|
 This week GEARED looks a little further into effectors for bass-inclined, getting stuck into overdrive, fuzz and distortion.
PRO CO RAT 2
Distortion Pedal
Where better to start than the Rat? So many great guitarists and bassists have used this little box over the years, it’s basically the standard that all other distortion devices are measured against. The beauty of the RAT 2 lies in its versatility. Used as a primary distortion, it excels at arena rock rhythm tones and soaring sustain. It also nails that sweet spot where a tube amp or pedal goes from sparkly clean to warm overdrive. When backed off on the drive, it can be an effective clean boost. The Filter control allows you to dial-in thumping low tones by rolling off all the high frequencies, or get the boosted harmonics as you solo up the neck, Billy Sheehan style. The Rat 2 is true bypass, of course.
RRP $209. www.elfa.com.au are the distributor, but www.tymguitars.com.au has some second-hand for $160. www.ratdistortion.com.
 CHUNK SYSTEMS BROWN DOG
Bass Fuzz
Chunk Systems are an Australian company who make high quality bass effects. The Brown Dog enables you to produce rampaging waves of meat with your bass guitar while still keeping your basslines tight and letting the character of your instrument’s tone shine through. With two fuzz modes (hard and soft), a mixing stage and a unique gating circuit the Brown Dog gives you a wide range of fuzzy and synthy bass tones.
Based on their FZ002 gated bass fuzz, the Brown Dog adds soft mode and features easier to use mixer controls. With true bypass and only the best quality analogue electronics, the Brown Dog is perfect for all you clean sound freaks. As used by Bootsy Collins.
$349 at www.basspeople.net.au. Their other effects are sweet too, check them out at www.chunksystems.com.
 ZVEX WOOLY MAMMOTH
Bass Fuzz
Z. Vex is something of a fuzz legend, and the Woolly Mammoth doesn’t disappoint. It’s a sensitive and touchy bass fuzz with tremendous bottom end and a beautiful harmonic structure that sounds blistering with a guitar, too. The harmonic structure can be radically altered using the Pinch knob. It adjusts the pulse width of the waveform. In the leftmost position, the waveshape is quite symmetrical which produces a smooth creamy sound. Turning it up slightly introduces lovely intermodulation distortion. Turning it clockwise narrows the waveshape into asymmetrical pulses, making the tone reedier and brassier. This also introduces an unusually smooth ‘gating’ action, which gives you an absolutely eerie silence between notes.
At most settings you will notice that low frequency pressure is preserved. This circuit has a frequency response that continues several octaves below audibility. The Wool knob adjusts the amount of fur around the note. The EQ knob tilts the spectral response, turning to the left adds lows and softens the highs. Turning to the right adds highs, then mids, and finally reduces lows. the Out knob is designed for smooth repeatable level settings. A thing of beauty.
$465 at www.tymguitars.com.au. www.zvex.com.
 FULLTONE BASS DRIVE MOSFET
Bass Overdrive
The Bass Drive Mosfet is geared towards a fat bottom end. Think of it as the cousin of the Full-Drive 2 MOSFET, but voiced for the lower octave bass range. Toggle between Comp-Cut and Vintage modes, with a separate boost channel for those parts that need an extra bit of gain. The result is a natural, uncolored fatness that can go from a grinding SVT to Jack Bruce’s tone in Cream. Plus, it sounds great for guitar too.
$335 at www.globalvintage.com.au. www.fulltone.com.
 MI AUDIO TUBE ZONE
Overdrive/Distortion
The Tube Zone is the most flexible MI Audio overdrive pedal. It features 4 clipping stages for tube amp-like response and tone, and works comfortably as a low or high gain device. Its versatility means the Tube Zone can be used for bass or guitar, with enough tone controls to dial-in any overdrive or distortion tone you want. There’s a total of 6 external controls, and 1 internal control: a Gain control with unique taper to provide excellent control over overdrive; high/low balancing Tone control; Volume control with output up to 15V with correct power supply; a dedicated Mid control; external Character control for adding ‘momentum’ to guitar notes, or keeping things tight; an external brightness control for top end content, and to help match to different amps; and an internal Presence control to further help dial in the Tube Zone’s tone. MI Audio are the Australian pedal company du jour.
$246 at www.billyhydemusic.com.au. www.miaudio.com.au.
 PIGTRONIX OFO DISNORTION
Overdrive/Distortion/Octava
Now we’re getting serious! The Pigtronix OFO Disnortion stomp box features a touch-sensitive Overdrive, Fuzz with 6 different filters, and frequency-doubling Octava. Each effect is an original design and can each be used independently or in combinations to forge a tremendous range of musically responsive distortion sounds. The unique magic of the Pigtronix OFO Disnortion is parallel Fuzz and Overdrive, allowing you to pile on the gain without sacrificing clarity, dynamic response, punch or low end. Well voiced tone and shape controls allow you to focus each effect on its own frequency range. The Octava effects pedal is wired in series before the Overdrive and Fuzz, allowing the guitar pedal to produce a unique type of gated, gnarly grind that is absolutely devastating. A buffered output provides a clean signal for parallel processing, or direct recording.
US$189 at www.proguitarshop.com. Or hassle your local store to get an
account with www.pigtronix.com.
|
| Comments are submitted for possible publication on the condition that they may be edited. Poster's IP addresses are logged. |
|
Be first to comment on this article
