heavy/thick/almost gated dist?

[manchild]

Looking for the above kind of distortion sound, that will take away string noise and even sound a little synthy, but not overly fuzzy and as soft as a muff style sound.

Been looking at the Digitech Hot Head

and the

Ibanez Smash Box

Seen a few threads talking about them, but just wondered how they would compare on bass, and which one would retain most low end.

Im thinking the Ibanez, will have the most scoop in its mid tone, but think its sound maybe more what im looking for?

What ya think? Anyone used both or heard either?

Any recommedations?

Thanks for any input

[manchild]

Anyone had any experience with either???

[Smurf-o-Deth]

Only gated distortion I've ever used has been a Zvex Box of Metal, which is anything but synthy--are you sure you want distortion? There are some pretty synthy gated or semi-gated fuzzes out there, like the MXR Blowtorch, Electronix Messdrive, Chunk Systems Brown Dog, et cetera, none of which are "soft".

[BassMonstrum]

Any soundclips of what you are after? I have the Zvex Wooly Mammoth which I think is very heavy, thick and gated.

[jrmy]

A lot of the gated / synthy pedals out there on the market don't really do the "soft" thing, so you might need to go for a combination of pedal & eq (maybe a dedicated loop). That said, you might want to try out the Devi Ever VFM. Can definitely do thick, heavy & gated, in a way that's less buzzy & harsh than many other similar pedals.

[Bassnut62]

Zvex Woolly Mammoth or if that's too pricey or you only use active basses, go for ZVex Mastotron. Alternatively The Goose sounds and looks cool.

[manchild]

Nice one guys thanks for the replies, maybe im not looking for too much of a gated sound as such, i like fuzz for its saturation, but not the lack of 'attack' hence the idea of a distortion with a good amount both.

I think the hot head sounds a little like a marshall sound and the smash box as more rectifier sound - which is better towards bass genarally do ya think?

i currently use an ODB-3 by boss which does the job ut not in the right way, if you know what i mean?

[manchild]

before i got the boss i had a bass muff but found it to be too much of a saturated sound that was too soft without enough 'attack' on it - in the band mix it was too much and became too 'cloudy'

Already use a Sansamp bass driver for my main sound which i luv, and makes most pedals sound great but need a proper 'drive' sound.

I know this is a tall order, but any ideas would be great

Cheers

[coolrunner989]

If you like the distortion tone you have now, get a noise gate and set it to fairly high levels and then make your technique perfect.

[manchild]

yeah that could be good - cheers, il look into that