Does anyone run an OD pedal in front of tube preamp?

jcburn · #1 05-12-2011, 10:21 PM

My ABM EVO III doesn't quite get nasty enough for me so I'm trying to find an OD pedal to add just that bit more, hopefully something with a mid control.
VT bass is an obvious one but came across a good deal on a Tubeworks bass driver and it looks interesting.
Anyone else doing this with success. The only 2 pedals I currently have are Ibanez Phat Hed and ODB3, and they both fuzz up a bit too much for what I want.
Any other suggestions are fine. I'm not looking to warm things at all, just adding that bit of OD grunt!
Aussie made passive Cave Pedals look the go as well.

markjazzbassist · #2 05-13-2011, 12:10 AM

for sure, that's a winning combo. i only use tube heads, and when i do use overdrive, it's a match made in heaven.

dod 250 and vintage orange or120, nice creamy gritty drive

Footbutt · #3 05-13-2011, 05:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by markjazzbassist

i only use tube heads, and when i do use overdrive, it's a match made in heaven.

+1

blastjv · #4 05-13-2011, 06:43 AM

Digitech Bad Monkey might be a good (and cheap) place to start, especially used...

-JV

Von Felgenhauer · #5 05-13-2011, 09:57 AM

If you go the bad monkey route, change the c11 cap to a bigger one for more of a bottom end on it. Its been my go to overdrive for almost a year now. It only recently got replaced by a Polish Hate.

lowmid · #6 05-13-2011, 10:07 AM

try a bass drive in compcut mode!!! I've had an ABM and it worked great with it!

Casperrobo · #7 05-13-2011, 10:19 AM

I have a MXR M80 Bass DI into my ABM EVO III, it has a sweet distortion channel where you can blend the normal signal to keep the low and and add just a touch of fuzz to it

rosstanium · #8 05-13-2011, 10:24 AM

just adding the Aguilar Agro pedal as an option to the already good suggestions listed.

You mentioned not wanting to warm things up. The AGRO pedal won't blow your mind when you play by itself...but it is one of those pedals that sound really really good when listened to within the context of the overall band mix.

LiamPodmore · #9 05-13-2011, 10:56 AM

Search for tmbasser on youtube, his tone sounds like it might be what you want, and he uses an ODB3 into an ABM 500 EVO III. He shows his settings in one of his videos so maybe you could try that, it doesnt cost you anything.

Liam

wolffman · #10 05-13-2011, 11:03 AM

Yep. Pork Loin overdrive > DHA VT1 EQ tube preamp.

grimniggzy · #11 05-13-2011, 11:20 AM

You can get the ODB3 to be less fuzzy if you set the balance control back on the dry side (I ran mine completely dry). This should get you close to what you want for $0.

rockstarbassist · #12 05-13-2011, 11:30 AM

I run an Xotic Bass BB, HBE Hematoma and ODB-3 all into my M9, so yes.

BigBassBob · #13 05-13-2011, 08:25 PM

OD pedals sound GREAT when plugged into a tube pre-amp. I've been using a Roger Mayer Voodoobass with my Ashdown ABM 500 evo II for years. Lovely sound

jcburn · #14 05-14-2011, 03:19 AM

Wasn't a big fan of tmbasser's sound - a bit too much low cut for me. Have owned a MXR M80 before and didn't quite like the distortion as I feel it is exactly that - distortion, not OD. I do think it is a good pedal though, dont get me wrong.
And on the end of that today I got to trial a VT bass pedal and didn't like the tone - it either didn't quite OD enough at one extreme then higher gain settings just sounded really woolly.
I think what I am after is a TS style OD so I might go for a Bad Monkey (a modded one even maybe), or I'm quite interested in the new Ibanez bass TS.
Thanks for all the help so far, and as mentioned the Hematoma and Bassdrive (mosfet version) seem what I'm after.
All opinions are welcome though.

AshdownMad · #15 05-14-2011, 03:26 AM

Side stepping slightly...

On the ABM Have u tried putting the input knob up full, drive up full and turn down the output?

Edit: input knob in relation 2 being just in the red on the vu

jcburn · #16 05-14-2011, 04:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AshdownMad

Side stepping slightly...

On the ABM Have u tried putting the input knob up full, drive up full and turn down the output?

Edit: input knob in relation 2 being just in the red on the vu

I did but a while ago before I really found my tone on the ABM - will try again. I do currently run the drive at around 3 oclock with the input only ever so slightly hitting the red, but rarely.

Bassmike62 · #17 05-14-2011, 05:17 AM

I run a SansAmp PBDDI before my Hartke 5500 head, which has a tube preamp. The overdrive setting on the PBDDI sounds great in my band setting, just a bit dirty, works well for fingerplaying, slap and picking. It kicked the EHX BBM off the board.

dune2k · #18 05-14-2011, 05:21 AM

The new Bass Tube Screamer seems to be...well...not so good.

I recently bought a Bad Monkey and am really suprised. Even stock it holds alot of low end (more than the Aguilar Agro Pedal I recently tried!) and sounds nice & tube screamerish.

If you are handy with a soldering iron it's pretty easy to mod. I'm in the process of doing that atm. Just need to toy around with different cap values and stuff.

riotorgun · #19 05-14-2011, 05:53 AM

my kustom with the tube pre wasnt nasty enough for me,so i swapped the tube out and now its much more overdriven might be an idea.

Crystalman85 · #20 05-14-2011, 04:40 PM

Using a tube emulation pedal with a distortion pedal would make a great combination. I've used a hartke vxl bass attack preamp pedal along with a digitech xbd bass overdrive/distortion pedal(a.k.a the digitech bass driver) and I got a pretty killer sound with this combination. if you're thinking about using a tube preamp pedal with a distortion pedal, I'd say give it a try. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with the results that you will get with this combination.