how much of a distorted bass player are you.

[tribus]

I find distortion effect a major part of my bass sound, by no means I consider myself a wanna be guitar player, just love the dynamics between tones etc. specially for bass instrumental compositions. how much of this distorted behavior influence your bass playing.

[url="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/carlossoto"]http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/carlossoto[/url]

[Mr. Foxen]

Been a bit of a battle between grindy drive and retaining bottom end for me. Think I'm nearly there, but need to play everything proper loud again to see if it all does what I expect.

[dudewheresmybass]

it depends on the situation really.
with more driving material, the drive is always on. howevr when doing more 'souly' material most likely not.

horses for courses!

[Golchen]

I still consider myself as a newb bassist as I don't play live or with anyone, but I honestly never even considered that there was a need for distortion with a bass!?!?

[Low End Bee]

I love it.

A Sansamp in SVT'ish mode for recording and a Bad Monkey pedal for live.

Obviously it's got to fit in with the song. I don't have it on for everything.

[cheddatom]

I use distortion for 90% of the time, but for 80% of that it's probably fairly subtle. I just get bored with a clean tone all the time. It doesn't bite!

[Finbar]

amp distortion

[51m0n]

This is a funny one for me.

I categorically do not like playing with a distortion or even an overdrive.

However my Roscoe fully on the bridge pup when I dig in a bit really snarls and barks, and all neck does too, its all a lovely sound but it has its similarities to an overdrive I guess.

I played it through a Alex' Shuttle 6.0 into his Vintage yesterday and that accentuated this to the point of making one hell of a rock sound, it was great, but a bit much for me in my more funky space.

Tried the Big One again too, and that is so much wider that it tamed the effect back to something more my style, but its definitely there, I'm not imagining it.

I should point out that nothing is overdriving, the preamp batteries are fresh and no gain lights were flashing, and me digging in is like most people (Ped excluded) holding back. It just the sound of this bass, it can be super aggressive in the right circumstances, and I love it

[guybrush threepwood]

A little bit of grind in the right places... That sounds a bit wrong

[RussFM]

If I'm distorting then my amp is broken. Not to say I don't like distortion on bass, I really do, just that my band's sound doesn't call for it. In a rock/metal band a touch of distortion adds a really nice sound!

[spacecowboy]

I can't do distortion, i have tried, but i love the unflavoured bass tone too much and don't like to dirty it, i do however get a fantastic bite from my Streamer Stage II and Markbass though when i dig in and thats usually enough for me!

I'd rather let the guitars in my band do the shouting.

[EssentialTension]

No distortion here.

[ahpook]

i love distorted bass

if you look at all the effects i've owned in the last 20 or so years, the vast majority have been overdrives or distortions.

my current faves are a wounded paw battering ram or a owen bass gremlin.

Edited November 2, 2009 by ahpook

[umph]

it depends on the feeling in a heavy bit i'll wack on a bit of fuzz in a cleaner more spacey bit i'll stay clean.

[burno70]

[quote]I use distortion for 90% of the time, but for 80% of that it's probably fairly subtle[/quote]

That pretty much sums up my approach too.

[cLepto-bass]

I used to run my Sandberg PM through an Electro-Harmonix LPB2ube and it was awesome for just the 'right' amount of grit, I absolutely loved it. If you ever want the sort of sound that Bob Weston from Shellac gets without the desire to lug a valve head around then I would seriously consider this. In addition, it made for a great sounding overdrive for guitar too, again just the breaking up sound that only tubes can give you.

Unforunately, after all that I decided to sell the thing and have regreted it ever since, I need another one.

[simon1964]

90% of the time I use a clean sound. But we do a couple of covers where some distortion sounds good. The best I've come across is the Ashdown Lomenzo Hyperdrive which seems to give a nice grindy distortion without losing bottom end.

For a more subtle tube like overdrive, you can't beat the Microsbass II. I tend to have one in front of the amp most of the time.

[Linus27]

None at all, super clean and smooth for me I'm afraid and that from playing guitar punk pop, loud folk and stadium rock type bands. Always prefer to let the natural sound of the bass come through.

[mildmanofrock]

Overdrive now and again, I say.

That bloke out of Muse has a lot to answer for.

[ahpook]

[quote name='mildmanofrock' post='644367' date='Nov 3 2009, 01:35 PM']That bloke out of Muse has a lot to answer for.[/quote]

some of us started on distorted bass way earlier than muse

my bloody valentine sold me on it !

[deej]

I have a low gain on most of the time just to add a bit of bite to my sound. When I do decide to use a distortion, then I like it to be full on and nasty sounding.

[cLepto-bass]

Has anyone used the EBS Multidrive?

I was just wondering if anyone had any reviews about this pedal.

[EskimoBassist]

[quote name='uzzell' post='645027' date='Nov 4 2009, 10:01 AM']Has anyone used the EBS Multidrive?

I was just wondering if anyone had any reviews about this pedal.[/quote]

I found it to be a fantastic pedal, really versatile and with lots of great sounds.

Check out the [url="http://www.bass.se/"]EBS website[/url] for lots of cool sound clips.

EDIT: Here's a nice review of all the Black Label pedals, including the MultiDrive, from Bass Guitar Magazine in 2004:

[url="http://www.bass.se/2009/reviews/blp/blp_BassGuitar2004.pdf"]http://www.bass.se/2009/reviews/blp/blp_BassGuitar2004.pdf[/url]

I hope that's of some use.

Edited November 4, 2009 by EskimoBassist

[tjkennelly]

I used to always use distortion on my bass with my last band but when it came to recording, the bass sounded more like a fart cannon than anything else. With my new band, even though we're metal, I'm keeping my tone clean. I do like distortion but I'm going to wait a while until I can try a good bass through a good pedal and see how I feel about it

[WalMan]

[quote name='Golchen' post='643145' date='Nov 2 2009, 09:21 AM']I still consider myself as a newb bassist as I don't play live or with anyone, but I honestly never even considered that there was a need for distortion with a bass!?!?[/quote]
Out and out distortion probably not, but a little bit of grit for rocky stuff is what I am chasing with the option for a bit of extra boost on occasion. Aiming at the gritty sound Dave Meros gets with Spocks Beard and the rocky bass sound on the new Neal Morse triple live CD that has been getting a blasting in the car in recent days.

Sort of have it with the BOD and the SVT Grit patch that Ped wrote and posted on the Line6 sharing section, but am looking to cut down the gear I am lugging and picked up a Blackstar HT Dual this afternoon (the DHA Dual EQ I borrowed from Johnnylager last week worked really well as well, but this afternoon was a mix of equal helpings of retail therapy, a good price and a pretty good version of what I am after when I tried it out). We shall see how it pans out.