Need help choosing OD/Dist/Fuzz

[AndersS]

Hi, long time stalker/first time poster here.

Recently I decided to finally make up my mind and choose 1 pedal of each of the three "drive categories". First off;

How they will be used:
All of the three pedals will be in one loop of a Boss LS-2 with a Sadowsky Outboard preamp in either the other loop or before the LS-2. In the loop along with the three drive pedals will be a VT Bass pedal and a BYOC Tri-boost. I use the VT Bass as a drive tamer/eq/general toneshaper at the end. I also sometimes overdrive it and in doing so push the mids further up in the mix with the Tri-boost.

What I need:
First of all it would be nice if your suggestions weren't ridiculously, like say a Klon Centaur or the like.

Also I will be using these drive pedals with g****r as well so it would be nice if the pedals were "useable" with the above mentioned six-stringed plank.

Overdrive:
My current overdrive pedal is a TC Electronic Vintage Bass Distortion. I'm not that fond of this one, it doesn't seem like very natural overdrive and the tone control feels very mild.

What I'm looking for is an overdrive that can go from mild/dirty boost-ish to biting and gritty. Pedals I've considered include Fulltone OCD, ZVEX Box of Rock and Xotic Bass BB Preamp. I found it hard to find an example on the subtle side since that usually gets buried in the mix, so heres two examples that I like, although I'd like the overdrive to be capable of more overdrive than these:

Nine Inch Nails - Discipline
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mz-m4oZLfYU

Veto - Digits
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKVCo1HyM38

Distortion
For distortion I can describe what I want no better than the bass sound in this Wolfmother song (not a Wolfmother fan myself, though).

Wolfmother - Joker and the Thief
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKjV_bWnFCM

I've tried both the EHX English Muff'N and the Blackstar Dual Distortion and none of them seemed to be able to do a sound THAT beefy and THAT choppy.

Fuzz
For fuzz I've currently been using an HBE UFO which is a very nice fuzz that I love, i just wish that it'd been more versatile. Sometimes it just cuts through a bit too much. I also own a Russian Big Muff (a black one), but it seems to get buried in the mix. I tried a Way Huge Swollen Pickle, but it just seemed too dark. What I'm after though is a fuzz capable of roaring sustain and not so roaring sustain as well as some kind of adjustable mids. I don't have a good example of the fuzz sound that I'm looking for.

So thank you for sticking with me through the long post. I'd be very grateful if you could come with any suggestions and/or sound-/videoclips

Anders

[Planet Boulder]

For the Wolfmother vibe, look no further than the Jeckyll & Hyde, using both the distortion and OD settings. It's two pedals in one, neither by itself is great, but together, you can nail the Wolfmother sound.

[rr5025]

For the NIN song try the JMJ section. I'm sure he could lend you a hand and point you in the right direction.

[RickenBoogie]

Well, I think you're on the right track considering the OCD. For fuzz, I really like the Zvex Mastotron, but on guitar, the Fuzz Factory. (never tried Mastotron with guitar).

[vegas532]

Keep an open mind and try a Swollen Pickle again except open it up and mess with the internal dial this time. There is a whole world of tones in those internal knobs.

[AndersS]

Thank you for the replies I think I will try the OCD and the Swollen Picke the next time I'm at the local music store, but as there are no Visual Audio dealers in Denmark, do you know of a place where I can finde sound clips of the Jekyll and Hyde on bass?

Anders

[wetzelman1]

you might scoff at the suggestion, but the Bass Big Muff sounds like a good candidate for your fuzz. May not get as crazy as some other fuzz's but it can really get so many different useable tones. It actually helps give me more presense in a loud band setting. Totally rips on the dry setting with the sustain cranked. The tone knob then adjust the frequency range and can really punch in the mids.

[MarshallLaw]

Originally Posted by vegas532

Keep an open mind and try a Swollen Pickle again except open it up and mess with the internal dial this time. There is a whole world of tones in those internal knobs.

i agree. spend a little time with the Pickle and you'll see there are endless tones in that little green box.

[AndersS]

No one has a link to a demo or soundclip of a Visual Sound Jekyll and Hyde on bass?

[AndersS]

Has anyone compared a box of rock and an OCD? And if so whats your opinion?

[dannybuoy]

For Wolfmother tones I use a VT Bass, with a BB Preamp in front of it for the heavier ones. However, that track you posted is all organ, no bass guitar!

That NIN track was already posted before by the guy who actually played and recorded it, Justin Meldal-Johnsen - it's a Geddy Lee jazz bass into a VT Bass into a power amp if I remember.

[AndersS]

Originally Posted by dannybuoy

For Wolfmother tones I use a VT Bass, with a BB Preamp in front of it for the heavier ones. However, that track you posted is all organ, no bass guitar!

That NIN track was already posted before by the guy who actually played and recorded it, Justin Meldal-Johnsen - it's a Geddy Lee jazz bass into a VT Bass into a power amp if I remember.

I don't find the other Wolfmother bass tones all that extrodinary, but what I'm really after is the texture in that song.

Nice, thank you.

[vintagevibe72]

Ampeg SVT-II sitting on top of a SWR Henry 8 x 8, pedal board holds volume pedal, fulltone wah, old Ibanez chorus, Carl Martin compressor and Xotic effects BB bass preamp. Tried the Aguilar and didn't get quite what I wanted, tried the new VT pedal from Sansamp, tried the Fulltone stuff(I'm sold on the Fulltone stuff for my guitars) and the only thing that gave me the grit I wanted and also really fattened up the tone with my wah is the Xotic effects pedal. Really, really good stuff and didn't have to work too hard to find the tone.

[savinggrace]

Originally Posted by AndersS

Hi, long time stalker/first time poster here.


Distortion
For distortion I can describe what I want no better than the bass sound in this Wolfmother song (not a Wolfmother fan myself, though).

Wolfmother - Joker and the Thief
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKjV_bWnFCM

I've tried both the EHX English Muff'N and the Blackstar Dual Distortion and none of them seemed to be able to do a sound THAT beefy and THAT choppy.

Anders

have you tried switchign out different tubes in the Blackstar HT Dual Distortion?

Also your amp and speakers have to be taken account.

There simply is no better sounding distortion (other than tube amp distortion) that I have encountered for solid state than the Blackstar HT Dual. If that pedal doesn't work for you, I have been told using a Ampeg V2 or Marshall JT45 clone is the way to go.

[AndersS]

I didn't have the option of switching out the tubes as I tried it in a music store. It just didn't seem to be able to do a choppy distortion.

Pretty sold on the Box of Rock for overdrive, tried it and it was everything I was looking for. A bit curious about the ZVex Distortron though as it's supposed to be pretty similar to the Box of Rock, no shops i Denmark carry the Distortron though. Does anyone have samples of the Distortron on bass?