How to effectively use an overdrive pedal EQ wise?

MistaMarko · #1 05-26-2009, 12:43 AM

Hey guys,

Got one of those yellow BOSS Bass Overdrive pedals awhile back, and love messing around with it, but everytime I gig, I can never get it to sound quite right in a mix setting. Being a bassist (ha) -- I'm clueless as to how the EQ aspect of distortion and overdrive works in a mix setting, and when I click this on, I'm wondering how I should EQ my amp/bass to make this cut through more efficiently in a live setting?

I also have a problem with making the clean bass tone and the overdrive "fuse" into one sound...it always sounds as if the clean tone is up front and the overdrive is sort of beside it, and always sounds like two sounds. How can I tweak the settings to fix this?

Picture:

http://earthshakingmusic.com/pics/ODB3.jpg

Thanks guys,

-Mark

B.C. · #2 05-26-2009, 12:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MistaMarko

Hey guys,

Got one of those yellow BOSS Bass Overdrive pedals awhile back, and love messing around with it, but everytime I gig, I can never get it to sound quite right in a mix setting. Being a bassist (ha) -- I'm clueless as to how the EQ aspect of distortion and overdrive works in a mix setting, and when I click this on, I'm wondering how I should EQ my amp/bass to make this cut through more efficiently in a live setting?

I also have a problem with making the clean bass tone and the overdrive "fuse" into one sound...it always sounds as if the clean tone is up front and the overdrive is sort of beside it, and always sounds like two sounds. How can I tweak the settings to fix this?

Picture:

http://earthshakingmusic.com/pics/ODB3.jpg

Thanks guys,

-Mark

When you want anything to come through in a mix, boosting the low mids is what you need. Give that a try. Its tough, I've dealt with that myself, but the low mids is where it is at.

Wasted Bassist · #3 05-26-2009, 12:51 AM

Well... you could look at the manual to find settings. Just a thought.

JimmyM · #4 05-26-2009, 02:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by B.C.

When you want anything to come through in a mix, boosting the low mids is what you need. Give that a try. Its tough, I've dealt with that myself, but the low mids is where it is at.

Ya, that's why I like the VT so much...its bass knob is centered at 125 hz, which is about the perfect midbass frequency.

rratajski · #5 05-26-2009, 04:36 AM

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmids are your friend.

warwick.hoy · #6 05-26-2009, 04:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rratajski

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmids are your friend.

Can we say this pretty much across the board...when I had issues hearing the (about to be shipped out) Synth Wah...the answer...more mids.

Really...even for a clean tone...can't hear yourself over the spastic drummer and the wall of Marshalls or (heaven forbid) SS Crates...more mids.

That is why there is an EQ section on your amp.....

smo · #7 05-26-2009, 04:47 AM

Yeah - that pedal really loves a tube amp - anything else and it's a little difficult if you turn up the gain.

Get your clean sound stonkin first - turn up your mids, derease treble and get your bass so it's not too boomy (at band levels)
Trying to demo a pedal at practise volumes is pointless IME - unless you're playing loud, it's just NOT gonna sound the same regardless of your equipment.

As for the ODB-3, it is a tricky pedal, but does sound okay at band volumes when you spend some time to figure it out.
I'd keep the gain low first.
And just play around with different bass guitar volume levels. I've found some pedals (most Boss pedals are fine tho) like a certain volume/intensity coming from your bass, and not above, so you may need to decrease your basses' volume until you get that sweet spot with the OD.
After that - just mess with it - but bear in mind, if you cut the treble to nothing, and do nothing but boost the bass, your tone will be suck. Get the mids to stand out, and the OD will work.

Waxhead · #8 05-28-2009, 12:45 AM

As I long time guitar player and more recently a bass player who's used tons of pedals over the years I have one peice of advice for you guys. Beware of Boss pedals.

Most of em are crap compared to their competition and suffer from poor tones and the dreaded Boss desease - tone suck. I'm not saying this Bass pedal is definitely one of em but if it doesn't tone suck your amp when turned off it'll be the first Boss OD or distortion pedal ever made that doesn't.

To test it play your bass with the pedal turned off then remove the pedal from the chain completely and play again. If you hear a tone and/or volume change then that's another tone sucking Boss pedal. It'll clip off low and high end freq's plus often reduce volume as well.

It's caused by poor quality buffers built into the stock Boss pedals. There's tons of other OD and distortion pedals around these days that sound better both on and off

JimmyM · #9 05-28-2009, 01:01 AM

I don't necessarily disagree with that, but it's what he has, and it can be made to work. It's not everyone's favorite bass OD, but it's pretty popular with many top bass players, the majority of which sounds really good with it. But if you ask me, the VT is the bass OD to have these days.

René_Julien · #10 05-28-2009, 01:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Waxhead

As I long time guitar player and more recently a bass player who's used tons of pedals over the years I have one peice of advice for you guys. Beware of Boss pedals.

Most of em are crap compared to their competition and suffer from poor tones and the dreaded Boss desease - tone suck. I'm not saying this Bass pedal is definitely one of em but if it doesn't tone suck your amp when turned off it'll be the first Boss OD or distortion pedal ever made that doesn't.

To test it play your bass with the pedal turned off then remove the pedal from the chain completely and play again. If you hear a tone and/or volume change then that's another tone sucking Boss pedal. It'll clip off low and high end freq's plus often reduce volume as well.

It's caused by poor quality buffers built into the stock Boss pedals. There's tons of other OD and distortion pedals around these days that sound better both on and off

Beware of being too negative about BOSS products, most people like them and they can do the job just fine.

But you make some valid points.

I don't want to bash the ODB-3 either, but I never liked that pedal.
I'm not that technical that I can explain why it doesn't sound good to me, it's just a matter of taste I guess.
I guess it is safe to say the there are a lot better alternatives for the ODB-3. (Unless you can make it work.)
The Ibanez Phat Hed is a little cheaper, has the similar metallic overdrive tone, and sounds better to me.
If you have a bigger budget then I'd take a Sansamp over the ODB-3 any day.

Even other guitar orientated drive pedals from BOSS I think work better with bass. IME the MT-2 works better than the ODB-3. Cons of the MT-2 is the loss of low end.

In general I respect BOSS effect pedals. They have sort of an industry standard about them and I think that's cool. IMO the majority of BOSS pedals are great. Hit or miss.

To the OP:

What I like to do is put an EQ pedal in front of an overdrive (or distortion pedal) with a bit of mid scooping, then bring the mids up on your drive pedal or after that (amp). Like everyone above me suggested: low mids is the way to go.
IME the mids will stay more clearer and your presence is better, while your low end and high end is growling nice.
This will take some fidling with the knobs to get a good tone, and it won't be easy changing from clean to an overdrive tone.

jufros · #11 05-28-2009, 03:06 AM

I would say that boss dirt boxes and boss modulation boxes shouldn't even be compared. With the ODB-3 the trick is to first find unity bass response at low gain, then gradually rank up the gain to be where you want it to be, then start carving away at the treble until you get the sound you want. It might be that perfect sound, but it will be a good bass DISTORTION sound and you'll have figured out the pedal. Most people complain that the ODB is way too "harsh" but its harshness can be tamed by experimenting with gain and treble settings. The ODB was my favorite pedal for ages until I got the Gemini Drive.

Another trick is to scale back the highs and lows while you scale up the gain. If you find yourself with a bunch of mids and ZERO lows, add some lows back in. Given the voicing of the petal, I highly doubt you'd want to fuss around with the highs any more than is possible. They just don't really sound that good up front. This method kind of gets you closer to a mid jumped distortion sound. If you're playing in a band and other people are jamming away with as much gain as you, you'll need a nice mid boost to cut through.

Finally, dial in clean blend during practice until you hear yourself pop out of the mix a bit. Pretty dope pedal really but definitely takes some thinking and work to set it up correctly.

B.C. · #12 05-28-2009, 03:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyM

I don't necessarily disagree with that, but it's what he has, and it can be made to work. It's not everyone's favorite bass OD, but it's pretty popular with many top bass players, the majority of which sounds really good with it. But if you ask me, the VT is the bass OD to have these days.

+1, Boss does do some really neat stuff. I actually like the ODB-3, just isn't the sound I'm going for currently. I really like the Gemni drive myself.

Lord Trau · #13 05-28-2009, 04:43 AM

How do you boost the mids on a pedal with only bass and treble bands?

The ODB-3 was the first dirt box I had, and I really didn't care for it. I'm sure someone has use for the sound it makes, but it wasn't versatile enough for me.

jufros · #14 05-28-2009, 05:05 AM

You can't technically boost the mids but you can cut the highs and the lows while you increase the gain and volume.

jimmothy.green · #15 05-28-2009, 12:41 PM

For me, using ODB-3 really depends on the amp headroom. Tubes and tube modelers love it. My GK RB700 doesn't like it though.

SoonerMatt · #16 05-28-2009, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimmothy.green

For me, using ODB-3 really depends on the amp headroom. Tubes and tube modelers love it. My GK RB700 doesn't like it though.

And here I thought I was the only GK user who hated the ODB-3; I mean, Flea runs an ODB-3 into his GKs.... (BTW, if you want to hear evil, run an EHX Bass Blogger through your 700) It's kind of funny; you'd think with GK's 2 mid controls you could make the ODB-3 work, but not with the 700RB. Thankfully my BDDI works no problem, and I'd assume a Polish Love would, too.

If you need more headroom and want it through your pedal, you're going to have to ditch the Boss for something with adjustable mids, i.e. a Tech21 VT Bass or Para-Driver.

jufros · #17 05-28-2009, 01:41 PM

The EQ pedal idea is a good one as well but unless you have a looper or you're using the EQ pedal for your clean tone as well, its kind of a pain to have to stomp two pedals to get your OD tone.

I used the ODB-3 for a LONG time. It can only sort of do a mild OD and its not a very good one. You have to be really liberal with the clean blend. Set the blend to about 3:00 and then gradually raise the gain while you cut highs.

For distortion, I actually like the ODB and find it pretty unique. You can't really get that many different "flavors" out of it but you can definitely tweak it to cut in a band mix without a doubt.