by themeanreds » Sat Jul 08, 2017 9:59 am
There are a number of ways to use blend circuits; what pedals work for you depends on how you use them, and your expectations as to the results.
Some bassists prefer a very present clean sound in parallel with the dirty tone. When blending in a bunch of clean tone to try and achieve a bigger, heavier tone, I tend to not like the sound at all. To my ears, it often sounds like it takes up more sonic space without sounding or feeling heavier. It's like being hit with a huge piece of paper instead of a brick. Hit me with a brick, dammit. A bit of clean tone-enough to feel more than hear-can be effective, though.
When I used a blend, I preferred to run a lowing gain pedal before a blended medium-to-high gain pedal; I liked the sound of the lower gain tone running alongside the boosted higher gain tone. If the two dirt pedals did not stack well, then the whole mess would sound terrible. This is why the TAFM did not work for me; I did not like how it sounded with a dirt pedal in front of it. A Rat thing set for lowish gain in front of a blended Big Muff thing, however, sounds great to me. I was not blending to retain clean low end, though. I wanted the clank blended with the sludge.