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Bass Overdrive / Fuzz / Distortion

BaltBass5

BaltBass5

Supporting Member
May 11, 2011
2,802
6,015
Baltimore, MD
#1
I'm sure that this topic has been covered in many different threads but I wanted to share my opinions and thoughts about some of the various Bass OD / Distortion / Fuzz boxes on the market. I am a die hard fan of using different "Dirt" boxes and I own or have owned a TON of these. Hopefully my insight will help some folks decide on some for their own needs. I'm also interested in hearing others opinions based on their own experiences.

Way Huge Pork Loin - This is my "GO TO" pedal. It has VERY versatile settings including internal trim pots and can produce a wide range of dirt from subtle clipping (Tube style) to a pretty smooth distortion. I typically use this for a mild overdrive just to put a bit of hair on the signal and frequently this is an "Always On" pedal for me. I've also used it for a more grindy, yet warm type of overdrive to play certain grunge style songs. It has a larger form factor than most boxes but on the plus side it uses a Blue LED which can be seen in daylight VERY well without blinding you on a dark stage.

Boss BB-1X - This is a brand new offering from Boss and I currently use 2 in my live rig. The first is an "Always On" pedal that I use similarly to the Pork Loin...basically just adds some gain and "hair" to my signal. The second I use for a dirtier but still warm overdrive. Personally I think this pedal is one of the best out there and it has a wide range of gain allowing for Overdrive to Fuzz. It also features a 1/4" direct output which can come in handy for running straight to the board.

MXR M80 (Silver) - Love this pedal because of the OD channel which is VERY versatile but unfortunately the OD channel can only be engaged when the unit itself is engaged. What this means is that you have to engage the Pre-amp section and then engage the OD section. I used to run everything flat which allowed me to effectively just engage the OD when I wanted, but I am not a huge fan of having active circuity in my signal chain. As a result I haven't done much with this other than studio work due to the XLR direct out. The Overdrive CAN be subtle but IMO the sweet spot is in the warm and hairy type of sound which can be used very effectively with the blend knob to retain your original signal while adding some hair on top of it.

MXR M89 - This was supposed to be the OD section from the M80 mentioned above without the Direct out of active Pre-amp. IMO it has different tonal characteristics and sound kind of fizzy and harsh at times. I had a hard time using it in a transparent manner to add gain and dirt. It does much better when trying to achieve more mid range and high end OD or grind (Think Muse).

EBS Multidrive - I own 2 of the Swedish made models (Not the Chinese Made ones) and it does pretty well for adding slight tube-like drive and warmth. It can also get pretty Overdriven to the point of being almost distortion or fuzz. It's a great pedal for it's simplicity but I find that it doesn't really cut through the mix well. It's better suited to beef up your overall sound and add some meat to it. I'm also not a fan of the dim and small Red LED which is REAL tough to see in daylight and under certain lighting conditions. I swapped my LED's out for Bright blue for this reason but the LED's are still relatively small.

Big Muff Russian (Black) - Again, simple pedal and classic Fuzz. Having said that....that's what it is a FUZZ. It's tough to get anything other than full out apocalyptic high gain fuzz out of it. On the other hand it does cut very well in the mix but loses some low end.

I'll be back with some more info on the Bad Monkey, Darkglass Microtubes, Boss ODB3, Bogner Wessex, Phat Phuk and Red Witch factotum.
 
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#3
I like the darkglass vintage microtubes. I've been using it as my smooth overdrive. at this moment, I am in the market for a new distortion pedal for my bass. and I am debating on either the idiot box blower box or the aguilar agro. I originally was interested in the mxr m80. I did like the grinding distortion sounds that it provides, but I was advised to look for something else for a distortion sound. so I've been looking at these pedals and I like what I hear. which ever one, I want to purchase a new distortion pedal sometime soon. here are demos of the distortion pedals that I am interested in buying.

Idiot box blower box


Aguilar agro

 
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#7
Continuing my opinions / observations about OD / Distortion I'll tackle a few more:

Red Witch Factotum - LOVE this pedal. Basically it allows you to turn on a "Drive" Circuit and then independently (or combined) an Octave circuit. I personally thought the Drive section was pretty awesome. I mainly use it for some growl but it is fully capable of subtle tube-like goodness all the way to roaring dirt. The Drive section has 4 knobs which are for Drive Volume (For unity gain), Drive which selects the amount of drive, Drive Tone which effectively changes the tone of only the drive and then Drive Mix which blends the drive in with your clean signal. Nothing fancy but the tone is amazing. It's really rich without being fizzy or harsh. The Sub-Octave section has only one knob which is how much sub is applied. I love the tone of the sub circuit because it's not "digital" sounding. Basically it's as close to the Meatbox as you can get while sounding "real". My ONLY complaint is that when you use the sub without the Drive to beef up your signal you can't adjust volume and you lose a hair. It took me a few times playing with the band to hear that it gets slightly lost in the mix. This could easily be fixed with a boost pedal but you would have to do some dancing.

Bogner Wessex - This is the Rupert Neve model and it is designed for guitar but due to the tone controls it works GREAT on bass without losing any low end. It has a more throaty voice that is less "smooth". Basically it's just a great "Dirt" box. I used it a LOT for certain Alice In Chains style songs (Think "Would?"). It's a bit pricey but it's built like a tank. When I was trying this out on bass at my local Guitar Center I had about 5 people wander over to see what exactly I was using on the bass because of how "mean" it sounded.

Bad Monkey (Modded) - This is the Modest Mike version which uses different value caps for better low end retention as well as a blue LED. Great pedal for a nice throaty version. Basically this is a cheaper way to get a similar sound and vibe to what I mentioned with the Bogner Wessex. The modded version runs about $89 - $109 and i find myself using it a lot in the studio. It's a bit of a 1 trick pony because the range of the distortion / OD is pretty narrow as far as usefulness goes. It can tend to get a little too harsh if pushed too much.
 
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#8
Aguilar Agro - LOVE the newer version of this box. The didn't change the guts at all but they made the box more accommodating for putting it onto a pedal board. The old version had a weird metal lip around the jacks which made it impossible to use right angle cables and it also had a lip around the base which didn't allow for it to be velcroed to a pedal board without adding a "riser" to the base to level it with that lip. My point here is just beware if you are looking used. As for the tone, it is prob one of the most versatile OD / Dist boxes on the market IMO. Has a GREAT range from Subtle to all out chaos and the way the controls are designed you can tweak out just about any sound you want with it. For a "second stage" gain (See my original post) this one is one of my favorites and you really can't go wrong with it.

Amptweaker Tight Fuzz and Tight Drive - Personally I wasn't very keen on the Bass Tight Fuzz. I found it to be a bit harsh and fizzy. I played with it for a few minutes and instantly didn't like what it had to offer. I started to play with the Bass Tight Drive next and LOVED it. Seriously versatile with a REALLY wide range of tones. Having said that, there is almost TOO much control. You can sit around and play with this pedal for hours and find tons of great tones which IMO makes it a killer studio pedal, but I think if you put it on your board you are going to have a hard time "setting and forgetting".
 
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#10
Latest ones I've picked up recently:

Darkglass Vintage Deluxe is the most impressive pedal I've played in a while, and it takes a lot to impress me. Very expressive, and has the best clean blend in the business. Sounds like your bass but with depth and grit added, and you can dial it or out as needed. Not constrained like the Agro, and has no low end loss. This is the pedal you get when you want THAT one pedal. Pretty sure this one is staying as it can do most anything and loses nothing.

VFE Triumvirate is another interesting pedal, as it's a multiband distortion. Can definitely get that wooliness like a Barbershop/Blueberry/SFT but with the added option of adding or subtracting low end, midrange, or treble...and it's nice being able to adjust the distortion for each band. Does not get purely clean like the Barbershop can, and is not transparent. There's always drive there. Not to pick on the Agro, but the Triumvirate has a similar grind but can get huge mids and low end. Love the pink, but I'll probably move this one along soon as I just don't need it.

Fairfield Barbershop is one that everybody loves! Nice low gain OD with the addition of a hi-cut switch which works great as a speaker sim. Can also be a clean boost with the gain dialed down. Great utility pedal that I'll be keeping on my board because it gives a different flavor than the Darkglass VMT if I want it, it's a clean boost if I need it, and it's a speaker sim when I need that.
 
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#11
BaltBass5 said:
Aguilar Agro - LOVE the newer version of this box. The didn't change the guts at all but they made the box more accommodating for putting it onto a pedal board. The old version had a weird metal lip around the jacks which made it impossible to use right angle cables and it also had a lip around the base which didn't allow for it to be velcroed to a pedal board without adding a "riser" to the base to level it with that lip. My point here is just beware if you are looking used. As for the tone, it is prob one of the most versatile OD / Dist boxes on the market IMO. Has a GREAT range from Subtle to all out chaos and the way the controls are designed you can tweak out just about any sound you want with it. For a "second stage" gain (See my original post) this one is one of my favorites and you really can't go wrong with it.

Amptweaker Tight Fuzz and Tight Drive - Personally I wasn't very keen on the Bass Tight Fuzz. I found it to be a bit harsh and fizzy. I played with it for a few minutes and instantly didn't like what it had to offer. I started to play with the Bass Tight Drive next and LOVED it. Seriously versatile with a REALLY wide range of tones. Having said that, there is almost TOO much control. You can sit around and play with this pedal for hours and find tons of great tones which IMO makes it a killer studio pedal, but I think if you put it on your board you are going to have a hard time "setting and forgetting".
Click to expand...

Thanks for the review on the aguilar agro, cdbassist5. I was looking at this pedal along with a markbass mini distortion. I like the sound quality of both pedals and I am considering purchasing one of these pedals. I also own a darkglass vmt which I use as my smooth overdrive pedal. simply a good bass overdrive for rock and metal music and totally worth owning. this one is staying on my pedal board. other than that, I plan to buy a new distortion pedal real soon.
 
#12
BaltBass5 said:
Continuing my opinions / observations about OD / Distortion I'll tackle a few more:

Red Witch Factotum - LOVE this pedal. Basically it allows you to turn on a "Drive" Circuit and then independently (or combined) an Octave circuit. I personally thought the Drive section was pretty awesome. I mainly use it for some growl but it is fully capable of subtle tube-like goodness all the way to roaring dirt. The Drive section has 4 knobs which are for Drive Volume (For unity gain), Drive which selects the amount of drive, Drive Tone which effectively changes the tone of only the drive and then Drive Mix which blends the drive in with your clean signal. Nothing fancy but the tone is amazing. It's really rich without being fizzy or harsh. The Sub-Octave section has only one knob which is how much sub is applied. I love the tone of the sub circuit because it's not "digital" sounding. Basically it's as close to the Meatbox as you can get while sounding "real". My ONLY complaint is that when you use the sub without the Drive to beef up your signal you can't adjust volume and you lose a hair. It took me a few times playing with the band to hear that it gets slightly lost in the mix. This could easily be fixed with a boost pedal but you would have to do some dancing.

Bogner Wessex - This is the Rupert Neve model and it is designed for guitar but due to the tone controls it works GREAT on bass without losing any low end. It has a more throaty voice that is less "smooth". Basically it's just a great "Dirt" box. I used it a LOT for certain Alice In Chains style songs (Think "Would?"). It's a bit pricey but it's built like a tank. When I was trying this out on bass at my local Guitar Center I had about 5 people wander over to see what exactly I was using on the bass because of how "mean" it sounded.

Bad Monkey (Modded) - This is the Modest Mike version which uses different value caps for better low end retention as well as a blue LED. Great pedal for a nice throaty version. Basically this is a cheaper way to get a similar sound and vibe to what I mentioned with the Bogner Wessex. The modded version runs about $89 - $109 and i find myself using it a lot in the studio. It's a bit of a 1 trick pony because the range of the distortion / OD is pretty narrow as far as usefulness goes. It can tend to get a little too harsh if pushed too much.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reviews, really loved the Factotum when I first heard it. It's an all analogue circuit, so not surprised it didn't sound digital to you. Interesting to note that the octave loses some oomph when used alone, I think this is the first time I've read that in a review.

Factotum GAS!!
 
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#14
A few more:

Darkglass VMT: I REALLY loved this pedal because of the range of the OD / DIST you can get out of it. To me it is a really natural sounding pedal that allows you to get some really fat tube style sounds as well as some really gnarly OD. I used one for a long time as part of my live board but recently retired it to my studio effects. It's definitely worth the price if you can afford it. I can't see anyone being disappointed with this pedal. I also really dug the blue LED because it's visible in daylight gigs. If you are going to splurge and pick up one high end pedal I HIGHLY recommend this or the Red With Factotum.

Boss ODB-3: I really don't like the fizzy flavor of this drive pedal. I know, I know...Flea loves them so how can they be bad right? I played with one for a long time before ditching it and going with a modded one and it made a HUGE difference. More bass centric electronics gave it a fatter and more rich sound. There are several options for modding this pedal and making it very usable, however the stock pedal I would stay away from...especially with the release of the Boss BB-1X which CRUSHES!

Way Huge Swollen Pickle - This is another pedal that seems to be very popular amongst bassists. Having said that, I found it a little harsh and a little brittle for my taste. I personally think that if you are going for that tone, stick with the Black Russian Big Muff. I just had a hard time dialing in anything on the Swollen Pickle that didn't sound too throaty and "chainsaw" like. If it works for you...GREAT....but if you've never tried one, I can't honestly recommend this pedal.
 
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#15
DonBorelli said:
The Boss BB-1X? I haven't heard a single clip on YouTube where it doesn't sound bad. Can anyone else vouch for that pedal?
Click to expand...

The only real You Tube Clip I saw before picking it up was the one Will Lee did. Most clips are going to sound pretty bad on PC speakers. I get the chance to get my hands on a LOT of boxes before they hit the market and I did an eval on this one and absolutely loved it. Again, it's going to depend on what you are looking for but to me it's a more transparent version of the Sans Amp Bass DI. I NEVER liked the SA because I feel like you lose a lot of tone particularly in the mid range as the SA tends to scoop mids. Additionally I've always found the SA OD tone to be a little gritty and nasal for my taste.
 
#16
Source Audio Soundblox 2 OFD: This pedal does it ALL. Prob the best overall unit I've found for being able to dial up tons of useful OD / DIST tones. It's also very cool that you can store 2 in preset mode, so you can basically set and forget 2 great tones on very little real estate on your board. The ONLY reason I don't use this on my live board is because the foot switches are pretty close together and I tend to be VERY active when I'm playing. I also have a little bit of a distrust for digital effects particularly ones that are programmed. I never had the OFD "dump" my settings but or anything like that but I prefer analog knobs and analog processing. All in all however, this is a killer studio pedal!
 
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#17
Dude - what don't you like!?!? ;)

BTW - my choices:

OD:

Fairfield Barbershop
BJFE/Bearfoot Blueberry
Darkglass VMT

Distortion:

COG TK-421x
DOD 250 / Distortion+ script
RAT clones / inspired by (I need more of these clearly)

Fuzz:

Darkglass Duality
COG Grand Tarkin
Sola Sound Tonebenders
Spaceman Sputnik
 
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#18
I
BaltBass5 said:
The only real You Tube Clip I saw before picking it up was the one Will Lee did. Most clips are going to sound pretty bad on PC speakers. I get the chance to get my hands on a LOT of boxes before they hit the market and I did an eval on this one and absolutely loved it. Again, it's going to depend on what you are looking for but to me it's a more transparent version of the Sans Amp Bass DI. I NEVER liked the SA because I feel like you lose a lot of tone particularly in the mid range as the SA tends to scoop mids. Additionally I've always found the SA OD tone to be a little gritty and nasal for my taste.
Click to expand...

I always listen with headphones, but I get your point. There are some bad recordings out there.
I found a clip I liked where some guy played a jazz with a pick and had the BB-1X dialed in for a nice subtle grit in the attack. That did sound pretty cool.
 
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#19
I've only turned to pedals recently, as I'm transitioning from rack rigs to pedals-plus-smallish-amp-head, but I've owned a couple for awhile and have bought a few more based on research done here, and good advice from TBer andrew who has similar taste to mine. I've mostly been looking for pedals that will work well with modern hard rock like Seether, RHCP, RATM, Metallica. Also, I primarily use active basses: Sadowsky, Nordy, Keith. Anyway....

Classics
SansAmp Bass Driver DI: bought this one well over 20 years ago. Yes, it has the (in)famous mid scoop, fairly drastic when Blend is set full, but I still love this one for light overdrive and aggressive bite via the Presence control. The mid scoop can be mitigated somewhat by rolling Blend back to noon, and also cutting Bass and Treble via the EQ.

SansAmp VT Deluxe: this is the six-channel programmable version of the VT Bass. It can get woolier than the BDDI, especially when turning the Character knob right of noon, which boosts mids and dirt. Turning Character left of noon gradually dials in mid scoop a la BDDI -- which of course is based on the Ultra Lo switch on the Ampeg SVT. This pedal can go from warm and slightly overdriven (Motown) to gnarly modern fuzz. Both SansAmps do a reasonably good job of modeling overdriven power tubes.


New additions
Ashdown James LoMenzo Hyperdrive: I'm really digging this one! The signature feature is tunable overdrive: it has a frequency sweep knob that covers low mids to low treble. James LoMenzo explains it best in this video:


Darkglass B7K: this one has kind of a modern flavor, but it works really well for modern hard rock. Also, it's amazingly versatile: four band EQ, a pair of 3 position switches for Attack and Grunt, and a wet/dry blend.

VFE Triumvirate: three-way (as in triamp) OD, explained very well by mmbongo above. I love dialing in dirty treble, while leaving lows and mids (mostly) clean: gives a good impression of a stereo clean/dirty bass rig. Still need to play with this one more, but it's cool.

Brimstone Audio Crossover Distortion XD-2: two-way OD. Big pedal with lots of knobs. Has four-band EQ -- essentially two bands for lows, two bands for highs. Also, there's a boost mode, with internal trim pot if you want the boost to increase overdrive without increasing overall volume level. There's a great demo on YouTube... I really like this pedal. My only trouble is getting clean lows/dirty highs: I can with a passive bass, but with a fairly hot active the lows stay dirty. I'm going to keep tweaking it.

Empress Multidrive: it's pretty much three pedals in one box -- Fuzz, Overdrive, Distortion. Each of the three channels has a volume knob so you can mix to taste. Also, each of the three channels has a switch for high pass/low pass/full range -- so, you could put gentle overdrive on the lows (below 500Hz) and gnarlier distortion or fuzz on top (above 500Hz). The distortion channel has a three way switch for distortion level. And if all that ain't enough, there's a master 3 band EQ with switchable mid frequency. My first impression was that the fuzz seems a little buzzy for bass, but the fact is I need to learn this device better: between three overdrive channels, filtering, and master EQ there's so much to do with this pedal that I've been putting it off. I have gotten some really cool tones out of it.

Idiotbox Blower Box: ordered Monday on recommendation, don't have it yet. Just wanted to mention it because the price is nice and I liked the demos I heard.
 
#20
Someone earlier got me thinking about pedals I DO NOT like at all:

Maxon BD10 Bass Driver: This one comes out of the "lower" line of Maxon pedals but I thought it may be worth a shot. Picked one up and it was one of the worst overall pedals I have heard. You would think that with all the different control knobs you'd get SOMETHING useable but I couldn't find ANY redeeming sounds in this thing so I returned it. It was VERY "honky" and just sounded like I was playing my bass through a blown 8" speaker. It's one of the only OD pedals that I have picked up that I just couldn't justify keeping!

Ibanez Bass Tube Screamer: The tone on this one isn't bad if you are just looking for a little "hair" on your signal but there are other pedals that do it much better. Additionally, the LED is a red LED and it is so dim you almost can't see if it's on and that's on a DARK stage so forget about it in daylight! I also thought the knobs were really cheap and flimsy.

Fulltone Mosfet Bass Drive: I know this is a staple for a LOT of people but I never got much use out of it. First of all it bugged me that the Boost was on the right. Most pedals have the input on the left so typically, unless you want excessive wiring most pedal boards are going to go right to left. By that concept it always messed with me that the button to turn on the Stage 1 gain was on the left and the Boost was on the right. All of that aside, I just thought that the tone was REALLY harsh and I could never dial in anything that was smooth or natural sounding. Another thing I didn't like was the fact that you can't ever seem to achieve unity gain as the pedal definitely runs HOT.

Malekko B:assmaster (Silicon and Germanium): Although you can achieve some cool "synthy" types of tones out of these pedals, they add so much gain to your signal chain that I don't see any way to actually run one on your live board without using it as an "always on" pedal. For this reason I could never get into them. Additionally they take up a LOT of real estate which is a big no-no in my book this day and age.
 
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