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overdrive thread !! (sorry!)

Flymo Wang

Flymo Wang

Jan 5, 2011
423
186
Bristol, UK
soundcloud.com
#1
OK apologies in advance, yet another overdrive thread!

I have a pretty specific question though, and hopefully somebody will be able to help.

I use passive basses (jazz and precisions) into a valve amp (an old fender 135), and am currently using an Xotic Bass BB Preamp for overdrive/low gain dirt sounds. the sound I really love from this pedal is with the gain set very low (7 o clock), treble cut back a bit and bass boosted. however, i don't like the higher gain sounds on the pedal. my question is this - does anything else produce a similar warm, low gain overdrive to the BB, but ALSO sound nice at higher gain settings (nice is obviously subjective, but to my ears the BB sounds a little thin/harsh/tinny almost at higher gain settings). I'd rather not have separate pedals for low gain and high gain overdrives if I can help it... hopefully something could do both?

I have owned/tried a pre-MOSFET bassdrive, mad prof BBBOD (re-issue not the expensive one), fuzzrocious OSD, SFT and dredgetone angler.

I imagine most of the posts will say B3K, but from what i've heard (online demos) that pedal sounds quite raspy and aggressive, and I've not heard it cop a tone like the setting I like on the BB - has anyone got a BB and a B3K that can comment??


sorry this is a long rambling post but hopefully somebody can comment! (i fear the answer is a BJF 3BOD, but financially I kind of hope it isn't!!)

cheers
 
#2
Of pedals I actually have experience with, the BJF is "it". Sorry! Every other pedal either sounded rotten at higher gain, or sounded great but had that upper-end harshness you mentioned with the B3K. That said, since you want the same general warm tone for both low and high gain, you might as well turn off the tweeter of your cab, and/or roll back the highs on the EQ of your amp, and that should take care of any excess brightness or harshness.

Also, though I haven't tried it, isn't the Fuzzrocious Dark Driving supposed to be the same basic circuit as the BBBD?
 
#3
Have you considered the Empress Multi*Drive?

You get fuzz, overdrive and distortion - all running parallel - and a 3 band eq with mid freq selector switch.

This TB'er did a great review:

http://www.justinoscarcary.com/gear-reviews/2011/7/8/-empress-multidrive.html

He demos it in a lighter use - it goes much darker and deeper, but still a pretty impressive review I think

Pretty much any sound you want - I'm surprised this pedal doesn't have a bigger following
 
#4
bongomania said:
Of pedals I actually have experience with, the BJF is "it". Sorry! Every other pedal either sounded rotten at higher gain, or sounded great but had that upper-end harshness you mentioned with the B3K. That said, since you want the same general warm tone for both low and high gain, you might as well turn off the tweeter of your cab, and/or roll back the highs on the EQ of your amp, and that should take care of any excess brightness or harshness.

Also, though I haven't tried it, isn't the Fuzzrocious Dark Driving supposed to be the same basic circuit as the BBBD?
Click to expand...

i use a 4x12 with no tweeters, so unfortunately not an option... yes, the DD is certainly another option too.

as somebody who has tried a BJF, could you comment on how high the gain goes on the pedal (i appreciate this could be hard to describe!!!) - many thanks!
 
#9
Flymo Wang said:
i use a 4x12 with no tweeters, so unfortunately not an option... yes, the DD is certainly another option too.

as somebody who has tried a BJF, could you comment on how high the gain goes on the pedal (i appreciate this could be hard to describe!!!) - many thanks!
Click to expand...

I've owned the bbbod 3x and the reissue once. The original does not do high gain by any means. It's a touch under medium gain at best, but it DOES sound great. Low mid emphasis.

Our DD is close with a few changes. The bbbod was a little too muddy for me. There's a mega clip thread a UK dude did 2 years ago comparing the bbbod to like 11 or 12 other pedals. Mark something?
 
#10
rratajski said:
I've owned the bbbod 3x and the reissue once. The original does not do high gain by any means. It's a touch under medium gain at best, but it DOES sound great. Low mid emphasis.

Our DD is close with a few changes. The bbbod was a little too muddy for me. There's a mega clip thread a UK dude did 2 years ago comparing the bbbod to like 11 or 12 other pedals. Mark something?
Click to expand...

cheer Ry - time to go thread hunting!
 
#13
Hardwire Tube Overdrive has a nice very warm overdrive. The Hardwire Valve Distortion has a little more gain on tap but is mid scooped. I just got my Tube Overdrive and it rocks... I also play a 4x12 w/o tweeter. Both pedals are only $100 and both GC and Sam Ash carry them... if you're close to one you can take your bass and demo them.

While neither is bass-specific or have a blend control, there are separate bass and treble controls, and the bass control dials up TONS of low end. You don't need a blend control, trust me.

There's no vids I could find on youtube of the tube overdrive, but I've been meaning to make one. Hopefully soon. I will post the link when I get it up.
 

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