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Looking for the perfect Bass Distortion with a Blend knob.

robbyray

robbyray

Sep 14, 2008
225
273
Oklahoma
#1
I've tried TENS of pedals at this point, and I have yet to find the perfect mid-gain bass distortion. I run a Sansamp out in front of my amp, but I don't really like the sound when I crank the gain and I like to keep it dialed in for a low gain 'push'.

Not really looking for a Fuzz, I'd rather find a great overdrive / distortion that either A. has a blend knob or B. has plenty of low end when engaged. And it needs to get plenty loud!

To clarify, I play bass in a good ol' rock and roll band, so I don't need anything too 'Metal'.

TalkBass, what have you had good luck with?
 
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#2
Check out the Genzler drive pedals. I have the 4 On The Floor. They also make the Crash Box. Crash Box may fit what you want better.

Clean Volume, Dry Volume, 4 Drive Voices, HPF, and LPF. Solid feature set for dialing in drive on the frequencies you want while blending in clean signal.

My other vote is Broughton Scorpion. No blend there but it definitely packs in plenty of low end.
 
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#7
This is exactly what I've been searching for for a couple years now. I also run a Sansamp BDDI at the end of my board. I've tried around 40 different drives and I've narrowed down to the few that I really dig. Although I may have either sold or have listed these in the classifieds, the first two I will keep forever.

1. CMC Audio Proto Type mk2 - This is currently in my board. The blend is set internally on this one, but what it has that most other drive pedals have is a scoop knob at 500 Hz, a boost at 1kHz and a low cut knob (all for only the drive signal) which really lets you tweak it to the way you want it to sound. I like my low end to be more clean so the low cut knob is awesome.

2. Damnation MBD-3 - I used this one for a year or so. I never really used the boost switch at all though as it gets very loud (like most Damnation Audio pedals). As others have said, it has great low end, but it's not a blend. It adds in clean low end only the more you turn it up. Great pedal if you want some huge low end and plenty of gain on tap. I want to try the Power Distorter as it is a smaller, simpler distortion as well.

3. Lusithand Ground & Pound mk2 - I'd say it's like if Darkglass made a RAT based distortion. It can do a DG type sound, but it's not quite there (which I really like). I haven't messed with this one as much as the previous two, but with the light compression it has, it gives plenty of low end boost under the distorted signal.

4. Fuzzrocious Dark Driving v3 - Has a great "sizzle" sounding drive to it depending on diode selection. Really more of an "amp in a box" sound than a pedal, but I usually run DI only so it worked well for me. Different sounding tone compared to the previous pedals mentioned.

5. EAE Greathammer - Similar to a Rusty Box, but the pedal is smaller and I really liked the controls more than your usually EQ. Plenty of low end to be had as well. The OxEAE Bass Driver version was a really cool pedals aesthetically, but too big for my board so the Greathammer won out.

6. Darkglass B3K - Classic CMOS drive but I liked the bass boost and mid boost switches for when I actually needed them.
 
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#9
There are a lot of awesome drives, but two I've been enjoying lately specifically for the way their clean blend functions are the JHS Morning Glory Clean and the Darkglass Vintage Microtubes.

The EAE Greathammer is a lot of fun to play also, and definitely "grinds" more than the other two (could be exactly what you need or not). The Broughton Evergreen also surprised me since I'm not really a "tube screamer" guy but I found myself enjoying the range of sounds I could get from that pedal especially when combined with modulation and other effects.

My guitarist asked me "what are you looking for in a drive?" and I said "I'll know when I hear it." 🤣
 
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#15
No blend knob, but EQD Blumes has the angry/pushy bass sound I've been digging lately. If you just need it to be pushy/sandy but not on fire/fuzzy. I used to use the Sansamp BDDI as my boost/grit pedal into an Ampeg. That was pretty nice too, but maybe a bit agro/METAL!!!🤘🤘 for what you're looking for. So many forward slashes you'd think I was a Samurai. :rolleyes:
 
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#16
Darkglass AlphaOmega

Blend knob, volume, drive, 3 band EQ, shaping options, and can go from mild to wild and everything in between. There's plenty of bone shaking volume on tap! If you haven't played on one I HIGHLY recommend it. I'm on an Anagram setup now, but when I needed overdrive or fuzz or a blend in between there was nothing the AO couldn't handle for me. If you need beyond its capabilities you'd be looking at different pedals anyways. I know a lot of people associate Darkglass with metal, but I don't play it and it was a pedal that never left my board no matter what else was swapped around.
 
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#19
robbyray said:
I've tried TENS of pedals at this point, and I have yet to find the perfect mid-gain bass distortion. I run a Sansamp out in front of my amp, but I don't really like the sound when I crank the gain and I like to keep it dialed in for a low gain 'push'.

Not really looking for a Fuzz, I'd rather find a great overdrive / distortion that either A. has a blend knob or B. has plenty of low end when engaged. And it needs to get plenty loud!

To clarify, I play bass in a good ol' rock and roll band, so I don't need anything too 'Metal'.

TalkBass, what have you had good luck with?
Click to expand...
I've tried over a hundred at this point.

Good low end and plenty loud is only half of the deal. The more important bit is how it fares in a mix.
In rock, you do have distorted guitars and a drummer. Your beautifully crafted bedroom tone with all the low end and all the great sizzle that sounds so great when you play by yourself can run into the following outstretched fists:

-Your OD sizzle is in the same frequency range the guitar sizzle is, and right in that area, you will find the drummer's cymbals, too.
This can be a wanted effect, especially for a power trio. When you play unison with the guitar, it's okay for your bass sizzle to hide, but when the guitar launches into a lead or solo part, the bass drive becomes audible. But it's useless when there's a second guitarist.

-Your tone gets spread across the audible spectrum and is a little fuzzy around the edges, which sounds big and fat on its own, but lacks definition and completely gets lost in the mix - you're effectively adding noise, but not much more.

Here are my current favorites for deft and dense rock mixes:
-Origin Effects DCX Bass: Heaps of low end, very dense drive sound in the OD setting. Very audible in a mix.
-CMC Audio Proto Type: Very good control over the mids that matter in mixes
-Way Huge Green Rhino MkV: Set the switch to 100Hz and then dime everything.
-Origin Effects Bass Rig Super Vintage: It's doing the SVT thing. Big and expensive if you're only using it as a drive, but nonetheless great.
 
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#20
robbyray said:
I've tried TENS of pedals at this point, and I have yet to find the perfect mid-gain bass distortion. I run a Sansamp out in front of my amp, but I don't really like the sound when I crank the gain and I like to keep it dialed in for a low gain 'push'.

Not really looking for a Fuzz, I'd rather find a great overdrive / distortion that either A. has a blend knob or B. has plenty of low end when engaged. And it needs to get plenty loud!

To clarify, I play bass in a good ol' rock and roll band, so I don't need anything too 'Metal'.

TalkBass, what have you had good luck with?
Click to expand...

For versatility, Source Audio Aftershock. It's never failed to produce whatever sound I had in mind.

The EBS Multidrive is more limited, but very good for those mid-gain distorted sounds.
 
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