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Best OD/distortion pedal for Lemmy tone?

Airfish

Airfish

Sep 12, 2012
159
54
Bratislava, Slovakia, Europe
#1
Hi everyone. I started a cover band (midlife crisis is a bitch :D) and we are about to include one or two Motorhead songs in our playlist. And I wonder which overdrive or distortion pedal could get me as close as possible to the infamous Lemmy driven bass tone. I have a G-K RB400 Mark IV head, with a 115+410 RBH full stack. Which is not the ideal starting point for Lemmy sound, I know.... And I´m not willing to invest in a new amp just because of one or two songs. So buying a pedal seems to be the best option. So far I have tried an MXR bass OD and a Maxon Bass Driver, each of them separately, and also together. The result - everything from mild growl to earth shaking distortion, but in either case too harsh and "scratchy", if you know what I mean, even with the tone pots rolled down. And I also tried the Source Audio After Shock, but I just don´t have the patience to play with its settings and it just sounds too digital. So please give me advice: Is there any analog bass OD/distortion pedal, that would, together with the rest of my rig, bring my sound a bit closer to those angry Marshalls of the late Mister Kilmister? :bassist: Thank you all in advance!
 
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#2
I'm using a Marshall DBS head into two 410 cabs and p bass derived instrument, and I find that I can get a great lemmy tone using the ehx glove.
Huge roaring tone that gets the job done
 
#10
Airfish said:
....you mean the green bass version, right? And can you please give me a bit more specific settings you use?
Click to expand...

Sorry, yes the green bass one. It varies slightly every time we play as in the covers band I'm in we use two guitarists and I don't like to sacrifice the low end for distortion. I normally have the volume set slightly higher than my clean to help with that. The blend around 10 to 11 o'clock, tone dialled quite high around 3 and sustain at around 1 o'clock. I use a jazz bass with the bridge pick up almost off and the tone all the way up. Through an Ashdown 4x10. Hope this helps.
 
#11
Nanaki said:
Sorry, yes the green bass one. It varies slightly every time we play as in the covers band I'm in we use two guitarists and I don't like to sacrifice the low end for distortion. I normally have the volume set slightly higher than my clean to help with that. The blend around 10 to 11 o'clock, tone dialled quite high around 3 and sustain at around 1 o'clock. I use a jazz bass with the bridge pick up almost off and the tone all the way up. Through an Ashdown 4x10. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Yes, it´s a very valuable starting point. So thank you very much! :) And btw we use two guitarists at the same time, so you can imagine it´s not easy to cut thru the mix with my distorted bass without losing the low end. It´s hell of a quest to get it right, but I love experimenting! :smug:
 
#15
lemmy did not have ‘sound’ that had any connection to bass guitar. also, did not play bass as ‘it’s supposed to be played’. whatever that means.
he did not have much lows in his sound, meaning - you could get there with almost any bass/guitar dirt pedal. somewhere on YT there is a video w/ his roadie explaining his setup. go from there any try to emulate w/ tools you have at hand. should not be too hard.

cheers
 
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#16
I've had a few different pedals which can get me sorta in that territory. The bass in question is a big part of the equation.

I mainly have settled on Dunwich pedals, and I have most of them, so my advice will be mainly based on the sounds they do, though I have tried a few pedals in my day. I could see a Rat clone being a possibility, which is the Dunwich Volt Thrower. Several other clones of this variant exist, from Idiotbox or Fuzzrocious or COG, and more.

I'd say an OCD type of clone or a Tubescreamer clone might be too warm and round (Dunwich ODB, COG Kinghtfall, Fuzzrocious Demon).

I don't see fuzzes as generally being an option, but they could work. Many of the Muff derivatives scoop the mids and get lost in the mix. I love a good Green Russian sound, but that isn't where I'd go. Maybe something Fuzzface-based could be a little better than a Green derivative. Certainly something with a mid control and clean blend is going to be your best bet. The Dunwich Wizard is an unusual fuzz in some ways, and it might actually work, based in playing it with my Ric last night. It is a big pedal, in both size and price tag. It has some hard-driven amp-like characteristics that I haven't found in other fuzz boxes.

I could see the Darkglass AO (Omega or the new Omicron) being worth a look. I have the Omega, and the AO knob can really change the character of that pedal, and I like the EQ points. The smaller Omicron is just starting to ship, but should be a nice lower-cost alternative, with fewer bells and whistles. I don't think a B3K is the best option, but I'm not sure the VMT is worlds better. The breakup on them gets a little "fizzy" for my ears, though others say they don't hear that. The B3K has a scoop in the mid EQ that might cause issues, but the VMT might be a little warm, like the OCD and Tubescreamer notes I mentioned above.

Edit: An oddball wildcard I just thought of, which might be worth a listen, is the MXR Blowtorch. I haven't played one in a while, but something in my memory says it could have some potential.
 
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