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I need a good bass distortion pedal, help?
- Thread starter maggot_me
- Start date
It's labeled as an overdrive, but it always sounded like a fuzz to me:
I'd argue the opposite point. The ODB-3 can't do overdrive. You can set the blend so it's mainly clean but a faint industrial sounding fuzz tone is not overdrive.
Bryan R. Tyler
TalkBass: Usurping My Practice Time Since 2002
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- May 3, 2002
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Funny you posted that- someone just asked me on YouTube yesterday if they could get the Around The World sound with a Bass Big Muff. I said you could get a similar sound if you crank the settings- the ODB-3 always sounded like a high-gain fuzz to distortion to me, never like what I'd call an overdirve.
As I understand it, the tone on the actual record wasn't the ODB-3 but a blended track using a cranked guitar amp (Marshall I believe) but that's the pedal Flea uses live.
For a guy that isn't a big fan (though I always liked them, especially BSSM) it's still a bit odd that I play in a RHCP tribute band. It's also weird to me how much I know about Flea and his gear. Likely more than he himself knows or remembers since he doesn't seem to care.
Personally I use an OLC Chunky Cheese or Brown Dog and like the results a lot more.
For a guy that isn't a big fan (though I always liked them, especially BSSM) it's still a bit odd that I play in a RHCP tribute band. It's also weird to me how much I know about Flea and his gear. Likely more than he himself knows or remembers since he doesn't seem to care.
Personally I use an OLC Chunky Cheese or Brown Dog and like the results a lot more.
$100 is tough. unless you look for one in the 2nd hand market, you'd probably be looking at the ehx bass big muff or electronix messdrive. i think those would be the closest.
but damn you just gave us a budget. i don't think it would have been too much to ask for you to narrow down your choices and look for clips.
but damn you just gave us a budget. i don't think it would have been too much to ask for you to narrow down your choices and look for clips.
I'm very excited about th MXR EL GRANDE- bass fuzz. It's not expensive at all but sounds great. I believe the Bass Big Muff PI to be great to. I really need that low end compensation. And the "deep"-knop gives me what I need. The only thing I miss is a mix-function for my dry signal but i'm thinking about putting in a gig-rig Wet Box to solve that problem.
I really recommend that EL Grande Bass Fuzz by MXR.
Some links about the pedal: http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Effects/product/MXR/M-182+El+Grande+Bass+Fuzz/10/1
Great for many sorts of music I think. I love it for that stoner-feel it can produce without a problem. It always stays a Bass guitar. Many of the bass-overdrive pedals are turning my bass into a pussy six-string.
I really recommend that EL Grande Bass Fuzz by MXR.
Some links about the pedal: http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Effects/product/MXR/M-182+El+Grande+Bass+Fuzz/10/1
Great for many sorts of music I think. I love it for that stoner-feel it can produce without a problem. It always stays a Bass guitar. Many of the bass-overdrive pedals are turning my bass into a pussy six-string.
I bought a Digitech Bass Driver as my first bass distortion, and so far im happy with it, for the price anyway. I thought the boss was terrible, but i gave it another chance, just incase, so i tried it again, and i still thought it sounded like **** being put in a blender.
The El Grande bass fuzz is great, and i also recommend the Ashdown James Lomenzo hyperdrive pedal, i would have bought that, but i couldnt find one when i had the money *cries in corner*
The El Grande bass fuzz is great, and i also recommend the Ashdown James Lomenzo hyperdrive pedal, i would have bought that, but i couldnt find one when i had the money *cries in corner*
I bought a Digitech Bass Driver as my first bass distortion, and so far im happy with it, for the price anyway. I thought the boss was terrible, but i gave it another chance, just incase, so i tried it again, and i still thought it sounded like **** being put in a blender.
The El Grande bass fuzz is great, and i also recommend the Ashdown James Lomenzo hyperdrive pedal, i would have bought that, but i couldnt find one when i had the money *cries in corner*
The Hyperdrive is great, I've had mine for a while now & it's become my main gritty/dirty pedal, love it. Havn't had a chance to try the El Grande, but they sound pretty good (not my cup of tea, as I'm gassing for an Attack Goat, but not bad)
Just get the Bass big muff - i've never owned it, and ive never tried it. but hear me out
I've owned quite a few muffs and muff clones (most of which would cost over the $100) but the BBM has more features than a standard muff, and is designed for bass, you can add your dry signal to it, and it'll give you all the fuzz you ever need.
wont break the bank, and has a good resale value. Needless to say in a few months you may want something new, but thats the same for most of the people in this forum - the search rarely ever ends. So just think of this as the first step. And if you hate the BBM, then you might be wasting your time chasing after the rest of the muff family, which'll save you from looking into at least another 50% of whats on the market for effects pedals.
All big muffs and big muff clones sound alike, some have different charactaristics, but its essentially the same thing. I swore off muffs then i bought a supercollider (a fantastic pedal, but again: sounds like a muff, which is what i WASN'T looking for)
If you go down to your local music shop that has a good pedal range, try these three:
Bass Big muff, MXR bass blowtorch and the Boss ODB3.
they're all pretty different and all designed for bass - if you spend enough time trying all three and come back and tell us what you liked, or didnt like about each one, then that'll narrow down the field incredibly.
I've owned quite a few muffs and muff clones (most of which would cost over the $100) but the BBM has more features than a standard muff, and is designed for bass, you can add your dry signal to it, and it'll give you all the fuzz you ever need.
wont break the bank, and has a good resale value. Needless to say in a few months you may want something new, but thats the same for most of the people in this forum - the search rarely ever ends. So just think of this as the first step. And if you hate the BBM, then you might be wasting your time chasing after the rest of the muff family, which'll save you from looking into at least another 50% of whats on the market for effects pedals.
All big muffs and big muff clones sound alike, some have different charactaristics, but its essentially the same thing. I swore off muffs then i bought a supercollider (a fantastic pedal, but again: sounds like a muff, which is what i WASN'T looking for)
If you go down to your local music shop that has a good pedal range, try these three:
Bass Big muff, MXR bass blowtorch and the Boss ODB3.
they're all pretty different and all designed for bass - if you spend enough time trying all three and come back and tell us what you liked, or didnt like about each one, then that'll narrow down the field incredibly.
Bryan R. Tyler
TalkBass: Usurping My Practice Time Since 2002
Staff member
Administrator
Gold Supporting Member
Supporting Member
- May 3, 2002
- 28,948
- 20,936
- Disclosures
- Reviewer: Bass Player Magazine
If you can afford another $50 on top of that $100, I'd recommend the Earthbound Audio Supercollider... or that 3xFx Fatman that's up for sale in the classifieds here.
Another good pedal would be the DOD FX92 Bass Grunge. Ya can't find 'em new anymore... they were discontinued awhile ago, but they sound alot like a russian muff w/a clean blend & a dry output like the Bass Big Muff. The DOD isn't a true bypass tho, so you might wanna either mod it (there's a million references here and all over the web on how to do it w/a 3PDT stompswitch & an LED light) or use some kinda looper if you find it's killing your tone when bypassed. FWIW I've noticed no ill effects on my tone using passiv pickups/active pre-amps.
HTH
Another good pedal would be the DOD FX92 Bass Grunge. Ya can't find 'em new anymore... they were discontinued awhile ago, but they sound alot like a russian muff w/a clean blend & a dry output like the Bass Big Muff. The DOD isn't a true bypass tho, so you might wanna either mod it (there's a million references here and all over the web on how to do it w/a 3PDT stompswitch & an LED light) or use some kinda looper if you find it's killing your tone when bypassed. FWIW I've noticed no ill effects on my tone using passiv pickups/active pre-amps.
HTH
Boss ODB-3? Crap.
Behringer BOD-100? Even more crap.
Ibanez PH-7? Some interesting sounds, but a bit too noisy. Pass.
Digitech Bass Driver? Now we're talking. This one I like. From mild overdriven sounds to really heavy sizzling tone. The blend control is your friend. Nice pedal.
Digitech Bad Monkey? guitar overdrive, but sounds great on bass! As long as you don't want extreme distortion, this is a great cheap pedal.
MXR M80 Bass DI+. More expensive, but pretty good.
Behringer BOD-100? Even more crap.
Ibanez PH-7? Some interesting sounds, but a bit too noisy. Pass.
Digitech Bass Driver? Now we're talking. This one I like. From mild overdriven sounds to really heavy sizzling tone. The blend control is your friend. Nice pedal.
Digitech Bad Monkey? guitar overdrive, but sounds great on bass! As long as you don't want extreme distortion, this is a great cheap pedal.
MXR M80 Bass DI+. More expensive, but pretty good.
Just got my Blackstar HT-DistX pedal back from my guitard, it sounds pretty good from the 5 minutes I spent playing it, might be able to get some more interesting sounds when I can crank my amp, but Blackstar stuff is worth a look.
I have a Boss Bass Overdrive which is ok but my fave is my Little Big Muff. It has such a smoothe sound. I would definately say try as many as you can or check youtube for demos.
