muddy distortion pedal, whose fault?

jinithith2 · #1 02-13-2008, 08:58 PM

I just have a question before I do the next round of pedal purchasing.
I foolishly bought a digitech bass driver.... and I was wondering if the muddiness comes from the crappiness of the pedal, crappinnes of my playing, the amp, compression, or the acoustics of the room.
My friends said that Crate practice amps made the licks clearer than an Ampeg B-15, so I really have no clue.

Should I purchase a better distortion pedal, compressor, or just move to a different location?

thanks!

EDIT: my main bass that I use to play distorted is the musicman bongo. I have played it through line 6 75 watt, crate 25 watt practice amp, and an ampeg B-15 which I am not sure how many watts it has... the locations were usually in large rooms or basements will little furniture or anything that would absorb soundwaves, just concrete walls

Hookus · #2 02-13-2008, 09:13 PM

What are you playing through? Nothing you mentioned is listed in your profile. I would imagine it is mostly an EQ issue. Did you try it without the compressor? Did you try different EQ settings? Location in the room?

bongomania · #3 02-13-2008, 10:37 PM

+1 to filling in your profile and letting us know what you're working with. However even without that info I can absolutely guarantee you that buying pedals will not help you. Not one bit. Good tone starts with a decent bass, a powerful-enough amp, and good technique. That includes good distorted tone.

If your amp is genuinely up to the task, and if you have even halfway-decent technique, then the next thing to look at, as Hookus said, is your EQ settings. While placement in the room can be a factor, it can also be mitigated by careful use of the EQ on the amp.

Hookus · #4 02-14-2008, 05:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bongomania

While placement in the room can be a factor, it can also be mitigated by careful use of the EQ on the amp.

I actually prefer amps I get a decent tone easily with, this way, since the EQ is mostly flat to begin with, it gives me powerful tone-shaping ability for situations just like this. On my SVT-4, I never use the graphic EQ unless it it to fix a sound problem.

jinithith2 · #5 02-14-2008, 07:11 AM

Is my rig not showing up in my profile? I have all of it in there.... dunno what happened.
anyways, I put my current set up in the first post

Hookus · #6 02-14-2008, 04:08 PM

No, you just mentioned two amps that were not in it. I never found muddy to be the fault of the pedal, usually EQ.