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Distortion Pedal Help

kevindahl

kevindahl

Aug 21, 2006
791
1,317
#1
Hey everyone, I thought I pick your brains about which pedal to buy. I am complete noob to this technology. I have checked out many youtube reviews and have found a couple that interest me. The darkglass vintage microtubes was the first pedal that really grabbed my attention. I don't really like their other series though. Another pedal that sounds good to me is the Electro Harmonix Bass Soul Food.

I play in a classic rock cover band and I am looking for that tube like distortion ie Whole Lotta love. It would be nice to have a distortion pedal that I could use occasionally and beef up my tone.

Are their any other pedals out there that are similar? Any pros and cons to the pedals I mentioned? Thanks for reading.
 
#2
Finding the perfect dirt pedal can become a certain madness or an obsession if you let it and a real money pit as well. There are so many wonderful pedals to seek out and try, which ones to keep, trade, sell, buy again, sell or trade again only to... oh wait there are 15 new pedals released just this week and there were twelve last week..arrgh! Madness I tell you utter, udder madness!

Without exaggeration I have owned well over 100 dirt pedals some even more, check out JohnK's collection and this is just a part, the search is never ending. Guitar and bass dirt pedals and also amps offer different types of distortion and saturation as well as tone controls it pays to understand how all of those contribute to the shaping of your bass tones.

Always keep in mind that no matter what you hear YMMV [Your Mileage May (WILL) Vary] because you play a different bass, have a different attack and different amp, it is all relative. Plus you have to always factor in your band add guitars, keys and cymbals and that changes everything especially dirt.

My suggestions for the novice:
1. Buy used when you can TB Classifieds and Reverb sometimes EBay
2. Research, listen to clips
3. Get a multieffect that offers a comprehensive selection of bass drive pedals and amps I like the Zoom MS60B Try different sounds until you find the one you like then go after the analog equivalent if you feel the need.
4. Consider getting a Source Audio Aftershock this is the last dirt pedal I bought and may be the last one I will ever buy because it can sound like any of them. Try different sounds until you find the one you like then go after the analog equivalent if you feel the need.
 
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#7
Try your best to start out by buying popular pedals at used prices so you can flip them.

I used to have a list of pedals I’ve tried. It was like 30 pedals long. And that was about 7 years ago. It’s likely doubled by now.

I’m starting to think of much more pinpointed pedals I haven’t tried.

But manufacturers keep making more!!!!
 
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