Bass Distortion Pedal

[KChristian]

New to bass here I played guitar for a few years now, mostly death metal/hardcore type stuff for genres, but I am looking for a specific tone. I am currently in the process of saving up for a Hartke LH1000 head, and a 6x10 Ampeg cab, as I played it at GC and loved the way it sound3e. I was curious on peoples opinions for distortion, or any other pedals I should chain. I know there are a few other threads about this topic, but most of them suggested Fuzz pedals, and I'm not really a big fan of the fuzz noise.

I have no budget, so any suggestions would be awesome. I am going for more of the tone in the video linked. It's very thick and boomy and retains low end, but still very clean sounding. Perhaps he is not even using a distortion pedal, but I feel he must be using some type of effect. I watched a recent studio video about them, and I know he runs direct in over a Tech 21 VT Bass Rack, which I would consider getting, but I recently watched some review videos, and felt it didn't really add anything other than more EQ, but perhaps I'm wrong. It could also just be studio editing, but they sound nearly the same live. Any ideas?

 

[Sir Sly Ry]

I've never really used any dirt on bass yet (eventually that will change) so I don't have experience. i.e. take this with a grain of salt but that bass tone sounds more like it's overdrive than distortion or fuzz. Others more knowledgeable than me may be able to help you out though.

 

[SplinteredSkull]

That's a very metallic overdrive sound. I believe a Darkglass B3K will get you there

 

[Sir Sly Ry]

Check this out. Compare his clean tone to the overdriven tone with a B3K pedal. Maybe that's along the lines of what you're looking for?

 

[MultiScaleMale]

I guess I'm officially old. I watched the vid and kept laughing while trying to hear the "tone". (All in jest.)

Definitely agree that the B3K is what you want. It costs more, but you can pay now or waste money on lesser pedals along the way when you'll end up with the B3K or the B7K if you want a DI.

I think I may use that for a ring tone when the on-call people call me. ;-)

 

[8strings0hair]

Most people are probably -and rightfully so- gonna recommend the Darkglass B3K.

The key to most of the very heavy sounds is a clean blend to retain some low end while adding a hefty dose of overdrive/distortion.

The Okko Basstard is great too, gets very heavy, though warmer and not as compressed and grindy.

On the less expensive scale: the Ashdown James LoMenzo Hyperdrive will get you great heavy tones as well.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Crap. Now I listened to it twice. Earworm in the making.

 

[Jeff Bonny]

Check out johnk's collection for some ideas.

Trying stuff in person is essential...what works for one person often sounds like ass to another. Go to the music store and be a pest. Craig's list is a great place to find cheap stuff.

 

[KChristian]

Thank you for the quick responses! I'm a guitar player just now picking up the bass, so I'm used to needing tons of effects to shape my sound, with the bass it seems like it's more of the player than equipment.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

At least you're starting out with good equipment amp-wise. So many people try to get a Rumble 50 watt amp to battle Marshall full stacks by adding a pedal.

 

[callofcthulhu]

That tone is utterly disgusting. I love it.

I wouldn't be surprised if they were using a gated synth triggered by the bass though.

You're probably going to want to pair your dirt with very heavy compression to get that inhuman machine grind kind of sound.

 

[KChristian]

I'm curious, will solid state affect the darkglass pedal? When I first got my ts9, I ran it through my Line 6 for guitar, it muddied the tone a lot, but when I ran it through my Peavey it was much more clear and really boosted the sound. I know there is a preamp in the darkglass, I'm just curious if it will emulate the tube sound, or will become muddied.

 

[Bean639]

My B7K actually sounds better with my solid state head. I dunno, could just be me.

I think another key to the tone in the video might be talking your guitarist into turning his volume so low that he is barely audible. Just saying.

 

[el murdoque]

when the TE says he's got no budget it's kind of mean to suggest the B3K.

Dirt cheap and lots of tone for the money:
joyo Ultimate Drive.

 

[KChristian]

I apologize, I meant no budget as in no limit to the amount of money.

 

[Snakeman1066]

Darkglass B3k is the current favorite around here along with it's big brother the B7k


but there are literally hundreds of pedals that will get you where you want to go

Took the liberty of listing a few...lol (Highlighted some of my personal favorites)

MXR Blowtorch
GK Diesel Dawg
Ashdown Hyper Drive
DMB Bumble (should really check this one out!)
ZVex Basstortion
DR NO Black Magic
AMT Bass Pig
T-Rex Bass Juice
Catalinbread SFT
MXR Bass Overdrive
HAO Rust Ride
OKKO Basstard
ProTone Blasko
Fulltone Bass Drive
Pigtronix Bass Fat Drive
Empress Multidrive and Heavy
Buzzard Bass Ovedrive
HBE Hematoma
Devi Ever Dark Boost
Proco Juggernaut
MP Blueberry

etc. etc. etc. on into Ad nauseam

your gonna have to listen to samples and play a few before you can really make a determination for yourelf

you need something with (mids) to help you cut through and something with a blend (or add a blend pedal) to add some fundamental back to your signal (IMHO)

welcome to the chase..good luck in the rabbit hole!!!

 

[amir93smith]

Ashdown james lomenzo hyper drive...amazing pedal, especially that instead of having bass, treble nobs, you have a frequency nob which well lets you pick a nice frequency to distort (personally i like to mess with this to get from a fuzzy sound to a nice tight distortion between 9 o'clock and 1-2 o'clock) also the mix knob whick lets you choose how much you are mixing with your clean signal which helps in retaining bottom end