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Best bass distortion/fuzz/overdrive?
- Thread starter theblackshades
- Start date
Dirt pedals I've used:
ODB-3 : My favorite use of it was after comp and before a Guv'nor clone followed by a Bass Big Muff Pi. Kept it always on as a colorer. I found it to be too washy and scratchy in the high range for
My tastes. I was looking for something a little more bit-crunchy.
Guv'nor clone : Great for quiet distortion and crunchy root mashing. Loses lowend if not careful though. Boosting the bass with the ODB-3 before it, though a blend pedal might be best.
FZ-2 : great crunch in fuzz 1 mode when alone, totally lost the lowend live in heavy sections. Working on a blend currently with a SYB-5 before it... Getting interesting sweeps.
Bass Big Muff Pi : fun pedal with a lot of tonal variation given the three position switch. I can almost reproduce the Hysteria bass crunch using it in dry mode. Similar to the ODB-3 in some respects but less highend washiness, more crunch.
MT-2 : really hard to control the levels on this one for me. Found a similar character to the highend stuff as the ODB-3. mid-sweep is fun though.
Moogerfooger Freqbox : awesomesauce with a built-in mixer. Too much usability to describe in a single post. So very much dirt...
ODB-3 : My favorite use of it was after comp and before a Guv'nor clone followed by a Bass Big Muff Pi. Kept it always on as a colorer. I found it to be too washy and scratchy in the high range for
My tastes. I was looking for something a little more bit-crunchy.
Guv'nor clone : Great for quiet distortion and crunchy root mashing. Loses lowend if not careful though. Boosting the bass with the ODB-3 before it, though a blend pedal might be best.
FZ-2 : great crunch in fuzz 1 mode when alone, totally lost the lowend live in heavy sections. Working on a blend currently with a SYB-5 before it... Getting interesting sweeps.
Bass Big Muff Pi : fun pedal with a lot of tonal variation given the three position switch. I can almost reproduce the Hysteria bass crunch using it in dry mode. Similar to the ODB-3 in some respects but less highend washiness, more crunch.
MT-2 : really hard to control the levels on this one for me. Found a similar character to the highend stuff as the ODB-3. mid-sweep is fun though.
Moogerfooger Freqbox : awesomesauce with a built-in mixer. Too much usability to describe in a single post. So very much dirt...
Get a blend pedal. Then you have WAY more options on which distortion pedal you buy. I love the sound of a little clean low end hiding under a good distortion. Take your bass to the music store and try out every distortion they have. I found out the hard way that buying something on a recommendation on the internet often leads to disappointment.
RATs truly are amazing for bass but they cut waaaay too much bottom end to be used stand alone, unless they're always on and the amps eq is set accordingly.
Surprised no one said B3K yet! Pricey, but I don't think I'll ever want for another OD! It's my always on pedal for "my sound".
Surprised no one said B3K yet! Pricey, but I don't think I'll ever want for another OD! It's my always on pedal for "my sound". And only 3 knobs & 2 switches, so simple like you asked. The B7K has too many lnobs for me, so I get your philosophy. Simpler is better for me, too.
When it comes to buying a distortion pedal, there's no perfect distortion pedal...it's all about personal taste in sound quality. as of now the most popular choice for a bass overdrive/distortion pedal is the darkglass microtubes b3k. another good choice in my opinion is the ebs metaldrive. I plan to buy that pedal for my live set-up real soon. here are some youtube clips of these bass distortion pedals.
Darkglass microtubes b3k
Darkglass microtubes b3k
