I've been trying to use a Boss ODB3 but all I can get out of it is grumbling metal or holloh sounding metal. It's like playing through a guitar distortion pedal. How can I get more of an bluesy overdrive as opposed to a metal distortion out of it?
by selling it and buying another pedal? I tried one out and had exactly the same problem you've had. If you're budget constrained, try the PD-7. It doesn't have the best overdrive, but you can get a milder one than the ODB-3. The PD-7 is pretty versatile and I think it's great value for the money. If money isn't an object, there are any number of other ones (most of which I've tried / owned at one point or another). Budda Phatbass, EBS MultiDrive, Fulltone Bassdrive, Dredgetone Angler. The Budda is tube based, so you get that valve sound but the sound was too middy for my liking. The MultiDrive is a pretty mild overdrive, but it's very good at it. Dredgetone angler is very good, and it's reasonably priced for a boutique pedal ($115 from pedalgeek.com).
For a milder overdrive just keep the balance between 8:00 and 12:00, and back the gain below 12:00. Keep the eq's pretty much at 12:00 so the original tone stays the same.
my odb-3 is all over the place depending on what bass i run through it--a dean edge 4 improv w/ active electronics is horrible to try and control, on the other hand a 74 p-bass has some usable tones--i think the key is how hot the incoming signal is--try keeping the vol. on your bass low--their reccomended setting is balance all the way dry and gain all the way up
Depends on the bass, but I do this: EQ at your taste... Blend at FULL Overdrive Gain at 0 Level to your taste. By lowering the volume on the bass guitar, you will also achieve less distortion. I got it to sound like a tube amp with a little drive that way. I think that pedal is great. Dont sell it.
