Maestro Bass Brassmaster (FuzzDog)…

[Coda]

I got this PCB from @thewintersoldier . I vaguely knew of what the Brassmaster was. I have this strange fascination with Maesteo pedals, and this one always stood out to me. It was my first FuzzDog build. The build itself went easily enough: no hiccups (other than running out of solder half-way through, and having to rely on the ‘free’ stuff they throw in with orders of solder suckers/braid, etc…you know, the stuff that is half-solder and half pencil shavings). They have come up with an interesting solution for transformers in a 1590BB: they include a small daughter board which allows it to be mounted below the level of the pcb. It all fits nice. My only critique would be their suggested location for the power jack. If I were to build this again, I would more it over about half an inch.
Sound wise, this is a buzz machine. Lots and lots of buzzy, gnarly, raw sounding fuzz. Single notes only…chords are bad. The octave is very subtle. I haven’t tried it with a bass yet, but on guitar it’s like a Super Fuzz with more tonal options.
I went with a vintage orientation, opposed to the drill template provided, but all I really had to do was move the jacks. And yes, it seems the graphics went on sideways again…

 

[Coda]

Glad you got it together. It's definitely better on bass, try it and you'll see the beast come out of it!

This pedal will finally motivate me to get some new strings. I have had flats on my Jazz Bass for...well, I don't remember how long. Probably almost 15 years. I think its time for some Rotosound Swing Bass...

 

[benny_profane]

Nice work! Definitely agree in re using it with bass. I built the MBP project and the VFE wood chipper. Very cool (and loud!) circuit. The VFE project opens up the versatility a lot and is my current bass fuzz.

Edit: you may want to troubleshoot if the octave is subtle. It should be present and pretty harsh.

 

[Bricksnbeatles]

I love Brassmaster style fuzz! Always wanted to build one of the FuzzDog Brassmaster boards, but they were always out of stock when it was time to order other boards from them. I’m probably gonna build the madbean Brassmaster soon so I can get my Hiero BEAD off my board so it’s safer now that that it’s discontinued

 

[Coda]

Nice work! Definitely agree in re using it with bass. I built the MBP project and the VFE wood chipper. Very cool (and loud!) circuit. The VFE project opens up the versatility a lot and is my current bass fuzz.

Edit: you may want to troubleshoot if the octave is subtle. It should be present and pretty harsh.

Tried it with my bass. When I kicked it on it about knocked me across the room. Insanely loud. Definitely the most effective fuzz I’ve ever used for bass. Plenty of low end, and a balanced fuzz tone. A completely different animal compared to the pedal and a guitar.

It’s not like the octave is missing, it’s just not as i tense as, say, my Super Fuzz. The octave works more as a harmonic than it does the main tone. I like that. Of course, maybe it’s broken? I imagine Q’s 4 and 5 control the octave.