Best distortion overdrive and delay for fingerplaying

**garmenteros** · #1 02-16-2009, 07:17 PM

Like the thread says what is the most used distortion overdrive pedal for finger style players like myself?

I have a few pedals Ive tried, sansamps, and modded dan electros and they just dont sound good to my ears, the danos lost low end and colored my signal too much and the sansamps sounded digital and dont work well with other pedals any suggestions?

I havent had a chance to try delays.... so Im lost... any ideas would help.

I like pedals that color my signal chain the least possible when not on, the EHX is very transparent to me as well as the octabass which is why Ive kept them.

P.S. I use an EHX bass microsynth and an EBS octabass. Got myself a pedaltrain junior to wire this all up.

rcubed · #2 02-16-2009, 07:44 PM

Look for pedal with true bypass if you are that concerned. The MXR Carbon Copy is a great delay, is true bypass, analog and a great value.

I haven't tried out many ODs. I like the fuzz better. And pretty much never play with a pick.

lowbass68 · #3 02-16-2009, 08:03 PM

I like the Fulltone BassDrive and HBE Hematoma for fingerstyle. Both are great and can handle subtle to fullblown overdrive. Also both retain lows and enhance the mids. I also like the Boss ODB-3 for a more scooped sound.

Zappstorius · #4 02-16-2009, 08:10 PM

Depends...I use a Boss DD3 for delay, a MXR Bass Blowtorch for fuzz, and a Boss Metal Zone for full blown distortion. I've also used an Ibanez PD-7 for distortion.

I NEVER use a pick...mostly because I suck with it...

**garmenteros** · #5 02-16-2009, 08:22 PM

I love pick style playing for some rock but I dont like using picks myself. Much rather use finger style playing for everything including fast metal, punk and ska.

I will give these a try out, ive heard good things about the mxr carbon copy.

What would be the best order to put these in?

Bassenstien · #6 02-16-2009, 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by garmenteros

What would be the best order to put these in?

Its what sounds best to you but I prefer the dirt first in order from subtle to extreme (i.e. OD, dist, fuzz) then delay last.

AndyLES · #7 02-16-2009, 08:50 PM

Um....Sansamps are analog.

**garmenteros** · #8 02-16-2009, 08:53 PM

yeah I know sansamps are analogue but how do I put it, the distortions i got were like something out of my old bass pods. Think of them as emgish... its good for some ppl, doesnt float my boat.

mattq · #9 02-17-2009, 01:12 AM

that's all my board consists of. fulltone bassdrive->ehx bass big muff->carbon copy. there's a compressor and tuner too, but you get the point. i would highly recommend this little combo. they play nice with each other in all the best ways

warwick.hoy · #10 02-17-2009, 01:38 AM

Check out the Boss SD-2 Dual Overdrive

and the ToadWorks Redux Asynchronous Delay

Sorry for the Thread Spam but It is what I got and I like it a bit.

Projectile · #11 02-17-2009, 02:33 AM

I prefer tube screamer inspired overdrives like the fulltone bassdrive, or voodoo labs sparkle drive, but the big muff fuzz seems to be the most popular. I'd wager a bet that 90% of the time you hear bass distortion on a recording, it's probably a muff, a tube screamer derivative, or a sansamp. They are all really common and widely used.

As far as delay pedals go, the boss DD series are probably the most popular. It seems like every band I've ever seen play live has at least one somewhere in their setup, usually a DD-3 or DD-5. They are pretty much your standard workhorse digital delay. I've got one and LOVE it. Analog delays like the carbon copy and EH memory man are sexy and sound great, but they usually only do shorter delay times, they're less flexible, and they are considerably more expensive.

knarleybass · #12 02-17-2009, 02:43 AM

I have a Moollon bass overdrive, it's neato.

broadblik · #13 02-17-2009, 08:58 AM

EBS Multidrive?

Ian Perge · #14 02-17-2009, 09:26 AM

I've found my Xotic Bass BB Overdrive/Distortion to be immensely useful, as it can go from a clean boost pedal with the gain @ zero, mild "grindy" overdrive with minimal amounts of gain, to a pretty massive "SVT-in-a-Box" distortion, to a extreme "Type O Negative"-type "nothing-but-distortion". They're also built to take a real beating while also taking a very small footprint on your pedalboard. True Bypass of course, with no "pop" when engaged - very well-made

The only negative I'd say is the cost - it's a fairly pricey unit, but after spending far more in total on a number of cheaper, lesser overdrive/distortion pedals, I've found it's best (in most cases: there almost an outlier or two) to simply go for the quality effects... especially if it's an effect that I use frequently, as overdrive/distortion very much is.

MetroBass · #15 02-17-2009, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zappstorius

Depends...I use a Boss DD3 for delay, a MXR Bass Blowtorch for fuzz, and a Boss Metal Zone for full blown distortion.

I use the exact same pedal series and love the sound. The Blowtorch gets a lot of mixed reviews but like any effect "less can be more", but it can get downright dirty. I have a VT Bass on the way so we'll see what happends when that is added as well.

Doozer564 · #16 02-17-2009, 11:03 AM

i would recommend the way huge pork loin, it works really well as a low gain pedal and can get into the heavy distortion as well.

i also love the clean knob so you dont lose low end or punch.... paired with the curve knob and the three internal pots it very doubtful you cant get a sound you like with it.

plus you can try it out at GC

**garmenteros** · #17 02-22-2009, 04:20 PM

I'm going to look for the pork loin at GC just because I can try it, and give it a listen as im in the states this week... is it true bypass or does it color your signal much?

Ive had some pedals that are terrible to an amps regular tone but when used with the amp are great, happens with a lot of dan electro pedals Ive had and used.

sillyfabe · #18 05-25-2009, 06:45 AM

+1 on the Boss MT-2, not subtle and sounds great to me ith the EQ on board set right. I set it to full dirt with about 3'o clock on my bottom, 12 on the mids and 1ish on the highs. Only play fingerstyle and also sounds great with my Boss CEB-3 following it. Oh and FYI in the delay dept: have a Roland RE-20 Space Echo and it great to me, tape-echo is just well good stuff.

RUDEONTOUR · #19 01-01-2010, 09:30 PM

with my p-basses so far i have had some luck with a sansamp classic for thick distortion, a boss ge-7 for light overdrive going into my sansamp bassdriver, still looking for other tones, going to try a marshall guv 2 tommorow and a mxr metal fuzz( i believe that is he name) would love to hear some more opinions

theunknowndude · #20 01-02-2010, 05:42 PM

depends what sound you are going for,...

I like the Ibanez PD7 for my 'goto' pedal in overdrive mode... followed by using the turbo rat however the PD7 works best in my band situation...