Blend pedal question

[jcburn]

Hi all - I have been doing the rounds lately of bass distortions with a clean blend (MXR M80, BOSS ODB3 etc) and while they are fine for retaining low end they dont quite do what I want, so I am posing this question...

Does a seperate pedal exist where your clean/dry signal gets routed straight through, but also within this unit would be something like an effects loop that can be blended back via the output of that pedal. I think I am making sense.

What I find with these pedal that have a clean blend is the OD or distortion seems to apply to the whole signal, then you can EQ ther low end back in but essentially the whole signal is still overdriven or distorted. What I am trying to achieve is have my clean signal (and therefore tone) to be present, and would like to just add the OD or distortion via a seperate blend. Even more perfect would be if you could have some control over what frequency gets distorted - if this is possible I would love to know more.

I did try and search but my searches didn't really return the results I was after and I know what I'm after is possible.

For a tonal reference please feel free to Youtube anything off The Real thing by Faith No More. Its a much talked about tone. To record the album I think Billy used a blended clean signal and distorted signal using an old Tubescreamer. Easy enough in the studio, but I am looking to do this with one rig and a combo of whatever pedals.
Phew - thanks for any help!

[bongomania]

It's called a "blender". There are several of them--so try that word to find the threads about them.

[Bob C]

All these are blenders or mixers:

Boss LS-2
Badger Schism
Xotic X-blender
Wounded Paw Blender
Wounded Paw Super Blender.

There are others too. The fuzz pedals that have a blend control should do what you are after too, but each one has its own style, I suppose.

There are also a few pedals which feature a crossover, so that you only have effects on the top half (or whatever) of your signal.

[LongHairFreak]

I keep thinking on picking up one of these.
[sfx]:Crossover and Mix
It might be just what you're looking for.

[jcburn]

Thats great info guys. I wasn't even aware they were called a "blender", so now I can use that in my search.
Thankyou.

[boogie8008]

You might want to look at the source audio Multiwave bass distortion pro. It's an overdrive that allows you to adjust the OD levels
By frequency. You can boost or cut the OD level on a ten band EQ which I think would get you what you want.

[jcburn]

Originally Posted by boogie8008

You might want to look at the source audio Multiwave bass distortion pro. It's an overdrive that allows you to adjust the OD levels
By frequency. You can boost or cut the OD level on a ten band EQ which I think would get you what you want.

Cool - I think I sort of knew this but had forgotten. I'm pretty sure the Ashdown drive does this too but gets complaints about noise. Any confirmations there?

[Lowbrow]

I have been using the Boss LS-2 to great effect; by far the cheapest of the choices, and flexible in that you have separate level controls for clean and effect signals, giving you more than simply a blend, it gives you a 'mix.' Also does a bunch of other utility signal routing chores.

I use it to mix a BB Bass Preamp OD signal with my clean signal. Really helps maintain clarity by giving pin-point effect/clean mix control.

[jcburn]

Originally Posted by Lowbrow

I have been using the Boss LS-2 to great effect; by far the cheapest of the choices, and flexible in that you have separate level controls for clean and effect signals, giving you more than simply a blend, it gives you a 'mix.' Also does a bunch of other utility signal routing chores.

I use it to mix a BB Bass Preamp OD signal with my clean signal. Really helps maintain clarity by giving pin-point effect/clean mix control.

This is pretty much my point. The way I envisage what I am getting at is that while I acknowledge many OD and distortion pedal have their own blend I feel that an independant mix of both wet and dry signals is what I'm after. I could be wrong here I admit, just my opinion.

Also to back up my point is the fact that the actual OD pedal I'm using is aimed at primarily being a guitar OD, with no blend, and the OD tone I'm after ends up lacking any bottom end. I figure I'll set the pedal to the OD that I want and run it through something like the BOSS line selector, then mix clean and OD signals to taste, which should give me the OD I want but also the bottom end from my standard signal.

Thanks everyone for their help.

[Bassmike62]

Originally Posted by Lowbrow

I have been using the Boss LS-2 to great effect;

+1

Used with fuzz and filters and works well with those also.

[sunbeast]

Originally Posted by LongHairFreak

I keep thinking on picking up one of these.
[sfx]:Crossover and Mix
It might be just what you're looking for.

These look really cool and I have also considered buying one many times! I can recommend the Wounded Paw Blender- it also has an EQ on the clean tone so that you can adjust the sound of your clean signal to blend more smoothly with the overdrive (if you want more bass under the distortion, just add a liberal amount of bass to the clean tone). I had two Barge Blenders previously that were useable, but couldn't add gain to either channel, so it was sometimes hard to get the right blend for me...All that said, I've found better "tonal magic" with pedals that sound really good without any clean blended in (ie-Tronographic Rusty Box, Barber LTD SR) or pedals with an incorporated blend (Wren and Cuff fuzzes, Iron Ether Oxide).

[Lowbrow]

Originally Posted by sunbeast

... I had two Barge Blenders previously that were useable, but couldn't add gain to either channel, so it was sometimes hard to get the right blend for me...

Another nice thing about the LS-2 - 'unity' signal when A or B knob is set to noon, clean boost from noon clockwise.

[M Sterling]

http://ironether.com/pedals/qf2/

[Venom of God]

I use an Xotic X-Blender on my pedal board, just to keep some original signal going through to help retain the tone of my bass as it goes through all my pedals. Works great.

Bass > compressor > blender send > octave > SansAmp > fuzz > chorus > blender return > booster > tuner> amp.

[Kalik]

I'm using a Morley FX Blender for blending my clean signal with ODs/fuzzes. Works great and you have the precision and versatility of a rocking pedal.