• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

distortion pedal

phatbass30

phatbass30

Dec 24, 2006
1,083
208
Bangkok, Thailand
Disclosures
Groove is in the heart!!!
#1
first of, thanks for those who replied with my thread about delay pedals, it was a big help. now, i'm asking about a good distortion pedal. any ideas and insights would be a great deal of help.

i'm looking for a really good distortion to mix with micro pog and use the octave up to get that guitar effect with my bass, i will blend the distortion and the pog with VFB-2 so i won't lose my low end. does the fulltone bassdrive will do? it's the best overdrive i tried for now, but maybe not enough for heavy distortion?

thanks guys!
 
#2
The bassdrive doesn't do the heavy fuzz/distortion thing. The bass XXL is actually decent and is on the cheaper side. If you want to spend more there are plenty. I like my Wren and Cuff pickle pie. But I've also heard great things about the Sanford and Sonny Bluebeard. There are many others. Maybe try a search.

Edit: Here, try this list:
Electronix Messdrive Bass Fuzz - $89
Wooly Mammoth $340
Black Cat Bass Octave Fuzz $195
Maestro B:Assmaster $255
Chunk Brown Dog $232
MI Audio GI $149
Crowther Prunes & Custard $250
Colorsound tonebender $305
Barber Trifecta Fuzz $149
Sanford and Sunny Bluebeard fuzz $159
Zoom Ultra Fuzz UF-01
Devi Ever - SM & BIT & Destructo Noctavia
 
#3
MXR has a recent new distortion pedal I like, becase it isn't so raspy and sounds more like tube overdrive to me. It's the MXR Distortion III. I've been using MXR for many years, starting w/ thier Phase 90 made famous by Page and Van Halen. I also use thier Phlanger. No noise whatsoever on the bypasss.
 
#4
To the OP: Are you looking for fuzz or distortion?

Arbitrary - your list (and there are some really good pedals on it) is made up of all fuzzes, not distortions. Even the Bluebeard and Pickle Pie are fuzzes. In fact, both of those are modifications of the Big Muff. Well, technically, the Pickle Pie is a clone of the Way Huge Swollen Pickle which is a modded Big Muff circuit.

I like the XXLB a lot, but it is definitely a harsh distortion. It doesn't do subtle at all.

But here's another idea for phatbass30. Since you are blending it and you primarily want the distortion on the octave up of the POG for a guitar effect, why not consider guitar distortions? Maybe a Boss DS-2 or MT-2 or a ProCo Rat?
 
#5
TheBigO said:
Arbitrary - your list (and there are some really good pedals on it) is made up of all fuzzes, not distortions.
Click to expand...

You're right, sorry about that. I copied and pasted it from my list, I forgot I was looking at fuzz, and not distortion. Thinking about it now, I'm not sure I can think of any distortion specific boxes. Well theres the tonebender I think, but these lines get vague.
 
#6
You're right. Especially on bass it's hard to tell where the different classifications begin and end. And you're also right that there aren't many bass specific distortions out there. The XXL is one. The Fulltone straddles the line between overdrive and distortion and outside of that I have trouble coming up with another off the top of my head.
 
#7
I'm curious where the bass xxl design is from? Hmmm...

Apparently the MXR m80 and blowtorch are bass specific distortion pedals, as well as GK Diesel Dawg. The original marshall guv'nor is for guitar, but I dug it for a while (I think thats a dist. pedal)
 
#10
Currently I am running an Ibanez PD7 on my small/cheap board and it works really well for a raspy and heavy distortion. It is not very high end, and in my opinion, it doesn't do overdrive very well.

I would comment that the Bassdrive is more of an overdrive to my ears and can do a heavy overdriven sound, but not what I would classify as distortion.

The distortion boxes I am jones'ing for are a Proco Turbo Rat and a Sansamp GT2. From stuff that I have read, the GT2 can pull of the XXLB sound, but has some other (some are not really desirable for bass) options.

My big board most likely is going to have a Turbo rat blended with my effected signal and a GT2 for over the top, raspy distortion. Also a Bassdrive for OD and a Tonebender for Fuzz.
 
#11
I've got an MXR M-80, Fulltone Bass-Drive Mosfet and a Rat. I've pretty much got the overdrive to fuzz thing covered with the three alone or in combination. The only think I would like is one of the tube overdrives by EH, EBS or Radial. FYI, running the standard Rat through the M-80 using the color switch give a really full sounding fuzz. I don't notice any of the low-end loss people mention. The Fulltone also sounds great run through the M-80. If I could only have one, it would be the Fulltone. I'm also finding that I'm using my EBS MultiComp less now since I have the Fulltone.

I have owned a LBM and the Tech 21 XXL Bass. The LBM was fine but to my ears the Rat sounds much fuller. I was very dissappointed by the XXL Bass. It was very noisy and one-dimensional in sound. I returned it right away and bought the Fulltone.

One other thing, the distortion circuit on the Baseballs is kind of interesting in combination with its envelope filters.

All of my experience is based upon a Sterling HS and a GK210.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back