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Budget distortion showdown.

autodidact

autodidact

Mar 13, 2011
2,054
101
#1
I've been looking for a pedal to give me that over the top kind of almost uncalled for bass distortion.

I'm keeping my budget to $60 or below so I've been looking at a lot of regular guitar pedals to give myself a better selection. I've got a Boss EQ pedal that I plan on using in combination with the distortion pedal to stop the low end draining.

So far I've got 3 candidates that are used in my price range: Boss Mega Distortion, EHX Metal Muff, and Proco Rat.

I've heard good things about the RAT here on TB so that's a possible main contender. I've tried bass through the Metal Muff and really dug the sound plus it has a 3 band EQ + a high boost which may help me cut more. The Mega Distortion is supposed to be for new metal and lower tuned guitars however I can't try it at my local GC before I meet the guy off Craigslist.

Anyone with experience using any of these want to toss in their two cents? Or other ideas for decent sounding, "budget friendly" distortions?
 
#2
I don't think you will be happy with any of the pedals you listed here.

I would look at the EH Bass Big Muff PI instead.
It's bass friendly and it sounds great.
Many people will disagree with me but they are not many good budget alternatives. I had a chance to A/B this pedal against muffs which are two to three times the price and it lost but not by very much. The tone difference was in the real of detail and nothing that could be really heard in a live context.
Also note that fuzz is highly subjective some people might actually prefer the tone of the EH.
 
#3
Laurent said:
I don't think you will be happy with any of the pedals you listed here.

I would look at the EH Bass Big Muff PI instead.
It's bass friendly and it sounds great.
Many people will disagree with me but they are not many good budget alternatives. I had a chance to A/B this pedal against muffs which are two to three times the price and it lost but not by very much. The tone difference was in the real of detail and nothing that could be really heard in a live context.
Also note that fuzz is highly subjective some people might actually prefer the tone of the EH.
Click to expand...

I tried a regular Big Muff the other week and if the bass version sounds anything like that version I'm not interested haha. I'm looking for a distortion, not a fuzz.

I really dig the bass sound in that new Chevelle song "Face To The Floor". The distortion doesn't sound too intricate...just bad ass.
 
#4
I have theSyle Umiom for sale. It's the best value you could find for $80. Very bass friendly and very versatile. I used for a long time and now I switched to Dr. Scientist the Elements and Darkglass B3K. I used it in a my song (link in a signature, starts at 1:50). I don't mean to spam but you won't find anything that good on bass for that cheap IMO.
 
#6
If I was on a budget, I would go either EHX Bass Muff Pi for fuzz, or for straight up distortion, the BBE AM64. The AM64 is in the same area of tone as the Rat (as in sucks the bass out of the tone) but I like it's character better than the Rat. Plus I think you can get it brand new at GC on sale for $20. Regulary $30 brand new. What's not to like about that?!
 
#8
Timi said:
Really? I think the Rat followed by a bit of mid cut and bass boost will get a sound close to that Chevelle video.

Ibanez used to make a pedal called the Phat Hed which is actually quite cool and might suit your sound, when they come up they are usually quite cheap. Even the Boss OBD3 might suit...
Click to expand...

I looked it up online and it says that the dude from Chevelle is used an OBD3 which kind of surprised me, it seems like the pros nowadays are using fancy pedals.

I think the sound in video is a combo of the pedal and his Gibson TBird. Not to mention the Mesas. hmmm.
 
#11
i've been seeing the EHX Metal Muff on several pro pedalboards lately, which is tempting me to pick one up.

Tony Levin
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The Sword
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#14
autodidact said:
I've been looking for a pedal to give me that over the top kind of almost uncalled for bass distortion.

I'm keeping my budget to $60 or below so I've been looking at a lot of regular guitar pedals to give myself a better selection. I've got a Boss EQ pedal that I plan on using in combination with the distortion pedal to stop the low end draining.

So far I've got 3 candidates that are used in my price range: Boss Mega Distortion, EHX Metal Muff, and Proco Rat.

I've heard good things about the RAT here on TB so that's a possible main contender. I've tried bass through the Metal Muff and really dug the sound plus it has a 3 band EQ + a high boost which may help me cut more. The Mega Distortion is supposed to be for new metal and lower tuned guitars however I can't try it at my local GC before I meet the guy off Craigslist.

Anyone with experience using any of these want to toss in their two cents? Or other ideas for decent sounding, "budget friendly" distortions?
Click to expand...

Using an EQ pedal to restore lost bottom end is not a great idea.
You cannot add what is not there, and using an EQ will just make it "boomier".
Best is to blend clean with distorted sound. Many distortion/overdrive pedals for bass have a blend knob. If you use one without it, you can use a Boss LS-2 with the overdrive, to blend the undistorted and distorted sound, having a separate volume for each.

I'd like to suggest you look at the Ashdown Hyperdrive. the James Lomenzo signature one. It is cheap (around £40-50 used, here in the UK), it has a blend control, and the character of the distortion can be taylored by selecting which range of frequencies to distort. very versatile, and it has a ton of good sounds, from soft to extremely distorted.
Just don't pay too much attention to the demos on youtube. The pedal does a LOT more than what any of those videos show.
 
#17
mcnach said:
Using an EQ pedal to restore lost bottom end is not a great idea.
You cannot add what is not there, and using an EQ will just make it "boomier".
Click to expand...

Right now I use my EQ pedal with my Catalinbread SFT to boost the bass a little and the highs and it's not boomy...



mcnach said:
I'd like to suggest you look at the Ashdown Hyperdrive. the James Lomenzo signature one. It is cheap (around £40-50 used, here in the UK), it has a blend control, and the character of the distortion can be taylored by selecting which range of frequencies to distort. very versatile, and it has a ton of good sounds, from soft to extremely distorted.
Click to expand...

Too much money.
 

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