i need a decent distortion pedal

[jacksonguy95]

hey guys,

i was looking for a decent distortion pedal

i play a five string and i play thrash metal
i need one thats decently priced and will bring out the full power of my bass,
im not planning to really over distort it (cliff burton) hah

i still need it to sound bassy i just want to bring out a really nice kick out of my bass,

any suggestions
thanks

'Greg

[St Drogo]

Originally Posted by jacksonguy95

just somthing that will give me a signature sound

No such thing as a "Signature sound in a box", man. Glad too.

[Gasman]

Price range? Off the cuff I'd say a Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive- relatively cheap, gain/tone/blend/volume. Doesn't cut low end too much and can go from gentle OD to heavy distortion, bordering on fuzz. Marshall Guv'nor is pretty good too- 3 band eq, gain and volume.

[jacksonguy95]

Originally Posted by St Drogo

No such thing as a "Signature sound in a box", man. Glad too.

sorry i didnt explain well enough didnt I? im kind of experimenting with distortion you know so im not quite sure what im looking for you know?

[stflbn]

You're just starting a very long journey... a journey that will change multiple times along the way, and a journey that has no end.

[St Drogo]

Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were seriously trying to get your whole signature sound out of one stompbox, instead of working on technique and musical voice. I hate that, it's like taking the easy way out you know? My bad.

But if you're really trying to get some more info on bass dirtboxes, you should do a search, or have a quick peek at the effects department here. There's loads of knowledgable people on the subject there. Good luck!

[Spleenface92]

Boss OBD-3. Love that pedal. or go all out and get a big muff....

[Gasman]

Originally Posted by stflbn

You're just starting a very long journey... a journey that will change multiple times along the way, and a journey that has no end.

+1000 to this! It's a lot of fun, though.

[cyrusstark]

I just a ProCo Rat 2 Distortion for $55 off of ebay. I like it a lot, but it can be pretty over the top. Of course, that's what I bought it for. I've heard other people say that if you use lower gain and dial down your volume knob you can get a sort of dirty overdrive type of sound, but I usually use it for a sonic destruction sort of thing. =P I've been impressed with how well it retains the bass too. Usually that's a big gripe people have about their distortion/fuzz boxes. I tried out the Boss ODB-3 in store one time, and I thought it was pretty good. A lot of people sell them pretty cheap too, so it wouldn't set you back much. And then if you wanted to get into fuzz territory, the Big Muffs seem to be a standard for bassists. If you want more info on fuzzes, go to bassfuzz.com. Grygrx has an excellent page for comparison shoppers. Check your local craiglists, ebay, music stores, etc. You can get some pretty good deals if you're patient and diligent.

[Thunderscreech]

Tech 21 XXL B

Best bass distortion pedal on the market (IMHO, of course). Also one of the very few true "distortion" pedals on the market. Really big and grindy. Check out the track Simple Boy by Karnivool for a look at how this purple monster sounds.

[waleross]

I have the Ibanez PD7 Phat-Hed overdrive. It seems to respond with better amps(what doesn't) and has both a clean mode as well as good distortion....Maybe what your looking for. The price is around $ 80 and it has favorable reviews....

Karnivool - good band there. Glad someone mentioned them!

Originally Posted by Thunderscreech

Tech 21 XXL B

Best bass distortion pedal on the market (IMHO, of course). Also one of the very few true "distortion" pedals on the market. Really big and grindy. Check out the track Simple Boy by Karnivool for a look at how this purple monster sounds.

[Matt Dean]

Originally Posted by jacksonguy95

hey guys,

i was looking for a decent distortion pedal

i play a five string and i play thrash metal
i need one thats decently priced and will bring out the full power of my bass,
im not planning to really over distort it (cliff burton) hah

i still need it to sound bassy i just want to bring out a really nice kick out of my bass,

any suggestions
thanks

'Greg

You ought to check out Electro-Harmonix Bass Big Muff Pi... not very expensive and decent.

[thirtypoint87]

Sansamp. Sansamp. Sansamp. Tech21? Yes.

[champbassist]

Three words from me here: Bass. Big. Muff. Get it: you won't regret it. I'd prefer that over the ODB-3 since, in your case, it appears that your objective is to meat up your tone rather than to get an out-of-the-way edgy tone where the big muff will be better.

[__HM__]

I don't believe in straight distortion for bass. lol. Maybe a little dirt, thats it though. Chorus, delay, flange, filter, these are bass effects. Leave distortion to the guitars. Completely my opinion, of course!

[crapusername]

Ashdown LoMenzo Hyperdrive - does pretty much everything from a little 'hair' to fuzz.
EHX BBM - with the dry mode you can add a little..... or loads!!
The Digitech Bad Monkey might be worth a try too - cheap and gets a lot of love here.

[Ayliffe]

Doesn't get mentioned much around here, but an Ibanez Tube King, ****ing brilliant for bass distortion.

[BassBrass]

Originally Posted by Ayliffe

Doesn't get mentioned much around here, but an Ibanez Tube King, ****ing brilliant for bass distortion.

yeah? Interesting. Where's the mid center freq on that?
I just stumbled into what could be someone's "signature sound" by putting a Barber Dirty Bomb (set medium gain, full midrange full bass) in a Boss LS2 blender 40%wet/60dry into a VT bass. I didn't know it was good until hearing the playback. Classic tube amp overdrive.

[Chronicle]

Originally Posted by __HM__

I don't believe in straight distortion for bass. lol. Maybe a little dirt, thats it though. Chorus, delay, flange, filter, these are bass effects. Leave distortion to the guitars. Completely my opinion, of course!

Like someone said, check out the track Simple boy by Karnivool.