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recommendations for a bass overdrive/distortion


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Posted

looking to replace my boss-odb 3, ive been using a ds-1 believe it or not and its worked well but it removes a lot of low end and i think there must be something better in the way of punchy, trashy bass distortion that can still cut the mix.

any recommendations?

cheers
james

Posted

There are loads of similar threads to this one, you should do a search for some of them. And there are loads of pedal demonstrations on youtube to get a good idea of the sound before you splash out on something based on a recommendation.

Also, "I am not excane" has a good thread with lots of pedal demonstrations, not just OD:

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/138296-my-pedal-demo-video-collection-free-pedal-giveaway/page__hl__pedal%20demos"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/138296-my-pedal-demo-video-collection-free-pedal-giveaway/page__hl__pedal%20demos[/url]

Paul

Posted

Handy with a soldering iron at all? There's plenty of mods you could do to a DS-1 if so. AFAIK it's similar to a tubescreamer, so I would look at a Digitech Bad Monkey or Xotic BB Preamp. Or perhaps a RAT?

Posted

I always say xotic BB preamp as a default on these threads, but if you want 'trashy' (nasty / aggressive) then I second the idea of a RAT, or possibly a fulltone OCD or clone (fuzzrocious OSD?)

Posted

rats get pretty gnarly! try a fuzzrocious rat tail
[url="http://www.fuzzrociouspedals.com/rattail.html"]http://www.fuzzrociouspedals.com/rattail.html[/url]

i have one on the way and im quite looking forward to it, other than that, i use and can recommend the darkglass B3K, very VERY aggressive and cutting/bitey.
[url="http://www.darkglasselectronics.com/products/microtubes-b3k/"]http://www.darkglasselectronics.com/products/microtubes-b3k/[/url]

Posted (edited)

[quote name='Ant' timestamp='1360943812' post='1978804']
rats get pretty gnarly! try a fuzzrocious rat tail
[url="http://www.fuzzrociouspedals.com/rattail.html"]http://www.fuzzrocio...om/rattail.html[/url]

[/quote]

+1 I've got a [url="http://www.fuzzrociouspedals.com/ratking.html"]Rat King[/url] and it's awesome. "Proper" distortion and a huge range of tone options.

Edited by clauster
Posted

I have a modded DS-1 and it is perfect for a bit of uncomplicated distortion.

It may not be so fashionable any more, but my Bass Drive is still my go to if I want some overdrive, distortion or clean boost. Any other tube screamer clone would be fine.

You could always add a Boss LS 2 to your chain and dial your bass back in. Pedals like the LS 2 are essential IMO, they make just about any guitar distortion work well on bass.

Fundamentally your average audience would be hard pressed to notice the difference between a DS-1/LS-2 combination and an expensive boutique solution once the sound is cranked and the sweat is flowing.

Posted

I`ve just got hold of a DHA (Dave Hall Amps) VT1-EQ/DI. The valve has been changed to one that has lower gain, but even with this, on full the overdrive is too much (for me). But, backing off on the gain, you can get a nice clean sound that only gets overdriven when hit hard, or just adding a little bit more, you get a permanently driven sound, as if you`re digging in, but without actually having to do so. Reduce the gain down to hardly anything and you can get just a clean fat warm valve type sound.

They`re not cheap - £170 new, or £150 for the smaller version without headphone capability - but it`s also a good DI as well, and has Bass/Mid/Treble and Colour where you set the frequency of the Mids to either be cut or boosted. So a very versatile pedal.

Plus, if you don`t like the colour shecme - they are a bit garish - contact Dave and he`ll do a custom one to your own spec.

Posted

I would always, recommend a clean blend (which the ODB-3 has in its favour). There's a few bass-specific pedals that offer this built in. Depending on budget, I personally prefer a guitar distortion in the loop of a blend pedal. I use an Xotic X-Blender set to approx 2/3 O'clock blend (mostly wet with a little clean blend underneath), and use a Russian Big Muff and Proco Turbo Rat.

For reference, both those pedals have different issues - The Rat kills the lows, which is an obvious problem. The Muff actually has loads of bottom end, but very little mids - so the definition is lost.

Worth trying out whatever your local store has to offer (then go to ebay...)

Posted

For distortion, id give a plus 1 to a rat. I ran a moded turbo rat for a while which was quite gnarly. Currently using a tech21xxl which i love nd find more aggressive than the rat. The aguilar aggro is also pretty good in this area.

Id reccommend buying second hand - any dirt pedals ive ever tried sound great at home, but in a mix is where you really find out if ifs for you. Buying used means you can move them in and out and only suffer postage. Enjoy the hunt.

Oh yeah, theres a wounded paw battering ram going in for sale. Worth checking out.

Posted

I tried the Rat too and really liked it but I ended up with a DeltaLab MD1. Yes, I know it's really a guitar pedal but I finally found what I was looking for! All the bass overdrive/distortion pedals I've heard all sounded too fuzzy, farty, bassy (not really a word), and rob me of the tone I like; lot's of edge in the mid and high-end. I also play a semi-hollow bass so that added a whole other layer to things.

I scored this awesome little guy for £26 at a local shop and couldn't be happier. It even conforms to my pedal rule: no more than three knobs.

[IMG]http://img547.imageshack.us/img547/4972/img1563j.jpg[/IMG]

Posted

I would vote for Aguilar Agro. Very underrated piece of kit, great sounding from less distorted sounds to chainsaw. I have also Turbo Rat, but I use it for bigger distortion than Agro.

Posted

The tone your after sounds like the Rat so looking at one of the Rat clones out there might be a good idea. My favourite bass overdrive so far is the BJF blueberry clone that I have. Mad Professor do a version which might fit the bill.

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