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Opinions needed: Overdrive... NOT distortion

pablomigraine

pablomigraine

Commercial User
Feb 9, 2005
3,458
611
New York
neuraldsp.com
Disclosures
Director of Commercial Sales - Neural DSP
#1
So... Ive come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as a bass OVERDRIVE within the realm of commonly available pedals. Ive tried the Boss pedals, the MXR pedals, and a bunch of other pedals.... and seemingly every one of them has the same issue as far as I'm concerned... the all go from clean straight into full out DISTORTION with no inbetween....I'll use the Boss ODB-3 for example... while this pedal has the overall type of tone I like (as opposed to the MXR blowtorch and like pedals), even putting it between a lower output passive J-bass, with the Drive knob fully counterclockwise it's still sounding like full-on distortion. The Sansamp BDDI / RBI sound very "woofy" and brittle to me.

Here's an idea of what I'm going for:

* I do not use a pick as heard on this track, but I use very low low action and sound the strings off the board Steve Harris / later Entwhistle style

I'm Broken - Bass & Drum Track (HD) - YouTube

Suggestions?
 
#5
I don't have audio at work to hear this specific sample but I love most of Rex's tone. A lot of his sound is Specter/Pick/Ampeg.

Now with that said the closest pedals I see to overdrives that won't do distortion are Germanium boosts. But they won't make you sound like Rex:(
 
#6
There is no replacing a pick when it comes to Rex's tone, IMHO. You can have every other element in place, but that one thing will always be missing. And it could be the number one piece to the puzzle.

I was a long-term pick hater, and I tried every way possible to keep my manhood intact by avoiding using one. Truthfully, once I broke down and tried it out, I began to notice I use one over half the time now.
 
#7
meatwad said:
There is no replacing a pick when it comes to Rex's tone, IMHO. You can have every other element in place, but that one thing will always be missing. And it could be the number one piece to the puzzle.

I was a long-term pick hater, and I tried every way possible to keep my manhood intact by avoiding using one. Truthfully, once I broke down and tried it out, I began to notice I use one over half the time now.
Click to expand...

At this point I switch it at random. I always start with a pick but at any point in the gig there is a 50% chance you'll find me chewing on it.
 
#9
Have you tried harmonic generators or saturators? FEA, Darkglass, WayHuge, others I'm sure, make em.

I've tried a bunch of so called bass overdrives myself, finally gave up (for now), but the Invalid Link Removed came the closest to what I was looking for. And with its clean blend, you can keep all the attack you like while adding the very subtle growl and grit you need. Two different channels of it in fact.

Do a search for harmonic generator or FEA Growler here on TB and you'll get a bunch of information on it and similar effects. It may not be precisely what you're searching for, but looking in its direction may yield you some useful information.

Hope that helps! :)
 
#10
I'm only listening to the bass/drum track though an iphone speaker, and I don't have much experience outside the VT Bass and B3K but I reckon they could both get close to that. The VT could even do it fingerstyle.

I suspect the MXR M80 could also come pretty close.

They all warm up from clean or close to it, to ragin' full on.
 
#11
Hate to just recommend a pedal and say it can do any given tone exactly (especially the VT as mentioned in a post above - given the complete tonal changes that happen to your regular equipment using the pedal if you're not into Ampeg tones, or really like your amp tones to begin with), but if Ampeg and grind are what you are going for, then the VT is gonna be your solution.

Here is a clip I had recorded for someone else looking for some grind with the VT. Precision bass with chromes and a pick, into the VT, directly into Garageband (second play through is with the Agro).

Invalid Link Removed

It's Ampeg, and it's grind... and I think the keys to Rex's tone are that. Ampeg/grind/pick.
 
#13
mpmackenna said:
I hear the Aguilar pedal is pretty good at letting you blend how much drive you want without killing your tone.
Click to expand...

Sorry bud, but if you're talking about the Agro - it doesn't have a clean blend. At its lowest settings you can add a touch of hair, but in my opinion, it doesn't take too much gain on the pedal before your tone starts getting swallowed.

Great distortion, but not very transparent.
 
#16
for me the OxFuzz Bass with the blend set around 9 oclock is a KILLER overdrive!.. (its technically a fuzz... but its KILLER as an overdrive)..

Also the Fender Sublime (fuzz again..) with the drive set low and the toe dial turned back into the yellow/green makes a great OD too.

The SFT.. if you like the flavor I find to be a real nice subtle break up too, but again you keep the drive set low.

as for the Aguilar..I dont like the pedal, but the rackmount is beastly. Low set drive is again the magic trick.



but.. when it comes the sound in that video.. I think Darkglass, maybe an SFT into a Phat Phuk.
 
#17
My Digitech Bad Monkey with the Scott Humphreys bass mod does a very nice job of overdrive. Highly recommended! I tried everying from fuzz to distortion and finally ended up looking for OD - this pedal can get you into the distortion area if you max it out, but what it really does is tasteful OD.

His prices are reasonable and he is a very nice guy.

His website: Link Removed

PC270228-1.jpg
 
#19
P-oddz said:
Sorry bud, but if you're talking about the Agro - it doesn't have a clean blend. At its lowest settings you can add a touch of hair, but in my opinion, it doesn't take too much gain on the pedal before your tone starts getting swallowed.

Great distortion, but not very transparent.
Click to expand...

I disagree with this, as I think your pickstyle clip comparing them favors a more neutral tone of the Agro. It also seemed bassier in said clip.

If anything, the VT is definitely not transparent. I don't find Ampeg to do transparent too well.:)
 

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