Loosing low ends with distortions

[Rupss]

Hi everyone!
I'm wondering what would be the best way to avoid the loose of low ends while switching on the distortions. My board has one Boss Ds1 and a proco Rat and since they're guitar pedals, they cut a lot of low frequencies and there is a big difference between the clean sound freqs and the distorted ones.
Since i don't won't to change pedals cause i like them, i was thinking about a switcher/line selector: do i have to split the pedalboard in two chains? So one chain for the clean with is own eq set on the amp and the other one with the distortions+equalizer? I also have two channels input and the S/R on my head...so what would be the best and easy solutions?

Thanks to those who'll help me

 

[Killing Floor]

The fundamental design feature/benefit of Most (not all) distortion and fuzz circuits is a net reduction of low frequencies to enhance guitar leads. Spooks me like finding a live raccoon in my waste bin how many bassists just don't know that. The bass loss is even more essential than the dirt to the sound of rock'n'roll music.

Look for distortion geared to bass or any with a good EQ control.

Lots of quality bass dirt pedals. I hate shopping off YouTube but watch for bass demo vids if you can't find anything local.

 

[31HZ]

Hi everyone!
I'm wondering what would be the best way to avoid the loose of low ends while switching on the distortions. My board has one Boss Ds1 and a proco Rat and since they're guitar pedals, they cut a lot of low frequencies and there is a big difference between the clean sound freqs and the distorted ones.
Since i don't won't to change pedals cause i like them, i was thinking about a switcher/line selector: do i have to split the pedalboard in two chains? So one chain for the clean with is own eq set on the amp and the other one with the distortions+equalizer? I also have two channels input and the S/R on my head...so what would be the best and easy solutions?

Thanks to those who'll help me

The best way is with a crossover pedal.

Every other way is a compromise IMO.

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/cross-over-crossover-or-splitter-pedals.1416054/

 

[Zbysek]

I recommend using crossover/blender to remedy this issue. I am using Byte Heaven Sugar Britches and Broughton FFXL myself. They work great!

There are other crossover/blenders on the market such John K crossmix, XO, Tyler and Dirtfixer/Dirtmixer from Damnation Audio…

 

[bassboysam]

Best option is a Damnation Audio Bloop or Dirt Fixer

 

[YourGuitarist]

The best way is with a crossover pedal.

Every other way is a compromise IMO.

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/cross-over-crossover-or-splitter-pedals.1416054/

There's a new variable crossover pedal by Great Eastern Effects. Getting a lot of hype rn.

 

[bassbrad]

For bass I run my effects chain in a loop of an Boss LS2 or Mosquito blender usually 50/50, this allows me to use about any effect I want. All of the Effects are in the LS2 loop that is then sent to the Chorus, Underground Accelerator and Zoom MS60B that is for modulation, delay and reverb effects.

I also like to use a loop pedal with guitar setups to quickly change sounds.

 

[Rocker80]

Parallell processing would work. Split the signal; 1 clean signal for the beefy low end and 1 signal for your distortion

 

[Nephilymbass]

Hi everyone!
I'm wondering what would be the best way to avoid the loose of low ends while switching on the distortions. My board has one Boss Ds1 and a proco Rat and since they're guitar pedals, they cut a lot of low frequencies and there is a big difference between the clean sound freqs and the distorted ones.
Since i don't won't to change pedals cause i like them, i was thinking about a switcher/line selector: do i have to split the pedalboard in two chains? So one chain for the clean with is own eq set on the amp and the other one with the distortions+equalizer? I also have two channels input and the S/R on my head...so what would be the best and easy solutions?

Thanks to those who'll help me

Crossovers are great for this. Lot of people think it's blend and blending clean tone does help but using a crossover takes it to another level because it helps keep the low end in phase and polarity alignment perfect. Because you can get really dirty top with a clean low end instead of two signals both with low end blended together that can have phase or polarity issues. I use a darkglass microtubes X that has crossovers built in. Pedals like the tech 21 dug and XB driver also do this. There are plenty of crossover pedals that allow you to use guitar dirt pedals with bass and do a similar thing. The KMA Tyler deluxe, the XO variable crossover. But the problem tends to be that they are so expensive that it's cheaper to just buy a one of the pedals that has a crossover built in. I mean the Tyler deluxe for example is a $300+ pedal. I didn't pay that much for my darkglass x

 

[MCS4]

One thing you might want to keep in mind is that all of these options are going to change the sound you are getting with these pedals to one degree or another, and the resulting sound might not necessarily come across to you as "exactly like the DS1 normally sounds but with more bass," since at base you are blending clean and effected versions of your signal, having the effect only impact certain frequencies from your clean signal, etc.

If all goes well you might end up with sound that keeps what you like about the DS1/Rat/etc. but gives you more bass signal. However, for me, after experimenting I found that I simply do not prefer the sound of blended/split signals, so I instead will use a pedal that cuts bass by itself when I really want the sound of that pedal, and when I don't I will use a separate pedal that naturally preserves bass, basically treating those as two separate sounds.

 

[GMC]

Basically...get a bass focussed or bass friendly dirt pedal. I try not to bend something that is against it's inherant nature.
Way huge pork and pickle are great for bass, Dam Ezekiel for 90% of all bass dirt needs, Fairfield Barbershiop for the most transparent OD you will find in analogue land. Zfex Mastotron or Titan II fuzz for the best gated Fuzz in analogue town.
Digital, then the Source Audio Aftershock is a stunning pedal with just about everything you could ever want in a bass dirt pedal. Or the Source Audio Ultrawave, which can be tricky to dial in under the hood...but it's the last word in bass Dirt. This pedal kicked off all other dirt off my board and it's simpley amazing...complex but amazing. I honestly don't know any other dirt pedal that can cover this range of ground or even come close.
Sure these two are digital, but they sound very analogue.

 

[GMC]

Parallell processing would work. Split the signal; 1 clean signal for the beefy low end and 1 signal for your distortion

The problem with a parallel blend is that it can sound like two different bass sounds morphed together. Some Fuzz pedals are already out of phase and you can get weird cancellation with some blend circuits.
Another issue with blended dirt is that you need to go heavier with the dirt side because you are dilluting the drive / grit with the blend. The better way is a low pass filter that allows you to dial in just the low end clean and leave the mids and highs for the dirt to affect.
In my experiance, if a pedal has a heavy low cut (HPF) built into the last stage of the pedal, it's far more preferable to either mod the pedal or flip it for a more bass friendly unit.

 

[gonzkal]

The Broughton Filter FX Loop is currently in stock, just saying. Much better than the Bloop IME.

 

[Slevage]

Use a bass specific pedal and/or a crossover pedal.

 

[Lance Bunyon]

Two Notes Le Bass channel 2 is real tube distortion for bass. It's so good it's on the chorus of my bands new record in conjunction with Source Audio envelope filter.
Even amateurs listening to the chorus of the song are all like "it's so distorted and squishy!".
Get bass effects, leave the gee tar stuff to the squealers.

 

[bassboysam]

The Broughton Filter FX Loop is currently in stock, just saying. Much better than the Bloop IME.

i haven't tried the broughton yet. Why do you prefer it over the Bloop?

 

[foal30]

I recommend using crossover/blender to remedy this issue. I am using Byte Heaven Sugar Britches and Broughton FFXL myself. They work great!

There are other crossover/blenders on the market such John K crossmix, XO, Tyler and Dirtfixer/Dirtmixer from Damnation Audio…

l

Thoughts on the Sugar Britches?

1 is available here in NZ

 

[foal30]

In a live setting ( Rock 3 to 5 piece) if I use a VCA comp in front of fuzz/distortion on a flatwound strung bass I can keep the low end

 

[el murdoque]

Simple solution: Boss LS-2. Create a clean loop, a dirt loop and combine the two.

More complex solution: KMA Tyler, Damnation Dirt Fixer, Broughton Filter FX Loop.
These pedals allow you to split off certain frequencies or treat the loops differently by other means.
Depends on what you're really looking for.

 

[micguy]

i haven't tried the broughton yet. Why do you prefer it over the Bloop?

I have a Dirt Fixer (a Bloop with some added functionality) on my board, and have a Broughton on order. The Bloop/Dirt Fixer works pretty well, but it's a crapshoot as to whether or not it'll give you a good crossover with a given overdrive pedal. A good crossover is the key to having it sound like "one sound", not two disparate things that are blended together.

The crossover part of the circuitry in the Bloop/dirt fixer is fixed - with different overdrives, which have different high pass filter configurations (the Bloop/Dirtfixer doesn't high pass the dirty signal, it depends on the other pedal to do that), if the high pass in the overdrive pedal lines up with the low pass in the Bloop/Dirtfixer, you're good, but if it doesn't, you've got no knob to twist to line it up. I have a couple different Klon clones, and one works spectacularly , the other, not so much - the one that doesn't work well is a Tumnus, which has a different low end characteristic than most Klones, and in this case, that's a liability. With the Broughton, the high and low pass filters are both variable - you can (in theory) line things up. When I get it, I'll know if the practice jives with the theory.