MXR Bass Distortion or cranked VTBass

[EmaTheMirror]

I'm talking M85 (not 80) vs the VTBass pushed into distortion.

I already have the VTBass deluxe which can store different settings in multiple patches, so I can use it both as a cleaner preamp and as a distortion, accordingly. It has a quite good variety of driven nuances, from OD/subtle breakup to dist and fuzzier tones, and I do like it for distortion. I only know the M85 by videos and demos (the Jeff Matz teaser is really cool, lol), never used one IRL.

I'd say the VTBass can already cover the M85's sonic territories in a broader sense, but I was wondering what I'd be gaining if I coupled them and put an MXR in front of the VTBass. One obvious thing would be separate controls for wet and dry, but I'm primarily asking about nuances and tonal options.

Does anyone have both pedals for a good comparison when used for OD/dist? Would I have access to a totally different sonic palette or can the VTBass get close enough with the right drive and character ratio?

 

[Smurf-o-Deth]

The MXR M85 is a Rat, so it’s going to sound different from something like the VT Bass, which is after an amp-like character. Personally, I really like Rats on bass, and Rat into Ampeg is certainly a tone a lot of people like.

 

[EmaTheMirror]

The MXR M85 is a Rat, so it’s going to sound different from something like the VT Bass, which is after an amp-like character.

Yes, that's true. However, the VTBass too can give a grindy, in-your-face mid-driven distortion when you crank up the character knob and compensate with the eq to keep the midrange under control and thicken the low end a bit. Most demos seem to picture the VT Bass mostly for its breakup qualities while IMHO it can also sound like a dist box into a preamp by itself.

But I'm positive the M85 could add some extra choices on top.

 

[Hypocrite]

Forget the M85. It's really not very good. Well, unless you like out of phase clean tones. You're better off getting literally anything else with a clean blend, MXR seriously dropped the ball on that one.

 

[EmaTheMirror]

Forget the M85. It's really not very good. Well, unless you like out of phase clean tones.

What's up with the phase between wet and dry within the M85?

Truth to be told, the ODB-3 Boss Bass Overdrive at low gain settings serves me well in front of the VT Bass, to add an extra layer of dirt while retaining the clean signal without causing a volume bump - the Bass Big Muff is rather bad for that. The cab SIM response of the VT bass takes care of the ODB-3 fizzy top end.

 

[Frank_Raider]

I like how the Rat type circuit is voiced on the M85; a little darker and with a coarser grain. But the clean signal is useless because the out of phase thing. IIRC, the clean control adition was on MXR's side and not Ryan's, and they indeed dropped the ball with that one. It can be used without the clean signal, though; but if that feature is important to you, maybe it' not the best option.