Mid Hump Pedal alternatives?

[bifurcation]

Hey all,

I've been thinking about the overdrive-into-fuzz/fuzz-into-overdrive strategy for adding mids to bassy fuzz pedals. (I love wall-of-heavy doom tones in general, but want to give myself some tonal variety options.)

It seems like the classic logic is to use a Tube Screamer or a Klon for their mid-boost qualities (I'm thinking in distortion terms rather than EQ or clean boost because... well, I'm always looking for more breakup, feedback and chaos. ) Looking at some frequency response graphics, I think I get the basic idea of where the mid hump lives.



Buuuuut... I have this obsession with always using different and unique equipment. Why use a Rat pedal when I could build a Chrome Dome? Why use a Russian Big Muff when I can build an Arkaim?

Rather than just using a regular mid-hump drive, I'd love to find something that lives in that tonal neighborhood, but has its own weird character. I thought the Conqueror Fuzz might be neat to try as a mid boost with its hollow cocked-wah-ish sound, but I haven't built one yet.

Do folks have any suggestions for someone who wants to do the Muff-into-Tube-Screamer thing, but, you know, like, different, man.

 

[BurntFingers]

An eq pedal? Make it as weird as you want.

 

[Nostradoomus]

The Zapper might be a good one for you

 

[bifurcation]

The Zapper might be a good one for you

Oh right, I was thinking about that too. I guess if I'm going to explore that direction, I should start by cocking a wah in front and behind of some fuzzes, though without control of the Q and resonance it'll probably limit the range too much. Hmmmm...

 

[Nostradoomus]

The bandwidth control on the zapper is where it’s at!

 

[HamishR]

My absolute favourite for this is the Red Rooster (Chickenhead). In fact my favourite version of it is to use a 2N2222A transistor and a cap on the output to ground to take off a little brightness - maybe 18-22nF. This booster (not much dirt on it's own) lets you dial in the amount of low end you want and has that wonderful Rangemaster mid-honk. I use it in front of an OD and it sounds better than any other mid-humper I've tried.

The One Control Purple Humper is surprisingly good but I don't know if anyone has traced it. Not really worth building it as it's tiny and inexpensive anyway.

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

I take it you've already tried combinations of the pedals you have. Have you tried the Friedman amp in a box pedals: Dirty Sanchez, Brown Betty, Thermionic? I like the Betty because it has a Bass cut before the overdrive stages and a 3-band EQ after. Thermionic has the Bass cut, but no Mid control. Sanchez has a Mid control, but the Bass cut is just a switch.

Do you have a graphic EQ? You could experiment by putting that before or after various dirt pedals, just to see what sounds good to you.

Dirt pedals are not just about the EQ, there is also the attack and release, the blend of even and odd harmonics, compression, etc. So many variables; explains in part why there are so many dirt pedals on the market.

 

[bifurcation]

Excellent points, the Dirty Sanchez does look interesting! Thanks!

I used to own a graphic eq, but not currently. I should pick up a GE-7-alike. I could even try jacking up the output to add some crazy to the mid hump.

Hmmm... but you've articulated it well. I think besides the mid-hump I'm looking for a quality change, sag, harmonics, compression, etc. Something to turn the signal a little different. Especially since I use a looper/router, I'm excited to have the many variations (just fuzz, just overdrive, fuzz into overdrive, overdrive into fuzz, etc...)

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

Don't underestimate the power of the TIGHT control. That and the GAIN control have the most influence on the sound. The reason tone shaping before the distortion stages is so important with distortion pedals (and amps) is because lower frequency tones have larger amplitude than higher frequency tones. When you play a chord, the lower strings have a stronger signal and can overwhelm the higher strings in the distortion stages. Sometimes that's exactly the sound you want, other times, it's too muddy. The TIGHT control lets you dial in the right amount of doom, sludge, what-have-you for the song and the rig.

 

[bifurcation]

Don't underestimate the power of the TIGHT control. That and the GAIN control have the most influence on the sound. The reason tone shaping before the distortion stages is so important with distortion pedals (and amps) is because lower frequency tones have larger amplitude than higher frequency tones. When you play a chord, the lower strings have a stronger signal and can overwhelm the higher strings in the distortion stages. Sometimes that's exactly the sound you want, other times, it's too muddy. The TIGHT control lets you dial in the right amount of doom, sludge, what-have-you for the song and the rig.

Nice, thanks!

Yeah thinking about it, I'm basically wanting a full-on wall-of-mud tone some of the time, and then (slightly) more articulation at other times.

Cool, a lot to think about!

 

[Nostradoomus]

The HM-2 is awesome in front of a fuzz. I used to use it into a BAT Black Forest, amazing.