Do I...or Do I Not Need a Distortion Pedal??

[ugly_bassplayer]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

Some people do feel that way, and that's a legit POV. Me, I feel that they're just not getting good sounds with their dirt pedals Takes some experimenting to really dial in a good heavy dirt tone for live work. Getting a tone you can hear as well as feel gets a little tricky when you're using more than a mild breakup, and different rooms can mess with you. My first attempts at it were just awful.

Yep I agree, getting a good dirt tone is not that easy. But now I can't live without it. I a little dirt can do the job in any setting, PERIOD.

[lokikallas]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

Some people do feel that way, and that's a legit POV. Me, I feel that they're just not getting good sounds with their dirt pedals Takes some experimenting to really dial in a good heavy dirt tone for live work. Getting a tone you can hear as well as feel gets a little tricky when you're using more than a mild breakup, and different rooms can mess with you. My first attempts at it were just awful.

I agree it's a fine line between grit and noise, but as somewhat of an expert in Metal (lol) new and old of various levels of brutality, I would say the vast majority of Metal bassists run rather clean. The exception tends to be the psych/stoner metal bands who OD it up a bit. Otherwise I hear it just as an occasional effect the same frequency as in other genres. I do hear the Sansamp bass driver overused a bit these days (Lamb of God I'm looking at you), but it seems like the heavier the band is the cleaner the bass tone. As far as on all the time distortion- I can count on one hand the bands in my sizable metal collection that do. MMV/IMHO/IME etc...

[JimmyM]

Well in 50's/60's rock, R&B and doo wop, we...



Certainly a lot of really heavy bassists run clean. I still think it's a good idea to have at least some moderate overdrive available. You can always shut it off if you don't need it. But I'm down with anyone's personal choice. If they think they present themselves better playing clean, then by all means.

[Gearhead17]

Chevelle's bass tone is pretty heavy on the distortion and SOAD has a decent amount of overdrive. If you combine your original bass tone with a distortion tone, it will make your bass stand out and serve the music you are playing REALLY WELL. More body, more attack, more attitude and more!

I suggest getting any distortion pedal you like and a blend pedal of some sort. The Boss LS-2 is a cheap alternative and from what I hear, works great. I currently use the Xotic Effects X-Blender in tandem with the Tech 21 VT bass. Slight/Heavy overdrive or a decent amount of distortion - I can get all of it while still retaining my clean signal. No loss of low end with this setup.

The cheapest way to go - Ibanez Bass Tube Screamer. It has a built in blend knob - you can set it so your low end and original tone does not disappear. I have used it before and it worked great. The tone of the pedal was not to my liking, but the blend knob worked just the way it should.

[Crystalman85]

That depends on what kind of distortion sound you want. if you wanted a little bit of grit to enhance your sound, an overdrive pedal would be right up your alley. the way huge pork loin would be a good choice if you wanted some grit and no low-end losses. here are some clips of the pork lion pedal being demonstrated on bass.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ooKBieNyLU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZFt0NsjY-k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alFVIvl2YKg

[JimmyM]

Whoa, first time I ever took a listen to clips of the Pork Loin. Didn't sound good to me for anything but subtle grind, but man o man it sounded good for subtle grind!

[johnk_10]

I have a pork loin and I think that it's a pretty good pedal, but IMO, nothing to write home about. to me, they're just a little bit muddy sounding. that said, i'm not selling mine.

[Jason Hall]

Rule 1 of fuzz/od/distortion, it is highly subjective... for rule 2 see rule 1.

You're obviously curious about dirt pedals... I say buy one and play with it for a while. If you don't like it, unload it! You can browse the classifides, read up on the many "what's the best dirt for..." threads, or look for coupons and such online (prymaxe vintage for example has a 60 day return policy and a 15% coupon running, awesome).

The cool thing about bass is that no one is going to kick you out of a band because you don't have dirt running... you buy dirt pedals because you want to have a certain sound and for your own gratification. I personally use them to slay ear drums and fill the space when I'm playing with just 1 guitarist. From what I've tried and your description... I'd find a used pork loin. Good luck on your quest...

[mcnach]

Originally Posted by LostInSauce

A band I recently got hooked up with plays hard rock/metal (Avenged/SOAD/Helmet/Chevelle). I think I'd like to add a little grit and growl to my tone (nothing excessive) while not losing the bottom end and from what I've seen, most bass distortion pedals can be tweaked to allow that kind of mix to happen.

I've just got my hands on an additional $100.00 so I'm looking into the wide world of new/used bass distortion and my question is this:

- Since I'm not looking for "Full on Saturation" should I get:
1. A utilitarian bass distortion pedal (any model will do)?
2. A specific bass Distortion pedal (BOSS, Digitech, Tech 21)?
3. Get a decent DI (MXR, SansAmp) and tweak it accordingly?

I've played for 20+ years and have never been a big effects guy so any/all advice you could give would be greatly appreciated.

see if you can find a used OKKO Basstard.
Rare, but it stopped my search for something like what you describe.

[DethByDoom]

Standard hard rock/metal sound is an M80 into an SVT.