Good overdrive/distortion for bass AND guitar???

[ric4682]

Hey,
I'm looking for a good dirt pedal to use as my go to drive for my strat and also some extra oomph of light overdrive with my Ric or my new CV pbass. What I want is pretty specific but I'm totally open to suggestions. I don't really wanna spend much more than $150 and I'm going to be playing classic rock with both guitar and bass.
Here are the features I need:
-it can't be modern sounding, not necessarily vintage, but definitely not modern. I'm going for more of a classic tone.
-It has to have enough gain to get a good deal of sustain with my strat which has pretty low output pickups and has to clean up nicely too
-it CANNOT lose lows when I kick it on with my bass rig and has to be warm sounding
-the simpler, the better. I'm fine with just two knobs as long as it sounds good
-it has to be clear sounding and not muddy at all
-I don't want it to be polite on guitar. It's gotta have some spit and aggression and some unpredictablity
I think that's all So far I have two in mind:
The ZVex Distortron: http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/p...dal?sku=620300
and the Fulltone Catalyst: http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/p...dal?sku=620726
I've also heard good things about the Digitech Hardwire series. I've tried the OCD on bass and it seemed to lose a little lows. I also looked up videos on the STF because it seemed perfect for my needs but I didn't really dig the guitar sound. If you guys have sound demos of either these or other options on bass, that would be great! I know there's one or two people around here that use the Distortron for bass. If they could chime in and tell me what they like and don't like about it, that would be great also.
Thanks for all your help!
-Conor

[Hookus]

Red Llama.

[fitz420]

voodoo lab sparkle drive or barber ltd sr

[skulletwhip]

Fulltone OCD

[FrigginChris]

i'd say either the fulltone OCD or the proco turbo rat, these are two of the three dirt pedals on my board. the OCD is my go-to pedal when i want a lighter distortion. I know you've tried it out but i'd suggest spending a bit more time with one and i bet you'll find it has enough low end. I know lots of guitar players use them with good results as well. the turbo rat is actually my favorite distortion right now, it's jsut a really great sounding distortion, i do admit it loses some lows but if you are generous with the filter knob it becomes less of an issue.

[lunarpollen]

I wonder if the Tech 21 Leeds character pedal would qualify

[Crystalman85]

I've heard how the zvex distortron sound on bass. it sounds phenomenal. I heard sound samples of it on soundclick. it really works well on bass.

[cheapbasslovin]

I really liked the Catalyst in store.

I would also suggest a SansAmp TriAC. Programmable so once you dial it you just push the button to go from guitar to bass.

Űber versatile. If you can find it used it will be well in your price range.

[ric4682]

Thanks for all of the suggestions so far! I admit I didn't spend much time with the OCD on bass, part of the reason is it's a little too polite for my guitar needs. While it sounds phenomenal with guitar, it's a little too smooth and forgiving. The guitar sound I'm looking for is kind of like Jimmy Page's live sound. More specifically, the band Super 400's latest album really has the tone I dig. http://www.super400.com/
I've definitely heard good things about the sparkle drive, but I'm not sure if it has enough gain for my guitar needs.

[bongomania]

Since you want it more raw and non-polite, I strongly recommend a Red Llama clone. There are many, by different makers. Tonefactor has made a few, and you'll see lots of posts about one from Poland that has a lot of different names such as "Bogdan" or "Polish Love".

Also, though I haven't used them myself, Tech21's new "Leeds" and "Oxford" pedals are probably right up your alley.

Also check out the Exar taBASSco (disclosure, I sell them).

[geezerjpj]

Way Huge Pork Loin
sounds really good to great on bass(no bottom end loss) sounds awesome on guitar

[slurpy]

id go with a big muff. NYC if you want lighter dist on bass or Russian (if you can get one) if you want darker.
Both sound great on guitar IMO

[ric4682]

I currently own a big muff and while it's nice on guitar, I can't use it as my standard sound. It also cuts some lows on bass and is a little 'fuzzier' than I would like for bass. I'm just looking for a warm, tubey, light, dirt box. I looked into the Pork Loin and though it's a little out of my price range, it seems like a pretty great pedal for both bass and guitar.
Bongomania, I checked out the taBASSco and it looks promising, although it seems like from the sound clips it doesn't have quite enough gain or saturation for my guitar needs. Those tech 21 pedals seem like they'd be pretty good on bass too, but I'm not sure if they can do a warm light overdrive for my bass.
Any sound clips are appreciated!

[vladchrome]

now this is strictly bass I like the digitech bass driver x series if that helps out at all, to me it doesn't seem to take much from the lows at all and in my opinion has a wide spectrum of distortions. The one thing I did notice is that when I use it after my Pigtronix EP-1 (envelope filter) it seems to have a funny feedback where as if I use it before the filter it's fine , no feedback.Still pretty new to the individual stomp box thing so I am still trying a lot of things out so my 2cents may be just that.

[jet_king]

even though its mainly for guitar I use an original Zvex fuzz factory for my bass and love it!:hype r:

[jet_king]

Originally Posted by slurpy

id go with a big muff. NYC if you want lighter dist on bass or Russian (if you can get one) if you want darker.
Both sound great on guitar IMO

i want to try a big muff sooo badly

ive heard they are really nice and give a nice tone

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by ric4682

Those tech 21 pedals seem like they'd be pretty good on bass too, but I'm not sure if they can do a warm light overdrive for my bass.
Any sound clips are appreciated!

warm light od is their specialty. i have the vt, vt deluxe, and a modded british pedal that has a mod to add low end for bass and dial it back for guitar. not currently using the british on bass, but i have been for the past few months and i love it. only reason i'm not now is because of the vtd, which also sounds excellent on guitar if you're into that late 60's stones or faces sound. i have some sound clips up on here at Tech 21 British "Jimmy" mod with audio .

also, i've heard clips of the leeds and blonde, both of which sound excellent on bass. there are some on youtube.

[cnltb]

Originally Posted by bongomania

Since you want it more raw and non-polite, I strongly recommend a Red Llama clone. There are many, by different makers. Tonefactor has made a few, and you'll see lots of posts about one from Poland that has a lot of different names such as "Bogdan" or "Polish Love".

Polish love is somewhat mudy tho, no?

[cnltb]

http://musiciansounddesign.de/

Go toi the bass/guitar effects and have a look-paranoid and silverstone is what he calls them.
His stuff is excellent.
My favorite distortion tone is the rat tho.
If you get one and mod it to allow for more bass, that may well be worth trying.

[sloasdaylight]

Originally Posted by cnltb

Polish love is somewhat mudy tho, no?

Whenever you start slathering notes in distortion you begin to lose some definition between notes.