ilovefuzz.com

I'm trying to type on my phone which I hate so this'll probably a jumbled mess. So...I play bass in a bitchin' stonerish metalish band. I have been obsessed with perfecting my dirt tone for years. I thought the secret was going to be transparent overdrives with ultra scooped Sansamp style EQ. We even just recorded our new album with a tube overdrive into a sansamp (plus a mic'd SVT ofcourse). It sounds great. As a funny side note I was entertaining the idea of going clean on the album because the studio has awesome compressors and EQ's and my guitarist was like, "why?". I love that they like dirty bass too! Live though has has always been the real struggle. Bassists know that playing live is sometimes a bitch because of dealing with the FOH. I have bought mics, cab sims, speaker level DI's, etc but having and using all that gear is a hassle when I just want to get up on stage and shred. So I've been looking for that holy grail one pedal solution so I can just get up and play. Good Dirt, EQ, Cab sim, Battery, etc. Nothing fits the bill yet. Live doesn't have to match the recordings so I still get to mess around with fuzz pedals. It just needs to sound good in the mix at that place and time. My guitarist handed me an old Megalith to try. He found it all covered in filth at his other drummer's place and wanted to show me. I though I was a big shot and initially dismissed it. That thing is all doom and gloom. My modded Rat/Bottle Rocket/Sansamp board here is a better fit because it has that bite I need to be heard. I plugged it in anyway and screw being heard. It was refreshing to be felt again. I'm fighting full stacks and a drummer with triggers through a bigger PA than my 2x15. I borrowed it for a show and while I didn't have all that bright jangly tone I had been aming for, I did just for once use one pedal and played without a care in the world. It's not a perfect fit (the lowest gain was still too synthy for me) but there is hope that one pedal out there can fit the bill.

Why am I writing all of this?

No real reason except I just wanna talk about pedals today and I can't find any used Megaliths.

Soooo your in a stonerish metalish band and DON'T POST A LINK TO YOUR MUSIC???!? Not cool dude. Not cool.

Didn't want to self promote. Wasn't sure how y'all feel about it.

Asthma Castle. We got our 1st album on band camp and a few live videos on YouTube.

Sorry for the lack of links. Doing this on my phone.

Ampeg Scrambler would give you some nice octave up fuzz. And it has a clean blend so you don't lose all your bottom end. I built a clone with a pot control for the octave so I can wind it back a bit. Great for stoner rock

Love that EP title-listening now. Okko Black Beast--be felt and heard.

Dandolin wrote:Love that EP title-listening now. Okko Black Beast--be felt and heard.

I'm borrowing one of these right now and hot damn, this is accurate.

Well I think that instead of going for a scooped tone maybe play with your EQ more and dial in some hi-mids and treble and take some low mids out and pump up the bass. As far as fuzz goes I really love the Megalith as well. It becomes a mix but doesn't necessarily barrel through it. Octave fuzzes are a great choice. I use a Malekko Diabolik and it will rip through any mix. Same for a B;assmaster. I am really digging the BYOC Superfuzz too. Doesn't cut as much but has such a nasty flavor to it.

Thanks for the tips. I messed around on the breadboard with a Fuzz Face type build which sounded pretty heavy.

Not sure if I really need to cut through. We are admittedly a drum and guitar band so bass really is there for support. I recently sold my Bluebeard and Bass Big Muff Deluxe because they didn't really work for this project. I think I erroneously thought all fuzzes were wrong for me but not all fuzzes are Muffs. Now I just need to find the right one. Every good overdrive I tried lacked the amount of low end I wanted and had to boost it a bunch on my amp. Fuzzes with TOO much low end are way to synthy for me. Just looking for a happy medium.

As for clean blends, I never really heard one I liked. My bass sounds great with a fresh setup, new strings, and the volume at 50% or so but that is hard to maintain at all times so a clean blend usually doesn't sound as good as I'd like.

Maybe a clean blend with some sort of EQ and dirty limiting would work out.

If you are digging the fuzz face sound. Check out Earthbound Audio Centurion. Pretty awesome silicon transistor fuzz. They also make a Bee Baa clone called te Pale Mare.