Overdrives pedals.

Not being from the US I'm not really sure what is in that price range...

but if this is your first OD pedal, there's nothing that wrong about a Boss ODB3, it was my first overdrive, and yes I've moved on, but I still dont mind the pedal.

I'm not totally sure why it gets SUCH a bad rep around here, it can get pretty grindy and can do an alright light OD. You probably cant get much of a touch sensitive overdrive from it, but IMO its a good place to start.

But if your dead set on not getting that, then maybe hold on and save a little more. Way Huge Pork Loin could be what your after...

 

Love my pork loin! And I know I'm not the only one here of that opinion.

Do you play a passive or active bass? Dirt pedals tend to react differently to the two, since a hotter signal will break up sooner. IME even the clean channel on the pork loin actually creates a really cool distorted sound if pushed hard enough with an active bass - it's a really versatile pedal.

 

I own a Hao Rust Ride and I am a big fan of this pedal. If you can buy it, grab it. There is one on Ebay for $89 a good price. Beyond the relative bargain it's a terrific pedal. I love the fact that you have 3 perfectly dialed tones and nothing to mess with. It's plug and play - just adjust the volume. I consider it a distortion more than an overdrive, for distortion it's one of my 4 tops pedals and it's comanions are of high caliber too: Hematoma, Bass Juice, Agro.

The Bad or Badder Monkey is a good pedal particularly if the mod is done right and with good components but it's not quite the quality level of the Rust Ride and it will most likely cost more than the price you are looking at. I'd say test the pedal again (our ears love anything new for a few minutes - it's the placebo effects) and buy it if you like it.

 

I never had a problem with losing the low end with the stock Bad Monkey, its a great inexpensive first OD.

 

Lots of people don't like the Boss simply because it's not flavor of the week and wasn't engineered in small quantities by some guy in the Arctic Tundra.

Truth is, Boss would not be one of the largest effect manufacturers out there if they didn't make good stuff. I have the ODB-3 and I love it. Separate gain and wet/dry controls, low and high stacked nob eq (really useful) and a level control for balancing out your effected volume vs your volume when the pedal is off.

Plus, they are sturdy as hell, built like a tank. I have never had a boss pedal fail on me and I've used them for years. You could probably find one used for about 65 bucks or so. New I think they are more like 85-90, but not sure.

 

Behringer BOD400

Metallica Broken Beat & Scarred Bass Cover - YouTube

 

First off, glad that you found some value in my post on your other thread.

Second, if you're working on a lower budget, you're going to get a much, much better value buying used. Focus on Craigslist and the classifieds here rather than getting something brand new.

Third, how permanent is your price point? Would you be able to delay a purchase for a month or two and increase your ability to save a little more? There's a lot more options available for a little more cash.

 

BOSS ODB-3 is more of a distortion, but has a very punkish sound IMO. Lots of lows, scooped/smooth mids, the distortion is mostly in the high end. But it's not an "overdrive", it's distortion IMO.

Have a Polish Love on the way, they can be had used for $50-$60 and seem like a fairly cleaner/lower gain overdrive if dialed down. I need something lower gain to drive my MESA 400+ which has tons of tubey overdrive available natively.

 

+1

 

very good points! Do what this man says

 

For $50 you can pick up an OBD-3 used on CL or at GC. As distortions go, it's your most readily available option. If you turn down the gain and keep more dry tone, it can sound overdriveish...if you're playing a passive bass.

 

Personally, I'd suggest you wait and save a bit more then. Buy what you want and what you'll keep instead of buying what you can afford today.

The extra time will give you a good opportunity to do some homework on more options, and more time to wait for the right deal to walk through the classifieds here.

 

I'm very happy with my obd-3 and also use it as a booster with the effect off. Using the level you can create an even volume and because it has treb, bass and gain controls you can create some creamy distortion.

 

+1

 

Check out the JOYO Ultimate Drive.

 

I suggest a used Ibanez PD7 Phat-Hed. It's cheap and versatile. It can do flavors of almost clean all the way to pretty wicked distortion- including a solid OD tone.

It was my first dirt pedal, and I still have it. Even bought another one when the first one's switch went bad.... oh yeah, their notorious for that.