low end fuzz/od help plz

[whoismarykelly]

What tuning/guitar? 8th notes at normalish tempos should be pretty easy to keep clear but if you're tuning to A on a Les Paul or something like that then clarity is going to be a serious struggle if you also want to keep a lot of low end in your signal. You could cut bass going into the pedal and then boost it later or you could just accept the tradeoff that more bass and gain will always mean less clarity. Leaving some room for the kick and bass guitar down there is also a huge plus and then you can focus on all the mean cutting power in the midrange. The subs in guitar never cut through the mix anyway. They just mush out the mix.

In terms of actual solutions I would try a pedal more focused on distortion or overdrive than fuzz. The grain size of fuzz pedal distortion is just too big and loose to retain definition. A good cheap alternative is the DOD Gunslinger. I tune to G on a 27" scale baritone and the Gunslinger holds up well for fast playing with lots of articulation. A good high gain amp with a boost to make it a little looser will do even better but since you're playing fuzz pedals I assume that's not your thing.

Believe it or not, you have actually met my guitar and head in person. I’m the one with piss all over my pants who bought that the Delorean cab off you!

Anyhow it’s a Gibson firebrand through a music man HD 130 on this side of my signal chain which we are talking about. I tune to drop C. My bass player does not have a beefy sound whatsoever. He plays through a music man Combo and an ampeg v4 with a 4x12 cab. His bass has a tele bridge pickup in it. No clue why. Well, actually I do know why: he built it himself and loves it. He kind of gets a lemmy sound, which is cool and contrasts with the two tones I get. This is where my desire to push more lows is born.

So yeah, leaning towards OD sort of. But emailing with Alan also to see what his advice with the Megalith would be...

Small world LOL

Id def go for a less sludge-focused fuzz in the case and possibly even add a bass cab to the mix if your bassist is leaving a hole in the subs.

[Ghost Hip]

For how little of an investment it is, I would try the DOD Boneshaker if you haven't already.

I would also look at a Green Russian Muff circuit as well. Maybe with a mids switch/knob for more clarity/gnarl. The have more note definition when rolled back on the gain. And if my hearing serves me right the clones I had almost sound like the low frequencies have a bit of clean blend, its strange. But it is truly a thick fuzz sound but more clarity than my Supercollider or other muffs I have had.

[omarwhite]

so Alan got back to me, and, understandably, wasn't able to offer a ton of info as my explanation of what I was looking for (similar to what I posted here) was somewhat vague and open ended.... he did give me a breakdown of his pedal line up and pointed me towards the Heavy Machine (which I wasn't wowed by back when demos came out, but maybe there are new ones??), which also supports what a lot of you suggested, in seeking out distortion/OD rather than fuzz... he did also suggest that the dipswitches in the new Megalith MIGHT provide the mid boost i'd need. but as far as suggesting mods to my current one that he could perform, well, the conversation has not gone down that path as of yet...

[omarwhite]

For how little of an investment it is, I would try the DOD Boneshaker if you haven't already.

have a boneshaker. dig It, but honestly I hate hate hate how it plays with my Pharaoh. you'd think being both Black Arts circuits that they would gel together, but personally, I haven't had success with them, no matter which one precedes the other in the chain.

[coldbrightsunlight]

Have you thought about a pdf1 or other eq parametric or not? I used to get super beefy sounds with that boosting the Pharaoh. Might be an option if you have fuzz pedals you like but just want more lows?

[harpies]

I’ve been down a similar road, but I’ve been doing it without a bass player. I settled on a dual amp rig with one amp running an extra powered sub cab. Short of that, the most effective method for assaulting low end was putting eq or your fuzz post preamp. Anything slamming the preamp just got muddy or loose.

[omarwhite]

Have you thought about a pdf1 or other eq parametric or not? I used to get super beefy sounds with that boosting the Pharaoh. Might be an option if you have fuzz pedals you like but just want more lows?

coincidentally, my PDF2 just showed up in the mail yesterday. got a killer deal from Prymaxe so I jumped on it. after 3 hours with it at practice last night, I think there is a ton of tonal variety in it. It will not by any means fill the gap left by the Megalith tho...

I'm definitely most interested in hearing from people who HAVE used the megalith. if you haven't used one, you might not realize how much low end territory is actually covered by this.

[omarwhite]

I’ve been down a similar road, but I’ve been doing it without a bass player. I settled on a dual amp rig with one amp running an extra powered sub cab. Short of that, the most effective method for assaulting low end was putting eq or your fuzz post preamp. Anything slamming the preamp just got muddy or loose.

interesting. havent tried dirt POST preamp. might mess with this over the weekend

[harpies]

I’ve been down a similar road, but I’ve been doing it without a bass player. I settled on a dual amp rig with one amp running an extra powered sub cab. Short of that, the most effective method for assaulting low end was putting eq or your fuzz post preamp. Anything slamming the preamp just got muddy or loose.

interesting. havent tried dirt POST preamp. might mess with this over the weekend

It's why I think the Mesa graphic eq (pre) is ineffective and love the graphic on the carvin x100b (post). I've heard good this about that pdf2, and now from you...need to find myself one to try.

[omarwhite]

its definitely got that QOTSA sound for sure, but capable of a ton more. not sure how I feel about the gain/dirty channel on it but its nice and versatile for sculpting

[Ghost Hip]

For how little of an investment it is, I would try the DOD Boneshaker if you haven't already.

have a boneshaker. dig It, but honestly I hate hate hate how it plays with my Pharaoh. you'd think being both Black Arts circuits that they would gel together, but personally, I haven't had success with them, no matter which one precedes the other in the chain.

Dang, yeah that is surprising and a bummer.

[coldbrightsunlight]

Have you thought about a pdf1 or other eq parametric or not? I used to get super beefy sounds with that boosting the Pharaoh. Might be an option if you have fuzz pedals you like but just want more lows?

coincidentally, my PDF2 just showed up in the mail yesterday. got a killer deal from Prymaxe so I jumped on it. after 3 hours with it at practice last night, I think there is a ton of tonal variety in it. It will not by any means fill the gap left by the Megalith tho...

I'm definitely most interested in hearing from people who HAVE used the megalith. if you haven't used one, you might not realize how much low end territory is actually covered by this.

Yeah that's fair I've never tried a megalith. Sounds like a bit much for me from the demos and this thread sealed the deal on that impression lol.

[Jwar]

For how little of an investment it is, I would try the DOD Boneshaker if you haven't already.

have a boneshaker. dig It, but honestly I hate hate hate how it plays with my Pharaoh. you'd think being both Black Arts circuits that they would gel together, but personally, I haven't had success with them, no matter which one precedes the other in the chain.

Dang, yeah that is surprising and a bummer.

Is that possibly an eqing problem with the pedal? A lot of people have had trouble dial theirs in correctly. I've stacked the Boneshaker with many dirt pedals and have had no issue. I don't have any Black Arts to stack it with though but that just doesn't make sense.

[BoatRich]

I feel like an EQ in your loop after whatever fuzz you’re already running might do it too?

[systemofameow]

Love these suggestions. Both the Big Game Solace and EAE my blaster were on my radar but wasn’t sure how much balls they possessed..

I used to have a Solace State. Definitely a fuck ton of bass to be found there. The distortion side of it was nice too, real grindy, thick yet articulate.