Specific sounding bass overdrive

[jcburn]

I know there are 1000 OD threads on here but I'm chasing a sound with dirt that I'm sure exists, unfortunately I live in a little picket of the world where I will rarely be able to try in person.

I play a P bass with nickel rounds and a pick (that almost sounds like a support group statement). I'm not a treble guy, I usually roll tone back to at least 70%. I love overdrive in my chain, what I want to achieve and what I have never quite been able to find is an overdrive with the following;

Smooth grit\distortion flavour
Clean blend (or both dirty and clean controls)
EQ or at least some kind of LP tone control
A boost function that increases saturation but not output level

Does such a pedal exist. It would be on all the time. Examples of the kinda tone I'm after;

At about 2.09


This just about anywhere


I used to own a Broughton Terraformer too that would get the job done tonewise, but these are rare and do not have the boost.

Recently grabbed a SolidGold FX Beta Deluxe - it came close but the OD was not as smooth as I want.

If anyone thinks what I'm after exist shoot me some ideas

 

[Vunz]

JAM Pedals Lucydreamer

 

[Nashrakh]

Smooth grit\distortion flavour
Clean blend (or both dirty and clean controls)
EQ or at least some kind of LP tone control
A boost function that increases saturation but not output level

The EHX Hot Wax ticks all your boxes (Clean blend, an EQ section consisting of low and hi frequency pots, separate volume and drive). As a bonus, it is a dual overdrive/distortion (that you can stack and blend also).

Soundwise, well... listen to some reviews and then decide. It's not harsh by any means, though. I'd call it smooth unless you really go crazy, then the pedal can go into doom territory, especially with both channels on.

 

[bassbrad]

The answer you seek is the Source Audio Aftershock with the power of Neuro! The Neuro app gives you the ability to shape the gain and saturation, mix clean, has a 4 band semi parametric EQ and the ability to combine 2 channels in various ways plus store and recall 6 tones. There are engines (models) for every type of distortion, fuzz or overdrive and you can also sample and load creations from other users from the Neuro Cloud.

I make this suggestion after trying and owning well over 100 different drives searching for that sound in my head and spending thousands of dollars and even having custom pedals prototyped and built. YMMV.

 

[Eric R Shelton]

Hi, JC! I'm in a similar situation to you- getting somewhere to actually play/experiment with equipment in person is really tough. I haven't bought my dirt pedal yet (currently running a Boss SY-1, EHX Bass Clone and Canyon) but I've obsessively researched them, trying to find what I think will work, decent price, etc. It was suggested above and from your description I do think it might suit you, but what I'm going with the Electro-Harmonix Hot Wax.

Here's the two videos that most helped me decide:



While it's not bass specific, and I worried about dirt robbing my low-end, the Blend knob for some clean signal should mitigate that concern, just the crossover switch on my Bass Clone. Hope that helps and let us know what you decide!

 

[jcburn]

Hi, JC! I'm in a similar situation to you- getting somewhere to actually play/experiment with equipment in person is really tough. I haven't bought my dirt pedal yet (currently running a Boss SY-1, EHX Bass Clone and Canyon) but I've obsessively researched them, trying to find what I think will work, decent price, etc. It was suggested above and from your description I do think it might suit you, but what I'm going with the Electro-Harmonix Hot Wax.

Here's the two videos that most helped me decide:



While it's not bass specific, and I worried about dirt robbing my low-end, the Blend knob for some clean signal should mitigate that concern, just the crossover switch on my Bass Clone. Hope that helps and let us know what you decide!

Hey man - I saw this one being recommended. I watched the The Bass Channel demo a while ago and thought that the overdrive to my ears sounds a little harsh but I'll give it another listen tonight.
Im also subscribed to the Bass Stuff channel but I don't think I've watched that guys demo of this pedal.

I'll check them both out. I'm interested to hear what your opinion is of the Hot Wax when you grab it for yourself?

thank you to everyone who commented here.