distortion pedal to fatten sound in trio

[nboyer941]

Hi, I play in a trio, and I'd like to have a pedal on my board for certain songs that I can click on during guitar solos when it is sounding empty.

Could someone recommend an overdrive pedal for this?

Or, I have a vt deluxe....maybe this would work? what setting?

[KsToaDangr]

As far as thickening up the sound for a trio, i'd suggest a chorus pedal and something like a big muff. overdrive or fuzz both help. it would also help to know what style of music you play.

[nboyer941]

its a variety dance band. So popular dance covers of all genres.

I have a masto tron fuzz that works good for certain things, but its too thick for what I'm looking to do. The chorus doesn't seem to do it either. Maybe a muff....

[Matt Dean]

You might consider a Xotic Bass BB Pre... it's a tube screamer variant that is transparent and produces very nice low gain overdrive to high gain distortion with excellent bass retention.

[ga_edwards]

Originally Posted by Matt Dean

You might consider a Xotic Bass BB Pre... it's a tube screamer variant that is transparent and produces very nice low gain overdrive to high gain distortion with excellent bass retention.

+1 on the TS tone. I'm using a TC Nova Drive, that has a TS inspired overdrive section, it also has a clean blend to help low end retention. I find it makes my sound more harmonically rich without being trebly, and gives a little more note definition whilst still sitting in the mix nicely.

[nboyer941]

thanks. The bb xotic pre is looking good.

[12bass]

Originally Posted by nboyer941

Hi, I play in a trio, and I'd like to have a pedal on my board for certain songs that I can click on during guitar solos when it is sounding empty.

Could someone recommend an overdrive pedal for this?

Or, I have a vt deluxe....maybe this would work? what setting?

A VT preset may do what you want. Maybe add a touch more drive to make it a bit more aggressive, making sure that the bottom end is still there. A slight mid boost might be a good idea. One of those "have to experiment" kind of things....

[Mark Olson]

Personally I'd say you need something that will widen your sound. If you're already using the VT as an always on pedal, I don't think just a separate setting on it would quite get you the extra thickness that you'll need for this application. The BB is a very good pedal, but I think you could find something even more massive sounding. Adding something like the MXR Bass Octave Deluxe is a good option with the mid boost engaged, you can really fill up some space without getting in the soloist's way, if you wouldn't mind considering that. But as far as dirt goes I'd actually recommend a really massive sounding fuzz. Fuzzes get more massive sounding than overdrives, but the problem with them is cutting through a mix. That's not as much of an issue if you're in a three piece which your post seems to imply. A good old Fuzz Face with a .1 input cap I bet would do wonders for you.

[jongor]

Get whatever Chris Woods uses....great space-filling tone, just down-right nasty/gritty/goodness!

[octaverazor]

get an octave. i recommend the boss oc-2.

[Kromwarp]

Akai Unibass

[groovaholic]

I usually go with a combination of distortion/fuzz/overdrive and octave.

The added overtones from the distortion will make the bass sound more "guitar-like" and fill in the middle a lot better.

The octave will add back the fatness, and allow you to play in the middle of the neck.

[OtterOnBass]

I've found playing harder and adding some extra melody to the regular riff works well to fill the space.

[Matt Dean]

Plus one on Mark's comments... Check out clips of the Wren and Cuff Tri Pie 70. That's a massive sounding fuzz.

[nboyer941]

I've tried an octave pedal and I had trouble finding a use for it. Maybe I had it set too extreme. Ahhh, I'm running out of real estate on my board if I get an octave.