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Overdrive Distortion suggestions?

foderaman

foderaman

Jun 14, 2005
939
192
Highland.IL
#1
I am looking for suggestions on what pedal would be best to get that overdriven tube amp tone like Felix Pappalardi got with Mountain or Mel Schacher got with GFR and don't tell me get a tube amp and crank it up !!!lol
 
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#7
foderaman said:
The Blue Berry sounds just like what Im looking for !
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OD's are great. So many flavors and feels out there. There is another too I just thought of, the one control hookers green bass machine. It's a very warm and tubey drive. It was also designed by the same dude who designed the blueberry bass OD.

I really like all the ods I mentioned. But with my band, ods like say the OCD and the like, kinda tube screamer'ish, work better for me. I'm using the mr black OD right now. Oh it's so awesome! It's got a more powerful OD sound. It's not as saggy. But if you're looking for an OD that sounds like a pushed tube amp, the blueberry or the hooker would be more what you're after.

Another very popular one here on TB is the barbershop by Fairfield circuitry. It's very transparent and very very low gain. I've seen a lot of guys swear by that pedal for their OD needs.

If you're not wanting to spend a lot of money, check out the Cadine pure sky. That one really surprised me. It's got a 2 band EQ so it's great on your low end. And it's pretty transparent. Great drive tone. And for $35, it's hard to beat IMO.
 
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#8
foderaman said:
Looks like the dark Drive leans toward a Overdrive and the rat Tail is more a Fuzz ?
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Yes and yes. The dark driving can get pretty hairy itself. But it's aim is OD. The rat tail is a dist to almost fuzz. It's a Rat clone. Really awesome dirt pedal the rat (now cat) tail is. If I didn't dig the blower box by idiot box so much, I'd be using the rat tail.
 
#10
foderaman said:
Looks like the dark Drive leans toward a Overdrive and the rat Tail is more a Fuzz ?
Click to expand...

The dark driving can do medium to light whereas the rat tail can do medium to heavy, the rat tail is officially a distortion, but I use mine as more of a drive at lower gain with the no diode setting, because it has a character similar to that of my Mesa d180 tube head
 
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#11
If you're liking the sound of the Blueberry... I A/B'ed the Bearfoot Blueberry and the Hookers Green and the Bearfoot ruled the roost. Also they have a couple of very closely related pedals aimed at guitarists such as the Uber Bee - this still has decent low end but much more up top and a lot of people who thought the Blueberry too dark actually prefer it.

Also, TB user @Azure Skies makes a pedal called the Azure Drive which is based on the Blueberry but with a different tone control and an additional internal adjuster... sounds like it can do everything the Blueberry can but also get brighter and more aggressive if required. I love my Bearfoot but if it got stolen I would probably try one of these as a replacement!

The Dark Driving is also a variant of the Blueberry BTW.
 
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#13
Yeah I got lucky. My JohnK BBBOD is modded. It's the BBBOD, but upon my request, he modded it to have more top end. It doesn't lose low at all. In fact it still enhances my lows. But from what I understand, mines much brighter than the original. It really is a badass. I wish it worked better with "my sound". It has a really awesome character to it. Almost ampeg'ish but not quite. Just a great tubey drive IMO.
 
#17
I don't use O/D, fuzz or distortion much.... but when i do I use the humble digitech bass driver. These things cover all the bases fairly well and won't break the bank. Also has a mix (dry/dirty ratio) which I like. There are definitely better ones that are more tone specific and costly, but for the cost these are pretty versatile.
 
#19
static0verdrive said:
Darkglass Vintage Microtubes for tube amp-style breakup/dirt and up to OD, or else the DG B3K for starting with that OD and getting into full-on distortion.
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I have used fm Emerson od which is guitar pedal. My Tech 21 VT bass and just recently got the dark glass duality fuzz.

I think I prefer the od sound out of the VT "character" which I've read is something like an ampeg tube emulator.

I've always wanted to try the dark glass vintage or b7k. Just never had a reason to bail on my VT Bass.
 
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#20
H2okie said:
I have used fm Emerson od which is guitar pedal. My Tech 21 VT bass and just recently got the dark glass duality fuzz.

I think I prefer the od sound out of the VT "character" which I've read is something like an ampeg tube emulator.

I've always wanted to try the dark glass vintage or b7k. Just never had a reason to bail on my VT Bass.
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I guess it depends how much OD you're looking for. I didn't find the VMT had all that much, particularly for a slightly lower-output bass - it really helped to have a boost before it. I'd tried out the Sansamp and Swollen Pickle at the store, but I found they had even less drive (even if cranked).

Once I got my DHA real tube preamp, it sounds great and eliminated my OD's and compressors (and DI), so I don't really use any pedals anymore besides that DHA VT1-EQ-Bass-Drive and the FDeck HPF pre.
 
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