking at the schematics it seems fairly easy to build with parts I have lying around but it also looks like it might just be like a DS-1/RAT type clipper, I'm sure is great but I don't really need another one at the moment

I had a Mongoose for a long time and it really kind of blurs the line between fuzz and distortion in a way similar to the Rat... but it goes further into fuzz territory for sure. It's fun to run as a crusty OD as well with the Level dimed and Gain at zero. I'd say it's definitely different enough to warrant a build.

On topic - most of mystique of dirt for me is how it feels to play, beyond just how it sounds. Kinda sucks sometimes when I dig the sound of a dirt pedal but don't get that satisfying sensation under my fingers.

[odontophobia]

Also, a fuzz thread on ILF? What is this sorcery?

I think we became I love Time Based Effects a few years ago.

[Gone Fission]

Also, a fuzz thread on ILF? What is this sorcery?

I think we became I love Time Based Effects a few years ago.

“I love modular” was the way I figured it, but some of that, too.