Has anypne used an active Wick with a Way Huge Pork Loin?

Joined
Dec 2, 2007
Messages
61
Reaction score
0
Sorry if this is in the wrong section.

I really want an OD pedal and I have been saving Guitar Center gift cards for like three years. With $40 from my own pocket, I can afford a WH Pork Loin. They don't have any in my local GC (or any Warwicks) and I'm wondering if anyone has played one of the pedals with an active Warwick? My Corvette's preamp is almost obnoxious, to really use my current fuzz pedal I have to take the battery totally out of the bass, otherwise the clipping is just too insane.

I don't know too much about electronics and signals and all that, but I'm assuming if the bass has too hot of an output, it's going to make the OD sound a lot harsher than it really is, right? So does anyone have any experience with a Wick and Pork Loin?
 

Lady Warwick

Vampyre Spaz
Joined
May 6, 2010
Messages
627
Reaction score
4
hehehe i pictured a pork loin....the meat LMAO!

sorry....i'll shut up now hehe
 
Joined
Mar 19, 2008
Messages
834
Reaction score
903
I don't know too much about electronics and signals and all that, but I'm assuming if the bass has too hot of an output, it's going to make the OD sound a lot harsher than it really is, right? So does anyone have any experience with a Wick and Pork Loin?

Yes, you are correct that active basses, and especially 18V ones like many WWs, can be a bad match for a lot of fuzz pedals. I have never tried the Pork Loin, though, so I can't comment specifically on that one. I would recommend that you send an email to the manufacturer and/or ask a question in the effects section over at talkbass.com.

I personally have good experiences with and can happily recommend the following overdrive/fuzz pedals together with an active WW, if you're interested in considering other options than the 'loin: EBS MultiDrive, Malekko B:ASSMASTER, MXR Blowtorch, SoundBlox Multiwave Bass Distortion Pro.

Good luck - fuzz is fun!
 
Joined
Dec 2, 2007
Messages
61
Reaction score
0
I'll have to check those pedals out. I was a huge fan of the Pork Loin sound clips I've heard -- the MXR Blowtorch sounds a little too edgy. I'm looking more for OD rather than fuzz.
 
Joined
Oct 21, 2010
Messages
201
Reaction score
71
Dude, search for a pedal where you can blend youre clean signal in. I got the T-rex Bass juice, a huge amount of gain, used with a thumb, massive sound!
 
Joined
Aug 30, 2010
Messages
1,672
Reaction score
5
Age
37
In my opinion, if it's not specifically made for bass, you're going to have a tough time getting the correct 'thickness' out of a distortion pedal. Even if it's spec'd properly for the frequencies, the sheer amount of signal a bass can send can really thin out the pedal (strictly due to headroom).

At one point it was a marketing trend, but I really think a pedal that says 'bass' on it should always be used.

That said, if you're looking for the classic fuzz sound, I like the MXR El Grande.
 
Joined
May 14, 2007
Messages
2,159
Reaction score
4
I'm a proud owner of a pork loin pedal. I love it, and pretty much have it as my always on pedal. That said i've unfortunately not run a warwick through it as I got it after switching to my G&L sb-2.

The pork loin matches really well for bass, no loss of low end. And the 'clean' preamp section allows for blending the distorted section with a clean tone (although its slightly coloured as its a voiced preamp section - but imo it fits really well with the overdrive and lets you control the bite and agression of the pedal - low end is retained whatever you do with it).

The only thing i would note is that you can clip the clean preamp with a high gain bass. My Sb-2 although passive as super hot pickups and on some settings i will notice a clipping on the clean section. With my settings the OD covers the sound and I like what the clipping does, but you can tame it by turning down bassed volume (and then boost it up again with the pedal). Turning the volume of the bass down with a warwick isn't going to be a huge problem as iirc the volume pot is pretty linear - so worst case is boost the signal at the preamp stage of you amp. My sb-2 is passive with vol-vol setup so turning the volume down also alters pickup balance and rolls off the tone.

Other than the minor issue with the clean preamp clipping, i've not found another OD pedal like the pork loin. Everything i tried was just too 'buzzy' and synthetic sounding for my tastes, this includes many of the pedals mentioned here.

On the harshness of the pedal, because the pork loin has so many controls you can really tweak the sound. Have no clean sound and roll down the tone, and set the distortion curve and i'm sure you can tame any harshness a wick may add to the sound. If it can deal with the g&l crazy hot hyper bright pickups I'm sure the pork loin can cope with a warwick MEC preamp/pickup setup np.

Edit: i'd offer to record some clips, but it will not really give a true idea of how it will sound with your bass. (although am happy to make some quick ones if you'd like demonstrating everything i've mentioned)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Top Bottom