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A very natural, rich sounding, subtle overdrive.

#62
Jared Lash said:
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.
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Did you ever mess with the internal trims?
 
#63
gregmon79 said:
Did you ever mess with the internal trims?
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I did and it helped me find the settings I liked but none of them seemed to effect how it reacted to playing. None of them were input gains or anything along those lines IIRC. I do remember cranking what they called the "presence" to get it brighter (again mine was stock) and fiddling with the drive mix.

That was another part of the Pork Loin that was both good and bad. With five knobs and three trimpots there as a ton of stuff to tweak and they all make a difference but the effects of each control are relatively subtle. So I remember constantly fiddling with the thing to get back to "my" setting after it would get bumped in transit to and from gigs or practice.
 
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#64
Sounds to me like OP is describing the Barbershop. It's exactly what I use it for. Though I haven't tried some of the other suggestions (Grizzly, Hardwire), I've found most of the pedals I have tried that were labeled as OD tend to have too much gain too fast and tend to sound like distortion after a certain setting. I'd look for something without baked in EQ (like the MXR Bass OD) or clicky artifacts (Samsamp anything).
 
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#65
Doner Designs said:
One thing I would like is a drive knob that is very insensitive - starting with almost no drive and maxing out with a still fairly subtle effect - so that the knob range/travel is very forgiving. My son's tube screamer (for guitar) is along those lines.
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SIB Fatdrive is close to that description. Subtle - not really an overdrive - more just saturation but sounds natural and rich. Also has tone controls which the OP mentioned.
 
#67
Got the Pork Loin, the Tone Hammer, a couple of others mentioned on this thread. They don't really do what I'm after, though the Pork Loin does it at times, albeit in a somewhat soft, murky way. I really think my favorites that I have that sort of do this are the Tubeworks Blue Tube, Bass BB Preamp and the SolidGold Beta. I used to really dig the VT bass and used it a bunch live with NIN, but since then I just can't get over how touchy the controls are and how sterile and clicky the sound is. So many things have happened since that pedal came out which are superior in every way. However, I'm in Nashville currently, and just bought a Barbershop at the excellent Eastside Music Supply (highly recommended new-ish spot, btw) and now I'm after a Blueberry and maybe a Phat Phuk.
 
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#69
jmjbassplayer said:
...just bought a Barbershop at the excellent Eastside Music Supply (highly recommended new-ish spot, btw) and now I'm after a Blueberry and maybe a Phat Phuk.
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The Suppa Phat Phuc sounds really fantastic, although the demo is through a great sounding amp, so if the pedal was bypassed it would still sound good...

The ratio between "Drive" and "Sag" is the essential balance on the Barbershop -- I didn't get an impressive sound adjusting either of them independently.

Think of them like the gas & the clutch...
 
#70
If I was gonna go Blueberry again, I'd look into the Azure (@Azure Skies) -- I asked him about this drive (the Bearfoot version was too dark and mid-boosty for me), and here's what he said:

"Yeah the Azure Drive can get the Blueberry sounds but I made it capable of being much clearer. I would say it is more transparent than the Blueberry, but can also get more extreme in the gain settings. The tone control is more intuitive; it is a simple boost/cut of treble, rather than a low end boost/fuzz like on the original."
 
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#71
Crazy Otto said:
If I was gonna go Blueberry again, I'd look into the Azure (@Azure Skies) -- I asked him about this drive, and here's what he said:

"Yeah the Azure Drive can get the Blueberry sounds but I made it capable of being much clearer. I would say it is more transparent than the Blueberry, but can also get more extreme in the gain settings. The tone control is more intuitive; it is a simple boost/cut of treble, rather than a low end boost/fuzz like on the original."
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Radical. how do I buy one?
 
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#74
Turn Em Loose said:
If I may be so bold, a tube(-ish) DI may be the way to go. I've got a couple of them and the Ampeg SVT-DI sounds like it may be the ticket for what the OP wants.

Either that or a Tone Hammer DI on low gain.
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Yes, that's already in play with REDDI, Tonecraft, Evil Twin, SVT-DI in use at my studio. I'm just wanting to be able to have something I can throw on a board that's more tweakable for the purpose of light saturation/mild OD.
 
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#75
jmjbassplayer said:
Hi all,

I've been following recent, similar threads and thought I'd ask for more specific recommendations as it pertains to me.

I'm looking for some more subtle overdrive flavors, more on the warm side of things, and not particularly gain-y. Tone controls would be great, and I'm always down if it has a blend, though that's not mandatory. The best pedal I already have that do what I'm after are the Xotic BB Preamp and the Solid Gold Beta. Also maybe the Tronographic Rusty Box, and the old Tubeworks Blue Tube. Those are all cool, I'm just always looking for other similar flavors to those.

Any recommends?

Thanks,
Justin
Click to expand...

Hello Justin. If you can find a Lovepedal Les Lius, try one. No EQ, no nothing. :) (Beware of Les Lius clones.)

There's one on that big auction site right now.
 
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#78
jmjbassplayer said:
Yes, that's already in play with REDDI, Tonecraft, Evil Twin, SVT-DI in use at my studio. I'm just wanting to be able to have something I can throw on a board that's more tweakable for the purpose of light saturation/mild OD.
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Never mind then!

But if you have not had the pleasure, a Tone Hammer DI has got a killer tube-y thing going on and is tweakable. It's a pedal. It's a DI. It's powered by batteries, power supply or phantom power. And, yes: I'm a fanboy. However, mine is hissy. Some users don't report having a hiss. For me it's a non-issue as it doesn't make a diff for my live-use purposes. But in the studio it might be an issue?

Now that I think of it the Agro on low Gain settings might float your boat. The controls are simple yet very effective.

Anyway, welcome to the rabbit hole!! Have fun!!
 
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