How do you use your dirt pedals?

[smatanovic]

My OD journey w/ the goal of an always on relatively clean tone when played lightly and some OD when digging in:
-1st I found many OD pedals have a loss of low end.
-2nd I found when you land on an OD pedal that doesn't lose low end there's a loss of high end so won't cut thru or gets lost in the mix.
-3rd I found most OD pedals are either on or off but don't provide both depending on attack.

Solution:
TC Electronic Spark. You can dial in the low & high end you desire, add the perfect amount of OD, & it still retains a clean tone until you dig in for some glorious breakup. The 3 toggle switch allows which frequencies you want to enhance. A compressor, EQ, & boost all in one pedal.
View attachment 7346170

Which I modified to this:
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@2saddleslab has this replaced the Edison? Or do you run them both?

 

[2saddleslab]

@2saddleslab has this replaced the Edison? Or do you run them both?

Run them both always on. In fact, the Edison & Spark work really well together. Most of the time I use the Spark for OD & the Edison for boost. But for a brighter overall tone w/ OD I can use the Edison [boost switch engaged] to add OD & the Spark as a boost. Lots of useable options.

 

[Steve88]

I use them two ways (church gigs)

1. Always-on light OD to provide a bit more harmonic mid edge and compression. This is to simulate a tube amp just starting to break up. To me this gives some clarity to the bass and lifts it out of the background just a bit. Note to self, never do this when backing a choir.

2. As-needed heavier OD to provide an energy boost and more drive to the music. Kick it on in the big chorus of the big high energy song. Off for the lighter songs and lighter parts of the big songs.

This is basically what I do also, at my church. I have a few OD pedals for different flavors of overdrive.

The TC Spark and Genzler 4 on the floor are great for "general purpose" subtle overdrive. (Note: The Genzler is really flexible and can be used for alot of sounds if you don't want multiple pedals).

My Tech21 YYZ and SGFX Beta are more "specialty" overdrives...the Beta does the warm and wooly thing pretty well, and the YYZ does basically the opposite.

Also, the posts about setting your overdrive levels in the mix are correct. I've found that OD that sounds perfect at home or solo in my IEMs basically gets washed out in the FOH mix. If I want the bass OD to be an audible part of the mix, then I set it to be a little heavier in my IEMs than what I actually want to be heard.

 

[DuluthDank]

I went down a rabbit hole of about 25 pedals, looking at the subtle OD thing.

Right now on my board I have a Broughton SV Pre as a preamp and for light edge of breakup. Also a Origin Effects DCX bass for moderate OD, but it also works great for edge of breakup sounds too.

A great all purpose OD pedal for a wide range of transparent OD is the Grizzly Bass, but I sold that as I thought the above two did their specific roles better to my ears.

Basically, a bit of OD helps compress the bass and lets it blend a bit better with the guitar. I hate those pokey treble sounds you get with a solid state amp and a pick without OD. A compressor could also cover some of that ground as well. I actually run both.

 

[TheArchitect]

I’ve recently started the pedal adventure. I’ve got a compressor, chorus, and phaser and a pretty good idea of how/when I want to use them. The pedal I’m less clear about is an overdrive. I want something subtle. We play mostly classic and southern rock (ZZ, Skynyrd, Allman Brothers, etc.), so I think a little grit will fit in nicely. I’m not sure if this should be an always on part of my sound or an as needed effect for certain songs. How are you guys using your dirt pedals? Experience and suggestions welcomed.

The Darkglass Vintage or the Battalion Mini will both do a subtle drive that will work well for those. A bass Soulfood might be worth a look too

 

[el murdoque]

I fit as many boutique pedals (the rarer, the better!) as my board will hold and usually stack them, then play with the band. I will have multiple combinations of dirt flavors at my disposal, but in the end, I'll wind up with a bunch of always-on pedals and that one pedal that gets kicked in on heavy parts.
In a trio, I'd usually have one more sound that gets used when the guitar solos.

 

[Zooberwerx]

I use them two ways (church gigs)

1. Always-on light OD to provide a bit more harmonic mid edge and compression. This is to simulate a tube amp just starting to break up. To me this gives some clarity to the bass and lifts it out of the background just a bit. Note to self, never do this when backing a choir.

2. As-needed heavier OD to provide an energy boost and more drive to the music. Kick it on in the big chorus of the big high energy song. Off for the lighter songs and lighter parts of the big songs.

^ Best description of what I'm seeking. I use an always-on OD (...in the same fashion as #1 above) which also has an optical comp, EQ, and DI. I'd like to find something that has a boost or dual-level OD in a similar format. The EQ and DI are a must, the comp is secondary, as I have no other EQ in the pedal path.

Riis

 

[PotsdamBass8]

On my Quad Cortex I use a Fairfield Barbershop capture for very subtle color on my “clean” tone, which gives a little harmonic content to help it slot in the mix better. If I play more aggressively or pan a bit more to the bridge pickup, I get a little more noticeable drive. Then I use a Darkglass VMT block to help cut through for rock tones and a high mid boost to replicate a pick tone when playing with fingers.

 

[shivers]

Thanks, everyone. I’ve really enjoyed hearing how all of you are using your pedals.

 

[groove pump]

Great thread!!!

 

[el murdoque]

^ Best description of what I'm seeking. I use an always-on OD (...in the same fashion as #1 above) which also has an optical comp, EQ, and DI. I'd like to find something that has a boost or dual-level OD in a similar format. The EQ and DI are a must, the comp is secondary, as I have no other EQ in the pedal path.

Riis

-The Blackstone Mosfet Overdrive
-Verellen Meatsmoke
-Sushi Box Dreamcatcher (and Smoke Signal)
-Wampler Pantheon Deluxe
-Sansamp PBDDI
-Jam Pedals Lucydreamer Bass
-Hudson Broadcast (Dual footswitch variants)


...are dual level overdrive pedals that sound great and are worth checking out.

A dual level drive with optical comp and DI will be hard to find and you'll have to compromise on the sonic outcome.
My suggestion would always be to let those duties be handled by a capable EQ, a comp and one or two drive pedals.
Will still fit on a Pedaltrain nano for easy transport, and you get a lot more options to shape your tone to your liking.

 

[5StringBlues]

sparingly

 

[GrowlerBox]

-The Blackstone Mosfet Overdrive
-Verellen Meatsmoke
-Sushi Box Dreamcatcher (and Smoke Signal)
-Wampler Pantheon Deluxe
-Sansamp PBDDI
-Jam Pedals Lucydreamer Bass
-Hudson Broadcast (Dual footswitch variants)


...are dual level overdrive pedals that sound great and are worth checking out.

A dual level drive with optical comp and DI will be hard to find and you'll have to compromise on the sonic outcome.
My suggestion would always be to let those duties be handled by a capable EQ, a comp and one or two drive pedals.
Will still fit on a Pedaltrain nano for easy transport, and you get a lot more options to shape your tone to your liking.

I would add the dual Bad Bob from Analog Man that is my current always-on dirty boost. If I'm running into my tube amp, that will be it (apart from the saturation from my compressor's preamp); if I'm running into a solid-state amp (usually a Markbass F1, still going strong), I will also have a Barbershop running quite clean but with the "sag" control dialled up past noon to provide a bit of the "give" that the tubes offer. I'm mostly playing fretless, and I want things basically clean but saturated until I dig in, but that doesn't preclude the addition of fuzz, distortion, and whatever the Prunes and Custard is (@el murdoque knows what I'm talking about ) depending on my mood and/or the piece.

 

[ZachM]

A couple of years ago, when listening to isolated bass tracks, I realized that many songs had slightly saturated bass sounds, even though I thought they were clean. So I set the level of the always on overdrive during rehearsals, at a level where you would not really tell I'm using overdrive, but it ads texture.

Basically, a bit of OD helps compress the bass and lets it blend a bit better with the guitar. I hate those pokey treble sounds you get with a solid state amp and a pick without OD. A compressor could also cover some of that ground as well. I actually run both.

Totally agree on these, it is surprising how much drive and saturation can be hidden on a bass tone before it becomes obvious distortion. So yeah, I have dirt pedals that I use as a light saturator and secondary compression stage, and then others that are less subtle. Stacking dirt pedals is a relatively new practice for me, but has opened up a lot of doors.

On my current board, the subtle drive is covered by the Fairfield Accountant (always on, pad 2) which then feeds one of two Blue Colander pedals, a Tremond or a Small Fracture. When I want a higher gain tone, those stay on and feed into either a Blue Colander Crooked Axis, or an MAE Black Math.

 

[Ritter667]

A fat medium gain Marshall based tube overdrive first, namely the EHX English Muff'n, then a high gain distortion, composed of a Mosky Black Rat, in Turbo RAT mode, and a Boss MT-2 Metal Zone, dialed in moderately, both mixed in parallel then that signal blended with a bit a dry signal, for improved definition, then an always on higher low gain Orange based overdrive, delivered by a Joyo Oxford Sound, dialed in to a medium gain overdrive, blended in parallel with about equal amounts of dry signal, then finally another Orange based drive, the Joyo Orange Juice, dialed in to deliver grindy medium gain type of overdrive.

With exception, of obviously, the always on Joyo Oxford Sound overdrive, mixed with parallel dry signal, I don't really stack any of these drives.