Bass overdrive with gain low cut

[Jaaan]

Hi all, hope you're doing well

I'm looking for a specific type of bass overdrive which I'm not sure exists. If it does, I hope you could point me to such equipment.

I was wondering if there is a pedal/preamp/rack unit (form doesn't matter) that lets a portion of dry signal come through. Not by blending a balance between wet and dry, but by allowing a selected range of low frequencies to come through dry while the rest of the range is being overdriven/distorted.

Has any of you ever come across such piece of equipment? I found that for finding my live tone I'm actually looking to reproduce my favourite recording setup, where I combine a low-cut (or high passed) track from an overdriven valve guitar amp (Orange TH30 in my case) with a high-cut (or low passed) track of pure dry Direct Input. The resulting tone remains huge and clear in the low end, while having a very angry an harmonically rich top end, which for me benefits both attack and sustain and simply makes playing a load of fun. I use tunings like drop C and B standard for a band with a heavy sound but with lots of dynamic twists, which require my bass tone to remain bouncy, fast and responsive while the sizzle and dirt stay at the top.

Thanks for popping in!

 

[jpaulo]

would a plug in work for you? not sure if one of the darkglass pedals works the same way
Parallax

 

[Ricky Caboverde]

HX Stomp (and all Helix family) allows for this with the split crossover block. Not exactly what you're looking for, but I thought I'd just put it out there

 

[Jaaan]

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm looking for something I could use in a simple live setup though, preferably in my pedalboard.

would a plug in work for you? not sure if one of the darkglass pedals works the same way
Parallax

 

[Jaaan]

HX Stomp (and all Helix family) allows for this with the split crossover block. Not exactly what you're looking for, but I thought I'd just put it out there

Thanks, haven't had the chance to try an HX Stop yet, I'll look into it. Essentially what I'm looking for is an overdrive that can be applied only to the higher frequency range without affecting the low end.

 

[never-enough]

You want a Broughton Fliter fx loop and an overdrive/distortion/fuzz of your choice.

the FFXL is not currently being made so you would need to find a used one or wait till another run is manufactured, but it will do exactly what you want.
There might be other blender pedals with similar hi and low pass options out there as well, I haven’t looked since I have that covered

 

[BEADist]

Thanks, haven't had the chance to try an HX Stop yet, I'll look into it. Essentially what I'm looking for is an overdrive that can be applied only to the higher frequency range without affecting the low end.

You mean like the Darkglass X7 but with od instead of dist ?

 

[Jaaan]

You mean like the Darkglass X7 but with od instead of dist ?

I never tried it, only looked at the controls and assumed that the hi and lo cut switches apply to the whole signal, so I might be wrong. Still, having gone through some of the Darkglass range I'm hoping something that isn't a Darkglass, a matter of taste I suppose. Thanks!

 

[Jaaan]

You want a Broughton Fliter fx loop and an overdrive/distortion/fuzz of your choice.

the FFXL is not currently being made so you would need to find a used one or wait till another run is manufactured, but it will do exactly what you want.
There might be other blender pedals with similar hi and low pass options out there as well, I haven’t looked since I have that covered

Great suggestion, thank you. So far I think this is the best solution, at least for the best part of the question.
Still, I keep thinking to myself "how isn't there something like this made into a single pedal?"

Is it just me, or would any of you also find a pedal like that useful for your sounds?

 

[gh0st42]

Damnation Audio MBD or earlier versions MBD-1 and MBD-2 have a Low passed Clean blend that should do the trick.

They also make a Dirt Fixer Pedal that you can use with any OD/Distortion/Fuzz etc to accomplish this as well.

Broughton Filter FX Loop is also a great way to achieve this with any OD or Dirt pedal you may otherwise like.

I'm sure there are a few other all in one pedal solutions, but the feature you are looking for is a "Low Passed Clean Blend" in case that helps!

 

[Jaaan]

Damnation Audio MBD or earlier versions MBD-1 and MBD-2 have a Low passed Clean blend that should do the trick.

They also make a Dirt Fixer Pedal that you can use with any OD/Distortion/Fuzz etc to accomplish this as well.

Broughton Filter FX Loop is also a great way to achieve this with any OD or Dirt pedal you may otherwise like.

I'm sure there are a few other all in one pedal solutions, but the feature you are looking for is a "Low Passed Clean Blend" in case that helps!

Haven't come across the pedals or the phrase "Low Passed Clean Blend" before. Both are extremely helpful for my search, thanks a lot.

 

[gh0st42]

Haven't come across the pedals or the phrase "Low Passed Clean Blend" before. Both are extremely helpful for my search, thanks a lot.

Yeah, most builders that use them just generically call it a "Clean Blend" for most advertising and marketing copy.

It's a Low Pass Filter (sometimes frequency adjustable for the cut off point, sometimes fixed freq, and honestly a really good and useful pedal in itself for stand alone High or Low Pass Filters) stuck in the Clean blend circuit to eliminate any signal above the cut off frequency from the clean signal path.

 

[eeyorebass]

Check out the [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]. Does exactly what you're after with whatever OD pedal you want to use.

 

[Wood and Wire]

Not by blending a balance between wet and dry, but by allowing a selected range of low frequencies to come through dry while the rest of the range is being overdriven/distorted.

However you want to spin it, the process is still a blend of clean & overdriven / dry & wet.

The EHX Deluxe Bass Big Muff has the crossover function you require, where a low-passed clean signal can be blended with a high-passed distorted signal (with the sustain control at the lowest setting, it's more overdrive than fuzz).

Another option that would probably get you that tone, without functioning in quite the way you're describing, are the Tech 21 Geddy Lee units.

 

[Joeynone]

The Darkglass X series does EXACTLY that. It its clean and compressed low (if you want comp, doesn’t need to be engaged) and driven mods and highs.
I am selling my x7 if you are interested in that

 

[Dr. Gonzo82]

I have no personal experience with it, but maybe this:

Fantastic dirt pedal. The XD-1 from Brimstone Audio

 

[johnk_10]

i think that the Damnation MBD does that.

 

[eddododo]

Hi all, hope you're doing well

I'm looking for a specific type of bass overdrive which I'm not sure exists. If it does, I hope you could point me to such equipment.

I was wondering if there is a pedal/preamp/rack unit (form doesn't matter) that lets a portion of dry signal come through. Not by blending a balance between wet and dry, but by allowing a selected range of low frequencies to come through dry while the rest of the range is being overdriven/distorted.

Has any of you ever come across such piece of equipment? I found that for finding my live tone I'm actually looking to reproduce my favourite recording setup, where I combine a low-cut (or high passed) track from an overdriven valve guitar amp (Orange TH30 in my case) with a high-cut (or low passed) track of pure dry Direct Input. The resulting tone remains huge and clear in the low end, while having a very angry an harmonically rich top end, which for me benefits both attack and sustain and simply makes playing a load of fun. I use tunings like drop C and B standard for a band with a heavy sound but with lots of dynamic twists, which require my bass tone to remain bouncy, fast and responsive while the sizzle and dirt stay at the top.

Thanks for popping in!

I’ve used a crossover with some kind of split/blend or fx loop.. I build my own utility pedals, but there’s a cheap rolls crossover that’s pretty small, and you can use the boss LS2.. the crossover can be mounted on the underside of your board, or even under the LS2, something like that.

 

[SharpCat]

Genzler 4 on the floor?

 

[Smurf-o-Deth]

To expand on the MBD, it has a depth control to tailor how much low end feeds into the drive circuit, and a non-full range clean blend. The earlier versions were low-passed at about 1kHz, while the current revision has a contoured blend that adds a lot of low end depth without adding clank, and allows the two signals to mix in an organic manner.

The same sort of clean blending is available with their Dirtfixer, which is a blend loop/EQ, and is excellent. It is also a different, but similarly useful, alternative to the Broughton FFXL, and is much more readily available at current.