Bazz Fuss ..for Bass?

[chptunes]

Hey folks..

I'd like to build a simple/fun effect for the Bass player at my Church.  He's a young guy, and he's recently helped me load and unload a bunch of furniture.  He plays an Active Jazz Bass.. and I believe that he runs straight into the Main Sound Board.

I love the Bazz Fuss for guitar, but do bass players like it?  Would it need an Inductor on the input to simulate a passive pickup, or a 100k Blend Pot to mix in some dry signal?

Is there another simple effect that bass players would suggest?

Thanks,

-Corey

[pappasmurfsharem]

Well it is called a BAZZ fuss, aka Bass Fuzz. Never tried it myself but I have built a wooly mammoth, thats supposed to be a modified Bazz Fuss. Seems alright.

and you definitely don't want to run it directly into the sound board. I can tell you that for certain, you would rip your ear drums.

[Keppy]

Fuzzes are almost always way too harsh when plugged directly into a PA, especially for an average church gig. It would be a lot of fun for him, but a compressor might be the most useful thing you can give him IMO. If it has to be a drive pedal, I recommend the Catalinbread SFT, which goes from warmed-up amp sim sounds to a nice overdrive with separate bass and treble controls so he should be able to dial out any harshness. It is a high-impedance FET circuit, so it should be unaffected by active electronics.

Another similar pedal is the Ginger from runoffgroove.com. Both pedals are FET emulations of Ampeg amps. I've heard good things about the Ginger, but haven't built it like I have the SFT.

Envelope filters are fun for bass, but more complicated. Hope this helps!

[pappasmurfsharem]

Fuzzes are almost always way too harsh when plugged directly into a PA, especially for an average church gig. It would be a lot of fun for him, but a compressor might be the most useful thing you can give him IMO. If it has to be a drive pedal, I recommend the Catalinbread SFT, which goes from warmed-up amp sim sounds to a nice overdrive with separate bass and treble controls so he should be able to dial out any harshness. It is a high-impedance FET circuit, so it should be unaffected by active electronics.

Another similar pedal is the Ginger from runoffgroove.com. Both pedals are FET emulations of Ampeg amps. I've heard good things about the Ginger, but haven't built it like I have the SFT.

Envelope filters are fun for bass, but more complicated. Hope this helps!

To go along with the compressor idea. If you think about building one, I 100% recommend a Demeter Compulator. I love it with my basses stock.

[chptunes]

Thanks for the comments and ideas.  Sounds like the Bazz Fuss may not be a good fit.  Compressors may be a little more involved than I intended this project to be.. I was thinking of a simple build in a 1590B or a candy tin.

I jumped over to runoffgroove and looked at the Ginger:  http://www.runoffgroove.com/ginger.html

Ginger looks like a nice design.. a couple of FET stages around a Tone Stack, followed by a Mini-Booster (jfet mu-amp) with a Buffered output.. and diode clippers on the Gate of each stage.  Interesting.. makes me wonder if a Buffered Mini-Booster would be the ticket for a mild OD/booster.

[jimilee]

If you're looking for something simple, go with a basic delay. Cave dweller over at Madbean for example, it's not too involved. If you want a fuzz, I use a green Russian for my bass, it's a tight little fuzz. A booster for an overdrive won't overdrive, it will just boost.

[moosapotamus]

Well,uh... I think the bazz fuss sounds awesome on bass.

~ Charlie

[chptunes]

Well,uh... I think the bazz fuss sounds awesome on bass.

~ Charlie

Ah, thanks for chiming in.. I was starting to think that it didn't appeal to the target audience.  I figured that 1 or 2 bassists liked.

Now, as for my intentions.. I guess the kid could make better use of something like a delay, overdrive, or boost since he runs Active electronics directly to the Board.

..still thinking.. I've got a stash of several cool tins, ranging in size from Altoids tin to Pencil Box.

[poppyman]

The bazz fuss sounds really good on bass, a basic LPB1 can sounds really fat on bass too. (In an amp, I don't know about straight into the PA).
The compressor is an amazing tool but maybe less "exciting" than a drive or delay pedal for example, IMHO (especially for a kid).