Best parallel bass processing dirtbox for dUg Pinnick/Chris Squire tone?

[Valvehead]

I have owned the Tech 21 DP-3X and a Darkglass X pedal.
The Darkglass was sounding too modern, the DP-3X has impossible tiny knobs for controls.

Currently owning the Two Notes Le Bass which is doing a pretty good job.
We need ballsy low end with kinda classic guitar OD on top.

Wondering if the Orange Bass Butler would be an upgrade.
Seeing as it is a rather pricy pedal I want some certainty before pulling the trigger.

Which pedal do you think is best fit for the job?

 

[Valvehead]

Forgot to mention I also own the Tech 21 YYZ which isn't bad.
Still, the Bass Butler seems to have more options and two cabsims on the DI outputs.

 

[Berme]

MBD-1 is awesome.

Hamstead Subspace could do the trick, but I have no experience with this one. Seems to have more bite in the upper mids than the MBD-1.

 

[Nunovsky]

KMA Tyler Frequency splitter

 

[DDXdesign]

I voted YYZ because to me it does a lot of what the DP3X does sonically, without the imbalance in volume between clean and dirty channels. Of course, the DP also gives you the compressor and tuner and DI so it's only a comparison in sound, not functionality.

 

[Fuzzbass]

I haven't tried 'em all, but: DP-3X is first on my list for dUgTone, but I know what you mean about the small, sensitive knobs. They don't bother me much because once I get the pedal dialed in I leave it alone -- I can do all the tone tweaking I need via the passive tone control on my bass.

That said, if you're set on abandoning the DP-3X, then I'd recommend the Darkglass X series, or one of the Brimstone Audio crossover distortions: XD-2 or Basilisk. The Brimstone ones don't compress low end, but they allow you to distort low end. What I do is use gentle distortion on the lows, and heavy distortion on the highs.

I haven't tried the Bass Butler, but I've read good things about it, and also the EBS Billy Sheehan pedals.

I owned the YYZ for awhile. I liked it, but it wouldn't be my first choice for Pinnick/Squire tones.

MBD-1 is awesome.

The MBD-1 is awesome, but IME it won't do the clangy dUg Pinnick tone... not without help from other devices. Running MBD-1 into B7K can kinda-sorta get there, but true multiband pedals are better.

 

[Valvehead]

I took the gamble on a bass butler and ordered it at Thomann. Might it not be what I am looking for I have a money back guarantee there. I really like the two D.I's on there both having a separate cabsim going on, a 4x10 on the bass side and a guitar cab on the dirt side. It might just make recording a breeze.

Today I also tried to get a dUg kinda tone from my Headrush Gigboard through a digital bi-amping rig (Ampeg Blueline + Soldano guitar stack), which did not sound bad but also not quite ballsy enough. Might work well for recording though...

I will see if I can record some sort of comparison video for the Bass Butler, Le Bass and YYZ for these specific types of tone with a Ric and a Jazz.

And I agree the YYZ has the best ease of use. It is on my pedalboard right now.

 

[Berme]

The MBD-1 is awesome, but IME it won't do the clangy dUg Pinnick tone... not without help from other devices. Running MBD-1 into B7K can kinda-sorta get there, but true multiband pedals are better.

I agree the MBD-1 won't do per se a very clangy OD.

However, wouldn't his clangy tone come at least in part from his technique, attack with the pick, fret buzz, or the inherent sound of the 12-string bass he often plays?

I feel so, that's why I recommended the grungy ampeggy tones of the MBD-1 to complement that dry tone of his.

I might be wrong, of course. But worth trying!

 

[FaithNoMan]

I agree the MBD-1 won't do per se a very clangy OD.

However, wouldn't his clangy tone come at least in part from his technique, attack with the pick, fret buzz, or the inherent sound of the 12-string bass he often plays?

I feel so, that's why I recommended the grungy ampeggy tones of the MBD-1 to complement that dry tone of his.

I might be wrong, of course. But worth trying!

It won't come near it, in my opinion. I like the MBD-1, but for the tones I like it fails miserably. Understand that I like the character of that pedal, though. If Damnation made a much sharper version of that it would be perfect for me. But I like the tones of old Peavey amps, the Reiner Gasoline, the Rusty Box, and some other boxes with an arguably "harsh" upper midrange. But that's not to say I don't like the mids and bottom end of the MBD-1.

Part of the Ric and solid maple bass tones I like can be compared to a baseline solid rock P bass tone, except dragging chains behind it.

 

[dannybuoy]

Helix Stomp? I had a play with Helix Native and using the crossover split combined with a compressor on the lows and either a Sansamp or guitar amp on the high end and could pretty much replicate the DP3X tone. It doesn’t solve the knob problem though!

But if you want the dUg pedal sound with sturdier knobs, forget the pedal and get the dUg amp!

 

[Feral Feline]

I'm here to learn more about such boxes; so I was wondering ... is not the Sheehan EBS pedal of the same ilk?

 

[dannybuoy]

Kinda. The tone control on the Billy Sheehan pedal seems to act like a band pass filter so you are mixing in midrange dirt with the clean, then the entire signal goes into a compressor.

I only ever tried the v1 of that pedal and found it was useless without adding a pedal that inverted phase into the fx loop, as by default the clean and dirt are out of phase and it didn’t sound great. I wrote to EBS about it hand they said they were just following Billy’s specs, with it being a signature pedal, but lo and behold, the deluxe version came out with a phase switch, so I’d advise trying that over the original!

 

[ruju]

I had the tech21 dp3x, but I wasent really a fan of it. Now I use the YYZ pedal and love it on the bi-amped setting.
I think the YYZ or the orange bass Butler would be good choices.

 

[sunbeast]

I have owned the Tech 21 DP-3X and a Darkglass X pedal.
The Darkglass was sounding too modern, the DP-3X has impossible tiny knobs for controls.

Currently owning the Two Notes Le Bass which is doing a pretty good job.
We need ballsy low end with kinda classic guitar OD on top.

Wondering if the Orange Bass Butler would be an upgrade.
Seeing as it is a rather pricy pedal I want some certainty before pulling the trigger.

Which pedal do you think is best fit for the job?

You can get endless options and versatility for these kinds of tones with a frequency splitter/crossover on your board. I’ve yet to try an “all in one” pedal that really nailed it to my liking, though the Orange looks promising (apart from being huge, heavy and expensive, and somewhat limited tweakability wise).
@Nunovsky above mentioned the Tyler KMA splitter, which looks like a great option. I have a Schallteknik (OMNILOOPER – Schalltechnik_04 ) I need to assemble, but also a simplified option in the Byte Heaven Sugar Britches ([Invalid or Expired Link Removed]). The Tyler and Schallteknik give you individual loops for low and high (and the Schallteknik has a third full frequency loop), which is even more ideal (allowing you to OD the top and compress the bottom independently). I find I can get most of the way there with just the Sugar Britches with a good guitar-based overdrive in the high loop (currently the Tech 21 Oxford, which is quite bright and crunchy). The Oxford loses some lows naturally, but with the crossover I can add as much as I want of thick clear lows underneath (even better with a light compression after everything to sort of blend the whole package together).

 

[Valvehead]

This is the video that made me pull the trigger

 

[Feral Feline]

Kinda. The tone control on the Billy Sheehan pedal seems to act like a band pass filter so you are mixing in midrange dirt with the clean, then the entire signal goes into a compressor.

I only ever tried the v1 of that pedal and found it was useless without adding a pedal that inverted phase into the fx loop, as by default the clean and dirt are out of phase and it didn’t sound great. I wrote to EBS about it hand they said they were just following Billy’s specs, with it being a signature pedal, but lo and behold, the deluxe version came out with a phase switch, so I’d advise trying that over the original!

Cheers for that.

That'll be one of my goals down the road, to have none of the DIY pedals I build for myself invert phase. Failing that, they'll have that switch!

 

[RMacBass]

I've just received a Source Audio Ultrawave specifically to accomplish the 'Yes' Chris Squire crossover/two-amps overdrive effect. I especially like the Ultrawave's many unusual kinds of distortion and the unreal EQ/selective gain controls.

It seems to be about the most customizable and affordable unit I've seen for this purpose. (i.e. one type of distortion at specific gain levels for a number of variable frequency ranges, while also outputting another distortion at different levels on different EQ bands, as well as providing comp, noise gate, and the all-important per-channel LPF/HPF. (Not to mention it's a tiny pedal with stereo ins and outs if you want them, and is midi-controllable with an adapter.)

One caveat, it's designed to be programmed with a computer or through an app. The knobs are customizable, so you can adjust the things you need on the gig, as long as you set what those knobs do beforehand.

 

[progjeff]

I use the YYZ Into the DP3x to achieve my sound. The dug for the low and high end and the YYZ for the mids. I use the Billy Sheehan for one of my overdrives. They all work well together.

 

[Zbysek]

Kinda. The tone control on the Billy Sheehan pedal seems to act like a band pass filter so you are mixing in midrange dirt with the clean, then the entire signal goes into a compressor.

I only ever tried the v1 of that pedal and found it was useless without adding a pedal that inverted phase into the fx loop, as by default the clean and dirt are out of phase and it didn’t sound great. I wrote to EBS about it hand they said they were just following Billy’s specs, with it being a signature pedal, but lo and behold, the deluxe version came out with a phase switch, so I’d advise trying that over the original!

This works great...especially if one inserts LPF into the clean FX loop...