Instruments
K.T.Toeplitz

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BASSES    
 

My main BassComputer now. Custom made by Philippe Dubreuille, a superb luthier - french, currently living in London. The bass is a 5 string (with a high C) and has also 4 extra "resonant" strings. The 2 low strings are lowered (the fingerboard is longer) so that the open strings are tuned D G D G C (low to high)
There is also separate outputs for each string

 

much more about the BassComputer here .

     

 

EFFECTS  
 
Electro-Harmonix Big Muff. Used it for years. it was given to me by Joe Fish who at the time (that is '84 or '85....) was working at E-H. Superb singing sound, not much lows.... some critics said i had a kind of "Fripp" sound with it - and i sure had. My main Fuzz for years.
  Boss DS-1 - you all know it. I never was a fan of those - I know some players love it - but placed before the Big muff, it gave it a superb boost and a great harshness. So, I can still say i am not a big fan, just take a look at it - you think i can say I did not used (and abused) it?
  The next Fuzz afetr the Big Muff - the outbox. I bought this one in Japan, and it is a great pedal. Made by Prescription, with some presets - not sure what is the purpose of those - but they all sound great.
 

Colorsounds always were cool. The Fuzz at the left was actually my first ever Fuzz - at the time I was doing a lot of Hugh Hopper sounds, at it was perfect for this. I was not able to play bass, but i sure played teh fuzz box quite well.

The Tonebender is quite different - very harsh; it was my fuzz of choice when playing with "La Rédemption Electrique" - an industrial project, kind of early Swans, or Neubauten... Bass, drums and voice. A really rough distortion.

  SansAmp - took me years to try one, and this one (first model ?? not sure) is for sure a great box. Not sure about all te "modeling" thing, but the sound is great. this was my last "main" fuzz before turning to the Computer.
  After a while, when you are serious about your Fuzz-tone, it becomes kind of difficult to use japanese pedals. the whole idea sounds so... un-fuzzy.... So, ok, this is a Guyatone distortion for bass, an ok sound. It is Japanese, i know. but then i bought it in Tokyo. And it says "Tokyo Sound" on it!!!
  Yeah - the FuzzFactory. Z-Vex. A great Fuzz, and you all know it. Bought in New York, still uses the same battery. And yes, many many many great shapes of fuzz.
  The family of Heavy Metals. just have a look at them - it is obvious than I used the Heavy Metal itself a lot, but the Hyper Metal not that much. And the Metal Zone? I probably plugged it once or twice...
  The Noise Swash, custom made. sure, a very promising fuzz, but it took years to be made - maybe 2 years. When i finally received it, I was totally into Computers. But i might use it again with the analog synth (Doepfer a100)
  A no-name distortion i bought really cheap in Paris. For some reason i always thought it was an italian pedal - and maybe it is. A really strange sound - very "angry" with a "gate" effect - maybe not a gate (there is almost NO electronics inside) but it cuts the sustain very abruptly and cleans up the sound. Nice.
  The feedbackers are NOT super DS-1's: i am not a big fan of their distortion. And the Feedbacker effect itself is kind of cheap... But put 2 of them in serie, swithch them on/off, play the pedals - and you've got a great tool, full of mystery.
  RAT. it's good. It's heavy. What else?
  I found this VOX, second hand, in Osaka. One of those strange pedals - it sometimes was the EXACT sound you might be lookig for, other times was weak. I used it for some recordings but never for much else.
  It says Marshall on it. Most of the things with the Marshall logo sound ok. This fuzz is a good one - I even had 2 of those. Amadou Sall - he played bass in Sleaze Art, but also in Treponem Pal - used one and had a great sound.
  The Prescription "experience" fuzz.... Bought in Canada. Well, it is ok, not much more - even if a lot of guitar players say it is great. It sur does not have the class of the Outbox.
  The Big Cheese by Lovetone. It was costly but was supposed to be really great. Look at it - no scratches at all!!! I plugged it once when i received it, was disappointed by the sound and never used it again....
  My first -ever pedal. I am not a big fan of Phasors but at the time i did not knew.. And this Coron was the cheapest of the pedals, and the only one i could afford. Of course i belive it is the best (and only) Phaser you could use. Not sure if it still works...
 

Those 2 stayed with me for years... and it shows. The delay was modified slightly by Alain Ballaud who at the time was playing in Sleaze Art - he was one of the bassists of the 5-basses version of Sleaze Art . Short analog delay, lots of fun. And the octaver was a lot of fun - just place it AFTER a fuzz and you have a great fuzz sound, followed by a great low rumble - never heard anyone using the octaver after a fuzz - you should try it!