500 lb bee

[pinkjimiphoton]

so, somehow, i lummoxed my way into friendship with one hellacious bassist of actual worldwide renoun after we both found ourselves on a mutual friend's recording project...

anyways, talking sh*t shop as always happens, i said, hey man, lemme know if ya ever needs a fuzz~

so he's like FREE FUZZBOX?

                 IN!!!!!!

so i asked what he wanted, and he asked if i had ever heard the song 500lb bee. i have.

this is the sound he specifically asked about.

he has a couple sola boxes he uses, but they do not sustain enough for his taste....
his instruments include danos and low gain 60's fenders mostly, so needs to play nice with those.

so .... requirements... long sustain, big on the square waves, plays nice with lower gain/impedance vintage pickups
my first thought is fuzzrite, but...

figured i'd put it to the collective and see what they think.

also thinking like, a umi buzztone may fit the bill...  man, wish lucifer's trip was still around

[digi2t]

 Bohm Trickverzerrer

Works great on bass.

[idy]

You mean (ventures) 2,000 pound bee? But that's guitar fuzz, not bass?

[PRR]

You mean (ventures) 2,000 pound bee?

The 907.1847kg Bee.

[CheapPedalCollector]

FZ-1B, but do your usual Jimi magic to it so it's stable and works correctly.

[Mark Hammer]

There is a big tonal difference between the repeating downward chromatic riff throughout the song, and the fuzz on the outro.  They probably didn't have stable of fuzzes handy at the time, which suggests to me that the tonal quality is a byproduct or interaction between the circuit and the particular low notes being played.  That, in turn, suggests that the filtering within the circuit, and perhaps at the input, is critical.  But, if positively identified, would the circuit be able to achieve the same tone for higher notes?

[Rodgre]

No sure I can add much among your geniuses here but, even though I am a big fan of "the simpler, the better" when it comes to fuzzes, would it be crazy to have a simple compressor circuit like an Orange Squeezer either before (my choice, I think) or after a fuzz circuit to increase the inherent sustain and decay? I know it's been done, but I'm trying to think outside of the typical FuzzRite, Bosstone, Fuzz Face, Tone Bender box a little. It might especially be cool for bass, though I do worry about raising the noise floor so much.

If you tell me this bass player is Justin Meldal-Johnsen, I might wet my pants though.

Roger

[Fancy Lime]

My vote goes toward one of the 60's oddball circuits (mosrite, companion, orpheum) but with Q1 replaced by a high gain one-knob fuzz face stage.

[Mark Hammer]

My vote goes toward one of the 60's oddball circuits (mosrite, companion, orpheum) but with Q1 replaced by a high gain one-knob fuzz face stage.

An intriguing and cogent suggestion.

[Phend]

OpenAI ChatGPT , ?
Is designing boards anyway.

[garcho]

cmos smd and goop the whole thing, instant mystery mojo

[duck_arse]

build something, but include some real bees.

[Fancy Lime]

My vote goes toward one of the 60's oddball circuits (mosrite, companion, orpheum) but with Q1 replaced by a high gain one-knob fuzz face stage.

An intriguing and cogent suggestion.

Thanks! I hope I find a minute over the weekend to try this. I'm not exactly sure if "cogent suggestions" are what Jimi was after, though. I am sure, however, that he'll find a way to chemically enhance whatever suggestions we might throw at him

[pinkjimiphoton]

sorry guys, been trying to keep up, will check back.
i'm thinking if he wants square wave and long sustain, super fuzz school maybe...
or a modified kay

[fryingpan]

If he wants a square wave and long sustain, and he plays bass, heavily lowpass anything below 400Hz and play with a flip flop device.

[duck_arse]

univox sq-150 has a good rep for buzzsawing, but I don't know how it goes w/ bass.

[Fancy Lime]

Well, I don't need to school Jimi, of all people, on the awesomeness that is the humble Fuzz Face. But for the stated purpose of long sustain and fat buzzing on bass, I love me a good high gain Si Fuzz Face type circuit (no gain pot, duh!) With the guitar volume rolled back just a smidge more than anything else. A simple Bazz Fuss is also quite great for that especially on bass but dies not deliver quite as much sustain and is a bit more sickly than a FF.

[CheapPedalCollector]

OK long sustain and square wave, how about an old Anderton bass fuzz, or a modified RAT, or even a modified Big Muff.

[pinkjimiphoton]

gonna break out my fretless, and a box or two of long neglected fuzzes, and see what i can come up with.... i like where your minds are at, i think of all the same kinda circuits.
but he was kinda clear he doesn't care for fuzzfaces, but likes non biased kinda early brit fuzzes... but that chainsaw buzz is hard to get a nice long sustain outta, and a, say, bmp is gonna be too smooth and creamy.
i gotta hotrodded ross distortion i had added a 3 band bax to a few years ago, gonna give that a try... and my old umi buzztone, etc

frankly, i'd rather give him something already built ccuz i'm lazy lame and lazy lol, but first i wanna narrow it down, and then if it goes custom, so be it.

thanks fam, especially for putting up with my ass all these years. peace.

[cspar]

If wants sustain, a Sinfhoton does that rather nicely.