Bass overdrive advice!!!

jacobrownoly · #1 09-19-2009, 11:10 AM

Hi, I looking for some help and advice about bass overdrive pedals

I own a big muff pi (the big green one) and its not a bad pedal but I just cant get a great a sound out of it

I play in metal and bands and I am looking for a good all round distortion box.

I want a sound that can range to high gain distortion (for solos and stuff, ie: Orion, Becoming the dragon) to a sound where I just want to dirty up my dry signal so that theres a little bit of grit in my tone.

The pedals that I had looked at where the Boss ODB-3 and the Digitech bass overdrive, can anyone shed any light on these, and if they would fill my requirements.

Hope this is not too confusing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7rZWOvG7jA

This video of the Boss ODB-3 sounds fantastic!!

jetofuj · #2 09-19-2009, 11:23 AM

I'd suggest Xotic Bass BB Preamp.

RCCollins · #3 09-19-2009, 11:33 AM

tell ya what, i'll trade you my hematoma Bass OD (a great dark-sounding OD with endless lows and lots of gain - GREAT for metal) for your big green muff. sound good? i'm not joking!

superhand · #4 09-19-2009, 11:36 AM

I use a ProCo Turbo Rat. It's not specifically for bass but it sounds great. It gives you a real good range of distortion, from just a little bit of dirt all the way up to screaming distortion with sustain that lasts for days.

The regular Rat would probably be good to, but the Turbo gives you higher output.

It also glows in the dark, I may be a dork, but I think that is also a cool feature.

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/p...dal?sku=151502

ricknote · #5 09-19-2009, 11:43 AM

Right here.
www.swellpedals.com

Killer tube amp sound from mild dirt to flame thrower.
I've had the B-TOD overdrive for 6 months now and still
loving it.

RT

Higgins666 · #6 09-19-2009, 11:46 AM

I'd like to suggest the Ashdown James LoMenzo Hyperdrive, I use one in a hard rock band, with alot of metal & industrial elements, & it cuts through like a warm knife through butter

protoz · #7 09-19-2009, 11:55 AM

I'll sell you my ODB-3 if I can find it. It really sounded too digital for my liking.

Have you tried rolling the tone all the way off on your Big Muff and cranking the sustain? That's how I run my Russian Big Muff Pi.

mcnach · #8 09-19-2009, 12:08 PM

The Boss ODB3 doesn't do subtle. I had one and sold it. I like teh sound of the youtube clip too, but add some guitars and the bass will disappear, not great in a band.
I had the Digitech Bass Driver, in my opinion a better pedal. You can still get extreme distortion lik teh Boss, but it sounds better somehow. It can also so some mild overdrive.

For mild overdrive with just a bit of dirt, I'd look at the Danelectro Cool Cat Transparent Overdrive. Very cheap but very nice. For heavier stuff, I liked the Digutech but sold it, and kept an Ibanez PD7 and an MXR M80. Try the PD7, for metal it's quite good. I used it a lot in teh clean position, with the attack switch on. This keeps it relatively clean, but witha lot of harmonic overtones, metallic, dirty... so it sounds quite distorted but it still has definition... Try one of you can.

totallybacan · #9 09-19-2009, 12:14 PM

As mentioned above, I get some great results with the EH BBM if I run the tone slightly down and boost the sustain. you can also use the switch on dry and then turn the tone more clockwise and further increase sustain as well as volume, as this way you will get some more definition in both the lows and highs.

LarryO · #10 09-19-2009, 12:15 PM

The boss ODB3 will do subtle but only if you use the blend knob, The problem is if you want to go from subtle to high gain you don't want to stop playing to adjust a knob. That's where 2 pedals come in handy. You can use one for the overdrive tone and activate the second pedal for higher gain. It can take a lot of tweeking to get the levels just right but I do this with a Boss ODB3 and a EH nano muff.

Unrepresented · #11 09-19-2009, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RCCollins

tell ya what, i'll trade you my hematoma Bass OD (a great dark-sounding OD with endless lows and lots of gain - GREAT for metal) for your big green muff. sound good? i'm not joking!

How many times are you going to get rid of Hematomas just to buy another one later?

RickenBoogie · #12 09-19-2009, 04:54 PM

I'm using these- EBS Valve Drive, Fulltone BassDrive Mosfet, and OCD. All are in the same basic league, tone-wise, and all are mild to moderate, gain-wise. But, the Valve Drive has the most bottom, and smoothest o/d.

RCCollins · #13 09-19-2009, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unrepresented

How many times are you going to get rid of Hematomas just to buy another one later?

this is the last time, the mid-hump is just too much to use with my mid-heavy amp, and i dont want an OD/boost that requires me to change my amp settings when I kick it in. It's a great pedal, maybe the ultimate doom OD but all its gain is wasted on me