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Bass distortion with top jacks

eloann

eloann

May 14, 2012
825
741
38
Switzerland
#1
Hey there

So I have room for one more pedal on my pedalboard and thought maybe a nice ballsy distortion could compliment it nicely (dirt-wise I already have a very gated Oxide, a mellow You're Doom and a subtly overdriven Vintage Deluxe)
I'd go with a B3K since I've had and enjoyed the B7K for a long time, but there really only is room for a pedal with top jacks !

I really enjoyed this demo of the Heavy Electronics El Oso (of which the redesigned version would fit) Unfortunately it didn't sound nearly as good in other videos - anyone who played one can comment ?


Other options I'm aware of include :
Aguilar Agro - could live with it, I guess
DMB Bumble Bass - not liking the samples a lot
Cusack bass screamer - I feel it wouldn't be agressive enough, plus side power would be a tight fit
Dr Scientist The Elements - had one for a while but kept tweaking its many knobs and switches instead of playing

I'm sure you guys have a ton more to suggest.
 
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#5
I say go for the El Oso. The gain knob has quite a big range, and with the clean blend, you can get a lot of different levels of dirt out of it. Keeps your low end intact, and the highs don't get harsh. I had the large one and sold it due to the size, and regretted it immediately. Bought one of the smaller ones recently, and life is good again.
 
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#8
Folks, keep in mind that most of these recommended pedals are WAY TOO WIDE!

I am in the same boat, and even started a thread about the El Oso...the results were not good.

Right now I have the Agro, Bumble, Smallsound/Bigsound Mini, all narrow pedals with top jacks. For comparisons sake, I also have a B3K, SolidGold Beta, and Blower Box.

For you, would recommend the Smallsound/Bigsound Mini without hesitation. It can get close to the Blower Box on grind, but does have as much bottom end. Its also more versatile at lower gains.

The Agro is brighter and thinner sounding, more of a thrashy sound. The Mini (and blower box) have a lot more meat.

The DMB Bumble is fantastic, but it's a fuzz. One of the best I've heard, but not what you're looking for.
 
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#11
Mosfed said:
Ok - my next suggestion then would be the AnalogMan Prince of Tone. Top jacks, normal size, three modes - distortion, OD and boost. Sounds great on bass.
Click to expand...
Can't find any bass samples of the AnalogMan - have you got any ?

mmbongo said:
For you, would recommend the Smallsound/Bigsound Mini without hesitation. It can get close to the Blower Box on grind, but does have as much bottom end. Its also more versatile at lower gains.
The Agro is brighter and thinner sounding, more of a thrashy sound. The Mini (and blower box) have a lot more meat.
Click to expand...
The mini is definately interresting and I didn't know they made them with top jacks. Will seriously consider this one.

There's also a couple pedals from Greenhouse Effects that spiked my curiosity.
And I found a 2nd video of the El Oso with THAT sound...

I'll probably end up getting 2-3 pedals to compare heads up with my setup.
 
#12
The old Rat Tail was in a smaller enclosure with top jacks. I can lend mine to you if you want to try it. But you'd have to find a used one because I ain't selling it. And I probably won't need it before 2015... :)

Check some of the Earthquaker Devices as well, they have several pedals with top jacks.

But do you really need a fourth distortion...? :D
 
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#13
I tried an Earthquaker Hoof a while ago but found it didn't cut through the mix enough.

I don't really need it but I have room for it and got pretty much everything else I'd need : Octaves (clean & synthy), reverb, compression, chorus, filter, bit crusher... so I can't think of anything else that would be useful. Maybe an Arpanoid...
 
#14
Well I think a rat tail could be a great in-between distortion. With top jacks I also have an Eartquaker Organizer if you're interested in playing with it.

maybe a delay?

show a pic of your board so that we can start suggesting ;)
 
#15
Keep in mind that a Rat Tail with top jacks is still as wide..or wider..than a larger pedal with all top jacks because of the power connector and switch that stick way out on the side.


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#16
Earthquaker pedals were mentioned...I tried the Talons and was hugely disappointed. It's definitely a guitar pedal. No bottom, no meat, no nuts. The rest of their pedals are Fuzz or have side jacks. The Hoof is the best of their narrow top jack fuzz pedals for bass.
 
#17
mmbongo said:
Earthquaker pedals were mentioned...I tried the Talons and was hugely disappointed. It's definitely a guitar pedal. No bottom, no meat, no nuts. The rest of their pedals are Fuzz or have side jacks. The Hoof is the best of their narrow top jack fuzz pedals for bass.
Click to expand...
The Terminal has top jacks. But I haven't seen any reviews from bass players, though I suspect Juan Alderete's probably done a demo somewhere.
 
#19
Lebowsky said:
Well I think a rat tail could be a great in-between distortion. With top jacks I also have an Eartquaker Organizer if you're interested in playing with it.

maybe a delay?

show a pic of your board so that we can start suggesting ;)
Click to expand...

Had an Organizer for a while but didn't care for it. And I've now got a HOG2 for that kinda job.

I thought of a delay but I don't fancy the small analog ones with limited control and couldn't fit a Strymon Timeline no matter how hard I tried.
I've got a spot saved for the upcoming BeatBuddy I might end up sticking a Flashback on, but in the meantime I could turn the Dr Scientist BitQuest I normally use for bit crushing into a delay if I wanted to.

Can't take pics of the board now since it's at the practice room but it goes/will go (build in progress) :

Korg Pitchblack tuner (modded for buffered bypass)
(Digitech The Drop?)
Boss PS-6 (w/ expression pedal for whammy octave up)
Iron Ether Subterranea (synthy octave)
Electro Harmonix HOG2 (MIDI controlled for presets & stuff)
Iron Ether Oxide (high gain gated)
3leaf You're Doom (low gain synthy)
(?distortion?)
Iron Ether Polytope (detune chorus from outer space)
Dr Scientist BitQuest (Bit Crusher, or ring modulator, or delay, or flanger, or...?)
Iron Ether Xerograph Deluxe (been waiting for it for a while...)
([sfx] Micro Thumpinator?)
Empress Compressor
Strymon BigSky (MIDI controlled for presets & stuff)
(BeatBuddy?)
Darkglass Vintage Deluxe

All the pedals in red go through a midi controlled programmable looper
 
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