Pedal Review Throwback: Bass TightFuzz by Amptweaker

Amptweaker has been featured on Pedals And Effects before for their Bass TightDrive pedal and now, I finally got my hands on their Bass TightFuzz and I am completely blown away with this fuzz! James Brown, the mastermind behind Amptweaker, is really an OG pedal maker and he takes all his great experience and throws it into every pedal he makes. If you are looking for a fuzz that doesn’t have a lot of noise but has a variety of tones and lots of low end, then check out the Bass TightFuzz by Amptweaker!

Photo credit: Rogue Guitar Shop

The Bass TightFuzz comes loaded with vintage tones for bass guitar by moving the Tight, Edge and Tone down an octave, and also includes our popular Dry Low knob which lets you add some dry low end to blend with the Fuzz.  Think of this pedal like Tim Commerford of Rage Against The Machine’s bass rig approach. Tim is known to use a distorted rig in conjunction with a clean rig. When he kicks on his distortion, he still has his low end in tact coming from that clean rig. What Amptweaker does is give you some of that low end signal back with the dry low knob, to compensate for low end loss that comes with using a fuzz. Pure genius!

The tone options on the Bass TightFuzz are truly endless and bass centric. Amptweaker gives you the choice to switch between a silicon or germanium fuzz, 60’s or 70’s type fuzz sound, even edgy or smooth fuzz tones. The choice is yours when you decided what kind of fuzz to create and all this comes in one of the sturdiest metal boxes out there.

Photo credit: Austin Guitar House

One of the most important differences between the Bass TightFuzz and most other fuzzes is that with the addition of the tight control in front of the fuzz circuit. Here, the input of the fuzz circuit is effectively buffered from the bass. A common problem with other fuzz designs is that circuits with low output impedances like those in overdrive pedals or from active basses, can completely change the bias and gain structure. the resulting in odd tones and and unwanted squeals. The buffering in the Bass TightFuzz “simulates the impedance of a passive guitar, so that the fuzz circuit works in the normal way it’s intended, and any low impedance circuit can be used in the loop or in front of the pedal.” So musicians that use active basses should definitely get this fuzz! 

I use the tight knob on the Bass TightFuzz to make the fuzz quiet and tight. When I do quick stop bass lines that are saturated in fuzz, the tight control lets me be insanely distorted but without all the noise that typically goes with being that fuzzed out. Check out this video for yourself and hear the silence!

You can purchase this pedal, and more at Reverb.com!