Fuzz sound fer Bass players

[Wipeout!]

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

[steve schmitt]

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

[The Nevermores]

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.

[steve schmitt]

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.

[Beerwolf]

zvex woolly mammoth

[Nacker]

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

[Wipeout!]

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'...

[Pete Fiend]

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.

[Billy Bob Thurmond]

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

[Screamin' Billy Hawk]

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

[John Carlucci]

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.

[Jamie]

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.

[KK Dirty Money & Las Drogas]

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.