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Best Overdrive For Me - Poll

Which would you recommend

  • Total voters
    21
M

manchild

Jan 30, 2008
512
2
#1
Hey all,

Been doing some research on getting a good quality overdrive pedal to use as a preamp before going to DI (never use an amp) I would like it to be able to go to slight grit and have a tube like vintage sound, EQ options would be an advantage. Plus NO loss of low end.

I have narrowed it down the list above. Are there any you would avoid out right for this application?

Just want a general consensus on the above list.

Many thanks.
 
#3
Hello,

The fat drive seems to be a clone of a Fulltone OCD tuned for bass. No loss of low end but it's not really "tube like vintage sound".

Perhaps the Markbass that is a Screamer tuned for bass (tone for 300Hz to 1,5 kHz) : Invalid Link Removed

The MXR M89 is really too muddy.

For me, the best for your specifications is the Catalinbread SFT.
 
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#4
First of all, we can't chose for you, so we can't vote on a best overdrive for you poll. How the heck would we know what you like?

Second, I wouldn't chose any of those as a preamp. Not enough eq options.
If you want great dirty preamps, check out Darkglass B7K and Darkglass Vintage Microtubes Deluxe.
Or even VT Bass, Tone Hammer etc.

So yea, neither of those IMO.
 
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#5
Thanks Boom, il take a look. Mouthmv im not asking you to choose for me, it is a comparison of pedals that all do the same job. I already gave a description of what im looking for, to see which one matches best. Plus a lot of people leave preamps flat anyway. Thanks for the DI suggestions. I was wondering if a VT/Tone Hammer/sansamp etc would give a nice grit sound or whether to buy 2 different pedals for this job.
 
#7
I've been running di only rigs for over 15 years.
The best pedal for pre di valvey grit that I've found so far is the hardwire cm2. Sounds wonderful at low gain, with a bass and treble control.
I found the tube marker lost low end in my situation, although I loved the character of the drive.
The multi drive sounded pretty good di'd but at a more mid gained point, I wasn't hugely enamoured of the low gain sound.
 
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#8
Overdrive pedals are highly personal it seems, as well as dependent on what bass and amp/cab you use them with, so it's really difficult to recommend something.

Personally I really don't like the MXR and Pigtronix for your application though, in my opinion they don't have a nice low gain drive sound. Those two I have myself, as well as the EBS which is not bad at all, the other ones I can't say anything about.

Pedals with EQ ... might mention Tech 21 VT Bass DI, Carl Martin Bassdrive (my current favourite), Catalinbread SFT, Empress Multidrive (though that is expensive).
 
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#9
I would have voted for the Sparkle Drive, which I use, but it does have a bit of low-end loss. It has a clean volume knob which helps handle that. Low end loss on drive is tricky, because if you're talking unity gain, as compared to your clean signal, it's almost impossible not to have low end loss because overdrive adds harmonics- it adds energy in the upper mids and highs, so if you keep things at unity gain the equivalent energy in the low frequencies MUST be lower.

Now the other reality is that I find I always have to run drive, even very mild drive, at higher volumes/gain than my clean tone to maintain the bass's place in a band's soundscape. So if you're looking at "equal perceived volume" then many of those drives can have no perceived low-end loss. But the comparison is simply not straightforward.
 
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#10
Just curious how you ended up with that list? I wouldn't categorize any of them as a 'light grit, tubey' sound but I'm not familiar with the Markbass or Rothwell.

Try this list:
Solidgold FX Beta
Empress Multidrive
Catalinbread SFT
Way Huge Pork Loin
TC Electronics Spark
Darkglass VMT
Mad Professor Blueberry

And yes, I've owned each and every one of these. Solidgold Beta is the best of the bunch if you ask me, it has the perfect combination of sound, size, and price.

Empress and Darkglass are wonderful pedals, but pricey. There's nothing the Empress can't do, and Darkglass is...well...Darkglass. Phenomenal.
I kept the Beta over these mainly due to sound and price. I got the sound I wanted at half the price.

Catalinbread SFT sounded great at low gain, but gets wooly and muddy with more gain. It also really needs 18v to shine.
Kept the Beta over this because it sounds better and does its thing on 9v.

Way Huge Pork Loin is a fantastic pedal and can be had cheaply. Lots of options and sounds great. Too big though.
Kept the Beta over this because it's half the size.

MP Blueberry..did nothing for me. Beta kills it.

Spark Booster..great, overlooked pedal. Such a shame. I just like the sound of the Beta a little better.

So I say Spark or Beta. You can get a Spark for under $100.
 
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#11
I'd take the Beta over the SFT as well, I use it on a smaller board, but didn't include it because it has no EQ, just the usual tone control. It does not lose any low end, it actually boosts it a bit, and it has a nice low gain drive as well and is more transparent than the SFT.
 
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#12
If you want this purely for going DI, I would honestly scrap that entire list and go for a Darkglass Vintage Deluxe. Best vintage tubey sounding direct sound I've ever had. Also the VT Bass DI and Aguilar Tonehammer are worth checking out. A lot of pedals on that list won't sound great going direct to the board due to lack of eq and speaker simulation.
 
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#15
I didn't see the HBE Hematoma. Really dig that pedal. I also have a Mommouth clone.

It's a great time to be alive. There is more available for bass effects in general and fuzzes in specific than this bassist can remember.

Pigtronix Philosopher King. And a fellow TB er has a Blueberry listed for sale.

Dirt!
 
#17
Of the choices, I went with the Sparkle Drive. Ive always seemed to be partial to tubescreamers and such. So of the actual choice, yeah, the SD. But if I were to go with what my fav OD on my board is, at the moment, I might have to say the DOD 250 reissue. It recently replaced my Boss ODB3 which was A fav for a while. But since I got a tube head, the DOD sounds SO much better through tubes than the ODB3 does. So far. Its really hard to choose a fav OD. I suppose at this point in my life, if I had to choose just one, one that I have used the most of, it would probably be the Fulltone OCD. Which is sort of like the Sparkle Drive. Its hard to pick just one. I could just cheat and say the SA OFD :D
 
#20
when it comes to OD's, obviously everyone's taste is going to be different. from your list, I prefer the Sparkle drive. i really disliked my darkglass VMT so i sold it after unsuccessfully trying to get a good tone out of it. (i couldn't get rid of it fast enough). it's not on your list but my favorite low gain OD is the Fairfield Circuitry Barbershop.
and these are the ones that i do own that are on your list:
Voodo Lab Sparkle Drive
Way Huge Green Rhino
EBS Multidrive
Pigtronix Fat Drive
 

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