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Vintage threads from the first ten years

Got Bass?

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12/28/1999 9:49 PM

Hello,
I messed around with building some effects a few years ago,
and am just getting back into it again.

What kind of distortion would you guys recommend for bass?
I built a FF (years ago) with bigger input and output caps,
thinking this would increase the bass response, and it did,
but the damn thing has so much gain it's all farty even with the drive knob all the way down.

I'd like to try something else. Any suggestions? thanks!

12/28/1999 10:00 PM

If you have a tube amp and like the distortion it can produce boosters of various kinds are great. I like the Minibooster a lot. That one is nice and natural sounding. My current pedal is a diy EH Hogs Foot bass booster which is fun if you want the overloaded Acoustic 360 sound sometimes (big and blown up, distorted and bassy - no highs). If fuzz ya want - Big muff is great for bass - can get sort of an old synth/brass type of tone. Overdrive with wet/dry blend works well for cleaner amps...
Have fun.

The Fuzz Face never worked in my bass world, BTW.

12/29/1999 4:22 AM
Gus	Rob sometimes reducing the input cap value to a point can make an effect sound like it has bass. Look at a Big Muff it has high pass filters between gain stages about 160hz HP. I would try a film cap .1uf to 1uf with the FF for the input.

12/30/1999 3:27 PM

Gus,
You say that reducing the input cap's value will add low-end?
I thought it was the other way around?
The problem I've encountered with my FF is that the thing has too much GAIN. It's got NKT275's in it, and even with
the drive pot at 0, there is still too way much distortion...

Of course, I built the circuit years ago and maybe I fudged something somewhere... I'll trace it this weekend.

Any other bass players out there have any good luck with
other pedals besides the Big Muff?

12/31/1999 12:56 AM

Rob by reducing the input cap you are letting more of the fundmental go thru without clipping; the partals will be clipped. I have found that by changing the input high pass freg you can "tune" effects a small amount The ear seems to hear sounds that are clipped more toward the higher fregs even if there is alot of clipped lows in the signal. A TS type effect used this in that freg higher than the fundmental are boosted and clipped. High E about 20th fret is around the high 600. -3db on the TS about720hz.

You might want to try a TS and maybe change the boost point to around 500hz and the lowpass section to around 500 hz. Good writeups at R.G.'s site and John G's site.

1/6/2000 7:53 PM

Rob, I have been messing with my own bass distortion thingies for years. Right now I'm using a parallel conbination of two of the Craig Anderton circuits (LED clippers) tuned an octave and a fifth apart (I think). I could add a direct mix in parallel to the two fuzz stages, but since I run at least a stereo setup anyway, I just mix direct and fuzz at that end. I typically run stereo fuzz into delay for my slide bass, plus a separate dry channel. Lotta stuff, but it works great. All the bottom you want, all the distortion you want, at the same time.

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