light overdrive options

ninepoundjammer · #1 01-21-2011, 01:28 AM

I've gone through several iterations and here's what I'm running for tone on my pedal board:

Xotic RC Bass Booster -> VT Bass -> MXR 6-band EQ

I set the drive on the VT somewhere around 10-11 o'clock. My usual tone has quite a bit of high end rolled off and the VT with this drive setting gives just a hint of OD. For a clean boost I hit the EQ pedal with a little bump at 800Hz and above. If I want a little more grind I hit the RC Booster with a bump in the treble.

This is working pretty well for me, but my grind and RC boost level are necessarily interdependent, and I'll probably never give up the quest for the "pedal that sounds exactly like a tube amp driven just hard enough". So, what other options do I have for believable light overdrive?

Here's the other stuff I've tried:

SFT after the VT. For me, maybe the best overdrive sound I've gotten out of a pedal. But I can't live with the voicing on that thing. Set flat, it seems to scoop tons of high mid and sound really muffled. No matter what I do I can't get any life back into my tone.

Xotic Bass BB after the VT. I like the voicing and eq controls on the Xotic pedals, but the OD on this pedal doesn't do it for me. Too harsh and agressive where I want smooth and creamy.

Fulltone Bassdrive after the VT. Actually like this pedal and still have it, but it's a gigantic pedal. The tone control is pretty limited. I'm able to get an interesting "cranked Marshal" like tone out of it with strong mid presence, but I can't quite tailor the tone exactly like I want.

I have tried the Fulltone OCD a bit but wasn't sold, think I need more tone control than 1 knob.

So what else is out there? Does the Fulltone Fatboost have a similar OD sound to the Bassdrive but with more tone control? From the demo clips I've seen, options like the pork loin aren't going to do it for me. I want subtle, smooth and creamy where most OD's sound aggressive and harsh to me.

Crystalman85 · #2 01-21-2011, 04:01 AM

For light overdriven sounds, I would suggest either the voodoo lab sparkle drive or the boss fmb-1.

cnltb · #3 01-21-2011, 04:15 AM

I just checked out the musiciansounddesign.de silverstone bass distortion pedal.

It's GREAT!!
It can do light distortion, heavy distortion, fat distortion, thin distortion...and it is REALLY well made.
And... I'll have one soon!

silky smoove · #4 01-21-2011, 04:20 AM

Probably not what you're after, but I've been eyeing the Darkglass Microtubes B3K lately. It's pretty aggressive, but has a wonderful clean blend (possibly the best clean blend I've heard) that might work well for your goals.

blastjv · #5 01-21-2011, 07:45 AM

Digitech Bad Monkey or Hardwire Tube Overdrive CM2
Way Huge Pork Loin
Aguilar Agro

-JV

tsunami1052 · #6 01-21-2011, 07:52 AM

Tubeworks Blue Tube Pedal

fitz420 · #7 01-21-2011, 09:40 AM

voodoo labs sparkle drive
dredgetone angler
barber ltd sr
xotic bb
mojo hand/tone factor cream pie
fuzzrocious dark driving

own/owned em all. love em all.

fitz420 · #8 01-21-2011, 09:42 AM

sorry, just read your whole post. saw that you used a BB already.

screaminglucy · #9 01-21-2011, 09:48 AM

try a red llama/polish love with the gain at min

P-oddz · #10 01-21-2011, 10:06 AM

My light overdrive is a Zvex Distortron (I know, probably a bit unconventional) but it has stayed on my board consistently through a couple of iterations (including taking place of my VT as a drive, and still winning in tone over my Agro (also of which I am looking to replace currently, in the form of the Fender Sub-lime bass fuzz)).

It's meant to emulate a classic Marshall JTM45 (and it looks like you are already familiar with the cranked Marshall tone and how good it can sound). The other thing this pedal does well though, is add a slight layer of low boost to my signal. When I kick it on, my tone gets dirtier and more full. Played with a pick it can absolutely grind, depending on how much gain you want to dial in. Pretty simple controls leave you with a master volume/master tone/master gain, sub frequency switch (1, 2, or 3) and a gain switch (low/high).

If you are curious how it drives, I can record some clips.

rockstarbassist · #11 01-21-2011, 10:16 AM

If you can't get pretty creamy from the BB, I dunno brough...

**kenstee** · #12 01-21-2011, 10:24 AM

Whatever you choose make sure you get it from a place with a good return policy so you can try it with your rig and see if it works the way you want. Quite honestly, written descriptions and people's opinions don't matter one bit.

Matt Dean · #13 01-21-2011, 10:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rockstarbassist

If you can't get pretty creamy from the BB, I dunno brough...

+1

LongHairFreak · #14 01-21-2011, 11:48 PM

Going with pre tubes in a pedal, my favorite OD (light or otherwise) is from DHA.

Laurent · #15 01-24-2011, 04:41 PM

My favorite light overdrive is the Homebrew Electronics Hematoma.
It is also superbly paired to the Fulltone Bass Drive, the Hematoma feeding into the Bass Drive, not the otherway around.
I like the Fulltone running under 18 volts, it makes a big difference.

pbassdave · #16 02-12-2011, 05:40 PM

Dredgetone Angle & believe it or not, Danelectro cool cat drive V1.

12bass · #17 02-12-2011, 09:28 PM

To the OP: Have you tried putting the various OD pedals before the VT Bass instead of after? I've found that the VT works better that way.

**NOLA Bass** · #18 02-12-2011, 10:41 PM

I am really liking my new JHS Lowdrive.

ninepoundjammer · #19 02-13-2011, 03:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 12bass

To the OP: Have you tried putting the various OD pedals before the VT Bass instead of after? I've found that the VT works better that way.

I like to use my overdrive to also boost my signal a bit. If I put this before the VT then I get more gain out of the VT, which isn't what I'm going for.

After posting this I discovered the Barber LTD SR, which seemed right up my alley. It's specifically designed as a low gain overdrive. The LTD overdrive sound works for me, I think I like the SFT overdrive better, but can't deal with its voicing. The thing about the LTD is that about half of the drive range is usable for me, while with pedals like the Xotic BB I'd say maybe 5% is usable for me and it's way to easy to over do it. I only use the overdrive a couple times a night and its tough to get these dialed in on stage.

I'm really going after the light power tube overdrive sound; anything that sounds obviously like an overdrive pedal I'm not going to like. That's probably where I differ from many of you who actually want that kind of overdrive sound. I can't say the LTD overdrive sound is particularly better than most of the other pedals out there, but the fact that's its easy to keep it on the clean side makes it work for me.

Lowbrow · #20 02-13-2011, 03:37 PM

I put an Xotic BB Bass Preamp into a Boss LS2 pedal effect loop, set the LS2 for Mix:A+B, and send a mix of my clean and BB affected signal to a VT Bass.

LS2 lets you mix in a precise amount of OD, just like can in a recording studio. I run the BB at a pretty high volume/low OD, and gradually mix a bit of BB into my clean signal. I'll usually boost the clean signal a bit (the LS2 does that, too.) I run the VT fairly clean - 11:00 drive - and use it like a preamp/tone shaper more than an OD. Any decent amp after that sounds pretty great. Excellent recording signal, too.

My lesson learned: The LS2 is key for light OD! Powerful and cheap.