Mad Professor Bass OD???

[Laurent]

I'm also curious what everyone would think if it wasn't in comparison to the BBBOD (on its own).

Great question.

I tend to think this pedal would be lost in an ocean of great sounding bass OD pedals without its lineage.

I can think of many pedal I have used or currently own that sound better than the new Blueberry.

Randomly: Hematoma, Green Rhino, Fulltone Bass Drive, Holy Fire, Pork Loin.

 

[arbitrary]

I tend to think this pedal woudl be lost in an ocean of great sounding bass OD pedals without its lineage.
I can think of many pedal I have used or currently own that sound better than the new Blueberry.
Randomly: Hematoma, Green Rhino, Fulltone Bass Drive, Holy Fire, Pork Loin.

Have you played the new Bluberry? How would it compare?

 

[rratajski]

I might add that tonally, I would still take the new bbbod over the bjfe bbbod. I sold the same bbbod three times because I hated the muddiness. The new bbbod feels like the blanket over the amp sound is missing and has been replaced with gain. The new bbbod has waaaaaay more gain than the bjfe ever had. It looks like the second fet/trannie is a booster. The opamp and 1M gain pot shouldn't account for that much more gain.

 

[depalm]

Great question.

I tend to think this pedal woudl be lost in an ocean of great sounding bass OD pedals without its lineage.

I can think of many pedal I have used or currently own that sound better than the new Blueberry.

Randomly: Hematoma, Green Rhino, Fulltone Bass Drive, Holy Fire, Pork Loin.

Fulltone Bass Drive? With that lack of low end?

 

[Laurent]

Have you played the new Bluberry? How would it compare?

I have not played the new Blueberry, just the demo.
I think these other pedals would sound better in a side by side. That being said, it's just what I like. Distortion pedals are so, so suggestive.

For example, I own a Fulltone Bassdrive Mosfet version and I never lack low end with my P bass and flatwounds.

 

[arbitrary]

Ok thanks, I just wanted to clarify that you're making these comparisons based upon the demo.


I mainly curious if this can do dark, low gain, maintains the low end, and doesn't suck mids.

 

[depalm]

I have not played the new Blueberry, just the demo.
I think these other pedals would sound better in a side by side. That being said, it's just what I like. Distortion pedals are so, so suggestive.

For example, I own a Fulltone Bassdrive Mosfet version and I never lack low end with my P bass and flatwounds.

Yeah, I own that very same pedal and also some Ps with different brand of flats. And it just ruins the low end from my sound.

The BJFE 3BOD sounds a zillion times better in my opinion.

I started to use the Bass Drive mainly for guitar.

 

[rratajski]

I mainly curious if this can do dark, low gain, maintains the low end, and doesn't suck mids.

Yes and yes! You're good!

Fulltone bass drive sucked my low end and tone...and sounded bland in the mix.

 

[Laurent]

Yeah, I own that very same pedal and also some Ps with different brand of flats. And it just ruins the low end from my sound.

Sure, I won't argue with you. Particularly if you consider that all electronic components have large tolerances. Factor in 10 to 20% tolerance multiplied by the number of components and you can rightfully argue that no two pedals sounds the same.

 

[arbitrary]

Yes and yes! You're good!

Fulltone bass drive sucked my low end and tone...and sounded bland in the mix.

Awesome. Thanks.

I've always been amazed at how good & burly Caleb (Cave In) makes the bassdrive sound. I think its a pretty solid pedal, a good staple that I have for backup (or if I only want overdrive instead of my board).

 

[rratajski]

Awesome. Thanks.

I've always been amazed at how good & burly Caleb (Cave In) makes the bassdrive sound. I think its a pretty solid pedal, a good staple that I have for backup (or if I only want overdrive instead of my board).

That's because he uses the fulldrive (blue guitar version). Lots of gain to fill out. Plus, he doesn't have tons of lows, just a modest amount.

 

[Outlaw_son]

Just got my Blueberry in! Only got to play it through a MIM Jazz Deluxe into my Fender Rumble 60 for about 20 mins. First impressions Im diggin the tones so far! Got got a nice FAT grindy overdrive tone that sounds good through this setup. Also just messin around with it i figured out one of them Tool songs, in which the BBOD nailed pretty darn well. Fun.

 

[quadrogong]

Been watching this thread forever,
Dying to hear some clips from some TBers

How about some clips
with low gain, high gain, (especially low gain, live to hear how it does w mild OD)
and maybe a really honest, in-depth review to go along with it?

 

[sunbeast]

I have not played the new Blueberry, just the demo.
I think these other pedals would sound better in a side by side. That being said, it's just what I like. Distortion pedals are so, so suggestive.

For example, I own a Fulltone Bassdrive Mosfet version and I never lack low end with my P bass and flatwounds.

I have never found online demos to be worth much at all in the big scheme of things- I have heard what I would consider to be less than stellar sounding demos of most of the overdrive pedals I have ever owned and loved at one time or another, but I never let it inform my opinion so easily. In the same regard, I have heard amazing sounding demos of pedals that sounded absolutely horrible when I used them.

As far as the differences in the design- it was revealed some time ago that the new circuit would have additional gain on tap, so wouldn't be a "true" BBBOD (do the million tweaks done to Tubescreamers or Big Muffs over the years make them not Tubescreamers or Big Muffs?). That doesn't mean it won't work as well or even better for you through your own rig. There is no magic in the circuit- just some values that someone fell into through experimentation and luck. I'd recommend you actually try the pedal before making these conclusions!

I have never tried the original or the new Blueberry, but the new one sounds more up my alley if can be tweaked for more presence than the original based on soundclips. Id love to try both someday, though I am pretty happy with what I have in the OD department these days!

 

[Mark Olson]

I have to say I'm really unimpressed with the youtube demo. Sounds like a crummy active bass recorded direct. Sounds all plastic-y and fake. For a larger scale production version (even if it varies a lot) of a pedal people herald as giving them the "whole tube sound" who don't have the whole tube sound, this sounds just as bad as everything else with active/solid state. Sure, it'll probably still sound killer with a nice passive bass and through a good tube amp and a cab that isn't modern junk, but what doesn't? Once you've got the right setup anyways, personally, I think just a regular one knob boost sounds even more killer for overdrive/distortion sounds than any dirt pedal.

 

[Colonel Monk]

I've never found any youtube videos to be worth much as an indicator of how a distortion effect will sound with my gear.

I bought the SFT last year based on a few things I heard and found I didn't like it at all.

I've liked some of the clips we have on TB for the BJFE version but there's few of them. Don't remember how they were recorded.

The MP viddy referenced here, I didn't care for the playing style or tone much. I remember thinking that NAD's clips sounded awesome but I also liked the playing in the clip.

That context can't be ignored. The video isn't impressive, I'd ignore it as substitute for trying it out for yourself.

I've been thru a ton of dirt pedals the past few years and have managed to find a few that I like. Hoping this will be one of them.

I agree with Mr. Olsen, that I really didn't like any of them until I got an amp with at least a tube pre - otherwise, any high gain pedal clipping the amps non-tube input sounds like shite in my opinion, YMMV.

CM

 

[sunbeast]

I have to say I'm really unimpressed with the youtube demo. Sounds like a crummy active bass recorded direct. Sounds all plastic-y and fake. For a larger scale production version (even if it varies a lot) of a pedal people herald as giving them the "whole tube sound" who don't have the whole tube sound, this sounds just as bad as everything else with active/solid state. Sure, it'll probably still sound killer with a nice passive bass and through a good tube amp and a cab that isn't modern junk, but what doesn't? Once you've got the right setup anyways, personally, I think just a regular one knob boost sounds even more killer for overdrive/distortion sounds than any dirt pedal.

Having played through tube amps off and on for over ten years, I have to respectfully disagree that tubes are necessary for a great or even convincingly tube-like distorted tone. And as you said- this sounds like a direct recording, which will have little resemblance to how it would sound through an amp and cab. It would be equivalent to comparing the DI signal from a tube amp to the tone that you hear coming out of a cabinet. Having done several recordings through miced tube amps, I will add that even when miced a cranked tube amp can sound like crap on a recording without EQ and often compression and other post-production (and even worse after Youtube compression and played through computer speakers).

I am frankly amazed at how much weight people are putting in a single Youtube demo of a pedal!

 

[Mark Olson]

Hey, if it sounds good to you that's fine. But I want it all, the feel, the dimension, everything, and I don't settle for less. And sure, a crummy player or one crummy piece of gear out of ten can make the whole thing sound like fried poo. My point is, speaking from the experience of owning tens of thousands of dollars worth of pedals, I personally will not likely ever be satisfied using an overdrive or distortion box. I do like a good fuzz pedal though. Good demo or bad, it contains enough information for me to know that this pedal will be no different for me. I can put that much weight on it because I have $30,000+ worth of pedal researching and purchasing experience. Will this pedal sound great through my rig with me playing it? Yeah. Will that be good enough for me? No.

 

[sunbeast]

Hey, if it sounds good to you that's fine. But I want it all, the feel, the dimension, everything, and I don't settle for less. And sure, a crummy player or one crummy piece of gear out of ten can make the whole thing sound like fried poo. My point is, speaking from the experience of owning tens of thousands of dollars worth of pedals, I personally will not likely ever be satisfied using an overdrive or distortion box. I do like a good fuzz pedal though. Good demo or bad, it contains enough information for me to know that this pedal will be no different for me. I can put that much weight on it because I have $30,000+ worth of pedal researching and purchasing experience. Will this pedal sound great through my rig with me playing it? Yeah. Will that be good enough for me? No.

Yeah- tube amps are great for some stuff, not so great for other stuff. Also learned from several thousands of dollars of experience...

I'm just stating that the demo without any context is useless. As badass as my SVT was behind me in a live setting, I could have miced it and gotten a recorded tone just as or more lifeless sounding than the Mad Professor demo (and worked with engineers that could use Pro-Tools plug-ins to turn my direct from bass DI signal into the sound of a believably raging SVT in a pinch). And I don't find the demo especially appealing either for what its worth, though from my experience I wouldn't let it dissuade me from trying one out in a store locally if I see one.

When it comes down to it, it isn't a magic box- it uses the same clipping characteristics as countless other solid-state boxes. It won't emulate the sag or compression of a tube amp nor whatever other magical mojo we think we hear, but through a good amp and cab who knows what it might sound like? So far only one person in this thread that I am aware of...

 

[bassboysam]

I have to say I'm really unimpressed with the youtube demo. Sounds like a crummy active bass recorded direct. Sounds all plastic-y and fake. For a larger scale production version (even if it varies a lot) of a pedal people herald as giving them the "whole tube sound" who don't have the whole tube sound, this sounds just as bad as everything else with active/solid state. Sure, it'll probably still sound killer with a nice passive bass and through a good tube amp and a cab that isn't modern junk, but what doesn't? Once you've got the right setup anyways, personally, I think just a regular one knob boost sounds even more killer for overdrive/distortion sounds than any dirt pedal.

Lots of truth there, I'm really interested in trying out some treble boosters. I find a clean boost pushes the low end too much and it ends up sounding farty. The MP treble booster is next on my list. I want to compare it against the Cream Pie.