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Distortion Mega-Thread! User submitted Distortion reviews

#21
Pros:
Small unit, good quality exterior construction
Very good warm/mild overdrive.

Cons:
Despite the three settings, I only really used the middle setting. The tube od sound wasn't quite defined enough to my ears, and the flat distortion wasn't as thick sounding as I'd have liked.
Expensive

Overall: This is a great pedal for warm / mild tubey overdrive. It wasn't so convincing at distortion, to my ears
 
#23
Pros:
Very well constructed unit
Very versatile unit
Two channel operation
Very good overdrive and distortion sounds available

Cons:
Up there in the expensive range of pedals
There is a definite midrange emphasis to the sound

Overall: I'd say this has been my favorite to date. I probably prefer the overdrive on the EBS, which is slightly warmer, but overall this wins out as it's overdrive is still very good and the distortion boost channel is much better than the distortion available on the EBS.
 
#28
Originally posted by davidmwilson
Pros:
Very well constructed unit
Very versatile unit
Two channel operation
Very good overdrive and distortion sounds available

Cons:
Up there in the expensive range of pedals
There is a definite midrange emphasis to the sound

Overall: I'd say this has been my favorite to date. I probably prefer the overdrive on the EBS, which is slightly warmer, but overall this wins out as it's overdrive is still very good and the distortion boost channel is much better than the distortion available on the EBS.
Click to expand...

Extra Pro:
True Bypass;)
 
#30
Sans amp TRI -AC

Pro's
1) Three different styles
2) EQ (high, low, mid)
3) Programmable
4) Works for bass as well as guitar
5) Sounds tube(y)
6) Sort of cheap.

Con's
1) hard to match levels
2) big

edit: Possible con: I have no idea if this is true bypass or not. I use it with a loooper anyway.
 
#33
I have bought the Bass Driver by Digitech and it's a screaming pedal. With Level knob, to adjust the loud; the tone, for the low to high pitches; the gain, to differentiate the distorted bass with distorted bass; and the morph, to change from subtle overdrive, to fat distortion, to full on fuzz. I fell in love with this pedal because of its versatility and quality. Hard ass, rugged chassis. Whether you want a warm overdrive setting, or a mean thick ditortion, the Digitech Bas Driver delivers.:bassist:
 
#34
In the begining there was bass, and I would like to keep it that way...

So my life long journey to find the perfect bass overdrive is now compleat, after a trip to a local music store - and about 15 hours online...

I have a stroy first, so you will have to wait to find out all the jucy details...

Here is a historical rundown:

Units I own curently-

Tech 21 RBI (great distortion, but I use it for my clean tone... :-( Plus I like the sound of the BDDI more...)

Shin Ei Fuzz Wah (keeps all the lows, but there is nothing suttle about this one. Full on all the time. I need suttlenes damnit)

Guyatone Tube Overdrive (Also a great pedal, but cuts a lot of lows and thins the sound out. But it is not without its qualities, volume swells sound fantastic and whale like with this thing - and it can get a great psudo guitar sound.)

DOD death metal x2 - no longer used for bass (has no tone, and is even more full on that the shin ei. It now resides in my noise pedal board)

Boss bass overdrive (well this thing is (IMO) a fart in a can, I hate it on bass... No tone, the blend sucks... and I HATE BOSS... This too now resides in my noise pedal board)

Units I have owned-

Peavey rockmaster preamp - rackmount (I love this thing, but I am getting away from rack gear prosesors... So very shortly it will be on its way to our own Devilman, I am sure she will get a good home from him...)

DOD Overdrive Plus FX50B (Wow this thing just plane blew!.. But it picked up some cool radio stations!..)

Akai Shredmaster (real tube, real thin!.. I was real pissed at myself for buying this, man what a waist of money...)

there are many more - but it would get boring...

Units I have tried-

HAO Rust Driver - Sounded fabulous!!! all the lows, very trasparent... But a big 0 in the suttle department, I just couldn't coax a light svtish crunch out of it... But man what a cool pedal... Cheep too!..

Tech 21 BDDI - Again realy great, but not very trasparent... I want my original tone to shine through...

Again I could go on... But now for the finaly!!!

Yesterday after much reserch, and a few phone calls to shadowy men whos names can not be mentioned due to the safty of there wives and children. I purchaised what I consider to be the ultimate solid state bass overdrive :

THE DOD 250 OVERDRIVE/PREAMP-

Invalid Link Removed

Cost me 66 loonies
Uber transparent
No loss of tone/bass
Bucket loads of suttleness, and gain
Cool looks
Solid construction

All I have to say is WOW!!.. This thing has flown way under the radar, for both guitar and bass... Its so transparent, it really lets your basses tone sing through. I have it set so if I play lightly it just boosts my signal giving me that great duby massive tone, but when I dif in it shows it teeth and lets a little snarl in there... But if I wanted I could crank the gain the to moon, and melt the walls!.. Because it only clipps your signal there is no loss of tone or bass, infact it boosts the bass in my signal without distorting it... I gota tell you I am in love!...

:hyper:

Sound clips soon to follow!!!

Cheers

Alex

p.s. I know this has its own thread but it should be here too...
 
#39
Originally posted by the low one
I don't understand what you mean by "not a true bypass". I find it totally transparent when switched off.
Click to expand...
Even if it sounds transparent, it's not. Your bass signal is still going through the circuitry - just having zero distortion applied.

True bypass means that, when off, the signal bypasses the circuitry altogether - often passing straight from input jack to output jack.
 
#40
Originally posted by davidmwilson
Even if it sounds transparent, it's not. Your bass signal is still going through the circuitry - just having zero distortion applied.

True bypass means that, when off, the signal bypasses the circuitry altogether - often passing straight from input jack to output jack.
Click to expand...

Fair enough, I can see the point of the true bypass then. Is this true of all BOSS pedals, do none of them have a true bypass? I use 3 of them and have always thoought that I don't lose any signal with them, unlike the Big Muff which is a great distortion but sucks the life out of your tone when switched off.
 

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