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Pedal help!

#24
Shushamouth said:
Currently looking into getting an overdrive pedal. I play in a band, our tuning is in both drop B and the other is drop D. The tone sounds wonky. I was recommended I get an OD pedal and I was wondering if what are some suggestions when playing in a more metal style of music.

I have zero experience with effects so I'm somewhat at a lost.

My gear currently consists of an ampeg SVT 810e, ampeg Portaflex 500, Schecter omen (drop b) and an Ibanez (D).
I have a BBE sonic maximizer and a line 6 bass pod (which I'm not currently using).

I feel like with both guitars playing my bass just isn't getting that nice fat sound I'm looking for.

Please, help!
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Is this something you want for Recording, for playing Live, or for both?
 
#25
Thank you all for your response it is much appreciated. I was able to tweak to my settings a little bit today and get it slightly where I wanted but alas, with the guitars I'm still left wondering if there is much more I can do. I'm dealing with distortion and then cleans.
I was looking into other metalcore bands and I came across the Sansamp RBI, what are your opinions on this?
 
#26
Talking to your guitarists is key and will be a test of their maturity. I used to play with a guy who played rythmn guitar with the bass knob all the way up - eleven. Really frustrating because my sound was lost in a sea of standing waves in the practice room. I used to stand outside the room with his ultra bass heavy tone and ask myself, what do they need me for? He was better friends with the rest of the band than I and when I raised the issue with him, either diplomatically or, in the end, stridently, I got a lot of cold stares from everyone and he had no compulsion to revisit his sound. I don't play with him any more.

If you get a similarly inflexible reaction from your bandmates, seriously consider a new band, it's not worth your time.
 
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#27
Five String said:
Talking to your guitarists is key and will be a test of their maturity. I used to play with a guy who played rythmn guitar with the bass knob all the way up - eleven. Really frustrating because my sound was lost in a sea of standing waves in the practice room. I used to stand outside the room with his ultra bass heavy tone and ask myself, what do they need me for? He was better friends with the rest of the band than I and when I raised the issue with him, either diplomatically or, in the end, stridently, I got a lot of cold stares from everyone and he had no compulsion to revisit his sound. I don't play with him any more.

If you get a similarly inflexible reaction from your bandmates, seriously consider a new band, it's not worth your time.
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I will take this advice and use it! LOL
 
#28
A couple of things to consider:
  1. Your amp may be running out of gas. Sure it is 500 watts at 4 ohms with 5% THD. That means the amp runs at rated output when driven into heavy distortion. Most amps are rated at 0.1% THD. So the ampeg rating is at 50X normal distortion values. That's a little misleading IMO. On the other hand, the amp is designed to run at distorted levels. So don't expect much when running clean.
  2. The Ampeg 810E has a low-mid bump around 250 Hz and a fairly steep roll-off below 125 Hz. It has a lot of chest thump, but not a lot of really deep lows.
Neither of these things are bad. But it makes sense to keep your expectations in line with what the equipment can do. In this case, you are not going to be getting earth rumbling lows or super clean sound. But you will get a lot of chest pounding and grind. So I suggest you set your amp to work with that.

Some suggestions:
  1. Engage the compressor: I would run it at 12 o'clock and adjust from there
  2. -15db pad out.
  3. run the gain hot, you should see the clip led flashing most of the time
  4. ultra-low out
  5. ultra-high out
  6. bass rolled off a good amount
  7. mid boosted a good amount
  8. mid selector on 2, (450 hz), for punch, or 4, (1.6hz) for grind. (What you pick here will really depend on personal taste and what the guitars are doing.)
  9. treble mildly boosted, (around 2 o'clock) (the cab rolls off steeply at 5K Hz, so the treble boost will add cut and definition to your bass)
  10. master up as much as possible without causing the speakers to fart out which should be close to max setting.
 
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#30
If you're playing with guitarists who WILL work with you on combining a tone, you are very much blessed and it's all going to work out fine.
Most of the obvious suggestions have already been made. I know that the Barbershop has a beautiful sound; Fairfield also makes a small compressor called the Accountant that can generate some dirt by hitting the comp with extra input gain.
Xotic makes a couple of useful boost pedals, the RC Bass (pretty clean) and the BB Bass (dirtier).
Have you considered anything with an actual tube in it, like the old Butler Blue Tube pedals (if you can find one) or even the EHX English Muff'n?
 
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#32
yaksonator said:
Darkglass B3K. Done.
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JohnK would beg to differ......http://johnkvintageguitars.homestead.com/DarkglassB3K.html

Read his review of Darkglass VMT :http://johnkvintageguitars.homestead.com/DarkglassVMT.html

Me, I'm in on the Aguilar AGRO. Here's John's review:http://johnkvintageguitars.homestead.com/AguilarAgro.html

That said, read John's overdrive pedal review page. It's extensive and helpful: Lots to consider:http://johnkvintageguitars.homestead.com/Overdrive-Pedals.html

Marc
 
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#33
Moosehead1966 said:
JohnK would beg to differ......http://johnkvintageguitars.homestead.com/DarkglassB3K.html

Read his review of Darkglass VMT :http://johnkvintageguitars.homestead.com/DarkglassVMT.html

Me, I'm in on the Aguilar AGRO. Here's John's review:http://johnkvintageguitars.homestead.com/AguilarAgro.html

That said, read John's overdrive pedal review page. It's extensive and helpful: Lots to consider:http://johnkvintageguitars.homestead.com/Overdrive-Pedals.html

Marc
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with all due respect, that's ONE guys opinion and personal taste...as much as I respect johnk's work and expertise, I strongly disagree(my soundguy would too!!) I find to either cut through the mix beautifully, or to just sit in the mix, the Darkglass B7K out performs any tech21/sansamp products and sends them packing, perfect for metal or any style(i play a variety of styles, but was in a few metal bands before)...

As said above by crystal man, the fuzzrocious rat tail is a beast with a unique grind to it, the hardwire cm2 is a beautiful sounding overdrive that can easily replicate a cranked Ampeg or any BK Butler pedal for a fraction of the cost....but i have to say my favorite as of now is probably my Fulltone OCD (version 3 which doesn't need a clean blend)or Fulltone bassdrive as a close 2nd, both get a smoother grind where the rat tail can be harsher, i love them all though!!

i currently run either fulltone or fuzzrocious dirt through my B7K set clean(though the dirt on it has grown on me),and IMO it sounds better than most modern amps I've played through, except maybe older ones like the SVTII non-pro or my Fender PS300, just my taste though!!!

edit: for the record, I think a little a bit of overdrive/grind can go a long way in the mix, especially for faster riffing!!
 
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#34
to each his own, but there are actually quite a few others that share my opinion on the DG VMT and B3K. I've never tried a VMT Deluxe or B7K, and i'm sure that they'd better, but IMO, there's really no a amount of eq'ing (parametric or otherwise) that can make those pedals be used as transparent overdrives. in my case, prefer to get my tone where I want it first, with no pedals, and then click them in for a little or a lot of dirt without having to re-eq my amp. YMMV.
 
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#35
I'm going to assume OP has tried out different (heavier) gauges and styles of strings - IMO critical for maintaining tone when dropping low. After that, I recommend against going the distortion route with distorted guitars. Some very good ODs and dirty preamps have been brought up, but have you considered a chorus or detune pedal?
 
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#37
johnk_10 said:
to each his own, but there are actually quite a few others that share my opinion on the DG VMT and B3K. I've never tried a VMT Deluxe or B7K, and i'm sure that they'd better, but IMO, there's really no a amount of eq'ing (parametric or otherwise) that can make those pedals be used as transparent overdrives. in my case, prefer to get my tone where I want it first, with no pedals, and then click them in for a little or a lot of dirt without having to re-eq my amp. YMMV.
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I am in that camp. I tried a B3K and a VMT and didn't like either. Personal taste. Nothing wrong with the pedals at all. I think the DG enthusiasts are pretty vocal which drowns out the detractors. (Again, not a problem for me, just an observation.)
 
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#39
johnk_10 said:
to each his own, but there are actually quite a few others that share my opinion on the DG VMT and B3K. I've never tried a VMT Deluxe or B7K, and i'm sure that they'd better, but IMO, there's really no a amount of eq'ing (parametric or otherwise) that can make those pedals be used as transparent overdrives. in my case, prefer to get my tone where I want it first, with no pedals, and then click them in for a little or a lot of dirt without having to re-eq my amp. YMMV.
Click to expand...

I'll agree, the B7K is most definitely NOT transparent, but for my taste(and many others) the DG products are great for heavier music that the OP plays.... But definitely to each their own...in my defense I mentioned other pedals for dirt and I use my B7K as clean DI/preamp to FOH, which helps me cut through a keyboardist and 2 guitar players and livens up my sound, just my "very vocal" observations of a company I really dig
 

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