Pedalboard competion help!

[Keefeology]

I've recently bought a boss gt6b. However, the muff fuzz emulation sounds rather weird and it's not really the kind of synthy distorted sound I'm looking for. So, I've decided to get rid of it and go for individual pedals.

I am hoping to replicate the distorted bass riff of Chris from Muse without spending thousands of dollars on amps and racks. In order to do that, I'm going to to need a distortion pedal.

Chris uses 3 amps loops to create that distortion synth sound without using a synth pedal by mixing his animato and muff fuzz together. This creates a rather creamy distorted sound. I've decided to use the Zvex Wolly Mammoth to try and handle Chris's sound. There were reviews on it that this pedal has a lot of low end.

Now what I really need help is the rest of the pedals! I don't know what else to get. If any of you people in SOFT can help out, I would really appreciate it! Thank you!

Edit: Oh, I've heard about effects loop pedals that can also help to bring out the low end that are lost when going through distortion pedals. Does the blend pedal really does this? If this is true can I stack a Distortion pedal and Big Muff Pi together and use the blend function to gain the low end back?

 

[cheesedaele]

Many "I want the Muse sound" threads here on soft, as well as all over the net. It sounds like you've done your homework and have already looked through all that tho. (But if you haven't, look at this post and this post.)

Have you already bought a mammoth?

I am hoping to replicate the distorted bass riff of Chris from Muse without spending thousands of dollars on amps and racks.

Well the mammoth will already set you back at least SG$600, brand new. Even the vexter mastotron is already SG$200+. Also, buyer beware if you use active basses, because mammoths don't make good friends with most active basses, or any hot pickups. Mastotron gets around this with the extra relax/push knob. Both sound very similar, but no beating the mammoth for its 'mammoth' lows.

Strange that you say Wolstenholme doesn't use a synth, he's probably the no.1 reason for the insane prices of second hand Akai DIs. He loves synths.

Anyway, to answer your questions, you'll also need an octaver. If you're a purist, lordie's cut & paste from talkbass is very informative.
What a blend pedal does is... well, blend two parallel signals. If one of them is your dry signal, then you don't "get back" any low end, because it doesn't go anywhere to begin with. Some distortion/fuzz boxes have in-built blend circuits, and will have a 'mix' or 'blend' control.

 

[killbil]

I'm not too sure about bass, but i was able to get the muse guitar sound. Maybe if you run ur bass through a very tweakable overdrive, fuzz/distortion & eq, and morph ur sound from there. Should be able to hit it more or less. Give it a shot if you can! =) All the best.

 

[jbarks]

Do your research (lots of reading):

http://www.google.co.uk/#sclient=ps...=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=&pbx=1&fp=296748d663d5d4ad

 

[Keefeology]

Many "I want the Muse sound" threads here on soft, as well as all over the net. It sounds like you've done your homework and have already looked through all that tho. (But if you haven't, look at this post and this post.)

Have you already bought a mammoth?



Well the mammoth will already set you back at least SG$600, brand new. Even the vexter mastotron is already SG$200+. Also, buyer beware if you use active basses, because mammoths don't make good friends with most active basses, or any hot pickups. Mastotron gets around this with the extra relax/push knob. Both sound very similar, but no beating the mammoth for its 'mammoth' lows.

Strange that you say Wolstenholme doesn't use a synth, he's probably the no.1 reason for the insane prices of second hand Akai DIs. He loves synths.

Anyway, to answer your questions, you'll also need an octaver. If you're a purist, lordie's cut & paste from talkbass is very informative.
What a blend pedal does is... well, blend two parallel signals. If one of them is your dry signal, then you don't "get back" any low end, because it doesn't go anywhere to begin with. Some distortion/fuzz boxes have in-built blend circuits, and will have a 'mix' or 'blend' control.

I read that long article already. I understand that I can utilize the Line Selector to blend the clean tone and dirt together so as to simulate bi amping in a way? If I want a Hysteria tone something with synth, do I place my Synth together in channel A or do I mix em together with B? If so, will I lose a lot of clean tone by combining both A+B?

 

[cheesedaele]

In all honesty, try things out, rearrange and A/B different arrangements and see how you like them. Tone is subjective, and we don't even know what synth you intend to use. Don't mean to sound rude but that's the best advice anyone could give. In fact it already sounds like you know what you're doing, or a least have a good point to start from. All those articles really are very informative, and the authors have spent much more time fiddling and writing than probably any of us have .

About blending: again, assuming it's a decent blender, all it does is merge two parallel signals. If neither signal has any of that "clean tone" you're looking for, then theoretically there isn't any place you're going to magically pull "clean tone" out from. If one of the signals has a clean tone, then the blended output should have it. That's as simple as it gets with blenders.

Edit: if you're eyeing the boss LS-2, it has two loops and bypass. It wasn't built as a blender, altho it does have that function (one of the modes).
All mode options are:

• A/B
• A/bypass
• B/bypass
• A/B/bypass
• (A+B mix)/bypass
• output select: the two loops' "send" becomes outputs you can choose from, result: gives you option of one out of three places to send your signal

Note there's no function that blends any effects loops with the bypass. Some blend pedals do, eg wounded paw's blender. One way I've used the LS-2 is patch one loop directly from send to return, and use the A+B mix, results in the same thing as bypass blend.

 

[lordie]

i got a custom blender and mix it with a LS-2 as well. so i used to have a blender that goes into a LS-2 that blends with the dry signal. very fun to use and experiment

 

[Keefeology]

@cheesedale So if I leave chain B empty with no pedals connected and Chain A with all my dirt on, will I stil be able to control the clean one from chain b or do i have to plug in a couple of pedals in chain b and turning them off?

 

[cheesedaele]

@cheesedale So if I leave chain B empty with no pedals connected and Chain A with all my dirt on, will I stil be able to control the clean one from chain b or do i have to plug in a couple of pedals in chain b and turning them off?

Unless you use pedals with crappy bypass, I don't see why either one shouldn't work.

One way I've used the LS-2 is patch one loop directly from send to return, and use the A+B mix, results in the same thing as bypass blend.

 

[Keefeology]

Unless you use pedals with crappy bypass, I don't see why either one shouldn't work.

So, main point is I can use chain b without any pedals connected to it?

 

[lordie]

So, main point is I can use chain b without any pedals connected to it?

yes u cab do that. but u can;t control the B volume knobs is not in effect. what i do to control volume B is plug in a patch cable from send and plug in back to return.

 

[Keefeology]

Hey, I was wondering why whenever I stack two dirt pedals together my amp starts making weird buzzing noises. Do I need to upgrade my amp? I'm using a 50 watt Harlem bass amp.

 

[carboxymoron]

Shouldn't be anything to do with your amp. As you add more gain pedals it'll amplify any source of noise/hum/interference... for example if your pickups or wiring isn't shielded properly, or you have a noisy power source. Might not be noticeable with one pedal but as you stack gain pedals or turn up your amp you will hear the noise. Might even be one of the pedals itself causing the noise.

Easy way out is to use a noise gate or noise suppressor, but the best solution is to identify the source of the noise and fix it.

 

[shinobi]

i dont think chris uses the mammoth but it is a useful effect for muse stuff. i've been using the source audio bass distortion pro and i recommend it. although i don't think it can give you an EXACT woolly mammoth fuzz, it will take a shitload off your mind. the price is not too bad either, far from what you'll pay for top-of-the-line boutique fx (such as the WM)

 

[Keefeology]

I'm currently still not sure whether I should just stack two muffs for my dirt or a wm and a muff.

 

[freezer000]

i dont think chris uses the mammoth but it is a useful effect for muse stuff. i've been using the source audio bass distortion pro and i recommend it. although i don't think it can give you an EXACT woolly mammoth fuzz, it will take a shitload off your mind. the price is not too bad either, far from what you'll pay for top-of-the-line boutique fx (such as the WM)

Hi Shinobi,
sorry to hijack the thread. Where to get source audio bass distortion pro?
how much u got it for? I am GASing for one.

 

[shinobi]

i ordered it from tonefactor.com, can't remember the price, i think $219 before shipping?

 

[freezer000]

i ordered it from tonefactor.com, can't remember the price, i think $219 before shipping?

okay that puts my mind at ease as I was thinking of ordering online from USA vs finding/buying it locally.

Past few days, I went around the usual guitar shops at penin and bras basah, but only 1 shop carried this brand and they did not have stock and will not be bringing in anymore.... I wasn't sure if there was any other hidden shop that carried source audio products, anyway I will check out tonefactor! Thanks!

Btw, a noob question, can I use 1 spot adaptor to power this pedal?

 

[shinobi]

yeah you can, takes 9V DC. no batteries. i power my board using a sanyo eneloop music booster. it's all good.

i bought it for below retail as i used a coupon code, got some discount. just sign up for tonefactor's newsletter or follow them on twitter