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Recommend a pedal
- Thread starter Scott549
- Start date
Don't be fooled, it's really bad!
(Regarding the Ibanez Bass Tube Screamer)
I think this pedal might depend on gear. I listened to the clips online and thought it sounded terrible.
I got to try it out the other night with my setup - passive Jazz going into a Bassman TV combo - and I actually really liked the tone. I thought it had a nice bark to it, that stayed quite present in the mix. I'm not really in the market for another drive - but at its price point (and again maybe depending on setup) you could do much worse IMO.
YMMV.
Eric!
Commercial User
Use the channel B on the backline 600 head. play around with the dials and you can a nice subtle growl through to a very distorted sound.
the backline channel b sucks plane and simpel i have owned one now for 3 or 4 years try it out about once every 2 months and still can't fine anything good
Sounds bad when recorded direct or with solid state gear, just like every dirt device known to man.
Tons of dirt pedals sound great through SS, because they are made to sound great by themselves. And maybe I'm taking crazy pills, but my understanding is that one reason why many (but not all) dirt pedals exist is so you don't have to have an 80lb tube amp turned to 11 to get searing distortion.
Most dirt pedals are designed to push a tube amp. Most others are designed to be run into a clean tube amp, like a Twin. The Tubescreamer, which most dirt pedals are based off from, is designed to push tubes and make them scream, like the name suggests. If it's designed for guitar, it's designed to be run through a tube amp, because that's what guitarists use. A handful of bass pedals are designed to be run with active basses and solid state amps, like the Boss ODB-3, but consensus is most of those sound like crap unless through a tube amp too.
There is no subsitute for a tube amp, I've owned 30,000$+ worth of pedals, mostly dirt, and there are none that "sound great by themselves". Everything sounds plasticy and fake direct. Modern solid state amps aren't any better, but some vintage ones distorted nicely and respond to distortion well.
There is no subsitute for a tube amp, I've owned 30,000$+ worth of pedals, mostly dirt, and there are none that "sound great by themselves". Everything sounds plasticy and fake direct. Modern solid state amps aren't any better, but some vintage ones distorted nicely and respond to distortion well.
Also that stuff about bass dirt pedals sounding good "direct" or "by themselves" as you say is just marketing. Mike Fuller used to say that about the Fulltone Bass-Drive, but it's still a tubescreamer, and I've owned four of those and ran them through plenty of solid state amps and they always sounded fizzy and garbage like, never mind running them direct.
What consensus would that be?
Yeah, most early dirt pedals and a lot of their variants were originally made to simply push tubes into saturation, but there are also plenty of modern pedals that are made to do their own thing, with or without tubes.
I've also owned and still own thousands of dollars worth of pedals, many dirt as well, and though I don't anymore, used to play through a tube amp exclusively and don't find myself missing it these days, at least not for distortion.
Consensus of bass forumites, on the ODB-3, for example. But according to your profile your main sources of dirt are also digital. I studied Electrical Engineering and I know why digital rocks, but knowing how these things sound it's safe to say that you're not the most discerning dirt user. That's fine. I'm not saying you have to be. But there are those of us who are more discerning, and we're not wrong. If you want to limit yourself to modern bass pedals designed for your gear and digital models of pedals that were not, that's fine. If it sounds good to you, that's fine. But I'm about what sounds best. And I've tested it on non-musical people and it's not as subjective as the budget rig wannabes would like it to be.
Bottom line: Ibanez TS9B sounds like crap recorded direct and through modern solid state gear. I did clips of it with real gear and it sounded alright. If you think you can prove me wrong buy one and record it direct, I'd love to hear it!
Maybe more safe to say you are rather...condescending, to put it politely. I'm extremely "discerning" but my idea of what constitutes good distortion is obviously not yours. Also, I'm not defending the tubescreamer or any of its clones, nor digital modeling or even analog attempts at modeling. And your "test" is obviously anecdotal as is your "consensus" which makes them mean less than nothing.
Condescending in only my discerning, compared to yours. You think you're discerning, but you're obviously not. My "test" means more than any grubby tone you've achieved, and the "consensus" is real. The only pedals designed to sound good "on their own" are amp modelers like the Tech 21 devices, and that would be true if they sounded good at all. But they don't. My brother says bass players will make justifications for their tone and rigs as necessary, never considering they could have it so much better. I think he's right. Bass players love budget rigs and care little about real tone!
I loathe to make things personal, but you are rather a haughty, silly little stick in the mud of a man, so I'll just conclude with saying that the link in your sig- if that is "THE TONE"- I'll stick to my pedals, thanks.
If you want a bright punchy sound, an exciter pedal would be a good choice for that. other than that, get a set of stainless steel strings for your bass.
I'm a professional bass player and I play with a dirty tone, and I have to deal with amateurs with their sodded up tone spoiling the reputation of my profession. No wonder guitar players don't take bassists seriously when you listen to their tones! Not me though, and you can understand how I feel upset at amateur scrubs with budget gear making what I do look bad.
