HPF and a Nest of Angry Wasps

#21
Mark Andrew said:
Will do fingers crossed :)
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Most traduckinal style fuzzes have high impedance inputs...dropping anything in front of it that sends a low impedance signal to your fuzz causes it to suck. That's why with passive instruments you should put your fuzz first in your chain if you're using a passive bass. Otherwise if you have an active bass, find a different design of fuzz. :)
 
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#23
Mark Andrew said:
I'm not a great tap dancer and prefer less rather than more pedals but will bear it in mind thanks ;)
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I just plain don't like having anything on the ground but my feet. But when I was using a lot of rack effects I found that throwing a whole separate preamp with a simple EQ format after all the many rack effects units gave me by far the best results. This, even with a cab emulator, three or four bands of EQ in the tube noise toy, and so on.

BurningSkies said:
Most traduckinal style fuzzes have low impedance inputs...dropping anything in front of it that sends a high impedance signal to your fuzz causes it to suck. That's why with passive instruments you should put your fuzz first in your chain if you're using a passive bass. Otherwise if you have an active bass, find a different design of fuzz. :)
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Yep, but methinks you've transposed high and low.
Yel_wink.gif
 
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#25
Passinwind said:
I just plain don't like having anything on the ground but my feet. But when I was using a lot of rack effects I found that throwing a whole separate preamp with a simple EQ format after all the many rack effects units gave me by far the best results. This, even with a cab emulator, four bands of EQ in the tube noise toy, and so on.



Yep, but methinks you've transposed high and low.
Yel_wink.gif
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Still working on my morning coffee...
 
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#26
BurningSkies said:
Still working on my morning coffee...
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Roger that, just about a third of the way into my first cuppa.

In any case, this is a very topical topic for me at the moment, as I'm just about to dive into the dirty side again for the first time in, eh, a decade? And dirty slide bass applications aren't exactly Engineering 101 territory.
Yel_wink.gif
 
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#28
Angry wasps? I thought it was a "box of bees" that a tweeter produced. Your tweeter may have a defect. It's also possible that colony collapse disorder has made bees too expensive to include with tweeters, and the manufacturer had to switch to a more available insect. Kind of like CITES, but animals instead of plants.

A variable low pass filter is your friend here, balancing the need for less insect noises with the desire for just the right amount of dirt overtones. Cabinet emulators can also work, as much of what they do is low pass, but a simple variable low pass (Broughton makes one) is simpler to comprehend and use.
 
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#29
micguy said:
Angry wasps? I thought it was a "box of bees" that a tweeter produced. Your tweeter may have a defect. It's also possible that colony collapse disorder has made bees too expensive to include with tweeters, and the manufacturer had to switch to a more available insect. Kind of like CITES, but animals instead of plants.

A variable low pass filter is your friend here, balancing the need for less insect noises with the desire for just the right amount of dirt overtones. Cabinet emulators can also work, as much of what they do is low pass, but a simple variable low pass (Broughton makes one) is simpler to comprehend and use.
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All three of my cabs with tweeters do this distortion sounds fine when HPF is not engaged. Will try moving the HPF as recommended to combat my insect issue...
 
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#31
Mark Andrew said:
It's one my amp technician knocked up due to the price of getting one here posted and taxed from the US being a bit steep. Couldn't find a European manufacturer back then. It works a treat though. With everything except distortion. I will ask him when I next see him if he has an explanation. However he fell out of a cherry tree and has his torso in plaster at the moment so he won't be fixing anything for a while. I shouldn't find that humorous but can't help a small smirk. Maybe he got stung?
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Have your tech knock up an LPF. As soon as he gets the cherries out of his system.

Also, try the distortion in the effects loop.

Can you borrow a higher-end distortion pedal to test with?
 
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#33
agedhorse said:
The high pass filter should not cause this. Perhaps there is distortion happening within the HPF that is being distorted more with/by the pedal?
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If all it did was filter, I would agree, but it may be that it's also buffering when on, and bypassed when off, which is changing the impedance feeding the fuzz from high impedance and highly variable (the bass) to something low and not so variable (an op amp), and thereby changing the characteristics of the fuzz - from desirable grunting noises to insect like sounds.
 
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#34
micguy said:
If all it did was filter, I would agree, but it may be that it's also buffering when on, and bypassed when off, which is changing the impedance feeding the fuzz from high impedance and highly variable (the bass) to something low and not so variable (an op amp), and thereby changing the characteristics of the fuzz - from desirable grunting noises to insect like sounds.
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Called my tech and he has regained some movement in the not broken arm and breathing is less painful. He has also suggested moving it in the chain and using effects loop. So that's the first plan.
 
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#35
@Mark Andrew Although you didn't mention what kind of amp you use, you might consider experimenting with putting your HPF in the effects loop and see if that helps. This way, your HPF is still protecting your speakers (which is what I'm assuming you have it for), but the full gain and everything from your pedals hits the preamp as it should.
 
#36
superheavyfunk said:
@Mark Andrew Although you didn't mention what kind of amp you use, you might consider experimenting with putting your HPF in the effects loop and see if that helps. This way, your HPF is still protecting your speakers (which is what I'm assuming you have it for), but the full gain and everything from your pedals hits the preamp as it should.
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Will do. There is a list of amps and this phenomenon has happened with at least two of them. Tonight the Wasps nest is going down....grr
 
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#37
Mark Andrew said:
Loving my HPF it's giving me more headroom less rumble and a better cut in the mix. All super. However on the occasions I use a distortion (not a big fan but needs must) if the HPF is on it sounds like a nest of angry wasps wants to escape from the tweeter. Tweeter is set really low and this happens with all three of my cabs with tweeters and all amplifiers. Admittedly the bas Muff I use is not a high end pedal but prior to the HPF it sufficed for the occasional song it gets used for. Any solutions? HPF is currently first in the chain. I'm going to buzz off now.....bzzz
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Because most of the distortion from a distortion box is from down low, you're cutting most of it out with the HPF, get rid of that silly thing. What frequency does it start cutting out bass? Should be below 40 hz or lower, that is the fundamental of the E string more or less (42 hz?). This is one of the reasons so many bassists put EB-0 pickups in their Fenders years ago.
 
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#39
bobyoung53 said:
Because most of the distortion from a distortion box is from down low, you're cutting most of it out with the HPF, get rid of that silly thing.
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That's just straight up bad advice.

Actual helpful advice might sound more like: "Because most of the distortion from a distortion box is from down low, you're POSSIBLY cutting MUCH of it out with the HPF, so consider looking at your settings and changing the frequency at which it is set."

I - and MANY other TBers - have been using an HPF for years and also use drive pedals and have never experienced what the OP has mentioned, so it's certainly not just the fact that the OP has an HPF in their rig.
 
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