Planning effects chain - add fuzz & flange

[Ankhanu]

I play in a kinda basic rock band, playing primarily bass VI as a bass and lead, and a bit of guitar.
Instruments I generally play:
.: 2012 Schecter Hellcat VI
.: 2009 Fender ’66 Classic Jaguar
.: Fender Aerodyne Telecaster
.: 2005 G&L Tribute Legacy HB Premium
.: Fender Aerodyne Jazz Bass (used occasionally since getting the VI)

Current signal path:
Instrument -> EHX Bass Soul Food -> Fulltone Distortion Pro 1 -> MXR Phase 90 -> Boss CEB-3 Bass Chorus -Stereo-> TC Electronic Alter Ego x4 -Stereo-> Vox AC30C2 & Peavey T-Max

I’m pretty happy with my rig; I’d like to add a Mustang to my guitars, and a Rick 4003, but those won’t happen any time soon… but I’d like to expand on my effects; adding flanger, fuzz and volume (and maybe add my Dunlop was into the chain… maybe) as I work on building a couple bands; one playing Dark Wave/Shoegaze/Goth type stuff (playing VI and guitar (Jag mostly)), the other heavier, riffier rock (playing guitar (Tele mostly).

I intend to replace the Phase 90 with a TC Electronic Helix; it does a good job recreating the Phase 90 sound, and offers greater flexibility… the phase 90 is too much for certain rooms I play, not enough in others; the Helix will let me customize on the fly as well as offering more palates and stereo. Having stereo on the phaser will allow me to place it at the end of my chain, where I’d rather it sit.

Likewise, for a flanger, I’m pretty sure I’ll go with a TC Electronic Vortex, for basically the same reasons as the Helix; flexibility, control and stereo. I’ve been pretty happy with the quality of my Alter Ego (which I sold) and my Alter Ego x4, as well as the Polytunes when I’ve used them, so I’m pretty confident in TC.

I just started looking into fuzz, and want something that’s good for both bass and guitar; I don’t want to have multiple pedals to do the same thing with different instruments. I want something flexible, as I don’t want my board to get TOO big. I want something that will be nicely saturated and creamy, somewhat aggressive, and preferably with an octave up (switchable would be best). Initially I was thinking EHX Bass Big Muff Pi, as they’re pretty decent all in all, but I’m not sure I’ll be entirely happy with it.

I came across one that I’d forgotten about today; Earthquaker Devices Hoof Reaper; it’s a muff style fuzz, tone bender style fuzz and an octave/ring mod unit in one. I think it may be the fuzz I’m looking for.
Currently I’m using my Fulltone DP-1 set pretty much full saturation, full distortion to get a saturated near-fuzz sound. With the Reaper section of the Hoof Reaper, I think I can probably remove the Fulltone from the signal path entirely, and let the Reaper take over for it. The Hoof and the Hoof+Reaper would probably fill in the more aggressive saturated fuzz tones that I’m currently lacking altogether, and the switchable octave will give me that lo-fi sort of grind that is occasionally a lot of fun.

What do you guys think? What else should I be looking into?

[lorez]

Thread title reminds me of my favourite 70s porn

[Fakir Mustache]

For the darkwave band you might want a smoother sound, not crazier sounding fuzz. Really I'm not sure what I'd recommend, but I'd like to hear that band. The other band too.

[Ankhanu]

Oh, yeah, I doubt I'd use fuzz very much in the darker band; the pedal board would be standard across all uses; I don't intend to swap things around. For the most part, I don't think that band will use terribly much distortion/fuzz on the guitars, going for a more sparse, kind of haunting sound... with some post-punk influence. That said, I can certainly see potential use here and
there. Once I finally get the guys together, I'll see if we can get something recorded. I've recruited the drummer, bassist and someone to do lead guitar and synth... we just haven't actually jammed yet. Scheduling is proving difficult. Same deal with the riff-rocky band thing; actually, yesterday when I was prompting for potential jam dates the lead guitarist dropped out, citing going back to university this fall eating his time... we can still get something going with just me on guitar (a little daunting, I'm a bassist and don't have lead chops) with the bassist and drummer.

This is my current, active band - http://thehightide.bandcamp.com/ You can hear how I've been using the DP-1 as a pseudo fuzz in the chorus of 88 Miles per Hour; IIRC I think I used some phase in there too in the recording; I've since been using it a bit live. Aside from that, I think the effects use is relatively minimal as of the recording; I've since begun using delay on my VI leads in Radio and the Record Store (which is just chorus and reverb in the recording), and phaser in Paper Airplanes a little, and newer songs incorporate more effects in general. Unfortunately our drummer got a trucking license and is rarely around, so our band time is minimal these days.

[johnnyseven]

FYI, the EQD Tone Reaper I had didn't like buffers and needed to be first in my pedal chain. It sounded ace though.

[Ankhanu]

FYI, the EQD Tone Reaper I had didn't like buffers and needed to be first in my pedal chain. It sounded ace though.

Interesting. I was planning to place it second, but, perhaps it'd be just as good before the Soul Food as after.

[Fakir Mustache]

Nova Scotia seems like an interesting place, I would imagine a lot fishing industry and Celtic music. But maybe not so much Celtic music anymore as before. Never been there.

By the way, I just noticed this, I don't really like it on guitar in the demo but it's pretty interesting on bass:
http://fuzzboxes.co.uk/product/white-rabbit