perpetually on the hunt for a Depth Charge, but I just counted and I'm at 21 dirt pedals atm, so it's not the end of the world if I don't find one anytime soon. definitely have to think about selling some of those off
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Ambient/Post-Rock/Textural bass playing thread
- Thread starter ttasselm
- Start date
@remcult have you had a depth charge? the one person i knew who had one got rid of it due to build quality issues (pe stuff was a bit iffy, iirc).
i mean, i guess that's nice . . . . but you're relying on a *drummer* for the benchmark???
interested in what you all are using od/fuzz/distortion for musically and what sounds you're achieving.
Low gain sound for a bit of breakup and slight volume boost. Works great for thickening up the sound. Great for a solo boost with texture.
Adding texture to sounds for looping and manipulation. Dirt sounds great with lower and upper octave stuff. Works great with the Tensor and CT5 to add some grit.
High gain dirt mixed with a large reverb and controlled with a volume pedal for atmospheric sounds. Makes a great sound for soloistic ventures as well....very guitar like.
Wow, such a simple question......such a complex answer.
I guess when it feels right and serves the « song ».
Even then, rules are made to be broken......who said heavy Fuzz doesn’t work in hip hop....case and point.....Death Grips or Ho99o9......
Or « low gain » fat OD for playing stoner. I’ve done it often and It worked awesome.
Did lots of gigs with just a tuner and a VT bass. From straight ahead cocktail jazz to all out heavy stuff.
Sorry......it’s the best I can do.
i mean, i guess that's nice . . . . but you're relying on a *drummer* for the benchmark???
LOL. In fairness, he's also a bass player (!) and a producer (!!)
Exaggerated harmonic content in order to seed downstream effects with more information [sic]
Melodies or counterpoint lines that need to sound more distinctly "forward" or on the same hierarchical level as other front-line instruments
Chainsaw emulation
As a touchstone to trigger the listener's "This Can't Possibly Be Jazz!" response
Well, my initial test run of the Dreadbox Nyx into the Hilbish Sol Incvictus shows promising results. There's plenty of crunch and weird EQ options. I wonder what the EQ points and and Q look like graphed out. I can essential "turn the volume off" by setting all EQ knobs at 0.
I had long been curious about the MBD-1 / 2 with it's reputation and high praise from most of the dirt aficionados. An MBD-2 popped up in the classifieds at a very reasonable price when I had some cash so I jumped at it. It really lived up to the hype and then some. My one gripe about it is that it seems like a computer where when I change settings it takes a moment for them to register (might be an issue with my actual pedal - I mentioned it in the damnation audio thread), but since I use an ES-8 switcher, it isn't a big deal since I set it and leave it on and access it through the switcher.
That MBD-2 goes from light to downright mean. I use it for balls to the wall distortion. It dethroned my Broughton Bass Box from my main board.
Other dirt on my main board is a Broughton Rumblefish (which is a clone of a really rare spaceman fuzz - I have that connected to a passive pickup emulator to really get that burpiness), a Broghton Dystopia which fills the void for making my bass sound like a screaming lead guitar, and the MBD-2. I also have an ottobit jr that I've been experimenting with MIDI to have a sweepable synth-like distortion (akin to Montreal Assembly's Your & You're). Lastly I have a Broughton Solarian dirty boost towards the end of my chain for extra hair.
Other dirt in my arsenal not on my main board/gets rotated in/out or used on smaller boards/for guitar:
- Broughton Locust Star - Rat based
- HBroughton Bass Box - extreme fuzz
- Voodoo sparkle drive - I'll always love this one on bass - gives an almost hollow body lead tone
- Various PLLs - square wave buzz
- Southampton Pedals - 5th gear v1
- JHS Muffaletta - muff varieties
- JHS Bonsai - tube screamer varieties
- Montreal Assembly Positive - hot cake clone
...I also have 3 other dirt boxes on their way to me that I've long been curious about
- Mar 8, 2011
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- Authorized greenboy designs builder/Owner of BNA Audio
For dirt boxes I just have a Dunwich Volt Thrower and a Reiner Gasoline. They seem ok to me.
Typically with my band I will use a Darkglass B3k, unless I have room and time to use my Ric-o-Sound rig with a guitar tube amp on the treble pickup, in which case I use the amp's natural driven sound.
I've experimented with a Nano Bass Muff, a Digitech Bass Driver, and a few guitar pedals but the B3k has been the dirt I keep coming back to. The Rickenbacker sounds good through it with the knobs all at the middle position, while my hot-pickup'd Westone requires me to dial back the drive knob so that the pedal is really just adding some light driven sparkle to the bass tone. Took me a long time to figure that out.
I've experimented with a Nano Bass Muff, a Digitech Bass Driver, and a few guitar pedals but the B3k has been the dirt I keep coming back to. The Rickenbacker sounds good through it with the knobs all at the middle position, while my hot-pickup'd Westone requires me to dial back the drive knob so that the pedal is really just adding some light driven sparkle to the bass tone. Took me a long time to figure that out.
I've got the Volt Thrower. Mine has a Ge diode in one of the Si positions.
Gasoline wasn't my thing.
I've also got a Germ Warfare by Electrofoods, a Dunwich Wizard and DA 120. I happen to have a Malekko A:Master in my closet on indefinite loan, but I haven't found it to be my thing.
My only “gripe” about the new Sol is that it doesn’t have dual inputs for the Ric-o-Sound, since it has dual outputs and can run the A & B channels in parallel.
I've found that the pedal effects world just isn't built to deal with Ric-o-Sound or other 2-channel basses. I would really like to be able to set up a pedal board so that it takes TRS from the Rickenbacker as an input, and the output can be either two-channel or single-channel depending on which amp rig I am running that night, without having to dismantle and rearrange everything. I know it's possible, but I have yet to find a switcher pedal or combination of pedals which makes it easy. One of these days I need to quit griping and just build my own.
Zoia could do that easily.
R+L inputs. Build one patch with R+L outputs and one with an audio "balance" (blends two sources to a single output) and run a mono out of the R or L. It isn't a cheap way to go about it, but it is easy, and an excuse to buy a Zoia with all the other fun options it provides.
Just saying...
I also have a Germ Warfare. It's a big time favorite of mine. You won't get much dirt from it, but what it does give is glorious.
I debated about the Rad Sickness, since it has a bit more dirt. However, the Germ is handy near the end of the chain to add a little extra grid or sparkle. I even find the low-cut helps for effects-heavy chains where the deep lows turn to mud. I know, low-cut on bass
One of the guys from EF just sent me a Rad to compare to my Germ. They are totally different animals, more so than I thought. The Rad is brighter and meaner. Think Lemmy...hahaha. Perfect for a more aggressive tone. I'll eventually grab a Rad for myself. It would be the perfect roundwound, aggressive, rocker.I debated about the Rad Sickness, since it has a bit more dirt. However, the Germ is handy near the end of the chain to add a little extra grid or sparkle. I even find the low-cut helps for effects-heavy chains where the deep lows turn to mud. I know, low-cut on bass
