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A very natural, rich sounding, subtle overdrive.
- Thread starter jmjbassplayer
- Start date
I've never been huge on Tubescreamers modded for bass, but I've owned the Xotic BB and borrowed the Cusack and between the two I liked the Xotic a fair amount more. As always, your mileage may vary.
Probably my favorte TS variant for bass was the Fulltone Bassdrive which I believe is now discontinued. Lost a bit of bass (I ended up using a blend pedal - Xotic X-blender or Boss LS-2 with it) but sounded fantastic.
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For the truest natural overdrive get a tube amp with a wattage just low enough that, when played at live volumes, it is slightly pushed. But if that doesn't float your boat, try to get an Eclair Engineering Evil Twin Tube DI Box. They're expensive but...holy sh*t...the tone is...just listen:
First pedal I thought of when I read JMJs post was the Southampton 5th Gear. So I'll will third that pedal. One knob pedal that doesnt need EQs or toneshapers, or a blend.
I'm going to second what a lot of people have said:
Pork Loin- Low gain OD that ads just a little grit to your sound. It has a tone, curve sweep, and built in blend. And its cheap.
Wren and Cuff Suppa Phat Phuk- Also low gain, has a tone, and an awesome name. I was considering getting one as a boost pedal and haven't completely dismissed the idea.
Fuzzrocious Dark Driving or Demon with a LPF\HPF switch- The Dark Driving is a lo gain OD and the Demon is a clone of an OCD. Both can do tube breakup levels of dirt, and if you roll the tone all the way down on the Demon and engage an LFP mode, it is very warm.
Pork Loin- Low gain OD that ads just a little grit to your sound. It has a tone, curve sweep, and built in blend. And its cheap.
Wren and Cuff Suppa Phat Phuk- Also low gain, has a tone, and an awesome name. I was considering getting one as a boost pedal and haven't completely dismissed the idea.
Fuzzrocious Dark Driving or Demon with a LPF\HPF switch- The Dark Driving is a lo gain OD and the Demon is a clone of an OCD. Both can do tube breakup levels of dirt, and if you roll the tone all the way down on the Demon and engage an LFP mode, it is very warm.
Great thread. I too would like something that functions like my trusty BB, but is a slightly different flavor.
I'm def not on here as much as I used to be, but it seems as though the Grizzly has gotten a serious reputation on here for being a great dirt box. I may have to re-watch some demos. I'm more than happy with my Pork Loin, but you just never know do you?!
- Aug 3, 2007
- 1,678
- 2,146
- Disclosures
- Current: Blackstar, DR strings, Nady. Previous endorsements with: GK, Rotosound, Ernie Ball, Cleartone, EMG, Dean, Dava Picks, Rebel Straps, Dickies
I'm on the look out for the exact same thing. What I've been impressed with so far (based solely on youtube videos, for what they're worth) Is the DOD bass overdrive, Ibanez PD-7, MXR Bass overdrive, Digitech Bad Monkey (TS clone) and the Ibanez TS mini, which I think sounds better on bass than the full size TS, but needs to be modded to reduce low end. The TS Bass specific pedal isn't nearly as interesting as the original and mini.
I'm going to have a lot of work to do researching all these suggestions!
I'm going to have a lot of work to do researching all these suggestions!
I haven't done much experimentation w/ OD pedals, but I do have the John K modded Pork Loin. I've been using it at pretty much every gig we've done for the last few months and I'm really happy with it. It meets my expectations for subtlety and the John K mod did open up the brightness of it.
If you're looking for a TS clone and or a sort of OCD'ish drive, def check out the Big Game Bedlam too. That thing rules. It would be my main OD if my tastes hadn't slightly changed recently. Still love that thing, but man, the Pork Loin just plain rules.
It may be too subtle depending on what you're looking for, but the EHX Bass Soul Food has a blend and treble control, and isn't particularly gain-heavy. Sounds very warm to my ears. I'm also in a bit of a honeymoon phase with that pedal right now so take that with a grain of salt.
+1
I've had the Grizzly/Holy Fire and the Pork Loin (twice) and they are both in that warm, low gain OD category but pretty different too. Now, I haven't had a Pork Loin since johnk shared the cap swap to brighten it up but here's what I found:
1. The Pork Loin has a naturally dark character while the Grizzly is very transparent.
2. The Pork Loin has a clean blend (a nice one) while the Grizzly doesn't.
3. The character of the PL's grit is sharper and a bit more aggressive while the Grizzly is very round sounding (at least with the Distortion knob off)
4. The Grizzly is very touch sensitive while the Pork Loin isn't touch sensitive at all.
That last bit would seem like a negative for the Pork Loin and as a straight OD it pretty much is, but what was interesting is that, at least for me, it made it an awesome overdrive for use with envelope filters. At first I wasn't sure why that is and then I realized that touch sensitive drives increase the clipping when you dig in, which adds compression to the signal. It's actually working against my dynamics. The Pork Loin, with the clean blend kept the dirt level (and thus compression level) steady and the change in dynamics caused by my playing was reflected in the clean signal and caused the filter to open in response to how I played. Cool.
I normally love Ed Friedland's demos but the Grizzly Bass sounded very different in my hands and with my rig than it does in that video.
I think the mod changes it in more ways than just brightening then. I won't say it's very touch sensitive, but I can be IME. Depending on where you set it. It's not dark in the least now. You'd have to fully CCW the tone to get it to darken up but I still wouldn't say it's dark. And I feel the pork loin is pretty transparent. But then again, that seems to vary from ear to ear.
The darkness is due to the high end rolloff which I'm sure changes with the capacitor mod. Then I could see it being much more transparent (though even the "clean" side of the Pork Loin also colors the tone but not in a bad way) rather than warm or dark.
I'd be surprised if it changes the touch sensitivity of the dirt but maybe I need to try a modded one for myself and find out. This is always going to be dependent on touch, gear etc but as a guy who plays with his fingers, uses relatively high action and a heavy touch and who also digs in very hard when playing aggressively/with dirt I liked the PL but it just didn't seem to react to my playing much at all. I also loved/liked the B3K and VMT when I had them but (while more so than the PL) I didn't find them really touch sensitive either.
For me I generally want an overdrive that is pretty clean when playing lightly and growls when you dig in, just like a tube amp set on the edge of breakup. With the Pork Loin I always felt there was some dirt no matter how lightly I played. As always IMO, YMMV etc.
