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Help Me Decide on an Overdrive!

Which overdrive would you buy?

  • Total voters
    78
#21
+ however many, the Berry is awesome but way too dark and colored for your application. I voted Gemini, because of all the OD/dirts I've owned, this is the most honestly versatile--meaning it actually sounds great at a wide range of dirt levels, unlike most other pedals which "can" do both low-gain and high-gain but which frankly can only do one of them well. The Gemini does low-gain really well and it does high-gain really well, no excuses. At low gain it's fairly transparent-ish, and at high gain it retains bite and articulation.

I'm also a big fan of the Holy Fire and the Red Llama clones (Polish Love et.al.). The HF is better at smooth tones and the RL is better at aggro tones, but both have decent range and articulation, and the HF is one of the most transparent OD's out there.
 
#22
Mutt, saw your post over in the What's Coming and Going thread, figured I'd drop by to see if I could help out! :D

LeonD said:
The Pork Loin is very transparent with no loss of bass. It can go from full and saturated to quite nasty.
Click to expand...

Joospocks said:
Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive. Basically a TS808 with an added clean mix. I love it!
Click to expand...

I have both of these, and I sent my Sparkle Drive to Keeley for modding. Both are nicely transparent and keep low end well (even before modding for the Sparkle Drive). Both are darn good at low-gain overdrive sounds in original form, and both can get pretty darn crunchy. After modding though, the Keeley really shines... twice the gain available and even better low end response than stock. More "open" if that makes sense, but a little more harsh than the Pork Loin. I use the Pork Loin more for "everyday life" on my board (but NOT as an always on pedal) and the Keeley for stuff that calls for more medium-to-high gain crunchiness. When I play Slang (Jaco), the Keeley Sparkle Drive is my go-to, without a doubt. It pretty much nails his overdrive/distortion sound at 2:19 (on the album version) or in this live vid of the same song at 2:05 (but it's not the best recording).

Both are GREAT pedals and I won't be getting rid of either one. I think you'd be quite happy with either if you're looking for transparent, and the Keeley mod is absolutely worth every cent.

Just for kicks, I've also added a clip of the Hartke Bass Attack. Not really that transparent, but it has a great, beefy low-gain crunch and can get absolutely HUUUGE. Seriously, I bet this thing could eat speakers for breakfast! On the last section of the clip in particular, I still could've added low end and Level was only at 2!! :eek: I won this one from Larry Hartke himself via Facebook, and was completely surprised at how much I like the sound.

I also have a Sansamp Bass Driver and owned/sold an HAO Rust Ride. Unfortunately, no clips of either of these.

All that said, I'm good in the "Transparent Overdrive" department which is why I ordered the Catalinbread SFT. I was specifically looking for a non-transparent overdrive... Old-school Fliptop flavor in a pedal that can also do low- to mid-gain crunch. :)

Enough blabbering, on with some clips!!! :bassist:

Hope this helps!

5sg.

Pork Loin
various drive settings

Voodoo Labs vs. Keeley Sparkle Drive
Light Gain
Voodoo Labs SD
Keeley SD

Full Gain Blended
Voodoo Labs SD
Keeley SD

Full Wet Gain
Voodoo Labs SD
Keeley SD

Keeley SD - Gritty

Hartke Bass Attack
various gain settings
 
#23
See the used RRR on TGP?

TheMutt said:
So much like the reverb thread that I started (I'm going to try to snag a Dr. Scientist RRR/RR(mini)R when I get the cash or find one used), I need some help deciding which overdrive to try.
I play mainly Contemporary Christian (yes, we do use pedals :rolleyes:) and need something that pulls better duty for overdrive than running a VT Bass at higher gain (I liked it for lower gain stuff and to use as a vintage tone emulator, but got rid of it because I could do both with my amp) or running my amp at high gain (necessitates me to have to change settings for the slow songs). I'd also like something that can be very transparent (doesn't change my tone too much) but also can be used as a tone shaper if the need arises. As such, I am trying to find a pedal that is able to give me anything from a slight boost to mid-gain almost distortion levels, but not quite. A big plus would be if it were small enough to fill the space of my VT or better yet even smaller (sorry, I'm not going to be able to fit a Fulltone Bassdrive on my Pedaltrain Mini).
Click to expand...
 
#25
fivestringgecko said:
IN:

Three new overdrives hit the G.A.S. list...

Catalinbread SFT
Zeibek Gemini Drive
Creation Audio Labs Holy Fire

:confused: Hmm... which one? Probably the SFT to start with.

5sg.
Click to expand...

fivestringgecko said:
However, I’m pretty sure the Gemini will be a pedal I’ll be checking out in the near future too. Now that the 3Leaf has calmed my search for “The Perfect Filter,” I’ve apparently moved on to “The Perfect Overdrive.” lol

5sg.
Click to expand...

^--- from the other thread... ---^

I figure the Holy Fire might be rather appropriate for church use. :ninja: ;) LOL

Oh yeah, and as you'll see from my sig, I do want to try a Blueberry someday too. lol

5sg.
 
#26
fivestringgecko said:
I have both of these, and I sent my Sparkle Drive to Keeley for modding. Both are nicely transparent and keep low end well (even before modding for the Sparkle Drive). Both are darn good at low-gain overdrive sounds in original form, and both can get pretty darn crunchy. After modding though, the Keeley really shines... twice the gain available and even better low end response than stock. More "open" if that makes sense, but a little more harsh than the Pork Loin.
Click to expand...
Thanks for all the clips! The VLSD doesn't seem to be what I am looking for particularly, but the Pork Loin certainly has me very interested now. I might have to purchase one from GC to try out and return if it doesn't work out. :ninja:

fivestringgecko said:
Just for kicks, I've also added a clip of the Hartke Bass Attack.
Click to expand...
This was a very surprising pedal as I have usually looked past the Hartke stuff. It is very amp like for what I am hearing and I'd assume is very versatile. I just wish it were smaller.

TheWoodShed said:
See the used RRR on TGP?
Click to expand...
I see them quite often, but I am specifically looking for the RR(mini)R and for a price that will work for me. (Ideally in the $175-$200 range used... I'm going to be waiting a while. :atoz:)

fivestringgecko said:
I figure the Holy Fire might be rather appropriate for church use. :ninja: ;) LOL

Oh yeah, and as you'll see from my sig, I do want to try a Blueberry someday too. lol

5sg.
Click to expand...
I was thinking the same thing. :p
Although it's always fun to use the B:Assmaster when I can. The praise leader wants me to get it back as soon as possible (it's being rehoused right now) as there are some songs that he wants me to exclusively use it on. :D
 
#27
TheMutt said:
Thanks for all the clips! The VLSD doesn't seem to be what I am looking for particularly, but the Pork Loin certainly has me very interested now. I might have to purchase one from GC to try out and return if it doesn't work out. :ninja:
Click to expand...

TheMutt said:
This was a very surprising pedal as I have usually looked past the Hartke stuff. It is very amp like for what I am hearing and I'd assume is very versatile. I just wish it were smaller.
Click to expand...

The Pork Loin is currently my favorite overdrive and despite the impending SFT, I'm pretty sure it'll stay on my board. It's got a great sound and is quite tweakable, there's 3 internal trim pots in addition to what's on the outside. Your plan with GC sounds good... I didn't know I wanted one until I was bored one day and tried one. I couldn't leave the store without it!

I'm pretty convinced Hartke gear doesn't get enough love around Talkbass. For some reason, people just kind of dismiss it as low-budget stuff. I've had a couple Hartke rigs that have been rock solid workhorses (my first bass amp was a Kickback 12, still going strong!). I agree the pedal is a little bigger than I'd like, but man... there's just something about the sound of it that I love. I've used it more for recording than on my board, but jeez, listening to that clip last night made me want to make room for it again! :D

I'm always happy to help out a fellow TB'er when I can. I've found a wealth of great information/opinions around here, so I enjoy returning the favor when I can. I could throw out some clips of the BDDI, but I figure that's one of those pedals where there's really no need since a lot of people already have. :)

I'll try and do some clips of the SFT when it comes in!

5sg.
 
#28
Just an update, I've got a Music Electronix GeminiDrive incoming which has had the V.2 upgrade done to it. :D

I'm also going to wait and see about the Angler V.2 (another thread) and pit it against the Gemini.
 
#29
TheMutt said:
Just an update, I've got a Music Electronix GeminiDrive incoming which has had the V.2 upgrade done to it. :D

I'm also going to wait and see about the Angler V.2 (another thread) and pit it against the Gemini.
Click to expand...

Nice. Can you fill me in on the difference between the Music Electronix and Zeibek Gemini Drives is? Just the name? Also, is the V.2 version what's currently available from Zeibek?

Interested in the Angler as well, of course. :)

5sg.
 
#30
As far as I can tell, the three switches on the Music Electronix were Gemini, "Mod 1", and "Mod 2". The Zeibeck version (V.2) has Gemini, Sonor, and Texture switches.

The Texture switch is a 2-position switch that takes the place of the Mod 1 and Mod 2 switches, and the Sonor switch was added to make it deeper sounding. The bypass went from an electronic true-bypass to a hard wired true bypass with pop reducing circuitry. The Gemini mode is also less fuzz like when off than in the first version.

All of this information can be found on the Zeibek website. :)
 
#31
TheMutt said:
All of this information can be found on the Zeibek website. :)
Click to expand...

Cool, thanks for the info (and the link). I haven't dug into it that far since I decided to start with the SFT first. Not sure exactly when I'll get to the Gemini either... before the SFT even got here, I contacted John Fromel about building me a custom "The Perfect Overdrive" pedal. lol At the moment, it sounds like it could possibly be a bass-modified Tim clone with his Shape EQ built in, possibly a mid-scoop switch as well. Just (anxiously) waiting to hear back from him!

5sg.
 
#33
So after playing around with the GeminiDrive, it's still not the overdrive that I am looking for. I've got it up for trade in the classifieds currently.

Basicly, the tone doesn't do anything for me and the only switch I actually liked was the "sonor" mode. With the Gemini switch off, it was still too fizzy/fuzzy/buzzy (I had to kill my treble on the amp to make it useable, YMMV) to be useable for my needs. The unfortunate thing is, the clean blend only seems to work when in the gemini off mode (or it's not noticeable). Great pedal, but definitely not what I am looking for.

Next up, I am looking to check out the DredgeTone Bass Angler and hopefully it will work out better for what I need.
 
#36
As I've got my eyes fixed intently on the Agro these days :eek: it's hard not to want to tell everyone to get that pedal. However - I do not own it yet, so I have no personal experience with it, and that being said - I'm not too sure if that is the kind of "transparent" OD you're looking for.

And all that being said - I would also put in another option that has not been brought up yet, the Zvex Distortron. I use the pedal for a medium/heavy overdrive - and love the way it sounds. I recorded some of it's settings on my '62 jazz. It has a 3 position toggle to dial in sub frequencies (allowing you to maintain your low end), and a LOW/HIGH gain toggle to dial in the amount of drive you're looking for. Check it out:

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Might be worth your while (?)
 
#39
my first instinct on reading your post was the Pork Loin. I originally tried it and hated it, but i got one 'for a song' on the bay, played with the trims inside, and now am really enjoying it.
i also play a lot of P&W music and have used all kinds of drive pedals. The PL is my goto at the moment, but have also used and enjoyed the Bad Monkey, EBS Multidrive, distortion side of my m80, Cream Pie, MXR blowtorch, LoMenzo Hyperdrive.

I am liking the sound of the distortron from the clips posted above (now added to my gas list!)
 

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