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Recomendations for a light overdrive?

#21
smo said:
It does manage to boost the volume a little above unity - but I couldn't tell you by how much in terms of dB's.
The amount of dirt you achieve with it can be dependent on the strength of the signal going into the grunt.
The OD is a slight effect with low output basses.
But don't take my word for it, look up the samples on the site.
Mark's demo's are with flats and a passive bass btw.
Invalid Link Removed
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Ahhh, the volume boost works much like the PRTB (it's frequency-specific centered in the mids). The dirt is really subtle, I use the VT Bass at much higher gain settings. Still sounds good, tho, and there's certainly some practical uses to not needing a power source. Their Wasp pedal sounds good, too. They should really try and make some videos with better audio fidelity, tho.
 
#22
Since the 3Leaf has calmed my search for "The Perfect Filter," I'm now apparently on the search for "The Perfect Overdrive." :rolleyes: lol So I'm in the market and have found a few threads lately on light overdrive, most recently Help Me Decide on an Overdrive and Small Girthy Overdrive

I currently own a Way Huge Pork Loin, Sansamp Bass Driver, Keeley Sparkle Drive, Hartke Bass Attack and had an HAO Rust Ride for a couple months (couldn't control the gain and volume separately, and the sound wasn't for me). I ordered a Catalinbread SFT yesterday, should be here Tuesday-ish? The Zeibek Gemini Drive and Creation Audio Labs Holy Fire are on my G.A.S. list. ;)

Anyway, I posted this in the "Help Me Decide" thread linked above, maybe it'll help you guys too?

5sg.

fivestringgecko said:
Mutt, saw your post over in the What’s Coming and Going thread, figured I’d drop by to see if I could help out! :D

---------------------------------------------------------------
Originally Posted by LeonD
The Pork Loin is very transparent with no loss of bass. It can go from full and saturated to quite nasty.

Originally Posted by Joospocks
Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive. Basically a TS808 with an added clean mix. I love it!
---------------------------------------------------------------

I have both of these, and I sent my Sparkle Drive to Keeley for modding. Both are nicely transparent and keep low end well (even before modding for the Sparkle Drive). Both are darn good at low-gain overdrive sounds in original form, and both can get pretty darn crunchy. After modding though, the Keeley really shines... twice the gain available and even better low end response than stock. More “open” if that makes sense, but a little more harsh than the Pork Loin. I use the Pork Loin more for “everyday life” on my board (but NOT as an always on pedal) and the Keeley for stuff that calls for more medium-to-high gain crunchiness. When I play Slang (Jaco), the Keeley Sparkle Drive is my go-to, without a doubt. It pretty much nails his overdrive/distortion sound at 2:19 (on the album version) or in this live vid of the same song at 2:05 (but it’s not the best recording).

Both are GREAT pedals and I won’t be getting rid of either one. I think you’d be quite happy with either if you’re looking for transparent, and the Keeley mod is absolutely worth every cent.

Just for kicks, I’ve also added a clip of the Hartke Bass Attack. Not really that transparent, but it has a great, beefy low-gain crunch and can get absolutely HUUUGE. Seriously, I bet this thing could eat speakers for breakfast! On the last section of the clip in particular, I still could’ve added low end and Level was only at 2!! :eek: I won this one from Larry Hartke himself via Facebook, and was completely surprised at how much I like the sound.

I also have a Sansamp Bass Driver and owned/sold an HAO Rust Ride. Unfortunately, no clips of either of these.

All that said, I’m good in the “Transparent Overdrive” department which is why I ordered the Catalinbread SFT. I was specifically looking for a non-transparent overdrive... Old-school Fliptop flavor in a pedal that can also do low- to mid-gain crunch. :)

Enough blabbering, on with some clips!!! :bassist:

Hope this helps!

5sg.

Pork Loin
various drive settings

Voodoo Labs vs. Keeley Sparkle Drive
Light Gain
Voodoo Labs SD
Keeley SD

Full Gain Blended
Voodoo Labs SD
Keeley SD

Full Wet Gain
Voodoo Labs SD
Keeley SD

Keeley SD - Gritty

Hartke Bass Attack
various gain settings
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#23
EBS MultiDrive
- Three of the most usual overdrive types a bassist could need. 'std' mode doesn't effect the low end so it always comes through clear. 'flat' effects the full bandwidth and makes a wall of pan-fried sizzle. 'tube' is a highly compressed light distortion classic.

VT Bass
- Excelent control over mid-tone behavior, versatile parametric eq, sweet gain flavor. Goes from clean to light od to high gain, with many good tones inbetween.

Catalinbread SFT
- Distorts like a old amplifier. Kinda farty lows like an old amp too, run it at 18v to minimize this. The high end drives nicely though. Limited mids. I could only find a little mid boost in the 10:30-12 range of bass/treb controls.

SansAmp BDDI
- Completely devoid of mids, the same mids one often wants to get a thick overdrive that fills in the mix. The 'presence' control is great for bringing your picking style up into the forefront. In it's favor, I think the lows on these distort beautifully, tight controlled, tamed distortion. Mmmm...creamy

HAO Rust Ride
- This one doesnt fall anywhere near the 'light' category, not sure if it's even fair to call this an overdrive. Full on, SVT cranked to 11, burn through the mix, od/dist/fuzz, lightning in a box.

HBE Hematoma
- coming in the mail, will try it out soon.

Way Huge Pork Loin
- traded my SFT for this one today, will see how it compares to the rest.
 
#27
I'm late to the game but would suggest the Xotic Effects BB Preamp. I got to use it while taking a lesson with Bryan Beller. Considering I used to be anti-pedals (hey I was an upright player to begin with) and now I have a full board, I'd say this says a lot. I use this pedal whenever I play, it warms up my tone just enough for me. But it can also easily generate light to med. overdrive while not killing your tone.
 
#29
snogaws said:
Well my VT Bass arrived today... completely defective. the wait continues...
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:( :( :( Sorry to hear it man.

On a positive, my SFT arrived today, about to fire it up. Will post back thoughts.

P.S. I also contacted John Fromel this weekend. He built me a Seraph that's absolutely stunning, so I asked him if he could build me "The Perfect Overdrive." :D lol I'll post more details as they solidify...

5sg.
 
#31
takfar said:
Still sounds good, tho, and there's certainly some practical uses to not needing a power source. Their Wasp pedal sounds good, too. They should really try and make some videos with better audio fidelity, tho.
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For the demos that I did of a couple of the bass pedals I was certainly limited by the quality of the microphone on the video camera that I used. Heath Cave himself did a great job on the videos of the guitar pedals in the range, and I've since bought a good quality audio interface so that demo videos of future Cave Passive bass pedals will have better audio quality.

On the topic of light overdrive and VT Bass, Cave have in the initial stages of development a 3 footswitch "programmable" overdrive/fuzz with a balanced DI built in. Completely passive, of course. I'm looking forward to testing that one :bassist:
 
#32
Okay, so I live in an apartment and haven't been able to try my SFT through a live rig yet, but here are some initial thoughts...

For a "low- to medium-gain" overdrive, I was pretty surprised at the wide spectrum of gain on tap. It does the low overdrive, tube-just-into-breakup sound (which is what I'm looking for) better than both the Keeley SD and Pork Loin, but crank up the gain and add some treble and I'd say the SFT has the most overdrive (almost into distortion?) available of the three. Not that I'll ever really use that much overdrive for what I play, but it's nice to have.

The SFT is quite sensitive to dynamics as well, which is nice... play lightly at lower gain settings and your tone can be almost clean. Dig in more without even changing the settings and you can get a nice wooly drive.

It isn't as transparent as the Pork Loin and Keeley, but it's warmer. Not into the Sansamp Bass Driver territory in terms of flavoring your sound though. Despite what the Catalinbread [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] says (and echoing G.Bisson above), this pedal doesn't scoop the mids nearly as much as the BDDI. Maybe it's a happy medium?

This pedal wasn't quite what I was expecting, but I definitely dig it so far. Remember, I haven't played the SFT through a live rig yet (I'll get a chance to on Thursday) so final verdict will come then!

5sg.
 
#34
Mudfuzz said:
Screw light, buy a f-ing tube amp and a boost pedal! Can't beat that for overdrive, no you can't.
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Hmm, thought about it, but I like a more modern, clean tone. I'm currently quite happy with my Shuttle 6.0 and am an admitted pedal junkie... I want an overdrive pedal to use for those RARE instances when I want a little tube-grind sound. And call me cheap if you want to, but I don't feel a particular need to spend the money on an all-tube amp. ;)

5sg.
 
#37
The more I think about it the more I keep thinking this light overdrive pedal this is wrong. Screw light, buy a f-ing tube amp and a boost pedal! Can't beat that for overdrive, no you can't.
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Money is the ONLY reason I use a GK 800RB + SFT instead of a real SVT.
:crying:

Then again, I could totally sell off a few things and get one again. I'm honestly just sorta maybe ... idk :hiding: happy with my tone I guess. :hmm: At least happy enough that I'm not actively hating my sound. I guess it's cause I can get a pretty convincing SVT tone, AS WELL a nice clean thats really loud. In addition, the 800RB sounds pretty damn alright on it's own.

Blah blah.

Basically, it's a great touring rig that I'll never sell, but I definitely plan on getting the real thing for recording and local shows again.
 
#39

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