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another fuzz/overdrive question

E

Elmo Oxygen

Apr 9, 2008
394
1
portland, OR/vancouver, WA
#1
before your fingers get carried away with themselves; yes i searched. for about an hour. so, here it goes...
i wasn't happy with an odb-3. didn't like the old d.o.d. my last band leader used to insist i use. not a big fan of the dist on my m-80 either.
what i want is something warm, not too coloring and subtle if i wish. something like that Nick Oliveri sound (i looked on guitargeek and got nothing). one guy said that he overdrives/bi-amps (or something), hopefully someone else knows of a pedal he uses? maybe something with a 12ax7 in it? i dunno.
in my searches i found that most of you are going to recommend the big muff pi. that's fine but don't bother posting it; i'll look into that. thanks for any suggestions!
 
#2
I'm assuming you're referring to his time in Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age?

The Big Muff would work somewhat for the heavier stuff, but it's far from ideal. His tone has more of a grind to it, that a fuzz pedal distances itself from. You need a good overdrive pedal.

With your current rig (I'm assuming your profile is current?), I'm not surprised you didn't like the Boss ODB-3 and DOD (250, I assume?) - they're pretty far from where you're desiring to be tone-wise.

Nick Oliveri is a classic example of what most bassists do for their overdrive. In other words... the AMP is being overdriven, and no pedal is involved with that.

Based on your profile... the amp and cab you're using are pretty far from the Oliveri sound... so you'll have to improvise. ;)

The EHX English Muff'n, EBS ValveDrive, and DHA VT1 Bass Overdrive would be pedals to consider, if you want something with a tube in it. All should work pretty well for that sort of tone, from personal experience. I'd highly suggest reading more on those pedals here in TB - you'll learn a lot!
 
#3
for something subtle, any one of the million tubescreamer or sd-1's with the "more bass" mod would be good. TS= old school OD, SD1= kida metal sounding. The "more bass" mod just gets rid of the low-cutting in-cap and replaces it with a cap big enough to accomodate bass (or guitar with more lows).

You may even be able to get them to use a .15uf or .22uf (but I've never heard .22uf on a TS or SD1, may be too dark), instead of the usual .1uf to even better accommodate bass, but even the .1uf will do. My fav is the .15uf. This will be a light OD with a mid-bump.

Keeley does one, and many others, but you may be able to find a cheaper modder that people like if you ask around...

good luck,

matt
 
#7
Tube amp cranked to the max. Oliveri's tone is all about power amp tubes distorting, nothing more. Well okay, I've never talked to the dude or even seen him in concert, but my ears hear three things in his tone: Big. Tubes. Loud.

Barring an SVT stack, a BJFE Blue Berry is amazingly close.
 
#9
Check the current issue (Marcus Miller cover) of Bass Player where there's a review of a pedal that sounds like what you're talking about. I can't remember what it was, but it had VT in its name (as in SVT).
 
#11
waynobass said:
Check the current issue (Marcus Miller cover) of Bass Player where there's a review of a pedal that sounds like what you're talking about. I can't remember what it was, but it had VT in its name (as in SVT).
Click to expand...

Tech 21 SansAmp Character Series VT Bass. :D

It's a big improvement over the SansAmp Bass Driver DI, it appears, as it does have a Mid knob and a Character knob to change the overall tone of the pedal.

While it lacks an XLR output, it still looks like a cool pedal. :)
 
#12
Hello fellow Portlander.

The modded ts sounds like good advice.
I have a fulltone bassdrive mosfet and a HBE Hematoma laying around. You are more than welcome to stop by and try them both. I have some fuzzes as well, but they don't sound like they're up your alley.
 
#13
MysticBoo said:
Tech 21 SansAmp Character Series VT Bass. :D

It's a big improvement over the SansAmp Bass Driver DI, it appears, as it does have a Mid knob and a Character knob to change the overall tone of the pedal.

While it lacks an XLR output, it still looks like a cool pedal. :)
Click to expand...

Indeed it does.

I used to own an English Muff'n, but never got it to sound just like a tube amp, FWIW. Close, and real good sounding, yes, same, no.
 
#18
If I were searching for a Nick Oliveri tone and couldn't afford an SVT stack (or two), I'd probably go with either a Sansamp BDDI or VT Bass (as already mentioned by waynobass and Boo), although I have no experience with the latter, it seems worth a shot. Personally I just throw a graphic equalizer pedal after my BDDI to get those mids back, works for me, YMMV .

As nad already posted, Nick's overdrive is nothing but pure, cranked tube OD. I've researched his setup quite a bit in the past, and have been unable to find any mention of a single pedal used by him, nor any pics in live situations. Also, it might be worth picking up a standard Fender P bass, IIRC he also used a Jazz bass during the early days of QOTSA.

I've no idea what he used for Kyuss, but I'm guessing probably a Rickenbacker 4001 or 4003, like Chris Cockrell before and Scott Reeder after him (though Scott later switched to ATK's). Both used overdriven SVT stacks, with no effects.
 

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