Madbean vs. Bluebeard Fuzz

[buckysde]

I just wanted to post a general topic regarding a comparison of any Madbean pedals with a Bluebeard Fuzz.

Has anyone had any hands-on time with a Blue beard or input of how it might compare to, let's say, a Wolfshirt?

The sound of a BBF has become something of a legend.  But acquiring one is very difficult.

Any thoughts?

[pandadandan]

I just wanted to post a general topic regarding a comparison of any Madbean pedals with a Bluebeard Fuzz.

Has anyone had any hands-on time with a Blue beard or input of how it might compare to, let's say, a Wolfshirt?

The sound of a BBF has become something of a legend.  But acquiring one is very difficult.

Any thoughts?

It's a ram's head muff with a few different values.

If you go to the General Guitar Gadgets site, you can find the Bluebeard as the GGG "Tuned" Big Muff.

[k.rock!]

Checkout the Mudbunny

http://www.madbeanpedals.com/projects/Mudbunny/docs/Mudbunny.pdf

Brian has several BOM lists in there and one of them is a Violet Ram's Head. Maybe it's close to what you're looking for. He also has a few other "blank" templates so you can customize it to your taste Have fun!

-Kaleb

[buckysde]

Thanks Kaleb for the Mudbunny suggestion!

I'm still in the dark as to what component affects what.  My ultimate goal is to find a good, doomy fuzz for a bass.  I've ordered a Wolfshirt to see how that works.  But the Mudbunny would be a good way I can experiment if the WS doesn't quite cut it.

I'd rather come up with something more "personalized" than put myself through the hassle of tracking down a bluebeard.

Cheers!

-Rick

[sprayfe]

Sabertooth all day long. Built a violet rams head for a guitarist customer wanting a bbf, he was thrilled.

[pandadandan]

Thanks Kaleb for the Mudbunny suggestion!

I'm still in the dark as to what component affects what.  My ultimate goal is to find a good, doomy fuzz for a bass.  I've ordered a Wolfshirt to see how that works.  But the Mudbunny would be a good way I can experiment if the WS doesn't quite cut it.

I'd rather come up with something more "personalized" than put myself through the hassle of tracking down a bluebeard.

Cheers!

-Rick

Well, if you do want an exact Bluebeard, just follow the parts list for the tuned muff.  The guy who runs GGG actually builds the BB for Sonny, you see.  I have one and it's very clear for a muff.  Much more string definition than a standard muff sound.  Not super high gain, though which may surprise you.

[bigmufffuzzwizz]

No way he builds them! I had no idea about that!
It's true that GGG tuned muff sounds really good. I do know a guy that uses a bluebeard for bass and it's exactly as pandadandan described! Clear and defined.

[pandadandan]

Tis true!

"GGG Tuned Version

There have been some misunderstandings about this version.  GGG is involved with building a pedal by Sandford and Sonny called the Blue Beard bass distortion.  This "Tuned Version"  is somewhat simialr to the Blue Beard, but it is not a Blue Beard.  It sounds somewhat different and it is in a smaller box of course.  This is an excellent distortion for bass or guitar or synth, but this project should not be considered a kit for a Blue Beard pedal."

Also, the only difference is that JD Sleep, the GGG guy, uses his old etched GGG PCB instead of the newer fabbed design.  Oh and there's an extra power filtering cap.

Here:

Bluebeard on the left, GGG tuned muff on the right.

[bigmufffuzzwizz]

Woah those are totally identical! Good to know. I read that that sanford and sonny guy had a guy who was a NASA engineer of some sort help him design this version of the circuit. None the less they are totally awesome muffs! I wonder if we could use a gruntbox to make a close to GGG tuned version? or with the mudbunny?

[pandadandan]

Woah those are totally identical! Good to know. I read that that sanford and sonny guy had a guy who was a NASA engineer of some sort help him design this version of the circuit. None the less they are totally awesome muffs! I wonder if we could use a gruntbox to make a close to GGG tuned version? or with the mudbunny?

Hahaha.  That's a total myth.  He works/worked in a music shop that one day had a particularly awesome Ram's Head Muff come in.  He got someone to desolder the parts and measure them so he could build perfect clones of it.  Hence why it's 95% the same component-wise as a Ram's Head.

You can easily use any muff PCB to build a killer one.  I'm going to build another using mojo components with a Gruntbox board, fwiw.  The components are numbered differently but it's easy to follow the schematic.

[buckysde]

I've seen and examined those pictures closely.  But one glaring difference hasn't been explained in any of the forums.  There is a big electrolytic and 2 resistors on the upper right corner of the BBF.  I've read comparisons of the BBF and the GGG and most say the BBF has more bottom end. Which leads me to somewhat of a noob question.  What components of a Muff would affect the bottom end?

I really like Brian's fabbed boards.  So, I'm inclined to go with a Mudbunny as my starting platform.

[bigmufffuzzwizz]

Hahaha.  That's a total myth.  He works/worked in a music shop that one day had a particularly awesome Ram's Head Muff come in.  He got someone to desolder the parts and measure them so he could build perfect clones of it.  Hence why it's 95% the same component-wise as a Ram's Head.

You can easily use any muff PCB to build a killer one.  I'm going to build another using mojo components with a Gruntbox board, fwiw.  The components are numbered differently but it's easy to follow the schematic.

Thats makes a lot of sense. It does sound very similar to a rams head muff when i've heard it. I'd like to do this too so if you get around to it before me, maybe you can post how you did it, vise versa. Funny the myths and legends created around pedals!!

I really like Brian's fabbed boards.  So, I'm inclined to go with a Mudbunny as my starting platform.

Yea they are really awesome and well lay'd out! Good choice with the mudbunny. I've built a few of the gruntboxes but I want a Mudbunny too for the amazing option of adding a presence knob with ease!

[eniacmike]

I built the GGG "tuned" up using a Gruntbox board (madbeans design, sold by caps n' such culturejam) it sounded really great.

I think you will be happy with the wolfshirt on bass. check out this video of the wolfshirt I built with my bass player playing some geezer riffs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXfmeQEjaXY

[buckysde]

Awesome clip!  How's the bottom end?  That doesn't usually translate well via youtube.  I was playing around with my Spector through a Faultline.  It was OK.  But felt like it was pushing it too hard with the active PUs.  Got a good fuzz.  But could be smoother for my taste.  I'm sure my Rickenbacker will do just fine.  But the Spector has an EMG MM in the bridge that shakes the walls.

How would the wolfshirt handle active basses?

[pandadandan]

If you're looking for a great bass fuzz, the Foxx Tone Machine (wolfshirt) is indeed great, ESPECIALLY if you add in a clean blend circuit.  The problem with most fuzzes is that they filter at least some frequencies that basses need to have definition.  The clean blend eliminates the frequency loss.