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If you could only choose one dirt pedal?


Al Krow

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@Quatschmacher hey buddy - I see you've just managed to land yourself a SA Aftershock. Congrats! Looks like a very versatile pedal and in terms of the dirt spectrum: warm valve-->overdrive-->distortion-->fuzz seems that it has got an awful lot of this covered with a simple flip of its toggle switch and it has a clean blend to boot!

Avoiding loss of low end should be readily achievable via its clean blend.

Then to top it all, in TC TonePrint fashion, it offers more than 40 additional overdrive, fuzz and distortion engines accessible via the Neuro Mobile App (a free download for iOS and Android devices)! If a few of these have a decent 'core' drive tone that is not too scooped / fizzy then this could be definitely be one for me to check out further.

Looking forward to a full / detailed review of from you when you've had a chance to put it through its paces.

 

Edited by Al Krow
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6 minutes ago, dannybuoy said:

Aftershock - some awesome heavy fuzz sounds (especially as a result of blending two modes in parallel) but all of the lighter overdrive sounds and the Darkglass clone models were mediocre in my book.

Cheers DB - that's really useful feedback, particularly in relation to the lighter overdrive sounds. But it seemed to me that there was the option of editing these via the mobile app? Still not possible to sculpt a decent warm valve / lighter overdrive i.e. the tone editing not on a par with the TC Toneprint in terms of flexibility?

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@Al Krow I don’t misunderstand you statement as praise for the DG microtubes engine, I am asking based on why it is better than the Tech21 dUg. Call it a turd race if you want, but why is the DG better than the dUg?

As per the questions asked earlier, even if you think both are rubbish and something you would never use, why is one more rubbish than the other?

so far as dUg saying it’s the best pedal in the world, it’s not arrogant, for him, it probably is as it’s nailed his sound (which plenty of people do want) in a pedal they can use with their existing amp instead of buying his amp. Surely this is a good thing no?

dUg is one of the least arrogant people out there, a true people person.

So come on then Bas, give a run down on DG microtubes Pedals in all their forms vs dUg Pedal and the dUg amp be the DG amp

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57 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Cheers DB - that's really useful feedback, particularly in relation to the lighter overdrive sounds. But it seemed to me that there was the option of editing these via the mobile app? Still not possible to sculpt a decent warm valve / lighter overdrive i.e. the tone editing not on a par with the TC Toneprint in terms of flexibility?

The editor is up there with TC in terms of what you can control... I just couldn't find a light drive sound in there that could top my analog overdrive pedals.

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1 hour ago, krispn said:

Scrap it 5 pages in and he’s switched gear. ?

Now, now, calm down. The point of this thread is share to thoughts / experience on overdrive pedals. Some of us enjoy learning about new things and having a banter.   Who buys (and sells) what along the way is entirely up to them isn't it? Although, for the record, thus far I've held onto (and using) all my drive pedals, which I know for a fact is less of a churn than you dear krsipn given I've bought one of yours off you and it is sitting happily on my mini board! :P

There is going to be no 'right' answer but there's some fun and knowledge sharing to be had along the journey. 

Otherwise we might as well just stick to playing a £100 second hand P bass through a basic 100W combo and keep to playing root notes in 4/4!

@CameronJ looking forward to trying out the Aftershock next time we meet up and remind me to return your Bitcrusher at the same time :) 

Edited by Al Krow
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3 hours ago, tandark said:

Seeing a lot of love on other forums for the TC spark booster as a mild overdrive. Are there any users out there on here?

I've tried the big one but wasn't sure of it at first when used to try and add a bit more gain to an already driven channel, but when used on a clean channel it adds a great low gain edge with some basic eq options thrown in. It sounded particularly good with the mid boost engaged to make a tone that would work well in the mix. But even at full gain it is still fairly a subtle overdrive, but I think it is more usable in a band situation than most other drive pedals because of that. 

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2 hours ago, Osiris said:

But even at full gain it is still fairly a subtle overdrive, but I think it is more usable in a band situation than most other drive pedals because of that. 

Isn't that a bit of sweeping generalisation? Surely it will depend on the band and the genre? Not all bassists are required to lurk modestly in the background (John-Paul Jones, Flea ed. as two obvious examples of non-lurkers). Indeed some of them are what makes the band (e.g. Geddy Lee).

Edited by Al Krow
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@Al Krow are you really suggesting JPJ and Flea lurk in the background?

its plainly obvious that those two, especially JPJ drive the songs and the energy of each song.

all or the sounds have to blend for it to be a good sound, look at Primus as an example, Les does some crazy stuff, but his guitarist also has crazy effects he uses to fold around the bass and it as much makes the song as the bassline.

i would argue it’s the same across a lot of genres in a lot of circumstances, and more than you would think.

a classic example of missing how a bass drives a song is listen to Evil by Cactus. Then listen to Black Stone Cherry’s cover of it on their recent album. They downtuned it and slowed it down and it lost all the energy, whereas all along the bass was subtly driving it, in the background and you may have missed it.

i agreed with you once earlier today, usual service resumes!

 

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4 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Isn't that a bit of sweeping generalisation? Surely it will depend on the band and the genre? Not all bassists are required to lurk modestly in the background (John-Paul Jones, Flea), indeed some of them are what makes the band (e.g. Geddy Lee).

Possibly, but getting a driven bass sound to work in a band context is an issue that a lot of people have. Many bass drive pedals can be mushy or fizzy, but by pushing the mids you get a more usable sound that works well with other instruments regardless of what they are. And for most guys seeking a driven sound there's usually going to be a driven/distorted guitar or 2 in there somewhere, a driven bass with a mid bump will usually compliment this especially if the guitar(s) are scooped. 

Flea and JPJ lurking in the background? Wow, I've clearly got the wrong end of that stick xD

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Haha guys! I was using them as examples of bassists who DON'T lurk in the background. The sentence construction begins with "Not all..." which is what the example in brackets is attaching to. But English is a wonderfully ambiguous language (agreed Pierre? :) ) Let me tighten up so that folk don't get the wrong end of my stick :D

Which therefore actually means @Cuzzie you and I are in total agreement - there's nothing in your post above that I would disagree with :drinks:

@Osiris please avoid either end of my stick, mate. "Many bass drive pedals can be mushy or fizzy, but by pushing the mids you get a more usable sound that works well with other instruments regardless of what they are." Amen to that! Since when have I ever been a fan of fizzy drives? 

WARNING: THE NEXT FEW POSTS WANDER AIMLESSLY INTO DARKGLASS TERRITORY...NORMAL SERVICE WILL RESUME SHORTLY :)

Edited by Al Krow
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Oh sweet hallelujah thanks goodness some sense prevails and it’s just your poor grip of diction and the English language that confused all of us normal people that don’t live in Laaaaarndon and speak proppa bruv innit....

yes your sentence structure began with not all but then you say lurk modestly in the background - name a bassist- and then say others drive the sound, name a bassist.

i would wager x4 the BBB that is what most people outside of Basland (at least 80%) would have read it as.

glad you edited it now, B- is your new grade

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29 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

 

@Osiris please avoid either end of my stick, mate. "Many bass drive pedals can be mushy or fizzy, but by pushing the mids you get a more usable sound that works well with other instruments regardless of what they are." Amen to that! Since when have I ever been a fan of fizzy drives? 

So the rumours about your stick are true then? I'm actively avoiding it at all costs xD

I seem to recall you being the Farage-like figure head of the anti DarkGlass campaign due to what you consider to be their fizzy drive sound, but yet you rise from the dead like Lazarus with your imminent purchase of the Microtubes 900 amp  :shok:

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@Osiris he did say though that he would categorically, unequivocally NEVER use it, nor even turn it on.

Bas is a man of principles and conviction, he never backtracks on ideals and statements.

i think we can give him the benefit of the doubt here.

There will not be a thread saying ‘DG was the sound 2 years ago, but not last year, but is again this year’ I promise you.....

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