Build Your Own Clone Message Board

Hey everyone,

I tried some quick forum searches and didn't find an immediate answer to my query. I'm about to start on a first project and I'm excited! I want to build a pedal for my wife and let the kids decorate it. Voila! Mothers Day gift. She plays electric bass so I want to confirm that the Octave Fuzz and Reverb pedals will work well with her bass? I've been cruising YouTube for examples of the pedals and they tend to all be using guitar. My main concern is if these pedals will clip the lower tones from the bass?

I guess another question is, are these good box choices for a bass player to have in her arsenal? Is there a different box I should consider?

Thanks in advance and apologies if this is a naive question!

BP

Not sure about the reverb (would think it should be fine) but one thing you should consider about the octave fuzz is it does an octave up, and then only when hit with certain notes (tends to be less than half the fretboard on a 6 string guitar). I have no idea on bass frequencies if it will do anything other than fuzz, and not sure how it will handle it at that. Best recommendation I've heard for bass for fuzz - and I hear it all the time - is the large beaver. The big muff works well with bass and can be modded a bit to work better with the low frequencies, but many have said it doesn't need it.

One thing to keep in mind with certain pedals (whether for guitar or bass) is how hot the output is. Certain circuits don't have enough headroom for really hot pickups, like active pups (but some passives too). So, is your wife more of a vintage J-Bass player or a modern thrash metal bass player? In either case the large beaver will be fine and as I said presumably the reverb can hang as well. But the Phase 90s, flangers, and EA-based tremolos of the world care more about their input.

Good luck with the builds regardless of what you decide on, and make sure to post back in 'show off your completed build' when you've got them boxed up with the kiddos' artwork!

Ok, so the only pedals I use as a bass player (and I have been doing this for a while) arehttp://www.guitarpcb.com Stage 3 boost (you can find a kit for it on http://www.mammothelectronics.com/) and the run off groove Ginger. The ginger is not a kit and not something a first time builder should attempt since you will need to source all of your parts and it is a pretty complex build (but an absolute monster for bass). The stage 3 on the other hand is very easy to build, comes in kit form (although not a BYOC), and sounds killer. Barry at guitarpcb has a great forum that will help you through your build.
-P