Bass Overdrive / Distortion

[T-Bay]

11 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

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.

Thanks for the offer, it’s very kind. I have sent an email and will see what comeback I get. Will also do a bit of research later tonight and see if anyone else has had similar issues.

[T-Bay]

I forgot to update this, I took the pedal to where I got it from and we tested it back to back with another and it was no different but very different to how it sounded for me (still not what I want though), there must be something about my setup that just doesn’t work with the mojomojo pedal so I will look to move that on. I then spotted a Soul food for sale on here. I had one a while back but let it go looking for that ‘perfect tone’, it’s a great mild overdrive and whilst not perfect it is very good. Within a minute I had dialled in a nice natural valve break up sort of tone. The search for perfect continues but I have got somewhere I am happy with for now.

[Al Krow]

Hmmm, that is interesting in terms of your set up.

Looks like there is going to be a 'run' on Mojomojos then as I've just listed mine too  ...With the best will in the world it wasn't ever going to come out on top in a head to head with £300+ of VMT / B3K over-drive on my M900 amp.

The BSF is also much liked @krispn is a big fan, although I still prefer the One Control HGBM he sold me over the BSF, so I think we both ended up with the right pedals respectively!

[krispn]

If I played more tunes with a pick it would probably open up mu options a bit but i'd say 98% of my set is finger style. It just so happens a wealth of new tunes for one of my gigs (I've three set lists to learn over the coming few months) will give me a chance to play a bit more with a pick...and some drive! Origin effects drive on the horizon!

[Al Krow]

PS my search for perfect dirt continues too. Looking forward to krsipn's Origin drive pedal unveiling at NAMM in just over 10 days time...

And I totally agree pick + dirt = inseparable combination 

Edited January 16, 2018 by Al Krow

[T-Bay]

I only play fingerstyle, I must admit I don’t like really fuzzy sounds on bass, probably why I am struggling to find the perfect overdrive!

[Bolo]

The Verellen meat smoke preamp pedal is my dirt Walhalla. Also a swift kick in the kids' college fund.

[Al Krow]

13 minutes ago, T-Bay said:

I only play fingerstyle, I must admit I don’t like really fuzzy sounds on bass, probably why I am struggling to find the perfect overdrive!

I only played fingerstyle, too, until about 6 months ago. Then I started to get into dirt pedals...  

[Al Krow]

Just now, Bolo said:

The Verellen meat smoke preamp pedal is my dirt Walhalla. Also a swift kick in the kids' college fund.

Take your point about needing to sell the wife to get one of these! Any clips with you playing this live that you could share?

[dannybuoy]

10 hours ago, T-Bay said:

I only play fingerstyle, I must admit I don’t like really fuzzy sounds on bass, probably why I am struggling to find the perfect overdrive!

I suppose if your playing a T-Bird, those pickups are really fat with the emphasis on the lows, so you would want something that really brought out the upper mid growl without sounding fizzy? I like the VT Bass or Agro the most with my T-Bird, both pedals can be dialled back to a reasonably flat clean sound so can be as subtle as you like. What have you tried so far?

[T-Bay]

Just now, dannybuoy said:

I suppose if your playing a T-Bird, those pickups are really fat with the emphasis on the lows, so you would want something that really brought out the upper mid growl without sounding fizzy? I like the VT Bass or Agro the most with my T-Bird, both pedals can be dialled back to a reasonably flat clean sound so can be as subtle as you like. What have you tried so far?

Yup exactly that, so far I have tried a couple of cheap pedals I got from mates plus an awful boss heavy metal (?) pedal, then a big bass muff, mojomojo, soul food, boss bass driver (pretty good), hot wax, everything on my B3 and a good few at PMT in Brum as well!

[Al Krow]

 

16 hours ago, T-Bay said:

Yup exactly that, so far I have tried a couple of cheap pedals I got from mates plus an awful boss heavy metal (?) pedal, then a big bass muff, mojomojo, soul food, boss bass driver (pretty good), hot wax, everything on my B3 and a good few at PMT in Brum as well!

One Control HGBM

See if you can try out the One Control HGBM with your T-Bird? The one criticism (not mine btw!) that folk seem to have of the HGBM is a possible loss of low end, however there's actually a side dial accessed with a small Phillips screwdriver that increases the lows which I think some folk might not necessarily have come across. Besides, that should not be an issue for you with the T-Bird.

The HGBM is both transparent and on the 'dirt spectrum': warm-valve-->overdrive-->distortion-->fuzz goes from warm valve to mild overdrive. I'd actually like it to be able to do even 'dirtier' but from what you've said, it could be perfect for you?  For me the Mojomojo was great in not lot losing low end but it came with a trade off not being particularly present at the treble end. The HGBM is significantly better at the upper mid / treble range than the Mojomojo, but doesn't have the very high end fizziness that you will get in abundance on a Zoom B3n with most of its dirt sims (and I assume also its sister pedals) or on DG pedals or the Two Notes le Bass.

Another solution would be a B3K or Two Notes le Bass with a LPF. I had the pleasant surprise of very recently discovering that the "Tone" control on my DG M900 Microtubes engine is in fact a variable LPF, which means that the B3K on my M900 is starting to be used a lot more by me (and why my TC Mojomojo has just been moved on).

EDIT: caught up with @krispn after posting the above and both of us agree we're not sure where the concern about the HGBM losing low end is coming from. Certainly both our experience, each having lived with this pedal for several months, is that is not the case.

Edited January 18, 2018 by Al Krow

[dannybuoy]

The latest B3K version has the tone control added btw. But the best LPF is the free one you get from not having tweeters!

I'd probably say the HGBM was too warm and muffled if you were trying to make the T-Bird sound brighter and bring out the string clank and overtones (which is what the VT, Agro and B3K are great for).

Tell you what, I'll do a few clips with my Epi Classic Pro T-Bird for you before I put it up for sale!

Edited January 17, 2018 by dannybuoy

[Al Krow]

1 hour ago, dannybuoy said:

The latest B3K version has the tone control added btw. But the best LPF is the free one you get from not having tweeters!

Yup - agree with that, in fact I'm just heading down to the 'bass cave' to adjust the cross over point on my VK cab to reduce the tweeter hiss, a touch, and that combined with the LPF on the M900 should hopefully address 90% of the B3K fizz making it a very usable dirt for all the reasons you've just mentioned above.

(Btw I've also started playing EUB and for that tweeters are a must, so I'm glad it's not an all or nothing option on my cab!)

Edited January 17, 2018 by Al Krow

[T-Bay]

Just got back from a three hour rehearsal and the Soul food is suiting me very nicely. Enough to make its self known but not so much that it’s distracting me.

[krispn]

I’ve had a similar experience with mine. It works for my needs. 

[Rubbersoul]

Have a look at the Dr J series of bass pedals from Joyo. I got the Sparrow DI and think it's excellent. Nice gritty overdrive with the added advantage of a DI pedal. No loss of low end.

http://www.joyoaudio.co.uk/DR.J-Guitar-Effect-Pedals 

If you want fuzz or really heavy distortion, try the Little Bear which is a Woolly Mammoth clone. Fantastic, built like a tank and cheap as chips.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Little-bear-BS1-Wool-pinch-Bass-fuzz-guitar-pedal-Stomp-Box-effects/401469585187?hash=item5d7973b723:g:94oAAOxyrrpTffxM 

[Andytre]

i have a Dr J Sparrow on my board as my backup amp, great bit of kit and really well built, only cost me £25

[ProjeKtWEREWOLF]

I just ordered a Little Bear Mammoth Wooly fuzz. Hopefully will play nice with my other pedals. 

[The59Sound]

That Joyo American Sound looks really good. Is there any bass loss? I always feel there is a tiny bit of loss on some of the cheaper pedals out there. I'm always on the look out for a pedal to give me some of that valve crunch and the AS looks great value. 

[dannybuoy]

I don't feel like there is. I wouldn't be surprised if measuring it might reveal a rolloff in the real low sub bass region, but it has plenty of lows to rattle windows without even boosting the bass knob.

[The59Sound]

I guess I'm lucky my Bearfoot BBBOD is so awesome already and has zero bass loss! 

[Japhet]

Just picked up a Mooer Hustle on ebay for £23. First impressions are rather good. It's an OCD clone for anyone interested and has a High/Low Pass Filter toggle switch. Looking forward to giving it a proper run out. Here's a Youtube clip;

 

[Al Krow]

2 hours ago, Japhet said:

Just picked up a Mooer Hustle on ebay for £23. First impressions are rather good. It's an OCD clone for anyone interested and has a High/Low Pass Filter toggle switch...

Nice (particularly for the price). Do you not what the shelf frequencies are for the High and Low pass are and how much of dB cut it provides with these?

[ProjeKtWEREWOLF]

Ooh. My missus has an OCD  clone somewhere. I will have to give it a whirl. Nice demo by the way.