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Bass Distortion

#22
If you're playing stoner/doom metal, you're going to need a fuzz that will *almost* always be on. If you're capable of resisting the urge to spend literally thousands on pedals (though the good stuff is easy to resell) I would go with one of the muffs discussed here.

Fuzz, overdrive and true distortion are different beasts.
 
#23
A sansamp pedal is almost a "must" to have, same go for a version of Tube Screamer.
Then you have all the fuzz pedals, but I'm not really into those, but there are many here which know a lot about fuzz.
A very good pedal I own is the Onkartgromt Grombass. It is a Norwegian distortion pedal which uses 3 types of diodes: Germanium, silicon and led.

Thus pedal have several modes and filters, so lots of different distortions.
 
#24
A good solution is the Dan Electro Cool Cat Drive. Set the internal trim pot to full and the dip switch to fuzz. It is an inexpensive pedal that sounds FANTASTIC, especially with a good tube head. I ran a Fender Jazz into a Bassman 300 Pro into a Genz 610 with this pedal and it KILLED. IMO, It is one fine sounding and versatile pedal...
 
#27
I play in a Stoner/Doom band and for over three years i played through just about every pedal i could get my hands on.....and though i found many that sounded good and sometimes great, i still wasn't happy with my overall sound as i seemed to loose note definition or lost too much of my high and high midrange frequencies

so i tried something old school so to speak

i basically play through two rigs on stage at the same time....i run one head and one cab clean....and I run the other head and cab dirty...

as for pedals i decided that touring with fancy boutique pedals was a recipe for disaster....so i opted for pedals that could be easily replaced (well except for one) and i bought a back up for that one just in case...

basically my dirt signal is a an OD run into a Devi Ever Dark Boost that is in turn run into Fuzz and finally into a rackmounted Sansamp....

the clean signal path is basically bass run into a Sansamp and then to my amp

my basses have been modded for dual output....prior to that i was using a signal splitter to run my signal to my two different amps.

sounds like a lot of hassle and extra gear to carry around but the sound i get is quite impressive and usually every gig we play people come up and compliment me on my tone and overall sound

hope that helps

have to tell you though sound guys usually hate me...lol
 
#28
Aww good ol dirt/fuzz! You're looking for a stoner/doom fuzz huh? Here is what I got to offer.....

Way Huge Swollen Pickle: low end for days! And sustain..

Fender Sub-Lime Bass Fuzz: can get really bassy and retain your note definition.

Tech 21 Red Ripper: has a powerful 3 band EQ so it can make a LOT of different sounds including doom/stoner stuff for sure!
 
#30
Hey anyone listen to Om, which is Al from Sleep? His bass sound that he has is by far the greatest on the planet. His distortion is top of the mountain. Any clue what you think he uses?

I saw Sleep last year and he had 2 Ampeg heads that looked like SVT Classics but they were taller and deeper. Huge bass heads. Searched the Internet and found nothing about them. I know he uses Emperor Cabs, sometimes Ampeg Cabs, and I am sure he still has his Green Cabs.
 
#31
Jd261808 said:
Hey anyone listen to Om, which is Al from Sleep? His bass sound that he has is by far the greatest on the planet. His distortion is top of the mountain. Any clue what you think he uses?

I saw Sleep last year and he had 2 Ampeg heads that looked like SVT Classics but they were taller and deeper. Huge bass heads. Searched the Internet and found nothing about them. I know he uses Emperor Cabs, sometimes Ampeg Cabs, and I am sure he still has his Green Cabs.
Click to expand...

I'm on my iPhone, so I can't cut and paste URL's in, but if you search Al Cisneros and Sleep, you'll see a few results. He uses a Boss DS-1 among other things.
 
#32
sillyfabe said:
Aww good ol dirt/fuzz! You're looking for a stoner/doom fuzz huh? Here is what I got to offer.....

Way Huge Swollen Pickle: low end for days! And sustain..

Fender Sub-Lime Bass Fuzz: can get really bassy and retain your note definition.

Tech 21 Red Ripper: has a powerful 3 band EQ so it can make a LOT of different sounds including doom/stoner stuff for sure!
Click to expand...

I use the Sublime bass fuzz as my *almost* always on pedal in my Doomy band. I got a Rat Tail a little bit ago and use that when I need to keep it sounding heavy when the guitarist starts noodling (its a trio). Playing out of two 215s helps too :bassist:

I have the black russian muff but can't really get the sounds I want out of the thing without losing low end. That said, a lot of people love what it can do.

Also plenty of big time bass players manage to sound massive with just a DS-1 and/or an ODB-3.
 
#34
ItsMichaelYeah said:
Agreed. Different pedals work better or worse with different rigs.

At the end I would say go and try out pedals. I've been in the bass dirt game for about 10 years and have gone through 20+ pedals. As of now I'm all about my Fuzzrocious rat tail, Fuzzrocious grey stache, and blackout effectors twosome.

But even thought these work for me it all depends on that ideal sound you have in that crazy little head of yours.
Click to expand...

THAT COMMENT IS THE SMARTEST COMMENT EVER SAID TO ANSWER THE "WHICH IS THE BEST DISTORTION PEDAL" QUESTION.
 
#39
rratajski said:
I'm on my iPhone, so I can't cut and paste URL's in, but if you search Al Cisneros and Sleep, you'll see a few results. He uses a Boss DS-1 among other things.
Click to expand...

Mountainking Electronics Megalith too.

As for me, I've been going back and forth between the Black Russian Big Muff, and a Green Russian Clone that I had a friend build for me. The Black Russian has more high-end roll off, but I'd say it has a bit more gain.

I modded my Black Russian by bridging one of the emitter resistors, to give it a bit more gain- it would feedback when it was stock, but I had to really MAKE it feedback if I wanted it to, with a clean boost. Bridging the resistor made it a lot easier to get decent feedback and more gain out of it without losing ANY of its character. It's really REALLY perfect with a Zvex SHO clone in front of it. Totally awesome thick tones, but you can still get a decent subdued bass tone out of it.

The Green Russian is awesome as well, but I find it a lot more well suited for bass. I've never tried one of the new Bass Big Muffs but they also look promising.

As far as any new pedals to add to the discussion, if you could have someone build you a clone of a 4MS Noise Swash I don't think you'll be disappointed. Its got a lot of tonal diversity, as long as you aren't hoping to get anything but raunchy distortion out of it. It's not got the BEST low end, but I sure can get a variety of different tones out of it.

You might also try a DOD Death Metal, I found that with the Bass all the way, Mids 90%, and high's about 8 o'clock you get a really nice distortion with a decent low end that can cut through the mix.
 

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