Bass Overdrive / Distortion

[Charla]

I have a EHX Bass Blogger which doesn't like being on my pedal board, it makes a sound like an earth hum when I switch on the effect. I have a Tech 21 Double Drive which I have out on loan at the moment and just wanted some feedback about the suitability of using this for bass or should I buy something `bass dedicated'?

 

Cheers

Charla

[dannybuoy]

I couldn't find much out there from bassists using the Double Drive apart from one comment where they said it lacked low end, so you'd probably be better off elsewhere.

Bass overdrive is a total minefield though, biggest factors are budget and what kind of sound do you want, e.g. a soft clipping tube amp style overdrive, or a harsher high gain distortion, or a rich sustaining fuzz?

You don't necessarily need something bass dedicated as there are plenty of bargains out there that are great on both guitar and bass, for example - TC MojoMojo, Joyo American Sound, Joyo Orange Juice.

[Al Krow]

+1 for the TC Mojomojo as a great value bass dirt pedal, which doesn't lose low end. There's one in the FS section which has been on there for a little while and you may be able to get from Dan as a new year bargain...or you could pick one up new for < £50 

 

[Andytre]

The mojo mojo is a great pedal, got mine new for £35. my fav is still the joyo ultimate drive. I keep taking it off on favour in other more pricey drives but it always comes back into my signal chain!

[dannybuoy]

I found the Ultimate Drive quite lacking in bass for me... The American Sound has tons on tap though due to it's 3 band EQ that still has decent low end without having to boost the bass. It's pretty versatile too, just at home with a mellow Precision and flats or a  more aggressive Jazz with rounds. I think I got mine for £15 used! I've yet to try the Orange Juice though but will probably get one to try soon - might order the out-of-stock one on sold by Amazon for £38 delivered (normally £50 everywhere else) as they would have to honour that price when it came back in stock!

[Jo Bass]

+1 for American sound

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4AKnwHus7Y

[Al Krow]

Oooh that Joyo American is good! Not come across it before.

[T-Bay]

Not a fan of the mojomojo as an overdrive. I bought it after reading reviews saying it was good as a bass overdrive but it’s definitely more of a distortion pedal. I have found it impossible to dial a nice subtle overdriven sound. But fine if you want the more distorted sound.

[Al Krow]

@T-Bay I think that may depend on what set-up you have?

I was recommended the Mojomojo by @Osiris who really rates the pedal for exactly the sound you say you can't get on your set up i.e. a more subtle overdrive. Whereas, I must admit I do like to use mine with the drive turned up a fair bit! 

 

Edited January 16, 2018 by Al Krow

[T-Bay]

It was reading on here that it was so good that I went for it. It just isn’t transparent and always feels applied if you know what I mean. I run a spectracomp compressor in front of it, but set low and nothing else, then into a TE GP7. It just seems too aggressive to be an ideal overdrive for me. I have tried a few and not for ‘that’ sound yet. The joyo looks very good and is cheap enough to be worth a risk. Oddly I have found an aggressive sound with the mojomojo coupled with a chorus (yes I know it sounds weird) that I really like. Only problem is that I have nothing to do with it as it doesn’t fit with anything I need.

[Al Krow]

Nah chorus + dirt makes a lot of sense! So it sounds like you prefer to use the Mojomojo in a similar vein to me (i.e. more overdriven). Time to discover some AC/DC or a bit of Free - All Right Now?  

If you want transparent then I'd recommend the One Control HGBM. That's the cleanest overdrive I've come across and works just great with filters or octavers. And it's tiny.

Edited January 2, 2018 by Al Krow

[Bolo]

Great overdrive but loss of low end? Boss LS-2.

[Charla]

Thanks for the feedback. There's an EBS Multidrive for sale, think I might drop Old Horse Murphy a message, but I might wait until I get the Double Drive back and see how it sounds?

 

[Japhet]

I like the sound (and price) of the Mooer Hustle.

[Osiris]

23 hours ago, T-Bay said:

Not a fan of the mojomojo as an overdrive. I bought it after reading reviews saying it was good as a bass overdrive but it’s definitely more of a distortion pedal. I have found it impossible to dial a nice subtle overdriven sound. But fine if you want the more distorted sound.

Interesting you say that, as @Al Krow says my experience is very much the opposite. I think it does the low gain warmth/touch of hair/grit thing brilliantly and is especially good for more vintage style tones - I can get an almost early Geezer Butler style tone from mine - which is exactly what I was aiming for  What works for me is the gain below noon, the bass boost on but with the bass eq backed off a touch (around 11 o'clock ish) and the treble up to about 2 o'clock. That's using a passive P/J with fairly dead roundwounds. The inherent mid rich tone also helps stop things from getting muddy or tinny and adds that retro vibe to the sound. But the abundant mids also pretty much polarise it from the more familiar Tech 21 and Darkglass style drive sounds. No better or worse, just different. If that's what you're after then you'll need to look elsewhere as the Mojo won't give you that scooped sound. 

My experience isn't that it doesn't do distortion (at least what I'd call distortion) that well but it does a great fuzz tone if you rag the gain.

Just a thought, try it without the SpectraComp in front of it as that may possibly be boosting your signal going into the Mojo and giving you a higher gain sound. My bass has a pretty high output for a passive but I can still get almost clean sounds and control the amount of drive through right hand dynamics. And for the record, I'm a massive SpectraComp fan boy, it's my secret weapon when gigging  

[T-Bay]

2 hours ago, Osiris said:

Interesting you say that, as @Al Krow says my experience is very much the opposite. I think it does the low gain warmth/touch of hair/grit thing brilliantly and is especially good for more vintage style tones - I can get an almost early Geezer Butler style tone from mine - which is exactly what I was aiming for  What works for me is the gain below noon, the bass boost on but with the bass eq backed off a touch (around 11 o'clock ish) and the treble up to about 2 o'clock. That's using a passive P/J with fairly dead roundwounds. The inherent mid rich tone also helps stop things from getting muddy or tinny and adds that retro vibe to the sound. But the abundant mids also pretty much polarise it from the more familiar Tech 21 and Darkglass style drive sounds. No better or worse, just different. If that's what you're after then you'll need to look elsewhere as the Mojo won't give you that scooped sound. 

My experience isn't that it doesn't do distortion (at least what I'd call distortion) that well but it does a great fuzz tone if you rag the gain.

Just a thought, try it without the SpectraComp in front of it as that may possibly be boosting your signal going into the Mojo and giving you a higher gain sound. My bass has a pretty high output for a passive but I can still get almost clean sounds and control the amount of drive through right hand dynamics. And for the record, I'm a massive SpectraComp fan boy, it's my secret weapon when gigging  

I will compare that to how I have mine set and see if I can get similar results with your settings. I mainly use a Gibson Thunderbird with new rotosound rounds so they are fairly bright (but that compensates for the low end thump of the Gibson). It’s even worse with the Aria I have, just not nice.

Will try and report back.

[Osiris]

8 minutes ago, T-Bay said:

I will compare that to how I have mine set and see if I can get similar results with your settings. I mainly use a Gibson Thunderbird with new rotosound rounds so they are fairly bright (but that compensates for the low end thump of the Gibson). It’s even worse with the Aria I have, just not nice.

Will try and report back.

Let me know how you get on. 

[gs_triumph]

On 02/01/2018 at 21:23, Charla said:

Thanks for the feedback. There's an EBS Multidrive for sale, think I might drop Old Horse Murphy a message, but I might wait until I get the Double Drive back and see how it sounds?

 

Great drive pedal.  Very adaptable. 

Does everything from mild tube grit up to mild distortion. 

Not the best at anything but very good at everything it does. 

Edited January 3, 2018 by gs_triumph

[T-Bay]

On 03/01/2018 at 15:58, Osiris said:

Interesting you say that, as @Al Krow says my experience is very much the opposite. I think it does the low gain warmth/touch of hair/grit thing brilliantly and is especially good for more vintage style tones - I can get an almost early Geezer Butler style tone from mine - which is exactly what I was aiming for  What works for me is the gain below noon, the bass boost on but with the bass eq backed off a touch (around 11 o'clock ish) and the treble up to about 2 o'clock. That's using a passive P/J with fairly dead roundwounds. The inherent mid rich tone also helps stop things from getting muddy or tinny and adds that retro vibe to the sound. But the abundant mids also pretty much polarise it from the more familiar Tech 21 and Darkglass style drive sounds. No better or worse, just different. If that's what you're after then you'll need to look elsewhere as the Mojo won't give you that scooped sound. 

My experience isn't that it doesn't do distortion (at least what I'd call distortion) that well but it does a great fuzz tone if you rag the gain.

Just a thought, try it without the SpectraComp in front of it as that may possibly be boosting your signal going into the Mojo and giving you a higher gain sound. My bass has a pretty high output for a passive but I can still get almost clean sounds and control the amount of drive through right hand dynamics. And for the record, I'm a massive SpectraComp fan boy, it's my secret weapon when gigging  

I have had another play tonight and still no good, I tried the settings you suggest and it’s still very fuzzy. I don’t get it if I am honest as a lot of reviews back up what you are saying but I can’t dial in that sort of sound no matter how I set it. It’s frustrating me if I am honest. I haven’t got any way to upload a clip or I would so you could hear what results I am getting.

[mcnach]

On 1/2/2018 at 21:23, Charla said:

Thanks for the feedback. There's an EBS Multidrive for sale, think I might drop Old Horse Murphy a message, but I might wait until I get the Double Drive back and see how it sounds?

 

 

I'm a fan of the Multidrive. Very cool thick overdrive tones can be obtained with that one.

The Joyo Ultimate Overdrive was a pleasant surprise. It is quite versatile and covers quite a lot of ground. I didn't notice any low end loss. The one thing that puts me off is that on mine *sometimes* there's a little pop when engaging or disengaging. It could be just my pedal doing that...

 

 

[Osiris]

11 hours ago, T-Bay said:

I have had another play tonight and still no good, I tried the settings you suggest and it’s still very fuzzy. I don’t get it if I am honest as a lot of reviews back up what you are saying but I can’t dial in that sort of sound no matter how I set it. It’s frustrating me if I am honest. I haven’t got any way to upload a clip or I would so you could hear what results I am getting.

Did you try it without the compressor in front? Did that make any difference?

I've only played a couple of Thunderbirds over the years but I seem to recall them having hot pickups (correct me if I'm wrong), have you tried it with a bass with a lower output signal? 

Likewise your experience is very much at odds with my own. Could it be that maybe you have a duff pedal? If you bought it new recently, maybe try getting it exchanged? Or at least try getting your hands on another one to try. 

If you still have no joy it might be that the Mojo just isn't for you. 

[T-Bay]

8 hours ago, Osiris said:

Did you try it without the compressor in front? Did that make any difference?

I've only played a couple of Thunderbirds over the years but I seem to recall them having hot pickups (correct me if I'm wrong), have you tried it with a bass with a lower output signal? 

Likewise your experience is very much at odds with my own. Could it be that maybe you have a duff pedal? If you bought it new recently, maybe try getting it exchanged? Or at least try getting your hands on another one to try. 

If you still have no joy it might be that the Mojo just isn't for you. 

Yup tried it without the compressor and no difference to speak of, the pick ups are hot but I get similar results with my Aria in either passive or active mode. I had wondered about it being a duff one, just not really sure how to test it beyond having another side by side. It was new so should have been ok (but no guarantee). It seems to go from nothing to fuzz without that nice breakup you would expect from an overdrive inbetween.

[Osiris]

3 minutes ago, T-Bay said:

 It seems to go from nothing to fuzz without that nice breakup you would expect from an overdrive inbetween.

That definitely sounds like it's duff to me, mine has plenty of low gain drive sounds available with the drive from fully counter clockwise through to noon, or slightly higher if you play with a lighter touch. Mine doesn't fuzz out until the drive gets past 3 o'clock. 

[T-Bay]

Just now, Osiris said:

That definitely sounds like it's duff to me, mine has plenty of low gain drive sounds available with the drive from fully counter clockwise through to noon, or slightly higher if you play with a lighter touch. Mine doesn't fuzz out until the drive gets past 3 o'clock. 

Hmmm, mine is fuzzy from 9 o’clock so something not right there. I think it’s time for a call to the supplier and see what they say.

[Al Krow]

48 minutes ago, T-Bay said:

Hmmm, mine is fuzzy from 9 o’clock so something not right there. I think it’s time for a call to the supplier and see what they say.

Agreed, it does sound like you have a duff one - I'm with Osiris on this one. You're very welcome to borrow mine - PM me if you do and I'll post it across to you.