So I stopped using distortion

MoD_Scotty · #1 11-15-2007, 02:20 AM

Hi, my name is Scott, and I've been distortion-free for two weeks.

I used to ONLY play with loads of distortion. I think I did it because it was the best way for my EDB-500 to really cut through the mix of two tube-driven halfstacks and a crackhead drummer. But ever since I got my LTD D-4, I've been really experimenting with my tone. Then about two weeks ago, I pushed the pedal on my ME-50B, and turned the distortion off. Amazingly enough, the D-4 cut through everything just as easily. I'm still tweaking the settings on the bass and on my Firebass...trying to get the most amount of growl with minimal clipping, and I think I've pretty much got it down. I'm actually EXTREMELY happy with my tone now. The last show I played (last weekend at The Jester in Fayetteville, NC), I could hear and feel every note I played, and it was beautiful!

Anyway, I just thought I'd share my story of how I got the distortion monkey off my back.

CincyBassMan · #2 11-15-2007, 08:07 AM

(in unision) Hello Scott...Glad to hear you have been off distortion for 2 wks!

I've been playing bass w/o distortion since I started playing bass ('74, yeah I'm old). When I first started, no pedals were available for bass (yeah, I'm really old). I didn't get into pedals untill Zoom came out w/the first multipedal for bass. I now have lots of pedals and have used different ones live...but not distortion. I have always tried to get a thump or fat kind of tone, but never thought a pedal would help me achieve decent tone. As is said here often, tone is in your hands...

I've often wondered why we bassists would want to distort our sound? I'm all for experimentation but IME the average joe can't tell/don't care. It always trips me out when reading Bass Player and it's all: Yeah, I used a ____ out of my ____ and thru a ____ for that that song...***?

Sorry for going off topic. IME, the gigs I do (Wedding Band & Blues Band), nobody knows or cares as long as the bass sounds good!

Good luck to you, it sounds like you have found your sound w/your new bass!! Enjoy!!

MoD_Scotty · #3 11-15-2007, 08:51 AM

There was a long time where I was in a 4-piece metal band, and every time the guitarist would solo, there needed to be something distorted there to fill in the gap. I think that's how it all started (even though I've been a fan of the distorted bass sound for as long as I remember).

In my current 6-piece band, if one guitar is soloing, we still have another guitar and a keyboard to keep the sound thick. So I think the main reason for my reliance upon distortion was the extra volume I was able to get without breaking up the sound (or farting). I'm pretty sure it's no coincidence that I also started using a BBE Sonic Stomp, right around the time I got my LTD.

But yeah, I agree, sometimes people just use WAY too many effects. It's totally a crutch.

bassman1185 · #4 11-16-2007, 08:53 AM

With my old band (Hardcore/metal) I used lots of distortion pretty much all the time. It worked nicely for that type of music and helped me blend with the guitarists and create a huge thick wall of tone, but now I'm with a new band that's a bit poppier (Although still pretty heavy) and I've gone almost entirely to just a touch of grit from the preamp of my Kustom Groove1200 (which, by the way, sounds AMAZING overdriven with the right bass), although I will still kick in a little more drive from my Big Muff or Bad Monkey on occasion.

SteveC · #5 11-16-2007, 10:30 AM

I was thinking the opposite. I haven't used pedals for a while. even when I did it was very judiciously. I play in a cover band that doesn't do a lot of "hard" stuff. We do Ben Folds Five once in a while so a Big Muff would be nice. I hate to buy/haul/use a pedal for one or two tunes though. I don't know how much I'd use it for "general" overdrive.

Right now I am bass --> amp --> cab. I like the ease and simplicity. But sometimes...

MoD_Scotty · #6 08-07-2009, 06:33 PM

Well, that didn't last long! Ever since I picked up a Sansamp RBI, I've dialed in a little distortion...and loved it! I'm also playing an active Jazz now, and I think the distortion goes really well with the sound of the Jazz. Oh well!