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PEDALS for ROCK BASS

B

bloodroyal

Guest
Sep 29, 2011
7
0
#1
Hey all,

I'm looking for some advice on what pedals to buy for a new band I'm touring with in January.

They are a female fronted rock/punk band (akin to THE JOY FORMIDABLE, THE SOUNDS, YEAH YEAH YEAHS).

The bass has distortion on it for about 80% of the set, and it's pretty consistent so I'm not looking for multi-fx as such. The distortion is a fairly classic somewhat muff fuzz.

Also - I'm going to be using an 8ve pedal for some lows as I play 4-string and there's the odd track which requires the low B's potential.

So my query comes in two parts:

1.
- What distortion pedal people would recommend?
- Is Sansamp a must?

2.
- Re: NOISE is a pedal compressor or gate a good shout to have a dirty but controlled sound?

Any help would much appreciated, by all means let me know if I'm going about my vision the wrong way!

Thanks in advance!
 
#3
What's your price range?

I'm loving my Dark Glass B3K and IE Oxide and Occupy TB.com tends to agree with this statement. They pretty much cover all the overdrive, fuzz, distortion, and crunch I'll ever need in my alt rock band. If you're looking for control, this might be the route to go. Both can get nasty but the thing I love about them is there ability to be refined and controlled.

I had a Sansamp BDDI before the B3K....it was a bit of a waste for me since my Eden head already has a DI out and it doesn't come close to the quality of sound these two new pedals get.
 
#6
For rock (and metal, punk and probably a few other genres) bass, I have yet to play a pedal that's more crucial than the SansAmp VT Bass. It's basically a SVT with overdriven power tubes into an 8x10... Only in a stompbox form factor.

Depending on your needs, you may want to try the Deluxe version, which has 3 channels (footswitch-toggled) and an XLR out.
 
#7
Wait, he's saying that he's looking for a Muff-like fuzz, and you guys are recommending the VT Bass? :rollno:

For a muff-ish fuzz, I would advise against the Bass Big Muff. I was extremely disappointed in it, as were several other posters here that I respect. Instead, I'd go with one of the well-established boutique Muff clones out there, i.e. Blackout Musket, Wren and Cuff Pickle Pie B, etc.

I would not go with a Sansamp if you're going with a fuzzed-out sound already. To me, a Sansamp is more to slightly dirty-up or tube-ify a cleaner tone.

For octave, I'd recommend going with an EHX Micro POG if you ever think you're going to play a chord or a double-stop. Some people say that it sounds too digital or sterile, but if you have it before your fuzz, it'll smooth it out anyways.

You're probably not going to need a compressor, as a Muff-based fuzz is going to compress the hell out of your sound anyways. Muffs are very compressed.

Yes, you're going to get some noise, but I don't like what noise gates do to dirty tones, I'd just live with it if I were you.
 
#8
Some great info here, thanks so much!

I'd never heard of the Wren and Cuff stuff, but from watching some videos online it looks great. I think it's probably between that and the Wooly Mammoth for distortion.

Cheers for the tips re: compression / noise. Will investigate further into the octave situation!
 
#9
Is there a recording of the existing tones that you can share?

Oxide - awesome synthy fuzz which is not subtle but needs no gate.
B3K - awesome overdrive (not fuzz) and quiet enough to not need a noise gate.
VT Bass - very versatile range of sounds. With the gain cranked up it gets noisy, so needs a gate (and the pedal's character completely takes over so all basses sound the same). The deluxe version could potentially replace your amp by going straight to the desk with a gate in the fx loop.
 
#15
silky smoove said:
If I were looking for an always-on distortion/overdrive pedal I'd consider the Tronographic Rusty Box, Darkglass B3K, or Tech21 VT-Bass.
Click to expand...

These three are great, and my personal favorite right now is the B3K into the Tech21 Oxford. Don't underestimate the Oxford for warm, yet aggressive tones as well.

Clips always help:

http://soundcloud.com/grinere/dummydarko
 
#17
FaithNoMan said:
These three are great, and my personal favorite right now is the B3K into the Tech21 Oxford. Don't underestimate the Oxford for warm, yet aggressive tones as well.

Clips always help:

http://soundcloud.com/grinere/dummydarko
Click to expand...

I used to like my sansamp PBDDI better then the Oxford, but now in band mix with my Rick both shine through the mix! As said lots of warmth and still aggressive tone :) . Otherwise I use Bad Monkey into my PBDDI in order to achieve more OD gain. One more great pedal is the Grombass which has 3 diodes in order to obtain everything from OD to fuzz.

Btw I've no amp so the Oxford and my PBDDI are my "amps".
 

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