Hi guys,
Fairly new to the DIY pedal past-time, but thought I'd give the Slow Lorris & the Egghead a try.
I'm a bass player, and while I don 't want to lose any/much high-end, i'd like to try and make sure i'm retaining as much low end as possible on the two pedals.
Could you suggest any component changes on either project that might help? If that's even necessary at all (do both designs retain a decent amount of bass?)
Many thanks
Si
RATs are all midrange. Although you can use one with a bass, and it will make some interesting noise, it will not make a great dedicated all-purpose "bass distortion pedal" in the way that a guitarist could use the stock version for their needs. So you'd have to make a LOT of changes to make one more appropriate for the bass. These are just educated guesses based on the frequency response: Start by making C1 to, say, 220nF-1uF, increase R5 to maybe 1.5K (possibly higher) to keep from overdriving the OP amp too hard from the additional input, similarly increasing R4 (~220R?) and probably also increasing C5 and C6 by some amount (maybe to 10uF and 4.7uF) to keep the sweep knob as interesting as possible, increasing C12 the same way you increased C1, and finally increasing C9 to 10uF. The "Cut" is almost meaningless and you could probably omit it unless you want to calculate the frequency rolloff by playing around with the cap value (http://sim.okawa-denshi.jp/en/CRlowkeisan.htm). I'd just jumper it or hardwire it to max ... it's not going to affect too many notes on a bass. Hardwiring it at max would probably reduce noise, so you might go with that.
That's a LOT of changes. The most important ones -- the ones to start with -- are C1, C12, and C9. Before going through all that, you might want to take your bass to a guitar store and try out a RAT. You might find that you like what it does and then you won't have to play around with so many parts.
Keep in mind that you can't buy the Egghead (it was a holiday giveaway), so you'd need to etch it or make yourself a layout. But the Egghead should be decent for bass stock ... maybe just increase C1 and C5 to 1uF each.
For a truly excellent bass distortion, though ... it's Big Muffs all the way down in my opinion. They are not a particularly difficult build -- there are some more parts, but it's basically the same thing four times. The Mudbunny's sold out until a restock, but that's not a long wait, and JMK PCBs has a good Big Muff variant as well (Scuba Muff) if you are okay with some extra switches: http://www.jmkpedals.com/JMK_Pedals/JMK_PCBs.html
Hi Jon,
Thanks for all that info!
It's not that I want to change the intrinsic sound of the the Rat/Lorris, just that I want to try and voice it slightly more for Bass, in the same way that Keeley, Frommel & SFX offer a bass mod :)
I'm only just starting out on the DIY pedal journey so any help is very much appreciated.
Fuzz will be my next project after the Lorris & Egghead, I loved my old Big Muff on bass, and currently using a Fuzzrocious Grey Stache for my Muffish needs :)
Cheers
Si
in my opinion the wolly mammoth kicks the shit outta any big muff i ever heard on bass... :P
+1 on the mammoth. Just finishing up a two knob version for a buddy of mine with selectable input capacitance, makes a sick bass driver as well as a quasi-synth.
You know, this gives me an idea. A WM with a clean blend...perfect for bass! It would be easy to do.
I have a CoPilot Orbit (with the VCO side), with a clean blend mod, awesome pedal!
What would you be using for a Mids mod on a fuzz, I'm unclear as to whether the Mudbunny has the capacity for Mids?
Cheers
Si
Quote from: madbean on January 02, 2013, 02:48:12 PM
You know, this gives me an idea. A WM with a clean blend...perfect for bass! It would be easy to do.
I got an idea,why don't you come up with one more pedal I need to build! That sounds awesome a wm with a blend. I would suggest also maybe a paramix too.