OD/Gain stages at different parts of the board

[Swimming Bird]

I essentially have two pedalboards -- one for 'traditional' bass tones and another for guitar-ish and ambient sounds. Now it occurs to me that for the second board to work the way I want it to I need to have multiple gain stages at different places (not dissimilar from a guitarist having a head set on the verge of overdrive with an OD or light distortion early in the chain).

I've already tried this, but my current setup hasn't worked: Bass >> WH4 >> MXR Blue Box >> WH4 >> Boss PH-3 >> EHX DMM >> BYOC A-Twin >> etc

I use the A-Twin compressor as my 'head' (the octavia bit doesn't work at the moment) and use the Blue Box as my earlier gain stage. Obviously the BB is too much fuzz and noise for this setup (especially going into the DMM) and the comp's overdriven sound is very ugly.

Please: ideas on replacements for each.

I was thinking perhaps one of those Fender/Boss Bassman or Tweed pedals at the end with... a blues driver (?)... instead of the BB. Opinions? I want whatever is on the end to be dynamics sensitive and for the earlier one to also provide grit but be able to push the other further.

Thanks in advance.

[bongomania]

OK, pretty much anything is going to be a better early gain stage than the Blue Box. That's just nuts. There are a million "clean boost" pedals out there, and an EQ pedal also makes a decent and often inexpensive booster. If you want some dirt in that first stage, get a light OD, there are many. Or a DHA if you want a tubey sound.

For the second stage, that Holy Fire pedal grygrx posted recently might be a good bet. Also the Jetter Gear Gain Stage is very dynamically responsive. The Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive maybe. And the OD section of the Pigtronix Disnortion was also very responsive, and I think I heard they put out that OD section as its own pedal recently. The recent Sansamp VT Bass is supposed to be one of their best efforts, I haven't used it but I'm thinking it would be worth a try.

I haven't seen any good reviews of the Bassman or Tweed pedals.

[Lokkenjawnz]

You also might look into the SABDDI, either the programmable version or the regular one, to use as the second stage. The programmable one seems like it'd be very useful in this sort of situation due to the programmable nature of the beast. Three different tones, mixed with pre-gain madness, means quite a bit of versatility.

I personally use a Danelectro Bacon 'n' Eggs into an SABDDI. The BNE on its own is a little hard to use, it sounds ok but a little too treble-y/harsh. There's also the fact that there are no knobs to control it either, making it significantly more difficult to use. Run it into the SABDDI though, and it allows for much more control, and one of my favorite tones ever. Very grindy, gritty, and burly. Give it a try, the BNE is pretty cheap, and works very well with other pedals, making up for it's lack of control on its own.

-Lokkenjawnz

[Swimming Bird]

Tried out a Boss Fender Reverb/Vibrato head sim, Boss Blues Driver and a Barber Direct Drive.

...none of them really did what I wanted. I messed around with the volume controls on my instrument, and it didn't do squat on the Barber and did very little on either of the Bosses. That doesn't seem to bode well for what I want. All of them seem to be light distortions instead of ODs.

So, what's a OD/pre-amp pedal that is very sensitive to input gain?

[bongomania]

Originally Posted by Swimming Bird

So, what's a OD/pre-amp pedal that is very sensitive to input gain?

Originally Posted by bongomania

that Holy Fire pedal grygrx posted recently might be a good bet. Also the Jetter Gear Gain Stage is very dynamically responsive. The Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive maybe. And the OD section of the Pigtronix Disnortion was also very responsive, and I think I heard they put out that OD section as its own pedal recently. The recent Sansamp VT Bass is supposed to be one of their best efforts, I haven't used it but I'm thinking it would be worth a try.

[metalmariachi]

I have my Owen Gremlin near the end of the chain just before delay.

check out the Moan Buffalo, works great as a clean boost at either end of the string.

MM

[Swimming Bird]

Originally Posted by bongomania

Ha ha -- doy. I was so excited that I hadn't found the answer to my problem I forgot to reread the whole post.

I looked at videos of both the Jetter Red Gain Stage (their lightest gain model) and the Holy Fire and I am dismayed to see their price tags. They both look like near-perfect solutions, but that's a lot of cash for a gain stage...

EHX English Muff'n?

[SpankyPants]

The most touch-sensitive distortion I've ever even tried was the Hotcake.

In one song, I go from a bright, clean sound to a completely saturated tone. I'll make a video when I get back from NY.