Love your amp(s) overdriven tone?

[Peter - Oregon]

I am just piping in because the PF50T grind when pushed is as distorted as I would ever need to hear a bass signal distort... Tube distortion that is....I have the Ampeg DI SCR and I can dial that grind in very softly...but all I have read on TB many people dont even consider that distorted enough? Maybe that would be the "mellower grind" you are after....it seems there is a very, very fine line between pleasant and unpleasant "tube" or "tube-like" distortion...all is the ear of the beholder. I like the v4b grind I can get as well as the grind off of the SVT-CL...so I am crazy biased on Ampeg tube sound..and the tube breakup of those amps is what many people here consider to be a standard of some sorts. Just my 2 cents, hope you find a cool pedal or combo that gives you the sound in your head you are after.

Thanks for the input on the PF-50T. As I said, I am pretty low on the learning curve on this. I posted this because I am genuinely interested in people's experiences and opinions. I hope others also enjoy the topic, although I'm sure it's been done before.

 

[foal30]

I have an Ashdown CTM-300

Using the Low input it’s fairly simplistic to generate overdriven tones. A passive , flatwound instrument with a plectrum and a touch of the Diamond Compressor is pretty cool.

Not sure this is as “easy” to control as an overdrive pedal nor as flexible.

But in my opinion one should endeavor to maximize their present equipment before purchasing more.

 

[Nebadon2000]

I'm seeing two camps to this thread.
Ones who make music and ones who cover music.

I'm in the making side of it, and OD is a definite part of my tone. Obviously the project/band can dictate a bit.

As for the ones covering, I can see how true to the music you want to be would dictate the want/need for OD.

I have done both; with Original Band only used slight overdrive in 2 songs [by digging in] for effect on parts within Song.

On Cover Songs; They were initially by 'Musicmakers' and you hear plenty of both Much more Clean on Music I played

 

[6thplanet]

That really doesn’t have anything to do with anything, this whole business of making music vs covering music.

Kinda does as I'm seeing it. Liking ones amp OD is more likely used by ones making music. Bassist that only play covers are probably less likely to care for it, unless certain songs really call for it.

 

[Bass4ThePublic]

My sunn 200s is like 90% distortion past 6. My aguilar agro makes it sound like a big angry chainsaw. Love it.

 

[pyrat56host]

Look close and you'll see a Quilter Interbass strapped to 2 2x12s...it is GLORIOUS when pushed. Gain anywhere beyond 1 o'clock, master as far as your ears (or hearing protected ears) feel like. I ran it through a fairly efficient 4x10 in rehearsal one afternoon and the drummer (also an amazing guitar player) said..."sounds just like the old model T!"...a pretty great sound for what we do! Even the two quite loud guitar players were like..."that's 45 watts? What's IN that little box?". Pretty fun to run into the front end OR line in of the Quilter 802, if brutality is required.

 

[Pocket Dave]

Perfectly happy with what my amp has to offer - an Aguilar Tone Hammer 500.

Though I'm not a metal player, and lean toward more OD than distortion colors.

Example from home:



Or a tighter flavor of OD on a gig:

 

[Bag of Lazers]

Look close and you'll see a Quilter Interbass strapped to 2 2x12s...it is GLORIOUS when pushed. Gain anywhere beyond 1 o'clock, master as far as your ears (or hearing protected ears) feel like. I ran it through a fairly efficient 4x10 in rehearsal one afternoon and the drummer (also an amazing guitar player) said..."sounds just like the old model T!"...a pretty great sound for what we do! Even the two quite loud guitar players were like..."that's 45 watts? What's IN that little box?". Pretty fun to run into the front end OR line in of the Quilter 802, if brutality is required.View attachment 5287974

I'm new to the forums, so please tell me the Quilter Gang is here in force. I love my 802 so much!

 

[Thumpin6string]

I guess my Shuttlemax 12.0 can do the overdrive thing, but I have no use for a distorted bass. I had to put up with that from my amp's crappy speakers 50 years ago. A little GK style growl is OK, but no overdrive for me.

 

[Smooth_bass88]

with my SVT?? oh heck yeah bruh

 

[Wicked G]

In my case I like the sound that Eddie Jackson gets, but when I get there I don't like that I can't feel it. The notes sound great, but too soft. So my preference while performing is a bit of drive for that growl but still feeling the hit of the note. For that my preference is the Orange Terror Bass, Orange 4 Stroke and TC Electronic RH heads. They always sound and feel great.

Now with my Genz Benz Streamliner and Mesa TT800 I prefer to run them clean-ish as they have a very nice 3D texture to the notes. I don't use pedals.

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

I prefer pedals.

 

[Hot Rats]

I have the TH350, the Mesa D350, the Shuttle 6.0 and the Streamliner 600 and love the overdriven tone on each of them.
I especially love the drive I can get with my Fender TV combos and the ACB50.

 

[Peter - Oregon]

Perfectly happy with what my amp has to offer - an Aguilar Tone Hammer 500.

Though I'm not a metal player, and lean toward more OD than distortion colors.

Example from home:



Or a tighter flavor of OD on a gig:

Thanks for sharing the demos, sounds great! I love playing Sultans!

 

[Thumpin6string]

I've never wanted my bass to sound like my azz after eating beans.

 

[Auer]

Absolutely love the Orange blending in the gain, "Bi Amping" way of doing things, found in the OB-1 heads and Crush Bass combo's.

 

[ThinCrappyTone2]

I know there are a lot of threads on here about overdrive and distortion pedals. I am curious regarding people that are happy with the overdrive they get from their amp(s). Do you have a favorite pedal that gives you just a bit extra, and the tone that's yours, or do you love the amps tone just the way it is?

Yeah! Stopped using overdrive when I started using a Genz Benz 9.0. head. The tube preamp drive is exactly what I was looking for. Before that, I was cycling through all kinds of drive pedals.

 

[Phaidrus]

My amp is a Markbass Little Mark Vintage head, which has a single 12AX7 tube preamp.

I'm not sure whether I can overdrive it.

With my two passive Pbasses I set the gain knob at noon, which is a bit before the clip light indicator flashes (when digging in). Can I overdrive this unit? How, by cranking the gain knob and letting it clip? The manual says I should rather not do that.

 

[rojo412]

Went from chasing the clean, crispy, headroom-for-days hi-fi sound to this rig at the spot:

It was the opposite of my old way of thinking and couldn't justify buying something new for this place (this was free, to contrast) if this still functioned, so I decided to play this in a manner that was like I was trying to kill it...

THAT is when I found out that I liked how this sounded.

Added a Valeton Dapper pedal for some effects, then built onto that board and now have a rig that can be rather mean when required.

Recently, I picked up a GK Backline 600, which has a distortion channel. It's too "uniform" of a sound. I like the pushed/break-up effect that this rig has for bass, whereas the GK is like a distortion pedal on. Essentially, the GK does Cliff doing "Anesthesia/Pulling Teeth" whereas this is more like Billy Gould doing "Falling to Pieces" and that is more what I'm into.

 

[retslock]

My amp has an overdrive setting that sounds harsh so I never use it. Turning up the gain gets a better result but I’m a very moderate overdrive user so I use very slightly anyway.