Another overdrive thread!

[ExurKun]

I'm looking for a pedal thats less than $150, not fuzzy, but rather a concentrated attack. I want something that sounds gritty, crunchy, that straight up growls grr at you but sounds organic, not electronic. Dynamic influence on the distortion would be a plus. I've been looking at the ibanez PD-7 and XXL Bass with warp, what do you guys think about those or any other suggestions? Trying them out isn't really an option :/
Rock on!

 

[fivestringgecko]

"Concentrated attack" to me says you should check out a Way Huge Pork Loin or a Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive. The Pork Loin is pretty popular around TB, but you'd have to find one used to fit your price bracket. The Sparkle Drive is a Tubescreamer clone. I sent mine to Robert Keeley for modding, which you could do down the road. It's a pretty darn good overdrive stock, mods are worth EVERY cent. Twice the gain available and more open.

FWIW, I just sold my Pork Loin and kept the Sparkle Drive.

For "dynamic influence," check out the Catalinbread SFT. One of my two current fav overdrives (the other is a Tubeworks BlueTube, but that's probably not what you're looking for). You can get a wide variety of sounds out of it... Ballsy crunch to Motown. Not quite as much attack as the other two, but it has a much warmer sound than the Pork Loin or Sparkle Drive and cleans up really well when played light.

5sg.

 

[Crystalman85]

The ibanez pd-7 would be a good choice if you want a bluesy overdriven sound. another good choice would be a way huge electronics pork loin overdrive pedal and a voodoo lab sparkle drive overdrive pedal.

 

[dokazaado]

for what you're describing, I'll add another vote for the Catalinbread SFT.

 

[Laurent]

I would consider the Fulltone Bass Drive or the MXR Blowtorch for a more aggressive option.

Pork Loin is a soft clipping pedal and might not deliver the concentrated attack your are looking for. That being said it's an amazing pedal.

 

[tomhanzo]

Well for cheap just to try i would do this:

get a digitech bad monkey. Its a basic Tubescreamer circuit. If you like that, then you find a nice version of the circuit.

 

[bigchiefbc]

Just to make it clear, the Catalinbread SFT is going to give you an Ampeg-like sound, because that's what its modeled after (like the Tech 21 VT Bass), so make sure that's the tone you want.

The XXL Bass is NOT going to give you a warm, touch-sensitive overdrive, that is a hard-core distortion pedal. I've found the Ibanez PD-7 will give you a decent overdrive, but it doesn't have the touch-sensitivity (dynamic attack), either.

Not sure about the Pork Loin, I haven't tried it.

The Fulltone Bass Drive and the Digitech Bad Monkey are both based on the Tubescreamer, so that is the general sound you're gonna get.

My two favorite overdrives are the DHA VT-1, and (my current overdrive) the Tech 21 Leeds. But that is an emulation of the old vintage Hiwatt amps, so you have to like that tone.

 

[Unrepresented]

I love my Bass Drive. It's a couple bucks more than your budget new, but used you can find one for that price. The tone you're describing sounds a lot like the tone I am after, and I feel that the Fulltone gets me there.

Link in sig to recordings where it's used frequently.

 

[iamdenialNJ]

You want the pork loin.

 

[Sam N]

In the past year I have owned (and sold most)

Fulltone Bassdrive
Tech 21 PBDD
Tech 21 VT Bass
Tech 21 Leeds
Xotic RC Booster

The Pork Loin is currently doing the job just fine. Got mine at GC for under a $100.00 brand new.

 

[fitz420]

+1 for Pork Loin, SFT or Sparkle Drive.

 

[Matt Dean]

In the same vain as Pork Loin and Sparkle Drive I recommend the Xotic Bass BB. It's a TS variant that sounds awesome and has a smaller footprint.

 

[bassboysam]

A used Fulltone OCD might do the trick. Been using a version 3 OCD recently and have been very impressed. Sounds better with lower output basses, but that's what the volume knob on the bass is for.

 

[khabalah]

In the same vain as Pork Loin and Sparkle Drive I recommend the Xotic Bass BB. It's a TS variant that sounds awesome and has a smaller footprint.

+1 for the xotic BB, great little pedals!

 

[blastjv]

Agro.

 

[Footbutt]

i've owned the Fulltone BassDrive for several months now and i realize for live purposes, it does the trick.
in studio, i just crank up my amp to get distortion.

what i liked (like) about the Fulltone is the secondary boost, so you can dial in a beefy setting, then kick in a huge boost to really drive.
i just find that the BassDrive isn't bright enough for me. it kinda such the "balls" out of my tone, if i can say that here.

 

[CaptainWampum]

Get the Earthquaker Monarch so you can tell us how it sounds on bass.

 

[ExurKun]

Whoa a lot of replys and a lot of new suggestions to go check out..
to clarify things a little, the tone im going for is close to the chours 11-:30) here
Im playing through a GK BL 600 and warwick 411, with a fender jazz deluxe american
I'm really just looking for straight up as much growl grr factor as possible, with grit that just sounds mean and crunchy.
I'll look into all those other pedals, are the PD7 and XXL bad for me then? they didnt seem to get much support haha

 

[crapusername]

i can nail that sound with a pick and my warlock into the m80, pushing the mids into my 70's watkins dominator.

i'm pretty sure the VT bass could give you a result there, but do try the pork loin too. But don't be put off by the factory settings on the trim pots. i had to do some tweaking with mine to get the sound i was after

 

[ExurKun]

bumpity bump
looked into the pork loin, heard that it was fat sounding which is not what im trying for
please anybody what comes to mind when you hear crunchy growl!