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All Bass Pedals Suck....

#41
Thanks for all the input fellas. Even you with the slight digs. I have mentioned the Big Muff 'cause I happened into a black Russian model for 20 bones at a local music store and have seen and am a fan of several dudes that use the Bass Big Muff (the dude from The Steepwater Band for one, Ky Knife Fight for another).

I did run two rigs at rehearsal last night and am able to get a bit of what i'm looking for, however, running two rigs is really overkill and completely unnecessary. When that big rock and roll check hits and I can pay someone to lug around my gear, i'll most def pick up about a 100w Marshall half stack to take care of that nice overdriven sound!

And someone pointed out that perhaps I'm really looking for an overdrive pedal and that's what I'm going to try next. I tried a Fulltone Bass Driver a few years ago when I first started playing bass but didn't know my headstock from my bridge so I didn't know what to do with the Fulltone. Of course now they are out of production and very hard to find....

Alas, I'll dig in with my American Fender P, my Ashdown Mag 300 and my Ampeg HLN 410 and just keep that tone fat and happy. I'll most def try some of these overdrive pedals.

And thanks again, TB rules!
 
#42
kevteop said:
If you've got an SVT just get a boost pedal to overdrive the preamp. Job done.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've got a sansamp tech 21 DI that i use when there's no decent DI at a gig, but I prefer to run the clean signal to my amp. the Sans still seems to "color" my tone and right now I really just prefer the straight signal out of my amp. If there is no decent DI, I'm sending the Sans to the house though. PA speakers don't have the character of my Ampeg HLN.
 
#43
I was amazed at the amount of low end retained with a Wren & Cuff Tall Font Russian.

Honestly, if you like the Big-Muff sound, look into the TFR. Its uber ballsy! Seriously. Low end for days. Mine has a blend but I never use it. Don't need to at all, except maybe to introduce more articulation in the mids/highs. Low end so there, like whoa.

Hope this helps.

Oh, and look into blender/mixers like the Xotic X-Blender and (my personal favorite) Badger Schism. I blend signals all the time and can't recommend it enough for maintaining low end. This way, you can flavor your signal with whatever tone sucking effect you like, and still have your bass signal shine through.

Cheers!
 
#44
Vlad5 said:
I was amazed at the amount of low end retained with a Wren & Cuff Tall Font Russian.

Honestly, if you like the Big-Muff sound, look into the TFR. Its uber ballsy! Seriously. Low end for days. Mine has a blend but I never use it. Don't need to at all, except maybe to introduce more articulation in the mids/highs. Low end so there, like whoa.
Click to expand...

I'll second this idea. My TFR doesn't have a blend, but I don't think it needs one. I also prefer how it sounds to the Sublime that I had before it - I mention this because the Sublime came up a few times earlier in the thread. That is NOT to slam the Sublime at all, as it was very tasty in its own right, just that I prefer the TFR.
 
#47
I know they get plenty of love here, but I always found the Boss PH-2/3 to be a low end sucking turd (no offence). I got one and promptly gave it to my brother who plays guitar. It works fine with guitar.

The Digitech Whammy/Wah 1 sucks on bass. It's the red one that had three others in the series: the gray reverb one, a blue one, and, I think a yellow one (one of them was the space station, and the other mightve been... modulation?). Anyway, the red one also ate up all your low end; not a fan. It also resides with a guitarist friend.
 
#49
The key to getting a good fat bass tone with some hair around the edges is to get one that will allow you to blend the clean signal in with the distorted signal.

The Ashdown bass drive or whatever is one example of a pedal that I have played that did this well.

You can get flavor of the month boutique fuzz pedal and it will suck unless you get one that allows you to blend in the clean signal.

Go forth and do well.
 
#51
Not sure its even a problem but maybe the MAG300? I use a MAG300 with a 4 ohm, TB153 cab with either a P5 or J5, both passive basses with flats.

This rig sounds so huge n lush on its own I can't imagine adding any kind of effects pedal to it. Just cause it is so bassy-ballsy-sorta scooped and again just big sounding. I would think any effects pedals would just cause unclear mud outta that rig. Well it did for me.

Now, I may be totally off here as I dont use pedals often. But when I do; I use either of my two Markbass heads, LMII or F1. Or either of my Genz Benz heads, STM-900 or NeoPak 3.5. And even the 900 does not play that well with most my pedals. Also, I use another cab(s) like my GB Neox 212T or two TCE-RS 210's stacked vert, pending on what head I'm using.

Again, not sure I'm addressing the same issue but I really dig that MAG300 when I push back the bass knob some and roll up the mids knobs more. When I dig in, it gets this really nice OD tone that kills. The MAG head is abit underpowered for me and I mostly use it at a couple small clubs, no PA and I have the pre/volume knobs almost wide open. Still it works well then but not well at my bigger rooms.

This may've helped you....Or not. :smug: Good luck.
 
#52
oh yeah, i love the sound produced by my Mag300. I'm pushing an SVT 410 with it and it sounds great! I never use the EG, or any of the buttons on it actually. I'm just wanting that little extra boost for when the band goes balls out! My guitarist uses so much distortion that I'm thinking it's going to be great to jam some bass overdrive into the mix.
 
#53
Heh, and I use all the buttons pushed in; cept for that 'octaver' button. Even the compressor button does a nice job for me with a twist here n there. I keep most the knobs at 12-ish or more but gotta have the pre/vol almost wide open to cut thru a certain band. Again no PA for bass with them. But man, with that TB153 cab and those passive basses; it punches you in the chest like Mike Tyson. :p

Maybe you pushing in some of them buttons might get you some more tone options. And again....or not. Peace, e.
 
#54
ChuckTrucks said:
The key to getting a good fat bass tone with some hair around the edges is to get one that will allow you to blend the clean signal in with the distorted signal.


You can get flavor of the month boutique fuzz pedal and it will suck unless you get one that allows you to blend in the clean signal.
Click to expand...

IMO, a great bass pedal doesn't necessarily need a blend control (some pedals definitely do), but if you ever tried a Wampler Ecstasy/Euphoria i think that it would change your opinion.
 
#56
johnk_10 said:
i've tried about 70-80 overdrive/fuzz/distortion pedals on my basses (and i've built 35 different ones of my own), and imo, if you just want a little 'hair' on the edges without losing punch or affecting your tone, i've found that fairfield circuitry's 'barbershop' is the best one for that. it makes it easy to dial in a clean amp's to sound like a tube amp running in it's 'sweet spot' (i.e. just starting to break up when pushed). and with that one, no clean blend is necessary.
Click to expand...

This caught my eye. Here's a handful of demo videos but most are guitar-specific...but you'll get the idea. Also found a handful on E-bay for $175 new.

http://www.youtube.com/results?sear....0.138.1497.0j12.12.0...0.0...1ac.nm0dSfWpDyc

Riis
 
#58
EBS Tube Drive. Perfect for getting a little "hair" on your sound and really cutting through without losing the sound of your bass, just like a tube bass amp does. Plus it has a passive Fender tonestack so you can use it flat if you just want overdrive or as a tone modifier as well.
 
#59
NoiseNinja said:
Get yourself a pedal that allow you to mix the distorted signal with the clean signal, like the Boss LS-2.
Click to expand...

alot of people think that it's necessary to have a clean blend, but i've often found that on some pedals the, the clean and od signals can end up sounding too separate, artificial, and aren't 'cohesive'. a real tube amp running on the edge of od/distortion or even with ALOT of grind doesn't do that at all. they just break up more when you push them harder and clean up when you use a lighter touch.
 

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