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Bass overdrive

#27
True, we can all tell you what we like, but honestly, it's an unlikely scenario where that vague/general of a question.

What kind of music do you play?
Are you just starting out or gigging regularly?
What bassists' tones/styles do you like and want to go after?

If you can tell us that we can give you some helpful suggestions that will actually get you somewhere.
 
#33
No matter, what overdrive you'll be ending up with:

Check 'em with the Band.
That's the only way to figure out.
The best overdrive works with YOUR fingers, YOUR stuff and YOUR band.

My fingers, my stuff and my band(s) are requiring a Tech21 PBDDI.

That thing can easily be pure nonsense for you...;)

Edit:
Besides that...the overdrive, that makes your whole band sound better, can completely sound pretty poor solo.
 
#34
+1, SO many threads on overdrive. I'm currently on the search for "The Perfect Overdrive," so I've seen a lot of 'em. lol

Valerus said:
Way Huge Pork Loin is the best OD pedal I've ever played.
Click to expand...

Definitely a great one! The Catalinbread SFT won between the two for me though, fell in love with the SFT instantly. One on my G.A.S. list to check out is the Darkglass Microtubes B3k, sounds KILLER from the demos I've seen/heard. But... I'm waiting on a custom bass drive from John Fromel, I suspect it'll be a show stopper.

5sg.
 
#36
fivestringgecko said:
I've heard the PL compares a little bit with the BJFE Blueberry... Anyone have any thoughts on that? I've always been itchy to try out a Blueberry, but they're so freakin' rare. Looking forward to trying out the new Mad Professor CB version.

5sg.
Click to expand...

I had a Lenahan Lama Rojo (which is evidently the same circuit as the PL) for a while and it's NOTHING like the Blueberry. Sorry.
 
#38
fivestringgecko said:
I've heard the PL compares a little bit with the BJFE Blueberry... Anyone have any thoughts on that? I've always been itchy to try out a Blueberry, but they're so freakin' rare. Looking forward to trying out the new Mad Professor CB version.

5sg.
Click to expand...

Swift713 said:
I had a Lenahan Lama Rojo (which is evidently the same circuit as the PL) for a while and it's NOTHING like the Blueberry. Sorry.
Click to expand...

+1. The Polish love (and all variants of Craig Anderton's Tube-Sound Fuzz) are a completely different sound than the Blueberry. They are more raw, bright, aggressive and buzzy sounding with a wider range of gain. The Blueberry is dark and thick and sounds infinitely more tube like.

JamesHommersen said:
Darkglass Electronics Microtubes B3K
Invalid Link Removed
Click to expand...

I'm on the list for the first batch of these and just sent off an email today to see if I could get an update on the progress of that first batch.
 
#39
fivestringgecko said:
Definitely a great one! The Catalinbread SFT won between the two for me though, fell in love with the SFT instantly. One on my G.A.S. list to check out is the Darkglass Microtubes B3k, sounds KILLER from the demos I've seen/heard. But... I'm waiting on a custom bass drive from John Fromel, I suspect it'll be a show stopper.

5sg.
Click to expand...

Maybe that's why I still own both :p
 
#40
Overdrive is such a tough effect to pin down. So many different ideas of what a good overdriven tone is, not to mention that playing style and the amp/cabs being used play a bigger role than most realize. Downtuning and/or playing aggressively changes the tone and feel of nearly every OD pedal I've ever tried.

There are fairly transparent pedals and ones that color your tone enormously. ODs that are touch sensitive and ones that aren't, ones that are round and tubey versus aggressive and gritty and ones that are bright and sharp versus dark and grunty.

For as often as I change around my board, I've found plenty of fuzzes, filters, delays, phasers etc that I could gig with happily. Overdrive is the only effect type that I like but have never found one I was all that happy with. The Blueberry was the closest, but the difference between my clean and overdriven tones was just a bit too much. Still, a lovely OD.
 

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