Always On Overdrive

[The59Sound]

This thought popped in my head yesterday - say you want your sound to have a bit of grit and stick an overdrive in the signal path and leave it on all the time. Most overdrive's tend to cut a bit of low end; could this not just be resolved by boosting the bass/low knob on your amp since the pedal is always on and will make up for any low end loss?

[dannybuoy]

Most overdrives designed for bass don't drop any low end. But to answer your question, your amp can boost bass that has been lowered in volume as a result of going through the pedal, but if your pedal totally chops off anything under 100Hz for example, then there will be nothing down there to boost back up!

[visog]

Many overdrives for bass allow you to mix the wet overdriven signal with the dry uneffected tone to preserve the low end.

Check out the Darkglass Vintage Deluxe pedals or Two Notes Le Bass pedals for example. These provide great always on grit and EQ options.

[VAMPYRE 5]

Cool topic 🤘🏻🤘🏻For that 'gritty' sound you could give Ashdown's DRIVE PLUS pedal an audition, they pop up cheap on eBay. I use mine on all the time.
Tried various Boss, MXR Blowtorch, VT Bass etc and keep going back to the Drive Plus. I even sold a Fender Bassman 300 Pro tube amp recently because my DP beat the No.2 (drive) channel!!
Forget pedal snobbery, it will clean your wallet out but might not give you the tone you're after..

[The59Sound]

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1498297209' post='3323671']
Most overdrives designed for bass don't drop any low end. But to answer your question, your amp can boost bass that has been lowered in volume as a result of going through the pedal, but if your pedal totally chops off anything under 100Hz for example, then there will be nothing down there to boost back up!
[/quote]
Thank you for answering.

[oo.viper.oo]

My Darkglass Vintage Microtubes certainly does not cut any bass away. It's bit on a pricey side, but it's worth every penny. It lets me tune that exact tone I want - clean when playing softly and with a bit of grit starting to appear when playing hard. I tried some cheaper pedals before, but those typically were very "binary", either the overdrive was there or not and it was not possible to tune them the way that the overdrive only appeared when playing hard.

Edited June 28, 2017 by oo.viper.oo

[Japhet]

I've just acquired a SolidGold FX Beta pedal and now I believe my lengthy quest is over. Lovely, fat and warm germanium drive that gives me what a load of previous pedals couldn't. This one's a keeper.

[JimBobTTD]

I have had a Bear Foot Bass Overdrive for a couple of months and I am still utterly in love with it. Much like Japhet above, my long quest is now over. I use a Darkglass Vintage Deluxe for heavier overdrive. Both pedals keep bottom end.

[The59Sound]

Mods you can close the thread now.

[Thunderpaws]

EHX Bass Soul Food. Mine is always on and it has a blend knob. Keeps low end beautifully and is much less expensive than some of the others mentioned here.