Part 1: MXR Blowtorch Bass Fuzz Demo

[Socioistic]

What is this thing for really? I mean, it doesn't sound like any distortion I've ever heard, and it doesn't seem to have much tonal range. I mean, if you have an actual distortion pedal to go in front of it, I'm sure you could get some really cool tones, but alone it really only has one GOOD tone, as far as I can tell, which is the 6:44 tone.

[Pollinator95]

Dude - your licks are awesome!

[squezer]

i would like to hear how it sounds with finger playing

[bryanrtyler]

@squezer The whole thing is fingerstyle. I don't use a pick.

[squezer]

haha the fart part is awesome :D

[godfreyjones25]

man that sounds like a duck gargling.

[diamonddust22]

Yeah, I like farts sounds in a box for my bass.

[MrJayv1]

i sounds like farts

[JerryGruszecki]

the trick for this pedal is not to get to crazy with the dials some most people start turing them into these crazy nonsensical sounds you have to start with the clean and make it dirty...

[will1000001]

I,ve had a EHX Bass Big Muff on my board for a while now and I love it but my Blowtorch arrived yesterday and totally it rocks, way more verstile than the Big Muff and it's built like a tank. Very impressed great Pedal!

[robzombie545]

How are you powering the Blowtorch?

[bryanrtyler]

I'm using two outlets on a Voodoo Labs Pedal Power.

[sweaza]

Sound at 5:00 is hot!

[insomnaic003]

I'm trying to decide between this one and the Electro Harmonix Bass Big Muff Pi pedal and I don't know which one I want. I definitely need one that works well with my low B string and I'm going for a sound like the one the bassist from Muse uses. So you got a suggestion on which one I should get? Thanks.

[FreiherrVonHinten]

I'm totally convinced by the blow torch. I consider it more versatile than the Muff...

[marcosjoy]

blow torch is the word

[Jackalos1]

Chris of Muse uses a Russian Bass Big Muff. Another alternative is the Zvex Woolly Mammoth (if you have the money) - it's more versatile than the muff

[gluesmeller]

WANT! This sounds so damn good!

[tragictravisty]

brilliant clean tone there, perfect balance between bass and treble

[gearhed1]

how would this sound on guitar?

[bryanrtyler]

No idea- I don't play or own a guitar. It'll keep the low end, though.

[username125418]

i dont know if youve used one but would you choose this or a big muff? or some other kind?

[bryanrtyler]

I use both this and an EHX Bass Big Muff- I have a review on that pedal as well. Love them both.

[Colliernator1000]

@bryanrtyler You might have a video that shows all of your pedals, but I haven't found it. Could you tell me what all ya got or tell me what the videos name is? Thanks

[bryanrtyler]

@Colliernator1000 No video like that yet- I'll do a full pedalboard review sometime very soon though.

[66420192]

1:44, I think your waffles are ready.

[kuwasaaki]

you must play clean tone(mxr power off) first.i can't think this effector what.

[bryanrtyler]

I DO show my clean tone first, starting at :50. Pay attention :D

[sth209]

Are you using a line select instead of the actual footswitch? Sounds good, anyway. Can it do a heavier/bassier fuzz sound?- the synthy ones you did were all right, but can it do more Meshuggah-type stuff? More all out fuzz?

[bryanrtyler]

All of those effects are in a bypass switch. It can do a very low, powerful fuzz (the bass and "oomph" of the sound does not translate well onto my little camera) although it's not a wall of noise type of fuzz that you get with a Big Muff-style fuzz. Let me know what Meshuggah song you're thinking of and I'll let you know (I only own one of their albums but can check out whatever song you mention).

[veedmo]

That sounds terribly flat and dry on all settings. Definitely not my kind of bass fuzz/dist.

[Lylodile]

I have that pedal. Its really good.

[JackMomma78]

The SansAmp RPM is the preamp out there for distortion/fuzz. With just a quarter turn of the mid shift, you can go from a Geddy Lee/Chris Squire Rickenbacker growl, to an all-out fuzz.

I use it in conjunction with the SansAmp Bass Driver DI. The RPM gives me my distortion, and the DI reinforces some of the low end that's lost . It cleans up most of your bass's clanking and finger noise., which druives me insane.

[Aaronram78]

the tone from the blowtorch is not very good. Have you tried the distortion from the bass D.I. pedal?

[bryanrtyler]

Yes- I also owned a Sansamp RBI preamp. The both sound nice. I (and many others) love the buzzsaw fuzz of the Blowtorch. Sorry if it's not your thing.

[bryanrtyler]

Just realized you probably meant the MXR bass DI- haven't tried that one.

[hgldypgldy]

your first tone sounds like a fart.

[bryanrtyler]

If that's true for you, it must be interesting to be around you when you have gas ;)

[elefantkaputt]

@hgldypgldy poor guy, i feel ya : ( must be a heavy burden

[regularjonesy]

Hey man great review. Jeff rouse from Duff mckagans loaded uses one of these im havin trouble tryin to find that sound with the pedal any help would be much apreciated ?

[bryanrtyler]

I haven't heard him (or Duff's solo band), so I couldn't tell you- I'll see if I can find some clips online.

[regularjonesy]

Well cheers man any help would be greatly apreciated

[michael1400pizdec]

What a noice box :/

[Lylodile]

I've got one of dems.

[robzombie545]

Hey are you running this pedal straight into the amp, or are you using any EQ/Compression/Gate afterward?

[bryanrtyler]

It's going straight to amp. All the effects on that board were in a loop bypass strip, and they were all bypassed for the video.

[robzombie545]

Ah cool thank you.

What amp were you running into?

[bryanrtyler]

A Markbass F1

[TLeonard91]

wow, sounds extremely versatile :)

[beastmaster112]

your board looks like an engine. i thought that thing above the mxr was a carbeurator

[bawjustice]

or a tuner

[ninjaxbassxkid]

how are you going from clean to dist w/o hitting the blowtorch???

[bryanrtyler]

I had all of my effects in a Loop-Master bypass strip, so that all of the pedals could be turned on and off at the bottom of the pedalboard without having to dance all around.

[funkmetwice]

this sounds like you loss low end. or maybe the sound quality of this vid isnt great. the sound quality i mean. i think i like MXR's el grande basss FUZZ pedal better. im knew to pedals. whats the difference between distortion, Fuzz, and overdrive?

[AndrewMon2008]

really helpful vid, thanks

[D1G1T4LPH34R]

I want this pedal.

[Morotsodlarn]

omg maybe should tune my bass e-c :) nice review too

[stopglobalswarming]

try chorus pedals

[coeball]

any thought on that the blowtorch vs the big muff

[BobMastoras]

hmm i own the BassBigMuff, I really like it, the bass boost is sick! it doesn't have the variety of sounds the torch has, but it does it's job well.

Blowtorch is more expensive, but has more options, if u need all of these options go for the torch, if not check out smthg else

[TimmyCommerford]

i use it. the only disadvantage of this great effect is that it sounds weird with a wah.

[caminofeld]

I dunno bro, I use it with my Bootzilla wah for Voodoo Chile and think the tone's pretty sweet...just make sure the MXR is going into the wah and not vice-versa.

[bucketheadfn]

wait i have a mxr zacc wylde mxr pedal and a vox wah. i have the cord going from the amp too the mxr pedal too the wah too the guitar. thats right .. right?

[caminofeld]

Negs breh, go guitar to mxr to wah to amp.

[bucketheadfn]

oh and i have a boss distortion pedal. where that go in the batch ?

[caminofeld]

Is it a bass distortion pedal? If not, (just IMO) I wouldn't use it because it's not designed to pick up the low frequencies as well as a bass specific dist. pedal. if yer gonna use it though, put it between the bass and the MXR. You are playing a bass, right?

[bucketheadfn]

no im not playin bass.

and its a boss like the brand.

[NWEOwner]

Has anyone ever tried this with a 6 string Guitar? I'd like to hera it!

[JosephGallagher]

There are already one too many Guitar Stompboxes. Try one of those instead and leave us bassists alone =)

[nanerpants]

not real good on guitar

[D1G1T4LPH34R]

No shit Sherlock, it's a bass pedal.

[nanerpants]

I was answering a question dildo...seeing as how I OWN it.

[hypnoxic]

haha I like how it sounds so farty, that's just good fun

[doogleisfat]

Great review. This is a great pedal and im glad someone has really taken the time to show it off.

[darkstrikeofbass]

Very cool review!

[mysticboo]

Bah. No appreciation for the old-school gamers.

Anyhow... I realized that I mixed up 3:00 for 9:00 on the gain setting. I normally have my gain cranked to 3:00 for a LOT of sustaining fuzz.

Not sure how I messed that up... but 3:00 sounds nice anyway. :)

[basadam]

Great demo. Instead of "showing off" you're showig what the pedal is capable of. MXR should learn a thing or two, the demo on their website sucks.

I always thought this pedal was for over the top fuzz but I actually liked the slight overdriven sound you did.

[bryanrtyler]

Thanks- the fuzz can sound very harsh at first if you're used to smoother fuzzes like some of the Muffs, but it's actually very usable (and audible in a mix) in almost all of its settings.

[Alcyon2k4]

harsh burn on mysticboo!