Dirt pedal for flatwounds?

[edot3021]

If you like the B:assmaster, try the Diabolik. It let's more low end through.

 

[sutarappa]

If you are running the SVT gain past noon, it significantly colors anything you run into it. Less gain on an SVT means more of a drive pedal's inherent character may emerge.

Try the Megalith or Muff into the B:assmaster? Then you can blend the low-heavy texture of those pedals ('bass volume') with the cutting highs of the B:assmaster ('ass volume').

 

[mr80htz]

Hello, I have a P-bass with Chromes, and play through an SVT —> 8x10. It sounds pretty great for good ol’ rock&roll (SVT needs to be loud to sound its best) but I would also like to get a good heavy grunge/sludge/stoner rock type sound. I have a bunch of good dirt pedals (EHX Green Russian muff reissue, B:assmaster, Megalith, etc etc) but can’t seem to dial in a tone that has everything I’m looking for. I feel like Goldilocks with the 3 Bears, the porridge is always slightly too cold or slightly too hot. Some pedals have great texture but cut too much lows. Or they sound rad but too muddy, not enough note definition. It may be a matter of spending more time dialing things in, in a more precise way, but my opinion is that if I’m not able to find the sounds I want within say 30 minutes, I’m not going to make that pedal work for me.

What dirt pedals work well for flats, to get a rad “heavy” tone? I’m looking for gravelly texture, note definition, doesn’t cut low frequencies (if anything, it should be able to enhance the lows) and doesn’t reduce sustain (I already struggle with less sustain, using flats). I’m not saying that the pedals I have are totally unsatisfactory- it sounds pretty good - but when I A/B them, I like the texture of one pedal the best (B:assmaster), the lows of another pedal the best (Megalith), the sustain and touch sensitivity of another pedal (Russian muff) etc… I can’t seem to get everything I want in one pedal. Maybe “you can’t have it all”? Could be user error? Maybe I’m being too picky? Maybe I should try stacking pedals? (I never got the hang of that)

I'm kinda new to the flat thing. I have one bass with 3 year old half-wounds because roundwound kept making fret buzz (cheap bass). Regardless of the tone it has I love the feel of playing an instrument with flats. Totally different experience.

 

[jdjk7]

Hello, I have a P-bass with Chromes, and play through an SVT —> 8x10. It sounds pretty great for good ol’ rock&roll (SVT needs to be loud to sound its best) but I would also like to get a good heavy grunge/sludge/stoner rock type sound. I have a bunch of good dirt pedals (EHX Green Russian muff reissue, B:assmaster, Megalith, etc etc) but can’t seem to dial in a tone that has everything I’m looking for. I feel like Goldilocks with the 3 Bears, the porridge is always slightly too cold or slightly too hot. Some pedals have great texture but cut too much lows. Or they sound rad but too muddy, not enough note definition. It may be a matter of spending more time dialing things in, in a more precise way, but my opinion is that if I’m not able to find the sounds I want within say 30 minutes, I’m not going to make that pedal work for me.

What dirt pedals work well for flats, to get a rad “heavy” tone? I’m looking for gravelly texture, note definition, doesn’t cut low frequencies (if anything, it should be able to enhance the lows) and doesn’t reduce sustain (I already struggle with less sustain, using flats). I’m not saying that the pedals I have are totally unsatisfactory- it sounds pretty good - but when I A/B them, I like the texture of one pedal the best (B:assmaster), the lows of another pedal the best (Megalith), the sustain and touch sensitivity of another pedal (Russian muff) etc… I can’t seem to get everything I want in one pedal. Maybe “you can’t have it all”? Could be user error? Maybe I’m being too picky? Maybe I should try stacking pedals? (I never got the hang of that)

I wouldn't say that there is such a thing as dirt "for flats". If anything, it might be to me that dirt pedals that are very low end heavy might become too bassy when flats are played through them. But otherwise, I find that my dirt pedals tend to work pretty well on flats as well as round. Otherwise I think it comes down more to what kind of dirt you want and what variation upon it might suit you best.

 

[gstaats]

To retain low-end, look for a pedal with a clean blend. The genzler Four on the Floor is a great bass OD pedal that is very tunable. Each gear is a different OD circuit. Worth a look. Offers great features like an hpf pre OD and an lpf post OD that don't impact the clean signal path.

 

[jbhaugh]

A bass-friendly RAT variant or a RAT and a blend

 

[REV]

I'm really happy with my Bearfoot Blueberry. I only use it to supply a little grit but it can get pretty insane if I need it.I'm also liking the distortion channel on my Genzler Magellan. It's almost as good as the Blueberry and if I don't feel like lugging a pedal I just use the Magellan.

 

[sunbeast]

One of my favorite preamps with flats (or rounds for that matter) is the Tronographic Rusty Box- it is great at adding punch and clarity plus some edge. I almost always use mine stacked. I also love my Darkglass Vintage with flats, even better is to stack the two as they have fairly complementary characteristics (the Vintage can be a bit dark and has a big low-mid punchy character while the Rusty adds more high-mids and highs). Also dig the Wren and Cuff TFR at low-gain with the Tone mostly cranked as a mid-gain distortion with flats

 

[Grinderman]

I like both gain controls on my Broughton SV-Pre and MB WD-800 set to positions between the 1 and 3 o'clock.

 

[MetcalfBass]

I play a P with decade old Chromes mainly through an Ampeg V-4B reissue and Heritage 810 cab. I also use a Quilter BB800 with a RevSound 215 cab. I’ve been doing the dirt dance for a while, and here’s where I landed:

(Main board)


(Home board)

 

[GrapeBass]

I like both gain controls on my Broughton SV-Pre and MB WD-800 set to positions between the 1 and 3 o'clock.

The Stooges are a great example of using flats in the defining period of punk, really punches through the guitar's grinding tones.

 

[knumbskull]

Fuzzrocious BDPG adds a ton of low end to other dirt pedals if you can find one. i couldn't imagine using my B:assmaster without it & this setup sounds great with flats.

 

[Rolling Thunder]

I play flats with a Walrus Audio Ironhorse (ProCo RAT clone) and sometimes with Way Huge Russian Pickle (Sovtek muff clone).

 

[kleinenenten]

Until the last few months, my main bass wore flats for about a decade. I also like heavy tones. I've tried plenty of muffs, ODs, HM-2s, and other stuff. Here are some of my standouts for pedal-heaviness:

Way Huge Pork Loin (JohnK Mod) - not incredibly heavy necessarily, but it worked in EVERY SINGLE SITUATION. This is my desert-island drive. It will never leave my board, and I've tried some of the other boutique pedals for this style and it wins every time. However, judging by your need for dirt, I'd say this one probably isn't heavy enough. I hear the Pork & Pickle is also amazing, but I have not tried that one.

Way Huge Swollen Pickle - Speaking of the Pork & Pickle... I also love the Swollen Pickle. I takes time to dial in, so this may not be your thing, but if you take the patience, this box can do almost any fuzz tone. It's my #2 fuzz, just ever so slightly behind the Pharaoh Supreme.

Way Huge Russian Pickle - Another excellent muff - if you don't want to spend tons of time tweaking, this would be my suggestion. Only three knobs, and one's volume, so it only takes about 30 seconds to find a basic tone that works, and maybe 5 minutes to tweak it. Not quite as articulate or low-tuned as the Pharaoh or Swollen Pickle, but pretty close. This is an excellent, no nonsense fuzz. The EHX Reissue is almost exactly the same tone-wise, but perhaps slightly more pillow-y in the lows with slightly less highs and has more volume on tap. But I was never near the end of any of the knobs' travel on either pedal, so it shouldn't be a problem. The EHX is also cheaper, if that's a concern.

Black Arts Toneworks Pharaoh Supreme - My favorite fuzz ever. Nothing ever seems to top it. Every time I think something has, I tweak a few knobs on this thing, and it does the same thing as the other fuzz but better. That DOES mean this is a massive time sink in the beginning, but now that I've got it mostly figured out, I can get all sorts of tones within a few minutes. If I could only have one fuzz - this is it.

Earthbound Audio Iron Pig - An amazing Rat that can do almost-fuzz all the way down to almost-nothing OD tones. It also can run at 18v, which I utilize. I've got mine set up for light amp-like distortion right now. Works just as well on flats as it does rounds. My favorite Rat so far, and I think I'll start picking up more Rats as a result of this one. It can take a bit of dialing in, though, so if you're not willing to do that, I may avoid this one.

Fuzzrocious Cat Tail (Rat #2) - It's close tone-wise to the Iron Pig, but not quite as organic sounding. I may get mine modded with a clean blend as a result. That would probably fix it. But that being said - if you want filth - the Cat Tail can certainly do filth. I just use a Rat for light to medium gain. It's also much more easily obtainable than an Iron Pig.

Next would be HM-2s. I've got about 12 versions of that circuit... If you want some specific info, I'll be happy to oblige, but that tone certainly isn't for everyone. Though it IS heavy! In short, I've found that boutique is the way to go for bass HM-2s, but dead simple clones are my preference for guitar. For now, I'll list my current bass favorites in order:
1 - Earthbound Audio Throat Locust (at 18v, if yours can handle it - not all can)
2 - Bear Amps Heavier Metal
3 & 4 (Tie) - LWA Left Hand Wrath and Dunwich DIY HM-2
5 & 6 (Tie) - Arion Metal Master and Boss HM-2w Waza

Hope this helps!

 

[arepa_funk]

Exclusively using flats here on passive basses, Chromes and had LaBella LTFs. Might go with 760FLs one day on a recent pbass. These are my favorite dirt pedals:

SSBS Mini - Do everything dirt, hard to find. It's really great.
Way Huge Pork & Pickle - Love the Pork Loin, brighter too, no need for the johnk mod and you get the Russian Pickle too.
Jam Lucydreamer Bass OD - 100% affiliated, I have one in the classifieds now since I'm changing my setup.
MXR Sub Machine - I've said it often, probably my favorite dirt pedal ever.
Broughton Maestro
Zvex Mastotron

 

[Grinderman]

I like both gain controls on my Broughton SV-Pre and MB WD-800 set to positions between the 1 and 3 o'clock.

Context and other thoughts:

In the '80s I got hooked on Rotosound Swing 66 stainless rounds. Eventually, over the course of decades, I got into nickel rounds which inevitably and fairly quickly became broken in nickel rounds which led me to appreciating that sound. I didn't like dead Rotos when I used them when I was a kid but I appreciate the tone broken in nickel rounds.

That opened me to using brighter, so-called modern, flats. I use Dunlop 45-105 stainless flats on my P basses and Fender 9050L 45-100 stainless flats on my Jazz bass. These are plenty bright sounding to me even considering that I'm very much steeped in the tone of players such as Steve Hanley with The Fall for example.



My attack with fingers or pick, the amount of grind and rasp from my setup, my eq/tone choices and the amount of gain/overdrive I use are such that I don't need stainless rounds or even nickel rounds to get my sound. They're easy on my fingers and frets; they're easy to slide and move around on; they eliminate a lot of extra finger noise moving along the strings that I don't much like.

They also produce an element of warmth that may seem intuitively counter to brightness, rasp and grind but actually works. The warmth doesn't seem to filter or block the rasp and grind, it's just adds another layer of tonal nuance.

I aim to get three different, if slightly, sounds from my two P basses and one Jazz bass so I may yet dip my toe in trying LaBella and GHS Precision flats on one of my P basses to get a taste of what I can do with those.

I think I'd also like to try a step up in string stiffness on my P basses, either with the next heavier gauge or strings that are simply stiffer by construction than the 45-105 Dunlops flats I have.

 

[mr_musica]

I had flats on my P for a long time (will combeck to them later this year, hopefully hehehe)
I'm not sure if you are talking about fuzz, but I have used a MXR El Grande Bass Fuzz. It is a beast (and I mean it, I wouldn't put the fuzz or the volume pass 12 o clock), and it also includes a configurable deep switch that you can use if you want to boost the bass even more. I found that just by using the tone knob I could get good sounds with it.

MXR has a new bass fuzz that lets you blend in the original signal with a knob (not with an on off switch as other pedals), maybe adding the clean signal on top of it could get you where you want.

Another alternative from MXR (not endorsing but I got pretty excited with their pedals a few years back hehehe) could be the DI+, it has a separate distortion channel which you can use with or without the preamp that also has a good range of gain and a blend knob. It has a dedicated eq, although it has a color switch that defaults to "on" when you use the distortion, but I also got good sounds with it.

 

[vvvmmm]

MXR El Grande Bass Fuzz, heh-heh.

I had one on my board a band or three ago - it is absolutely as heavy as any Malekko or zvex or any other maker's pedal (my only Darkgl... thing is a clone).

Heavy doesn't always fit (why it's off now), but it do sound good doin' that.

And the feedback ...

... but the stupid blue light.

 

[mr_musica]

... but the stupid blue light.

"Stage Ready LED..."

 

[Bubby Brown]

The tech21 doug will you well.