New to pedals... Help me pick out a fuzz!

Which fuzz pedal would be the best fit?

  • EHX Bass Big Muff Pi

    Votes: 8 8.4%

  • Green Russian Big Muff

    Votes: 19 20.0%

  • Spaceman Nebula

    Votes: 4 4.2%

  • Magick Fuzz

    Votes: 3 3.2%

  • MXR Bass Fuzz Deluxe

    Votes: 3 3.2%

  • Aguilar Fuzzistor

    Votes: 2 2.1%

  • Zvex Woolly Mammoth

    Votes: 3 3.2%

  • Darkglass Duality

    Votes: 11 11.6%

  • JHS 4 Wheeler

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Earthquaker Erupter

    Votes: 1 1.1%

  • Other (please specify)

    Votes: 41 43.2%
  • Total voters
    95
BassGeekJack

BassGeekJack

Mar 16, 2017
315
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4,551
Richmond, Virginia
#1
Okay so a little background info: I just got into pedals about a year ago and have been constantly GAS-ing and agonizing over which ones to get ever since. I'm pretty happy with my lineup as of now...

Fender P Bass > Polytune > EHX Freeze > TC Sub n Up > Tomkat Violet Muffer > Darkglass Alpha Omicron > Tech 21 BDDI V2 > Genz Benz 3.0 and Hartke Hydrive 112

...except for the Violet Muffer. I find that the mid range is weak and gets lost behind the band, and, though this doesn't matter that much to me in the band context, it doesn't really play nice with my other pedals no matter how the signal chain is set up (sounds really messy unless on its own). I play in an indie-rock band (we've been compared to Weezer, The Shins, Lord Huron, Arcade Fire, Fleet Foxes) that rarely gets really heavy, so the fuzz is mostly for me to beef up parts of many songs, as well as provide more texture to when the bass line is more exposed. So I turn to you TB'ers. What fuzz do you think would fit in this scenario? (Budget is flexible, but I doubt I'd be willing to go over $300 for a pedal) Appreciate the help!
 
#3
I’m a massive DG fan at present but haven’t had hands on time with the Duality, I wasn’t blown away by a handful of demos I’d watched tho. I was a massive fan of my Source Audio Aftershock. Very useful with just the knobs but programmable as well.

Have tried a few variations of Muff, they sound great solo but gets lost in the mix too easily.

Lots of people seem to like the Way Huge as well..
 
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#4
I picked the Source Audio Aftershock because it had settings for Tube, Fuzz, and Heavy and I didn’t have a specific “sound” I wanted to be able to tweak. For my purposes it has been more than adequate. After looking at other types of pedals I realized the ones I could Google the quickest may or may not be the best. They were just the ones I found. If I were a pedal junkie (not quite yet) I would like to try Damnation Audio, Dwarf Craft, Airis Effects, really I could keep going. Those are were a bit harder to find than the MXR, Source Audio, etc. Equipboard is nice because you can find a musician with a sound you like and see what gear they used.

http://www.effectsdatabase.com/

Is another good site for expanding your pedal horizon.
 
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#10
minddrain said:
I picked the Source Audio Aftershock because it had settings for Tube, Fuzz, and Heavy and I didn’t have a specific “sound” I wanted to be able to tweak. For my purposes it has been more than adequate. After looking at other types of pedals I realized the ones I could Google the quickest may or may not be the best. They were just the ones I found. If I were a pedal junkie (not quite yet) I would like to try Damnation Audio, Dwarf Craft, Airis Effects, really I could keep going. Those are were a bit harder to find than the MXR, Source Audio, etc. Equipboard is nice because you can find a musician with a sound you like and see what gear they used.

http://www.effectsdatabase.com/

Is another good site for expanding your pedal horizon.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I didn't know about Equipboard. This could be helpful! The Damnation Audio MDB-1 is very intriguing. Sounds massive.
 
#11
WaldoNova said:
No TAFM by smallsound/bigsound?
Click to expand...

:D:laugh::smug:

tafm.png
 
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#15
As a firm lover of muff style pedals, I’m looking at ordering a two in one Heliotropic & Grey Stache from Fuzzrocious. I feel like as long as you have a good mid BOOST Knob with a clean blend, it’s more difficult to get lost in a mix. I believe the violet muff only flattens out the mids iirc?
 
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#17
Evil_Druid said:
As a firm lover of muff style pedals, I’m looking at ordering a two in one Heliotropic & Grey Stache from Fuzzrocious. I feel like as long as you have a good mid BOOST Knob with a clean blend, it’s more difficult to get lost in a mix. I believe the violet muff only flattens out the mids iirc?
Click to expand...

Yeah it's based on the Ram's Head muff and apparently the mids stay pretty flat and aren't as present as some other Big Muff varieties. I like the idea of having a mid knob to tweak.
 
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