If you could only choose one dirt pedal?

[Al Krow]

8 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

if this is in relation to my earlier comments, just bare in mind i wasn't talking about the lows, but more the overall tone of the bass.

Interesting point Dave. Won't any dirt pedal pretty much overpower the tone of the bass so that you end up with a tone that's dominated by the drive pedal? And then the 'tone' or 'flavour' of the pedal becomes the key driver (excuse my pun) of tone / sound whilst the pedal is engaged?

Edited July 17, 2019 by Al Krow

[dannybuoy]

I think the point was, you think your know which are your favourite dirt pedals are, until you play them with a band at high volume, then you change your mind!

I ended up using the SolidgoldFX Beta as my dirty boost in the band, even though I thought it sounded meh at home.

[Al Krow]

Just now, dannybuoy said:

I think the point was, you think your know which are your favourite dirt pedals are, until you play them with a band at high volume, then you change your mind!

I ended up using the SolidgoldFX Beta as my dirty boost in the band, even though I thought it sounded meh at home.

But would you agree that if you played 3 different basses with 3 different dirt pedals, the dominant / overriding impact on the sound / bass tone would be which particular drive pedal & setting on that pedal you were using, and not which particular bass you were using?

[dave_bass5]

15 hours ago, Al Krow said:

Interesting point Dave. Won't any dirt pedal pretty much overpower the tone of the bass so that you end up with a tone that's dominated by the drive pedal? And then the 'tone' or 'flavour' of the pedal becomes the key driver (excuse my pun) of tone / sound whilst the pedal is engaged?

I think it would, thats why i made the comment about having a Blend to bring some of it back.

[dave_bass5]

13 hours ago, Al Krow said:

But would you agree that if you played 3 different basses with 3 different dirt pedals, the dominant / overriding impact on the sound / bass tone would be which particular drive pedal & setting on that pedal you were using, and not which particular bass you were using?

I think (i do a lot of this) that each bass has its peaks and troughs in the tone spectrum. Same goes for pedals. In a band situation certain freq will also get lost as they clash with other instruments. The trick is finding the right combination in that environment, which isnt necessarily l the same as playing at home where every freq is audible.

Its a fun journey to get there though.

[dave_bass5]

Has anyone here used a Keeley Tone Workstation? Im borrowing one soon but was wondering if anyone has any opinions on it. Appreciate its a guitar pedal but i think we use a lot of guitar designed dirt pedals anyway so cant see that being an issue.

[ben4343]

EQD have just released the Plumes OD; apparently tubescreamer-esque with a few clipping options. Sounded pretty good on bass (kept low end well) on the Pedals And Effects show, and is relatively affordable at the £100 mark. I have wanted to try a Westwood for ages (a different beast I know, but I have a penchant for low gain), but this might be a low enough price to buy un-tested. Anyone got one on pre-order?

[Al Krow]

I've kinda got a thing for parallel clean with drive pedals to maintain low end. This version 2 of the legendary Damnation Audio MBD1 came out a few months back in a more compact enclosure with a few additional enhancements. Looks good! 

 

[Dudgeman]

I use everything with a clean blend...it opens up so many options...but recently I bought a Sheehan deluxe drive and if I was only allowed one pedal thats it. Parallel clean with great od to almost distortion...built in compressor...with a boost function (with internal dip switch for gain level) 2 loops one on the clean side and one on the dirty side allows you to add pedals..(i use an OC2 in the clean loop) changeable opamps and its phase reversible...  I mean thats some serious bang for your buck....oh and it sounds fantastic in a band setting as well...really cuts through...

[Bagman]

Free The Tone Bass Blaster is my favorite.

 

honourable mention: Wounded Paw Battering Ram V2.6

[Al Krow]

I've given the Pigtronix Octava a bit of a spin today and it's been a revelation! It's not specifically geared at bass but having a clean blend does make it very bass friendly.

All in all it's a pretty versatile pedal in a compact housing. My favourite setting so far is with the fuzz engaged and you can go from dirty break-up to full on meaty fuzz and with no discernible loss of low end. Also seems that prices have come down since I bought mine used a while back, and you can pick these up at guitar guitar new for £109.

Here's a short clip with clean --> fuzz + drive 10am --> fuzz + drive 2pm to give you an idea of what it sounds like.

Pigtronix Octava.WAV

Edited May 22, 2021 by Al Krow

[slave]

FTT Black Vehicle is my fave drive after 20 years of buying/selling drive pedals.  Haven't even looked for another drive pedal since I got it a couple years ago, as this works with all my basses and amps, rounds & flats. Love it.

 

[Al Krow]

13 minutes ago, slave said:

FTT Black Vehicle is my fave drive after 20 years of buying/selling drive pedals.  Haven't even looked for another drive pedal since I got it a couple years ago, as this works with all my basses and amps, rounds & flats. Love it.

Not come across that one, but defo sounds like it's worth checking out from your post! 

[Al Krow]

Mini fuzz shootout

First up is the Zvex Mastotron, which is particularly famous for its gated fuzz (square wave) which I've illustrated on the clip. It can definitely go smoother, but is a little more nasally/sccoped in sine wave mode than the Pigtronix Octava which is second up. Finally a clip from the unruly WMD Civilian, which is a bit of an untamed barbarian!

Fuzz shootout (Ma-Oc-WMD).WAV

[Quatschmacher]

42 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Mini fuzz shootout

First up is the Zvex Mastotron, which is particularly famous for its gated fuzz (square wave) which I've illustrated on the clip. It can definitely go smoother, but is a little more nasally/sccoped in sine wave mode than the Pigtronix Octava which is second up. Finally a clip from the unruly WMD Civilian, which is a bit of an untamed barbarian!

Fuzz shootout (Ma-Oc-WMD).WAV 9.5 MB · 0 downloads

And that order is my preference in descending order. 

[MacDaddy]

 

Flattley Bass Poison Ivy. Boutique pedal and price, but worth every penny.

https://flattleyguitarpedals.com/product/bass-poison-ivy-bass-fuzz/ 

Edited July 1, 2021 by MacDaddy
pic added

[krispn]

1 hour ago, MacDaddy said:

 

Flattley Bass Poison Ivy. Boutique pedal and price, but worth every penny.

https://flattleyguitarpedals.com/product/bass-poison-ivy-bass-fuzz/ 

Good to see he’s kept his toe in music since his Lord of the Dance days.

[ped]

I’m pretty convinced that clean blend doesn’t work (for me) with bass distortion/overdrive. I think a well designed bass centric pedal sounds better with the full signal rather than split, which can give a ‘angry fuzz in the background’ type feel. Just my experience - but my faves don’t have a blend and don’t lose any low end. 

[krispn]

I have experienced that with some pedals where the clean blend doesn’t feel like it’s been well executed so the clean and dirt sound has a sense of separation but not in a full range way. I just nabbed a Fender Trapper bass distortion (not to be confused with the Fender Trapper Fuzz) and it’s got a nice blend with x-over which sounds well integrated. 

[SumOne]

I've been through a few and still think the DHA VT1 EQ it hard to beat, especially as it has so much control to suit playing style/setup and the tones you want: 3 band EQ with sweepable mids, input, gain, boost and level controls and switches for boost, colour, bright. Downside being all that takes up a lot of space and I don't have enough pedal board space for it. I'm tempted to try and squeeze it into a smaller housing but I don't think I've got the skills to not wreck it. 

Nearest I've found is the Solid Gold FX Beta for the lower gain settings, it sounds different at high gain though. 

I guess it's a bit like saying what the 'best' pizza is though, it's mostly down to personal preference. 

[Al Krow]

3 hours ago, SumOne said:

I've been through a few and still think the DHA VT1 EQ it hard to beat, especially as it has so much control to suit playing style/setup and the tones you want: 3 band EQ with sweepable mids, input, gain, boost and level controls and switches for boost, colour, bright. Downside being all that takes up a lot of space and I don't have enough pedal board space for it. I'm tempted to try and squeeze it into a smaller housing but I don't think I've got the skills to not wreck it. 

Nearest I've found is the Solid Gold FX Beta for the lower gain settings, it sounds different at high gain though. 

I guess it's a bit like saying what the 'best' pizza is though, it's mostly down to personal preference. 

Rubbish. It's obviously a Mighty Meaty. I mean everyone knows that!

😁

[paul_5]

3 hours ago, SumOne said:

I've been through a few and still think the DHA VT1 EQ it hard to beat, especially as it has so much control to suit playing style/setup and the tones you want: 3 band EQ with sweepable mids, input, gain, boost and level controls and switches for boost, colour, bright. Downside being all that takes up a lot of space and I don't have enough pedal board space for it. I'm tempted to try and squeeze it into a smaller housing but I don't think I've got the skills to not wreck it. 

I’ve got one for sale….

my favourite thing about the DHA VT1 EQ Is that there’s a ‘sagginess*’ to how it responds - a lot like a tube amp does; this weighs significantly less though!!
 

*can’t think of another way to describe it, soz.

[SumOne]

8 minutes ago, paul_5 said:

I’ve got one for sale….

my favourite thing about the DHA VT1 EQ Is that there’s a ‘sagginess*’ to how it responds - a lot like a tube amp does; this weighs significantly less though!!
 

*can’t think of another way to describe it, soz.

I've got mine up for sale too because it's too big to fit on my pedal board and the Helix Stomp and Solid Gold Beta go a long way towards sounding like it.....I think I'll probably want it back one day though. If I could make it smaller and make the boost and colour switches as one footswitch it'd be perfect. 

Edited July 3, 2021 by SumOne

[Al Krow]

I think what you learned gents are both saying is that size matters! And it really does when it comes to taking up PB real estate because, as we all know, a large pedal potentially displaces two others that you might really like to have on your boards.

It was part of the reason that I hesitated about getting the Damnation Audio MBD1 a few years back despite the rave reviews it was getting over in the US. But also why I was always likely to buckle when its smaller footprint but souped-up successor the MBD2 came along, particularly if / when one came up for a good price used, which it just did...😊

[nekomatic]

2 hours ago, Al Krow said:

Rubbish. It's obviously a Mighty Meaty. I mean everyone knows that!

😁

Is that a pizza or a dirt pedal?