Distortion pedal help

[highwayone]

Bought a VERY cheap distortion pedal (belcat dst5o1) as my new band has a couple of tracks where I need one. Problem is I can't seem to get the required level of distortion with volume without it feeding back ridiculously. Never used one before so no sure if I should crank up the level or distortion itself?? Or is it just that it's a very cheap pedal that is cack!? Any suggestion on settings or other pedals would be great. Cheers.

[paul_5]

What other equipment are you using?

[0175westwood29]

what sort of sound are you looking for? and what sort of gear are you using.

ie do you want all out distortion or just some grit? also if you are stood in front of your amp and with any hi gain pedal unless there is some sort of gating involved you'll get feedback when not playing unless you roll of your volume.

you will get lots of suggestions for dirt and drive here but what did you buy?

[highwayone]

Using a Marshall mb4410 and an epi eb0 and the belcat distortion pedal. Trying to get a full on fuzz for a couple of songs rather than grit.cheers

[0175westwood29]

[quote name='highwayone' timestamp='1480849189' post='3187471']
Using a Marshall mb4410 and an epi eb0 and the belcat distortion pedal. Trying to get a full on fuzz for a couple of songs rather than grit.cheers
[/quote]

cool for me from listening to a few demos, that pedals gonna struggle for me to get you some really big fuzz tones, also im thinking theres gonna be some low end loss (I can hear it on a guitar demo i found so will be worse on bass)

its the standard answer really but maybe look at grabbing a dedicated fuzz, ive got a few faves but everyone will have something different but i use a Fuzzrocious Heliotropic, Moth or Cicada for my fuzz tones but also have a Grey Stache (green muff based fuzz) that i use from time to time. all sound big and will cut thru in a mix......but all are obviously rig dependant!

[tonyquipment]

I would split the signal with an LS2 and dial in the distortion separately with a blend of clean to maintain the lows

The feedback with hi gain distortion is always going to bite you unless you gate it off

[A.G.E.N.T.E.]

Well, assuming that you´ll need to get a diferente pedal, and you´re on a budget, i would take a look in to the joyo/harley benton ultimate drive, or the bass big muff pi.

Ultimate drive video with a epi eb: [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBD2dCN_1NE"]https://www.youtube....h?v=MBD2dCN_1NE[/url]

[quote name='tonyquipment' timestamp='1480853528' post='3187526']
I would split the signal with an LS2 and dial in the distortion separately with a blend of clean to maintain the lows

The feedback with hi gain distortion is always going to bite you unless you gate it off
[/quote]
That´s a good advice, but In this particular case, and since the pedal used can´t offer a proper distortion, i just can´t see how it woul benefit the overall sound. That would work great if you had a nice sound, but sacrificing the low end.

[kodiakblair]

Saw that Ultimate Drive video last night.

The pedal was ordered about 20 minutes later

[mcnach]

That Ultimate Drive is pretty sweet. My only 'complaint' is that a slight tweak of the gain/level knobs go a long way, so adjusting levels on the fly has to be done with care, and if you brush against the knob with your big clumsy feet you're likely to effectively turn the thing off or make it extremely loud... masking tape advisable when playing in dark places or by clumsy players Sound-wise, 'though, I love it.

[Tuco]

Yeh that Ultimate Drive sounds pretty cool
Joyo pedals are pretty cool imho
I ordered an "Orange Juice" t'other day

[lee650]

For the money! I really liked the EHX bass big muff nano! Has a clean blend which isn't perfect but worked well for me 😆

[dannybuoy]

Not sure if your pedal is a Boss ODB-3 clone but that pedal feeds back like a mutha too!

The Ultimate Drive was an instant disappointment personally, as was the EHX Bass Soul Food. I've heard good things about the EHX OD Glove too when it comes to cheap ODs though! You won't get heavy fuzz out of these though - perhaps look into an EHX Bass Big Muff or Source Audio Aftershock (if you don't mind messing around with apps and presets to fine tune it).

[blank20]

You should try something with better quality. Like theese
https://musicsquare.co.uk/151294_Mooer-MBD1-Blues-Crab-Drive-Guitar-Effects-Pedal.html
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/EastRiverOD

[dudewheresmybass]

Dannybuoy- love my glove. I run it at 18v internally, and it gives me an awesome Lemmy grind. The lower gain stuff is pretty awesome too

[T-Bay]

Another vote for the big muff, they regularly come up cheap on eBay too.