pedal for "fat tuby overdriven sound" through a transistor amp?

[clegg]

So I bought a peavey combo 300... Extremely loud, clean amp. I've always only ever wanted to use tube amps, but having heard great things about this amp, i took the plunge.

Now, I tried it, and I'm discouraged because with so many freaken options on the EQ, it's confusing me more than anything else, and I'm having a tough time getting a deep, fat sound off of it.

maybe I should have stuck with a tube amp..


In any case, I'm new to bass gear, but I'm basically looking for a pedal that can give me a fat, 60s/70s thumpy smooth sound, that can be overdriven...


I'm playing through a MIM jazz.


Any advice would greatly be appreciated.

[Kirkowitz]

You might try the Tech 21 VT bass pedal. Lots of reviews on here, samples on youtube.
Goes for about $150 new.

[ga_edwards]

Everyone else will say it, so I'll get in there first. Tech 21 VT Bass. Ampeg simulator in a box.

[JimmyM]

vt: pedal of the future.

[ItsMichaelYeah]

The whole character series pedals from tech 21 give you a nice warm tube bass sound. But the vt gives you that classic ampeg tube sound.

[HeroSammich]

Try taking a look at Blackstar's HT pedals. They have an actual tube in them that helps to create a very nice, warm sound. While they're geared more towards guitar, I tried mine out on bass and it gives a nice tube overdrive/distortion without dropping out the bottom end. I've actually got a Sansamp VT on my board too, which only seems to sweeten the sound further.

[René_Julien]

Originally Posted by ItsMichaelYeah

The whole character series pedals from tech 21 give you a nice warm tube bass sound. But the vt gives you that classic ampeg tube sound.

I haven't tried overdriven, but the Liverpool sounds great on bass... clean-ish.
Don't own it, but my guitarist favors it.

I'm getting the new Leeds (for my bass) as soon as it's available.


The VT Bass is awesome if you are after that Ampeg simulation.

But the OP isn't restricted to amp simulators.
Fulltone Bass Driver is a great option.
Colorsound also has a great overdrive for bass but I forgot the name.

[René_Julien]

Originally Posted by HeroSammich

Try taking a look at Blackstar's HT pedals. They have an actual tube in them that helps to create a very nice, warm sound. While they're geared more towards guitar, I tried mine out on bass and it gives a nice tube overdrive/distortion without dropping out the bottom end. I've actually got a Sansamp VT on my board too, which only seems to sweeten the sound further.

+1 on Blackstar

[NKBassman]

+1 on the VT Bass, never tried it myself, but everyone else here seems to love it.

[jimmy rocket]

You might also look at the OLC Flipster. It's like instant old-school.

[meRTKendrew]

How about something from Dave Hall Amps?

http://www.davehallampsusa.com/


heard nothing but great reviews of any of his products.

RTK

[clegg]

Thank you for the quick replies. So far I've checked out some youtube videos of the VT bass, and it sounds nice! Seems like you can get lots of sounds through it.

I'm going to look into those other pedals now.


To add, we play a few different styles of music. Again, ideally, I'd like a warm thumpy "roger waters" type sound, but we also really enjoy that sonic youth growly type sound, Mike Watt's powerful sound, Joy Division's distortion, ...

If I can get a pedal that comes close to covering most of these angles, I'd be a happy man! (my main priority thoguh, is to get it sounding warm and tubey, and moving forward from there).

[billoetjen]

I'm not by nature a pedal/effects guy. BUT - I've been messing with a Sansamp VT Bass that I got a week ago. Ummm, just look up the threads here on TB. It is that good.

[Kromwarp]

I would suggest the Hartke VXL Bass Attack. I have it on all the time and you can go from 70's thump to Chris Squire

[rosstanium]

VT Bass
DHA VT1 EQ pedal is great too.

[Valerus]

Don't forget the Catalinbread SFT. It can get some fat tone. I roll off the lows a little (but there is no low end loss), roll up the highs, roll up the gain and roll down the SFT volume and it gets sexy.

[bassteban]

If you're cheap(like me ), you might check out last year's *flavor of the month* for this question, the Digitech Bad Monkey. They are cheap brand-new, sound great(IMO)& are often modded for better bass(again- I like mine stock but I've seen lots FS both ways).
In the same vein, the older, metal-cased Danelectro Daddy-O is good for light-to-medium levels of OD.

[grue]

If you want to spend a little more, the EBS Valvedrive both kills and slays. I tried all those other pedals and they were almost what I was looking for, but the Valve Drive was exactly what I was looking for. Worth the extra $100, IMO.

[bassteban]

What's the difference between *kills* and *slays*?

[Kromwarp]

Originally Posted by bassteban

What's the difference between *kills* and *slays*?

I think killing simply means to put something out of its misery, Slaying is putting something out of its misery with additude