Pedal virgin wants advice on subtle pedal!

I'm fairly new to the world of bass playing, but i believe i'm now ready for a subtle pedal to bring some of my bands songs alive. We're mostly a folk/rock band, a bit heavier than the pogues but not as full on or as dirty as dropkick murphy's or flogging molly, but somewhere in between. Some of our tunes have a more bluesy feel, which is generally when i just hit the strings a bit heavier, but I figured a nice, subtle pedal could seperate some of the grittier or bluesier tunes we do by adding a slight bit of grit to the sound of my bass. Other songs require a clean-ish tone, but could do with a slight boost during certain parts of the song.

I've listened to a few pedals on youtube and read alot of reviews, but most pedals seem to just be way too full-on for what i need. I figured i need really subtle O/D or distortion, but i know with some pedals even on the lowest setting, once you crank up the volume they get quite harsh.

I do like the fuzz and the dirty bass sound, but it just wouldn't suit the sound of our band. So far the only pedal i've seen that might fit the bill is the EHX Bass Blogger, but i've read alot of mixed reviews about it, although most of the bad reviews seem to be that it is too subtle, but subtle is what i need! Like i said, at times a volume boost would be enough, but at least with this pedal i can go for the warm O/D mode or a low fuzz setting to get what I need.

I use an active ESP ltd b-405 through a hartke 3500

Yeah i don't really need to worry too much about daisy-chaining right now, the music we do only calls for me to be solid for the most part, so this will probably be used on it's own for a while, although i might look into getting a decent chorus pedal at some stage. Cheers for the suggestions anyway guys, i'll try and find out some info on the pedals you've recommended (price, availability, sound clip!) and see what I think. are most of these suggestions regular guitar effects pedals or are they bass-specific? I know you can get away with using regular guitar effects sometimes, and other times you lose all your bottom end tone. I was interested in the mxr 'el grande' bass fuzz, as it has that super-cool 'DEEP' button to boost your low end, but again i think that would be just a bit too full on, mega-fuzz is gonna be a bit too much!

hmm the LoMenzo Hyperdrive looks interesting, seems to have a wide range of sounds, so could probably find a tone i'd be happy with on there. anyone know if there are any other demo's floating about of this pedal?

derrico1 said:

If you haven't used FX before, you might be surprised at the difference b/w subtle-when-soloed and subtle-in-a-band-context.

That is, what sounds perfect in the band mix might sound thin and overdone when soloed; and what sounds wonderful soloed might be indistinguishable from your clean tone when the whole band is playing.

Click to expand...

yeah I have heard that before and it's got me thinking a little bit... The bass blogger seemed to have really only two sounds- subtle o/d (which might sound ok when solo but weak in a band mix, on the video demo it doesn't seem to get that much stronger as he cranks it) and fuzz- which would not really suit the sound I'm after even at the lowest setting. Impressed with the look of the ashdown pedal though, it looks like it has a lot of adjustment, all the way from virtually clean tone to mega distortion (if I ever need it at least it's in the tank).

Adjustment is good! I didn't want a pedal that's either 'on' or 'off' in terms of harshness- and you might be right, the blogger's o/d might not be strong enough to cut through

The Ashdown LoMenzo Hyperdrive is definitely looking like a strong contender... it seems to be getting very good reviews and seems to have what i need... quick question though, what's the difference between this pedal and the older 'drive plus' pedal? Can anyone compare them? can't find any demo's of the drive plus. Can pick them up for almost the same price, and for all i can tell the Lomenzo just seems to have a few more features.