What's the best Muff sound for bass? Blending it with the clean bass tone and Eq?

Welcome back to the wetter bass.
Using a signal blender such as the Boss LS-2 and an equalizer pedal like the Boss GE-7B you will be the judge as to how we can get get the best Muff sound for bass.
In this video we are going to sound test 9 different ways to connect these three pedals together. Let's find out which signal chain sound the best!
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[@analogfox6792]

i really liked the 7th option. most massive sound imo. that means that making a muff with eq control for a blend might be an interesting idea. what do you think?

[@thewetterbass]

Not only interesting but never made before! Perhaps adding a mid boost (around 750K) option to the blended clean signal. That would be very very cool indeed...

[@analogfox6792]

​@@thewetterbass do you have and idea what to put on an extra footswitch in such a pedal? i want to make a whole new line of pedals with steel enclosures and proper paintjob - and more controls - 7 knobs (or 6 knobs and a toggle) and two footswitches so - 1) dist 2) tone 3) vol 4) mids 5) blend 6) blend eq fq 7) blend eq level what should i put on second footswitch? and the 4th knob - mids on a muff or eq width on blend?

[@analogfox6792]

they will get more expensive (about 150$ shipped) so i need to make really good value. my initial muff idea was to build a muff and boss od-1 in a single enclosure...

[@thewetterbass]

Ok, tough to say... Perhaps the ideal solution is selecting with a switch wether you want the mids to affect the fuzz or the clean signal (Eq in post in each case, don’t think it’s interesting Eq in pre) The second foot switch? To activate the blend option.

[@analogfox6792]

​@@thewetterbass thanks for the ideas!

[@Ezra.G]

Awesome video! Thank you for showing how many different ways this can be used. I personally liked 7 solo’d the most but 6 sounded the most gnarly in a mix.

[@LachlanGB]

I liked that you displayed the chain visually!

[@thewetterbass]

It does help, doesn’t it? 👍🏻

[@taylorhilyard8661]

These are the things that keep me up at night. Thanks for doing this. Fantastic.

[@thewetterbass]

Thanks for watching!!!

[@Komoreeebi]

Amazing comparison video! Thank you

[@thewetterbass]

Thanks for watching!

[@RWieladek]

Very useful to get a basic sense with splitters. Thanks for this!

[@thewetterbass]

Happy to help.

[@hope_canyon]

Buying a line selector and using it for bass was an absolute revelation for me. I don't use it much these days as I've got a Wren & cuff with a blend control that does exactly this, but short of that, this is a great strategy

[@d.s.9692]

OK excellent vid! Based on what I'm seeing here this is what I actually need: 1. Clean sound direct without the eq. 2. Distorted path begins at a high-pass filter, then into the Muff, then into a low-pass filter. 3. Mix them together. I know this sounds insane but hear me out: I don't want anything really low (like 150 Hz and below) going into a distortion pedal. It just ruins and muddies everything. But I also don't want high stuff like 4 KHz and above really coming out of the distortion, which gives it that "buzzy" character that sounds really unpleasant coming out of modern speaker cabs. So I believe that you're doing everything right for my ideal taste in #9 except that the low cut and the high cut should come at opposite ends of the distortion pedal. This way you get a good clean low end from the clean path but that perfect midrange grind from the dirty path.

[@thewetterbass]

Interesting, gonna give it some thoughts.

[@kevmac1230]

You have a great clean tone.

[@yaripedone217]

I prefer the 4, 8,7 tones in order. Great test! Thanks!

[@thewetterbass]

7 seems to be a favorite…👍🏻

[@antoniojosevidelinares8236]

Grande!!! Aqui Antonio de Pedal Station, ya le estoy compartiendo el video a mis amigos bajistas jaja

[@thewetterbass]

Y yo tú (vuestro) canal! ⚡️💪🏻

[@alexskibicki2262]

This is quite informative. Even though I own a couple bass overdrive and distortion pedals, I would consider trying this with a metal distortion pedal. Also the demo sounds awesome. 😎 🎸

[@thewetterbass]

Yeah stacking pedal is a lot of fun!!! Although I would consider blending that with a dry signal.

[@alexskibicki2262]

@@thewetterbass indeed it is fun to stack distortion pedals. One night at open jams, I’ve stacked my darkglass vintage microtubes with my digitech bass driver and I’ve got one killer sound. It was a crowd pleaser too. 😎🤘🏻🎸

[@MrRawnch]

Like 7 and 9. I think those two can sit really well in a three-piece rock mix.

[@thewetterbass]

7 is muff parallel to eq and 9 muff->eq parallel to clean, if I remember correctly. Yes, when eq is behind the muff it becomes predominant in the signal chain and opens up the sound of the green muff. It’s always the last pedal that has the last word. I also invite you to listen and watch my latest video. Around the end I stack the Klone (very mid forward) in front of an ehx bass big muff. I love the result!!!

[@user-ix6qr5if5y]

best showcasing of this pedal on youtube by far, but it would have been a hell of a lot better had you played a riff that included some usage of the e and maybe even the b string to really demonstrate how the pedal can blend that lowend as well. Afterall, most bassists who get a splitter do it more for the lowend instead of just the mids.

[@thewetterbass]

Thanks!!! Yeah you’re right. I have another similar (with a more complex signal chain) video coming up, so definitely more low B!!!

[@lovecraftmusic8717]

I liked the clean-muff blend but with the eq before the muff...or even before the Ls2 (adding mids to both signals. Thanks for your experiment!

[@thewetterbass]

Cool! This means you could add mids from your bass if you had an onboard 3 band preamp, for example.

[@lovecraftmusic8717]

@@thewetterbass yes... I'd like to elaborate why I liked this combinations: seems like you have more clarity thanks to the right amount of clean blend (no surprise here)... But the eq makes everything more musical with less gap between the muff and the clean

[@thewetterbass]

There’s also another factor linked to how we perceive volume with our ears. Medium frequencies tend to sound louder to us and carry more info. So, is it really “all about that bass” or is rather “all about those mids”?

[@lovecraftmusic8717]

@@thewetterbass thinking of Steve Harris, who has always his mids dimed and a godly tone, I can say with no doubt that it's not all about low-end.

[@kelvinrodriguezjr2184]

If you're feelin dirty u can throw in a tube screamer variant before the muff and then boost with a clean booster after it can work in the right circumstances pretty well

[@thewetterbass]

Hi! Tell me exactly what the signal chain would be?

[@tipston3366]

Criminally low view count for such great content, keep it up!!

[@thewetterbass]

Thanks man! I needed to know what was the best sound and thought why not share my “experiment” with others?

[@mikaelhauk]

Running the eq in front seems like the best option. It made the clean and dirty signal sound more like one sound. Most times when you do parallel fuzz the fuzz sounds like it's lying on top of your clean sound.

[@thewetterbass]

I agree with you about the two sometimes not blending all that well. What you are saying could also be solved with a preamp or active bass with eq then, right? I tend to prefer blending with LPF clean. Sounds great with almost all dirt pedals.

[@mikaelhauk]

@@thewetterbass I think maybe it is because your eq is mid heavy and almost all drives loves mids. I haven't tried a LPF but that sounds like a great idea. I love my EHX Bass Soul Food (klon drive) but it does cut the lows too much even in parallel with the LS-2. I've been thinking about getting an EHX Tri Paralell Mixer, and running all my dirt pedals through that. It has a tone knob for each channel so was thinking that would solve the problem with my soul food.

[@thewetterbass]

@@mikaelhauk good idea. Both the ehx mixer and the old blood noise signal blender (another option to consider) have phase switches, particularly useful when using effects in parallel. And yeah, the idea of the video was to add mids that the big muff tends to make disappear.

[@aeakd]

Hi! I'm thinking of splitting my signal to have a better defined low end when using distortion. What I'm thinking is on one side my B7K dirt sound, and on the other side having like a geb7 as a lpf and a comp and then to sum up both to the final signal to end up with a dirt sound with a great defined and compressed low end .. do you think I can achieve this using ls2?

[@thewetterbass]

Hi! Yes. The LS2 allows you to split the signal and blend them together. However if there are phase problems you might need to have a look at a splitter with phase switches (ehx tri parallel, old blood signal blender) or even the KMA Tyler that splits the signal into low and high pass signals. Also, you could go for a DKG Microtubes X ultra. Does exactly what you want.

[@khairunnaim2969]

Great informative video! and killer tones too! Question: is it true that the LS2 internally hardwires any empty loops as a dry-through (meaning i can leave one loop open without any patch cables connected, to let the dry signal come through??

[@thewetterbass]

Thanks! Yep the LS2 can blend dry signal if nothing runs through one of its loops. However I do recommend using a blend pedal that has a phase switch as some pedals invert phase in parallel. This means some frequencies cancel themselves out and though sometimes it’s not a big deal, it can make quite a difference.

[@khairunnaim2969]

@@thewetterbass thanks for the response! will keep that in mind

[@thewetterbass]

@@khairunnaim2969 come to think of it, if you need two loops like LS2, check out the old blood blender. It’s bigger but has top mounted jacks and 2 phase switches.

[@khairunnaim2969]

@@thewetterbass hi there! really appreciate your response. btw i pulled the trigger on buying the LS-2, and thankfully it works as i expected! i put a splatty gated ibanez FZ7 fuzz in Loop A, and leave Loop B open. while having a lovepedal amp11 overdrive (light "mid hump" drive) right before the overall input. i think theres no phasing issues so far , having a blast right now with this combo! thanks man

[@thewetterbass]

@@khairunnaim2969 so cool! Have fun!

[@MarcoSica]

I really love your videos, I've bought my Chernobyl Bass Fuzz thanks to you! I've a question: does the GE-7B "suck" the tone out a lot, not being true bypass (and with a different buffer circuit from the newest GEB-7)? I really dig the 7 frequencies chosen for the GE-7B a lot more than the ones chosen for the GEB-7, but I fear a little bit the possibility of a too aggressive tone sucking

[@thewetterbass]

Funny cause I was asked exactly the opposite question a few days ago about loosing definition with a pedal that did not have a buffer! Quick answer: I have not noticed any tone loss when plugging and bypassing my old GE-7B. But, to be honest with you, I did not pay that much attention to that. And about the new one I unfortunately have no idea as I have never tried it nor have I, obviously, compared it with mine. The Chernobyl is awesome!!! Are you enjoying it???

[@MarcoSica]

@@thewetterbass good to know you didn't notice any difference when plugging and bypassing it vs not plugging it; the Chernobyl is fantastic, really useful for synth sounds (I use it with a Boss OC-5, a MXR Bass Env. Filter and a Boss CEB-3) and with a one-of-a-kind sound when using it as a standalone Muff, less aggressive but well gated (which is also a massive factor for the synth sounds I was talking about). The blend is very sensitive, all the knobs are interactive and the sound possibilities are virtually endless; furthermore, the sustain of the note is endless too

[@thewetterbass]

Oooh! Nice synth sound, right?🤘🏻

[@MarcoSica]

@@thewetterbass they are indeed! Thanks again for your fantastic demos, hopefully you'll be able to make me find an overdrive I really like too!

[@thewetterbass]

@@MarcoSica there are sooooo many overdrives to like! I got quite a few coming up on the channel. 😋 hopefully you find one or at least a type you prefer and from there try ones for yourself.

[@lifcharleserickson5374]

Hello, I play a boss ds1 which is not the best for bass and I was wondering if that eq pedal would help me bring out my low end back. It's either the eq pedal or the ls2 since I can't afford both rn hahahaha.

[@thewetterbass]

Hard to say which would be best for low end... perhaps find a ls2 second hand and an economical bass Eq pedal? 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@lifcharleserickson5374]

the wetter bass sounds good to me! Thank you very much

[@danielatherton1631]

Damn it. I was already set on getting an LS2 but now I've got GAS for a GE.

[@thewetterbass]

😅 sorry! 🤘🏻

[@oldasrocks9121]

Sadly this won't work w/fuzz-first fuzz circuits following the Boss buffers, *but* a passive splitter that preserves the pickup impedance will, like a couple of passive a/b-y pedals. One run backwards, bass into Y to fuzz on A and clean through B and merged through the second pedal after whatever else you want to hang on the clean B like an EQ or a preamp. I just got the much maligned Acoustic bpdi preamp which has DI/out/thru and includes a switchable fx loop for plenty of hijinx that can include wonderfully nasty Velcro fuzzes like the Wooly Mammoth without sending it into a buffer tailspin. (The Acoustic's white noise/whine problem is solved with a different ground isolated power supply, the switching supply included is garbage, FYI. Deep deep sale price at M'sFriend right now)

[@thewetterbass]

Oh wow. A lot of info here. The big muff I used is not sensible to input as it works just as fine with active or passive circuitry on my bass, or buffered signal from the LS2. However, I am curious now to find out what would happen with an old fuzz face or tone bender instead…