Germanium fuzz/overdrive CHAT

George · Post by **George** » Tue May 07, 2019 8:49 pm

Not anything too fancy as long as it can do the Ã¢â‚¬Ëœclean-up with guitar volumeÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ thing. needs to be able to work as a standalone drive so no treble booster/rangemaster types please. Ideally usable as a lower gain drive.

Post by **Doog** » Wed May 08, 2019 9:11 am

ZVex Mastotron work for you? I've got one on the 'to sell' pile, can give it a go on the volume-clean-up stakes.

edit: it's silicon, doh

George · Post by **George** » Wed May 08, 2019 9:29 am

Ah, bummer. Thanks though.

I've seen the EHX Germanium Muff 4 sells for peanuts on eBay so might hold out for one of them. Seems to be exactly what I'm going for and versatile...

[youtube][/youtube]

That tone with the volume rolled back at about 2:30 is close to the sound I have in my head. Lovely 'chime and grind', which seems to be the thing with germanium drives.

George · Post by **George** » Wed May 15, 2019 10:40 am

Just got one for Ã‚Â£34+postage! Amazing

Post by **Doog** » Wed May 15, 2019 11:08 am

Dangggggg

Fran · Post by **Fran** » Tue May 21, 2019 8:53 pm

George wrote:Just got one for Ã‚Â£34+postage! Amazing

Bargain.

Sounds good, plenty of sonic options there.

George · Post by **George** » Tue May 21, 2019 10:20 pm

Actually just had my first rehearsal with it and it was spot-on for our pop/Motown covers.

I was mostly using the overdrive side and controlling everything using the guitar volume and tone. So responsive and cleans up amazingly. The distortion side was a bit quirkier but fine for the heavier stuff. Everything just Ã¢â‚¬Å“workedÃ¢â‚¬Â� and it was. the first time I was happy with my tone throughout. Think itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s the main drive from now on!

Fran · Post by **Fran** » Wed May 22, 2019 6:16 am

Nice.

Did you snag that from eBay at that price?

George · Post by **George** » Wed May 22, 2019 8:06 am

Yeah they seem to be going cheap at the moment, as are a few others in my watch list. Good time to buy

Progrockabuse · Post by **Progrockabuse** » Wed May 22, 2019 9:06 am

Glad it's working for you George, it's a nice feeling when you get "the sound" your looking for. I've been playing with less and less gain in recent years and going for a more revealing tone so I have to work harder as I haven't got a sound I can hide behind.

Post by **Doog** » Wed May 22, 2019 9:18 am

Progrockabuse wrote:Glad it's working for you George, it's a nice feeling when you get "the sound" your looking for. I've been playing with less and less gain in recent years and going for a more revealing tone so I have to work harder as I haven't got a sound I can hide behind.

Same same same; I keep seeing interesting rock bands using sorta.. medium-low amounts of gain and noticing how more lively and expressive everything is, probably first noticed with the Jesus Lizard and was like 'oh right, aggression doesn't just come from distortion'.

Now I'm just setting my gain to where, when playing hard, it doesn't sound much different to when the gain's dimed. ALL OF THE TONES AT YOUR FINGERS, BABEY

Gonna check out this geranium Muff now, I've always love the overloaded sound of a fuzz going into a lower gain OD, you get some nifty textures.

EDIT: holy shit, how bright is this thing tho

Progrockabuse · Post by **Progrockabuse** » Wed May 22, 2019 9:27 am

I've been stacking a fuzz into my klone and sounds bloody nice.

I tend to set my amp/base tone with the guitar's volume at 7-8 so that's where the slightly crunchy rhythm is, then add a touch more amp volume to compensate for turning the guitar volume down further for a cleaner tone. then I've still got 9-10 where its a big volume/gain lift for lead work.

Any little fuck up shines comes through that marshall and klone.

gusman2x · Post by **gusman2x** » Wed May 22, 2019 11:15 am

Progrockabuse wrote: Any little fuck up shines comes through that marshall and klone.

100% why I play with tons of everything

NickD · Post by **NickD** » Wed May 22, 2019 11:55 am

Marshall + Rangemaster (clone). Attenuator so my ears don't bleed. clean it up with the volume, but it is never really distorted TBH.

I haven't really bothered with pedals beyond the Rangemaster for years now.

Progrockabuse · Post by **Progrockabuse** » Wed May 22, 2019 12:01 pm

Is that my old range master? The one in the white plastic box?

NickD · Post by **NickD** » Wed May 22, 2019 12:06 pm

Progrockabuse wrote:Is that my old range master? The one in the white plastic box?

No, I've got one with a switchable circuit between a Catlinbread circuit, the Brian May boost and a Rangemaster circuit, but I just use it on the Rangemaster setting. I don't know what happened to your old one, I haven't seen it since I moved house a couple of years ago.

George · Post by **George** » Wed May 22, 2019 12:33 pm

Doog wrote:
Progrockabuse wrote:Glad it's working for you George, it's a nice feeling when you get "the sound" your looking for. I've been playing with less and less gain in recent years and going for a more revealing tone so I have to work harder as I haven't got a sound I can hide behind.
Same same same; I keep seeing interesting rock bands using sorta.. medium-low amounts of gain and noticing how more lively and expressive everything is, probably first noticed with the Jesus Lizard and was like 'oh right, aggression doesn't just come from distortion'.

Now I'm just setting my gain to where, when playing hard, it doesn't sound much different to when the gain's dimed. ALL OF THE TONES AT YOUR FINGERS, BABEY

Gonna check out this geranium Muff now, I've always love the overloaded sound of a fuzz going into a lower gain OD, you get some nifty textures.

EDIT: holy shit, how bright is this thing tho

It def attenuates some bass, adds highs and a soft mid range response that is Ã¢â‚¬Å“spongyÃ¢â‚¬Â� at full bore (like a rangemaster). It seems very receptive to different pickup types and buffers so you could probably dial the brightness down on an amp eq and have it always on, but thatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s why I like it...strat into a vox ac15 is Jangletown, baby. IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ve even put a buffer either side to accentuate it

The distortion side behaves similarly to a germanium rat but attenuates less bass if you want a point of reference, AND it cleans up with guitar volume. ItÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s missing a tone control but the bias helps keep the highs from getting too strident. IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢d also recommend a noise gate!

For all the things weÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ve been talking about (clear responsive semi clean/dirty tones that you canÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t hide behind) Id recommend trying it out

Progrockabuse · Post by **Progrockabuse** » Wed May 22, 2019 12:34 pm

NickD wrote:
Progrockabuse wrote:Is that my old range master? The one in the white plastic box?
No, I've got one with a switchable circuit between a Catlinbread circuit, the Brian May boost and a Rangemaster circuit, but I just use it on the Rangemaster setting. I don't know what happened to your old one, I haven't seen it since I moved house a couple of years ago.

That's sound quite a flexible version. I've seen a guy on eBay that makes a couple of treble booster along with some fuzz pedals built into rizzla tins.

Mate, that old one of mine was worth a fortune, it was made from unicorn tears and brian may's ball thatch

George · Post by **George** » Wed May 22, 2019 12:56 pm

Loved the Keeley java boost I had (range master with mids and fat switch) but prefer the practicality of a standalone drive. Horses for courses though, innit, but I think the main point is germanium drives can do the same general sort of thing.

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Wed May 22, 2019 2:14 pm

One of these was my main dirt box for a long time, got one when they first came out. I forget why I sold it, was probably just ready for different sounds.