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Dirt.


radiophonic
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I have a couple of dirt pedals but they don't do it for me. I'm actually starting to wonder if my basic bass tone is incompatible with distortion and fuzz pedals!

I don't have anything fancy, just a EH Bass Big Muff (too fizzy - I actually prefer it as a guitar pedal) and an EH Crayon - which was cheap, got a bit of coverage in the other place and is 'OK' if you really boost the bass pot and use an LS2 as a blend. I've been thinking about a B3K (a lot of money for a dirt pedal IMO) but I know there are other boutique makers out there. The problem is that I can't try any of this stuff out. What should I be looking at and what is it possible to try? I need to keep the bottom end - so a blend is probably essential and I'd rather not have to add the LS2 just to obtain it (pedalboard footprint issues). I typically only use distortion when playing more or less unison riffs with the guitar so I'm after something that sounds really heavy, rather than smooth and fuzzy. More grit than fuzz, definitely. There are some connoisseurs on here I know, so recommend away. I do need to be able to try it out though - so internet only ops are probably out.

Edited by radiophonic
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I'd like to suggest the Digitech Bass Driver, but they're discontinued so you'd have to go second hand, which means you couldn't return it under distance selling regulations if you didn't like it.

I have one and I love it. It is very, very versatile with a knob that goes from light dirt through heavy crunch all the way to fuzz. It has a blend, too. They weren't expensive when they were new, so should be cheap used.

Another option would be a multi-effects pedal. They're useful to have anyway, but it might give you an idea of exactly what kind of dirt would work with your bass tone. My Zoom B1on cost about £40 new.

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[quote name='GazWills' timestamp='1485349800' post='3223299']
I see from your sig you use a stingray. IMO dirt pedals don't sound that great through stingrays (muffs' anyway). The 2 or 3 dirt pedals I have sound great with my precisions, but awful with my stingray, so make sure you try something that works with active basses...
[/quote]

That's the issue - and why the lack of local demo options is frustrating. There's a demo of the BK3 on Youtube using a Bongo and it sounds simultaneously dreadful and like it's hardly doing anything either, whereas other demos sound great (the Spector / Vintage demo was a cmobo I liked a lot). I suspect the fairly extreme treble boost on a stingray causes problems. I recently spoke to a G&L owner who had to ditch his RAT because it actually made his bass sound [i]quieter[/i] when he hit the overdrive!

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the one thing I can recommend based on experience with my stingray is a fulltone bassdrive. Sounded great with my 'ray, so I'd think anything tubescreamer based would work well (xotic BB bass preamp, etc). There are a few fuzzes with impedance controls, like the zvex mastotron, which should work well I'd think, but not tried any of them myself (moved to precisions as I wanted to play with more FX!!)

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[quote name='radiophonic' timestamp='1485330925' post='3223088']
I have a couple of dirt pedals but they don't do it for me. I'm actually starting to wonder if my basic bass tone is incompatible with distortion and fuzz pedals!

I don't have anything fancy, just a EH Bass Big Muff (too fizzy - I actually prefer it as a guitar pedal) and an EH Crayon - which was cheap, got a bit of coverage in the other place and is 'OK' if you really boost the bass pot and use an LS2 as a blend. I've been thinking about a B3K (a lot of money for a dirt pedal IMO) but I know there are other boutique makers out there. The problem is that I can't try any of this stuff out. What should I be looking at and what is it possible to try? I need to keep the bottom end - so a blend is probably essential and I'd rather not have to add the LS2 just to obtain it (pedalboard footprint issues). I typically only use distortion when playing more or less unison riffs with the guitar so I'm after something that sounds really heavy, rather than smooth and fuzzy. More grit than fuzz, definitely. There are some connoisseurs on here I know, so recommend away. I do need to be able to try it out though - so internet only ops are probably out.
[/quote]

Budget?

Second hand on here is the best way to try gear, particularly more unusual stuff. 9 times out of 10 you will sell it on and not lose anything.

A B3K has just popped up for £130 in the classifieds :) There are also a couple of Cog Knightfalls around the £65 - £75 mark. Both are excellent options for grit.

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[quote name='Kev' timestamp='1485383490' post='3223658']
Budget?

Second hand on here is the best way to try gear, particularly more unusual stuff. 9 times out of 10 you will sell it on and not lose anything.

A B3K has just popped up for £130 in the classifieds :) There are also a couple of Cog Knightfalls around the £65 - £75 mark. Both are excellent options for grit.
[/quote]

Yes - I was quite surprised. if they're still there on payday, I'll count my beans.

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[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1485614949' post='3225324']
EVERYONE needs a dirt pedal for bass!
[/quote]

or 5..............

to the op, if you want the dirt to not be to fuzzy or fizzy then avoid rat based circuits i love them but at high gain they turn a bit fuzz, obviously i would stay away from fuzz.

for a proper thick sound which will just push your bass over the edge theres stuff like the ocd, the fuzzrocious demon is great from low to high gain and doesnt get fizzy it stays for me in my setup just thick drive unless i boost into it!

and theres also the boss odb-3 for a really cheap way to go, have it basically 80% clean blend turn the treble down a bit, i used this with my active modulus fb4 for ages into a markbass lm2. and the fb4 being a hotroded ray its similar kinda thing.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I'd second the comment about the Aftershock. With a little tweaking, it's very versatile and can cover smooth overdrive up to Synth-like fuzz. I'm definitely a fan.
Regarding the ODB3, I found it to be quite high gain, even when dialled in low. Sending it through a Sansamp DI got the best out of it too, rather than using it in isolation.

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For now, I've picked up a secondhand Pike Vulcan. I like the blend options but I doubt I'll be turning the colour very far to the right. It gets its first live outing this weekend, so we'll see what all the fuss is about. I'm actually not convinced it's better than a Crayon paired with an LS2, but we'll see...

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I think you really need to try them out yourself on your setup. I have fiddled about trying to get the sounds I want for an age now. In the end I have found a TC dark matter works for a gentle dirt set up and a Boss metal zone of all things for a heavier sound (available for pennies off any second hand website you choose to look at). The Boss was a complete surprise as I have to admit I expected it to be overly heavy for the sake of it but it's actually quite versatile and the cheapness means I am happy to have it for occasional use.

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