I would suggest the Holy Fire
I enjoyed the Holy Fire when I had it. It is more of a round, warm tubey sound than a growly gritty one. I loved it for recreating classic reggae/dub and Jamerson like tones, but not as much for rock.
Currently I'm using the Digitech hardwire tube OD.
This one surprised me. Didn't try it with my bass or amp but fooled around at Guitar Center with it and it was better than I thought it would be. No real in depth experience but I'd like to try it again some time.
Perfect for keeping your tone but adding a bit of grit. I actually think this might be the pedal for your needs. Still miss mine at time.
I LOVE the sounds I can get out of my Pork Loin.
Very tweakable and has a great "clean" blend that actually enhances tone a bit. I just never fell in love with it. It seemed like I was forever trying to twist knobs and adjust trimpots when other pedals (like the Barber) gave me what I wanted very easily.
This is going to be my next overdrive - Microtubes B3K
This is my current overdrive (I still need to make clips for NewLaw83 and others) and I absolutely dig it. That said, it is expensive and while it has a clean blend the "wet" side colors your tone by a substantial amount just due to the built in EQ shapes, especially with the attack switch up. But it has a fantastic breakup that reminds me of aggressive tube amps.
For just a "touch" of grit the drive knob really needs to be almost at minimum with the blend to taste but it can do those sounds as well as heavy OD/light distortion. Great pedal.
Also the Mad Professor Blueberry overdrive sounds cool if you like that style of overdrive.
I was very excited about this one but early clips and reviews have turned me off and was surprisingly fuzz like. Doesn't sound at all like the original BJFE Blueberry Bass OD which was thick, wooly and tubey. But that one is expensive, rare and probably not what the captain is looking for since it colors your tone significantly and rolls off the high end.
Since you like the sound of a TS9 how about a voodoo lab sparkle drive? its a lot like ts9 with a clean blend on it. or maybe even the new bass tube screamer ibanez just put out.
While it's not technically an overdrive (and forgive me if it's not really addressing the question because of it), a buddy of mine gets a great overdrive sound from a SansAmp.
Tech 21 Leeds might also be a nice option.
The SansAmp BDDI is a great tool and has a blend but again significantly colors your tone as does the VT Bass and the Leeds. I'd call these amp emulators rather than overdrives per se. Same with the Catalinbread SFT really.
If you want a blend knob, then the TS9B is awesome. If you want a 3 knob, then the Dredgetone Angler is a good one.
i heard from a friend (and have personally heard live) that the xotic Bass BB is bassically a tube screamer for bass and has tone control (bass and treble).
The Angler is one that cuts through a mix really well but sounds really fizzy and buzzy by itself. Interesting pedal.
There are a number of tubescreamer clones for bass.
The HBE Hematoma is a very dark sounding bass oriented one that I like. The Xotic is a bit flatter sounding and works really well. The Fulltone Bass Driver sounds great but is big and cuts some low end. The Sparkle Drive is guitar oriented but has a clean blend that makes it work well on bass and the TS9B is one that I haven't tried yet but sounds promising. I wonder if it is basically the same as the Voodoo Lab or if there are additional tweaks for bass beyond the clean blend.
Anyway, there are some thoughts on the overdrives that have been suggested that I have some experience with. Hope that helps.
