Moderate OD that doesn't lose low bass?

[blindrabbit]

Well I kind of have a trio of them...

Cog 66 mini - it's my always on with touch of clean blend, bass on full, Treble on normal and gain on half... it's actually not got much gain but almost a preamp for big bass and low mid tones.

Damnation audio mbd1 - on softer setting with gain it can do overdrive, higher gain gets a crunchy distortion which is what I use. Clean blend and the depth knob will give you low end for days or tighten it up to be not so boomy

Aftershock - I tend to use this more for the muff / distortion type engines but do quite like the stock tube setting as a nice OD - with the blend and massive amount of eq options in the neuro app you could dial low end back into any engine pretty much. Or as one user even did as a template- filtered the engine and eq so that you have clean coming through with only a hint of distortion on the very high treble, almost a shimmer to a very clean tone. If you have time to dabble I think possibilities are endless.

Hey, someone else that has had the same experience as me with the Cog Knightfall! I had one, and found it to be a really really low gain pedal...like you say, almost more like a preamp or tonal enhancer. I sold it because I was actually hoping for a gainy pedal, as I already have a bunch of tonal enhancers. Here I thought I was the only one who felt that way...nice to see I'm not alone.

 

[sporad]

The BlueBerry gets my vote.

I would agree with this:
"It certainly fits a profile the OP is looking for, and a good suggestion. With the tone dial turned toward the bass-heavy side, it certainly gets big in the lows. The character of the distortion is very natural/organic/smooth/overdrive"

 

[theunknowndude]

Hey, someone else that has had the same experience as me with the Cog Knightfall! I had one, and found it to be a really really low gain pedal...like you say, almost more like a preamp or tonal enhancer. I sold it because I was actually hoping for a gainy pedal, as I already have a bunch of tonal enhancers. Here I thought I was the only one who felt that way...nice to see I'm not alone.

I read quite a few reviews that stated it was ( and noted the YouTube demo has the gain cranked in every position) - it wasn't what I was looking for as I too wanted something a bit more gain and similar sounding to my pd7 (but with a blend feature) but it ended up becoming my always on pedal! Really do love it... but yep would never recommend to anyone wanting high gain OD or anywhere near distortion type crunch

 

[willsellout]

Didn't read the whole thread but my suggestion based on the OP's initial post is for the Damnation Audio MBD-1. A lot of range as far as distortion goes and no loss of low end. Does that "warm" thing real nice. I would actually love to own two of them. One for a clean boost and one for my distortion. For now though my Milk Box serves as my "tonal addition" and my MBD-1 fills that distortion role perfectly.

 

[morgan138]

The ODB-3 just never did it for me unfortunately... It had that high end "fizzy" sound that I just didn't like unless I killed the highs on the EQ section

YUP. I realize that "fizz sitting on top of the signal" sound is much less annoying with a band playing than it is on its own, but it bugs me and I figure I've got plenty of options to try before I start settling!

The BlueBerry gets my vote.

That's where I'm at right now. Best pedal I've tried so far, although the tone control is pretty wacky — feels like I have to choose between a slight bass cut, or having low notes sound a bit more distorted than higher ones. Which is the opposite of every OD I've tried, where high notes tend to break up more easily. I'm gonna give the pedal a chance on its own terms though, starting with a show tonight.

 

[Climax]

ODB3 wampler mode take's care of that fizzy high's problem. Now, when modded it is one off my favorite distortion pedal. I also added a toggle so you can choose between a stock and mod.

But still... My vote for moderate od is Blueberry. Sparkbooster is great too.

 

[vivaknoxvegas]

Hey, someone else that has had the same experience as me with the Cog Knightfall! I had one, and found it to be a really really low gain pedal...like you say, almost more like a preamp or tonal enhancer. I sold it because I was actually hoping for a gainy pedal, as I already have a bunch of tonal enhancers. Here I thought I was the only one who felt that way...nice to see I'm not alone.

I had the COG mini-66 and got zero dirt out of it. All it gave me was just a clean boost. It sounded/performed NOTHING like the Mr. Excane demo, for me.

 

[blindrabbit]

I had the COG mini-66 and got zero dirt out of it. All it gave me was just a clean boost. It sounded/performed NOTHING like the Mr. Excane demo, for me.

Aha, two people then!

For me, it was the demo of the K66 prototype that I was sold on. That thing sounded SO SO SO good.

The exceptionally bizarre thing is that I have a blazing hot signal coming out of my bass and all the other gain stages ahead of where the K66 was on my board. If there was any gain to be had out of that thing, I would have thought for sure my chain would have extracted it.

 

[Bolsyo]

Based on the specs stated in the headline I'd say EHX Bass Soul Food. It's a great way to bring some life into a clean signal path, it's an always-on kind of pedal!
It doesn't do raging OD, distortion or fuzz, but that's not what I want from it. It does "old school pushed bass head meat and potato" kind of sound and it does it well! I like it a lot!

I read this post on friday, and watched some demos of the Bass Soul Food... I still can't get it out of my head, it seems perfect! Trying really hard to resist this serious case of GAS, but I guess it's just a matter of time before I have to give in on this one... The tone at about 55 secs into this video, just wow!

 

[vivaknoxvegas]

Re: the mini-66 - Tom wanted me to record what I was getting and send it to him. I never did, just didn't have a good way to do that at that time. I just sold it.

 

[blindrabbit]

Re: the mini-66 - Tom wanted me to record what I was getting and send it to him. I never did, just didn't have a good way to do that at that time. I just sold it.

Yeah, me too. Maybe in retrospect I should have returned it in exchange for a TK-421-X...

 

[Woony90]

Yeah, me too. Maybe in retrospect I should have returned it in exchange for a TK-421-X...

Nooooo don't tell me this when my mini 66 is on the way to me... I got DG B3K and the gain was not enough for me. I thought Mini 66 would serve me well after seeing Excane demo. it had a lot of gain in that video!!

 

[spufman]

I stand by my trusty ol' HAO Soul Pressure for a mildly beefed up, solid tone. Makes any amp sound better. I do want to try a Mini though, based on samples and my love of the TAFM.

 

[morgan138]

Okay, making some progress here!

- Blue Berry BBBOD: I love that it overdrives pretty smoothly on high and low notes over most of the gain range (as long as I keep the tone above noon or so). The midrange bump that everyone warned me about is definitely inescapable, but I don't mind it much. On the other hand, the "nature" knob seems to have a pretty narrow usable range (maybe 11:00 to 2:00?)...above that the treble starts getting hyped in a way that isn't "bad," but isn't why I wanted a light OD (right now, at any rate). Below that the pedal takes a hard turn into thick sludge/doom territory which again, isn't bad at all but isn't what I was looking for. Very weird.

- Southampton 5th Gear: you guys were right about this one. Super transparent, no low end loss (on my home rig, at least). More tight and aggressive (vs. round and smooth) than the BBBOD. The bias knob is gonna take some getting used to though. Even at low settings (i.e. not much heat, medium overall gain) it can make the pedal sound very slightly "strained", especially on low string+high fret notes. I can't decide if I like it or not, but it's easily dial out-able in any case.

 

[Crazy Otto]

Okay, making some progress here!

- Blue Berry BBBOD: I love that it overdrives pretty smoothly on high and low notes over most of the gain range (as long as I keep the tone above noon or so). The midrange bump that everyone warned me about is definitely inescapable, but I don't mind it much. On the other hand, the "nature" knob seems to have a pretty narrow usable range (maybe 11:00 to 2:00?)...above that the treble starts getting hyped in a way that isn't "bad," but isn't why I wanted a light OD (right now, at any rate). Below that the pedal takes a hard turn into thick sludge/doom territory which again, isn't bad at all but isn't at all what I was looking for. Very weird.

- Southampton 5th Gear: you guys were right about this one. Super transparent, no low end loss (on my home rig, at least). More tight and aggressive (vs. round and smooth) than the BBBOD. The bias knob is gonna take some getting used to though. Even at low settings (i.e. not much heat, medium overall gain) it can make the pedal sound very slightly "strained", especially on low string/high fret notes. I can't decide if I like it or not, but it's easily dial out-able in any case.

That was pretty much exactly my experience with the Blueberry. If you like its character, a lot of people recommend the Azure Drive as having a bigger range of usable gain and as being less colored. Never played one myself, just passing along the info.

I had a 5th Gear V2 and found it to perform best feeding other dirt pedals. I didn't love it on its own or behind other pedals, and settled on using it exclusively like the V1 to push other dirt. I actually just flipped it for a V1, since I wasn't using the bias anyway, and now I'll have something that I can stash under my board as an always-on deal.

 

[10cc]

As it has been mentioned earlier in the thread a Volt Thrower with no clipping selected.

 

[morgan138]

I had a 5th Gear V2 and found it to perform best feeding other dirt pedals.

Yeah? Just to add warmth? The one thing I forgot to post was that it seems to have a lot less volume on tap than the BBBOD. At low gain settings, at least.

 

[Crazy Otto]

Yeah? Just to add warmth? The one thing I forgot to post was that it seems to have a lot less volume on tap than the BBBOD. At low gain settings, at least.

I'd say to add more girth and some more low mid richness (is that what you mean by warmth?) to the signal hitting the pedals after it.

 

[monsterthompson]

That was pretty much exactly my experience with the Blueberry. If you like its character, a lot of people recommend the Azure Drive as having a bigger range of usable gain and as being less colored. Never played one myself, just passing along the info.

I had a 5th Gear V2 and found it to perform best feeding other dirt pedals. I didn't love it on its own or behind other pedals, and settled on using it exclusively like the V1 to push other dirt. I actually just flipped it for a V1, since I wasn't using the bias anyway, and now I'll have something that I can stash under my board as an always-on deal.

Heard the same about the Azure Drive. Almost bought one, then Dunwich happened.

 

[Shardik]

Well. I know I am probably not helping the OP here, but after trying a lot of (admittedly not expensive) overdrive pedals, I've actually settled on the Boss Bass Overdrive (ODB-3). The main reason for me is how the combination of a variable Gain level (dialing it low gives a less pronounced, grittier sound, while dialing it high gives an all out modern distortion), a Balance-knob for controlling the dry-OD mix to further retain a selectable amount of the original signal, and the 2 band EQ to finish it off. I find I can dial in pretty muc what I want with this, and my default settings are VERY conservative with a lot of bass girth and power with a little grit mixed in. I personally like it, and it sits well in the band mix.