HAO Rust Ride vs Tech 21 XXLB (w/ clips)

[Jared Lash]

If ad copy is to be believed, one is a bass overdrive and the other is a heavy distortion.

Can you tell which is which?

I recorded a couple quick clips, first clean and then with one box and then the other. Not great audio quality (this is from my practice amp recorded by my Zoom H2) but interesting anyway. Both had a 2/3 effected to 1/3 clean blend from my VB-jr because they do lose lows (the HAO more than the Tech 21).

Fingerstyle

Pickstyle

The riff was off the cuff, just something I was playing around with when I felt like recording. If anyone wants me to record more clips with something a bit less sloppy let me know.

[ihateusernames]

the click of the switch gives it away for me - too many tech 21 products through my possession hehe! on a side note, that recorder does a really nice job.

and your clean tone is very angry, nice and grumbly

[Crabby]

I had to smile when I saw this as I demoed these two pedals side by side in a store once and a crowd came around as everyone was going nuts over the Rust Ride. using a blender obviously evens out the tone a bit because to my ears, the XXL is a lot fizzier and the Rust Ride much more organic sounding when compared at full mix.

I ended up buying the Rust Ride that day but the heavy overdrive sound is not something I ever used much. It was a very unique and cool pedal though.

[Jared Lash]

MORE CLIPS

I took the Rust Ride and XXLB out of the loop of the blender for these clips to just get the sounds of each pedal. At these fairly low volumes the low end loss isn't nearly as noticeable as in a band setting. The settings are the same as in the first picture. The first clip has clean bass at the end, the other two don't. The last clip is at a higher volume than any of the other clips.

Clip 3
Clip 4
Clip 5

Crabby, it's funny because I've had my eye on the Rust Ride for a while but I did a search on it last week when I decided to try one out and I remember your post about these two pedals. I don't doubt your experience but playing with the two of them for the last two days I've had a different experience. To me, they sound very similar.

I can think of some reasons why we may have heard very different things. The simplest answer may just be different gear. I use pretty mellow strings (Sunbeams) and I like them broken in. Obviously I have a different bass, and I am just playing through my little amp at the moment - though I have used the XXLB extensively with my GK rig at gigs and practice. I've only used the Rust Ride through my main rig and with drums & guitar once, the day I got it and only briefly.

Perhaps in your test run the volumes weren't the same. Until I matched up their volume exactly, whichever one was louder sounded better. That's just natural. Or perhaps I've just had more time to find good settings for the XXLB.

Or maybe you have a hotter bass than me. The XXLB is definitely "fizzier" by nature and a hotter signal only emphasizes that fact.

One thing about the XXLB is that it is incredibly touch sensitive. This is a plus in that it can sound very dynamic just by varying your attack. The negative is that only really hard attacks get real crunch. Softer playing just gives a fuzz sound. The HAO isn't nearly as dynamic but that makes it much more consistent. So I can get the same crunch fingerstyle or with a pick. I pluck pretty hard and have low action so I don't think the difference between pick and fingerstyle is as noticeable for me as it would be for most.

Not tonight, but if there's interest I could make a clip playing more softly with each pedal.

[Jared Lash]

Originally Posted by ihateusernames

the click of the switch gives it away for me - too many tech 21 products through my possession hehe! on a side note, that recorder does a really nice job.

Yeah, me too. In fact that's why I didn't edit the clicks out. The two pedals do sound really similar to me and I was afraid I'd forget which was which without them.

Originally Posted by ihateusernames

and your clean tone is very angry, nice and grumbly

Thanks. I actually set everything on my practice amp & bass flat so as to color the tone as little as possible. So I guess the resulting tone is just a combination of the character of the bass and my technique.

[Jared Lash]

Does anybody have an opinion on which of the two sounds better? I really am having a difficult time deciding which one to keep.

[Nikoubis]

I'm partial to the XXLB. I'm actually trying to justify buying one these days...

[Mr. Pickles]

I listened to the fingerstyle clip in the first post. There seems to be three segments. I liked the middle segment the most as it had more bite and cut. The final bit sounded more muffled with attenuated highs.

Was the middle on the XXLB?

I have a love/hate relationship with mine. Mostly because of the hiss at high gain settings, but also 'cause it's so damned purple.

[Jared Lash]

Yeah, the fingerstyle clip is clean/XXLB/Rust Ride

The pickstyle clip is the same except at the end I flipped the HAO's switch from "Normal" to "Bright"

All the other clips also have the XXLB first and then the Rust Ride.

The Rust Ride sounds more muffled in the fingerstyle clip because I rushed a bit and my left hand technique was a bit off. But I find that I like the Rust Ride more on the "Bright" setting. The "Warm" setting is useless IMO as it is very muffled.

I'm still not sure which one I'll keep. I've also had a love hate relationship with the XXLB. It is noisy, can be hard to dial in the way I want it and the AC adaptor is in a horrible spot. Still, I haven't found something to replace it for heavy distortion.

The HAO might do it, but I think I need to A/B them at high volume in a full mix before I decide.

[NKUSigEp]

I didn't really like either...I'll stick with my LBM and Agro.

[Jared Lash]

Originally Posted by NKUSigEp

I didn't really like either...I'll stick with my LBM and Agro.

I've had and sold a number of Muff variants (vintage, LBM, modded NYC) and dug them, but they are very different sounds than these two. Up until recently I loved blending a Muff and playing with a pick (in a blatant ripoff of Robert Sledge) for one of my gigs, but it is not the same as the crunchy tone of these two. Different tones for different songs.

The AGRO has always interested me, but I prefer having my dirt in pedal form.

[Mark Olson]

I can't give another listen right now because I'm on a crappy computer with no sound card, but if I remember correctly I very much preferred the second overdriven sound in each clip. It just sounded more organic and musical to me, a really nice tone.

[NKUSigEp]

Originally Posted by TheBigO

I've had and sold a number of Muff variants (vintage, LBM, modded NYC) and dug them, but they are very different sounds than these two. Up until recently I loved blending a Muff and playing with a pick (in a blatant ripoff of Robert Sledge) for one of my gigs, but it is not the same as the crunchy tone of these two. Different tones for different songs.

The AGRO has always interested me, but I prefer having my dirt in pedal form.

True story...I've had a couple of Muffs myself and am on my third LBM. I dunno what it is, but I always come back to that one for it's sweet, singing saturation.

The Agro is one of those rare beasts that actually does everything it's advertised to do. Mild tube overdrive (note: not "slight"), crunchy bottom-heavy distortion, and thick fuzz. And you should know that the Agro comes with a footswitch.

[Jared Lash]

I came very close to getting an AG500 a while back. Ultimately I stuck with my GK 1001RB-II, but I did want something close to the dirty channel on the Aggie. Remember that these clips are through my little 15W Crate practice amp. Through my actual rig both of these pedals sound pretty close.

[Crabby]

The only bass overdrive pedal i have now is my good ol Fulltone bassdrive (non mosfet). I thought the Rust Ride was a little more organic sounding when compared to the heavy boost channel of the Fulltone, but the Fulltone's lighter channel on FM mode just sounds perfect to me for a light grind. I loved the Rust Ride and still regret selling it but i only had space for one overdrive on my PT jr and figured the 2 channel Fulltone was much more versatile and ultimately "useable" in more situations.

[Chronicle]

The Rust Drive has a nice sound to it but loses low end sadly in my experience.

[Jared Lash]

Originally Posted by Crabby

The only bass overdrive pedal i have now is my good ol Fulltone bassdrive (non mosfet). I thought the Rust Ride was a little more organic sounding when compared to the heavy boost channel of the Fulltone, but the Fulltone's lighter channel on FM mode just sounds perfect to me for a light grind. I loved the Rust Ride and still regret selling it but i only had space for one overdrive on my PT jr and figured the 2 channel Fulltone was much more versatile and ultimately "useable" in more situations.

I actually went the opposite way. I had a Bassdrive quite a while back (I wanted more grit and less color than my SansAmp) but I then I found I liked the XXL better for really heavy stuff and sold the Bassdrive and went through a couple ODs to fill out the lower gain stuff and finally found one I really liked.

Originally Posted by Chronicle

The Rust Drive has a nice sound to it but loses low end sadly in my experience.

So does the XXLB, but not quite as much. Both benefit greatly from being in the loop of a blender. Both of them also need to have their volume a fair amount higher than the bypassed tone. It sounds too loud when practicing by myself, but it ends up being just right in a band mix.

I know the clips are somewhat similar, but any other opinions on which one sounds better?

[Jared Lash]

Wrapping things up:

After a bit of a hiatus my originals band had practice last night and I brought both of these two (1) to compare them in a full mix and (2) to get my bandmates opinions.

Though they sound similar through my practice amp at low volumes, the two are pretty different through my actual rig (GK1001RB-II, Neo 212) though they can both sound close when played hard with a pick. At louder volumes the XXL is fuzzier around the edges and the HAO is crunchier. The XXLB sounds a lot like Fleas recorded tone on the intro/break of "Around the World" while the Rust Ride is somewhere between Timmy C and Billy Gould (I'm having trouble thinking of a good reference for it).

The XXLB blends in better with the mix and the Rust Ride stands out more so it depends on what you want. With the blender set at 100% wet, the Tech 21 is still usable but the HAO really isn't.

If I didn't have a blender on my board this wouldn't be a contest. But since I do, and my bandmates liked it better in the mix, I'm keeping the Rust Ride.

I'll be sad to see the XXLB go. It's been on my board longer than any other pedal and I still think it's a great heavy distortion, but the Rust Ride is a bit better for what we do.

[Mr. Pickles]

I enjoyed this thread. Thanks, O
Have fun with the Ride!

[jbrew73]

what did you use for the blender in those clips?