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Overdrive Quest

#21
I spent years looking for the perfect mild overdrive. A big hurdle is the lack of product to try out in shops here in Australia (if it isn't Boss or Digitech, or occasionally MXR and Dunlop, forget it).

My fave is the Xotic Bass BB Preamp. Nice sounding, and has Bass and Treble controls. One BIG thing I was after was a pedal that has enough range on the gain control to start at total clean, then add *EXACTLY* the right amount of grit. The Xotic does this spot-on for my needs and is (possibly) the last overdrive pedal I'll ever buy (yeah; right!).

I was using the DOD250, which was close, but the actual nature of the overdrive was a bit harsh.
 
#23
Have a look at

Dod 250 (both modded and unmodded)
Catalinbread SFT (My favourite)
Mojo Hand Cream Pie (Second favourite)
Dredgetone Angler (Third favourite but its close between the 3 and possibly the best for your needs)
Barber LTD SR

I've had the BB Preamp and found it very fizzy at higher gain settings. Muff'n is nice but large and a bugger to power if going on a board, EBS Multidrive as with all EBS pedal just seems to middle of the road for me.

Hope this helps
 
#29
insomniac2295 said:
I own a vt bass and us I my main pre. Maybe I should get another or the deluxe? Maybe a boost to push it into overdrive?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I ended getting the deluxe to do just that.

But be careful.. as I said in a similar thread recently.. it's not just a case of setting the knobs the same as your clean channel and then just cranking the drive up. Doing this will definitely give you more overdrive, but it also alters the tone too. So you need to do a bit of tweaking with the eq to make it sound like a dirtier version of your clean tone.

That's my experience anyway. I guess it'll be different for each individual's particular setup.
 
#34
insomniac2295 said:
sooooo many options....
Click to expand...

And here's another: Durham Sex Drive. Broad frequency range overdrive but keeps your low end intact. The tone control allows you to add as much or as little sparkle as you want. It also has a very usable two-stage compression circuit... on the "Hard" compression setting with the gain cranked it sounds like the end of the universe if you're using an active bass (I am). I use it more subtley, "Soft" compression setting, tone around 3:00 and just enough gain so that it kicks in when I'm playing double stops. Gorgeous sustain.

However, if you like that more nasal mid-hump of TS circuits, you probably won't like this... it was deliberately designed to NOT get that TS mid tone.

Here's Bongomania's review of it as a compressor (he does talk about its overdrive characteristics): Durham Sex Drive
 

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