V1 or V2 works great for mild overdrive. I also have a barbershop and prefer my 5th gear.
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Subtle overdrive pedal
- Thread starter BetterRed
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- growl overdrive pedal subtle
I use a darkglass alpha omicron and its easy to dial in a amp like growl that is really responsive to touch.
most distortion units tho you can set low gain on and get the same effect - I also play thru a Dr Scientist "The Elements" that has a low gain and high gain option (also a 3 band eq)
most distortion units tho you can set low gain on and get the same effect - I also play thru a Dr Scientist "The Elements" that has a low gain and high gain option (also a 3 band eq)
not trying to sell my own item, but I have a Black Arts Toneworks Revelation Superbass preamp booster/overdrive in the classifieds im selling. It does a great job of just giving you "more" of your amps preamp gain. It is too bassy for me, so thats why im selling. but there are a lot of good options out there. I'd also take a look at the Walrus Voyager. How much are you looking to spend? Darkglass makes great stuff, but you'll pay up.
i look for Blend Control , good tone controls , maybe different Clipping modes ...
my Dr Scientist ' the elements ' has a nice analog variety of options ... from Canada also
my Eden ' Tube Warmer ' is smoother now that it has a lower gain tube installed ... has filter for tude drive and blend
my Dr Scientist ' the elements ' has a nice analog variety of options ... from Canada also
my Eden ' Tube Warmer ' is smoother now that it has a lower gain tube installed ... has filter for tude drive and blend
Haven't found anything I liked as much for all around use as a Southampton Fifth Gear. Highly recommended.
Hi all,
I've been using TalkBass as a resource for a while and recently joined. I've learned a lot since taking a few years out looking after my youngest daughter before she went to school.
I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and all that, but I am looking for a subtle overdrive to add a bit of growl, a peddle that would be left on 90% of the time. I have an Ashdown Lomenzo Hyperdrive which I can sort of tweak, but it isn't subtle enough and in any case, I love the full on distortion I get from it. I've also got a Big Bass Muff which is great, but it's nowhere near and I use it to get a synthy hard fuzz.
The music I play is a mixture of indie, rock and blues. Always open to offers, I might add.
I use my fingers, with an early Ernie Ball MusicMan Stingray tuned down to a low C, an Ampeg PF-500 head and an SVT 810e CL cab. I would probably get what I'm looking for with with an SVT CL head, but they're a bit (a lot) out of my price range right now.
I'm wondering about an Aftershock or MXR M89, the Bass Blogger looks good value and I know of a Blowtorch going fairly cheap. Any thoughts?
Many thanks for suggestions,
BetterRed, North Yorkshire, UK
Southhampton 5th gear.
I agree, this is also a good option. And it also adds even more tone control flexibility, and even moreso again with the ultra version. The one downside is that it requires extremely clean power, whereas the barbershop and 5th gear are not so fussy. So if you don't already have a good power supply with isolation, you have to add that into the budget if you go with DG.
Another vote for the Pork Loin. It is light but a dark and wooly od. Way Huge also makes the Green Rhino which is a nice, transparent TS clone with an eq.
Black Arts Toneworks has a Klon clone called Revelation that is pretty light.
Dunwich Amps makes a bass overdriver that is a TS clone, which is a lot like the Green Rhino. The ODB can be light as well.
Black Arts Toneworks has a Klon clone called Revelation that is pretty light.
Dunwich Amps makes a bass overdriver that is a TS clone, which is a lot like the Green Rhino. The ODB can be light as well.
As subtle drives go, I haven't yet heard anything that beats the EHX Bass Soul Food. It has the additional benefit of being pretty cheap, as well.
I've got a Darkglass Vintage Ultra that works as my recording preamp and as my sole pedal in a bluesy outfit, and while that might be overkill for your purposes, the classic Microtubes gives you really good stuff in a smaller, easier-to-dial package. The sound is sweet on them things.
Welcome to the forum- glad you finally jumped in!
Can you tell us a little about your bass(es), what kind of pickups (active or passive? P? J? MM? HB? Vintage output, or hot?) what amp(s) you're playing through? Are you running any other pedals (compressor? boost? etc) Are you playing mostly at home for fun, or are you playing with other musicians? If you're playing with a band, what other instrumentation is involved?
Often what sounds great at home won't have the "cut" in a band situation, and what sounds great with a Hammond B3 and two guitars may sound less than stellar on its own.
Most pedals and effects are very rig-dependent. Giving us a little more information might help to steer you in the right direction.
Also, it sounds like you have time on your hands, but don't want to spend a fortune on gear. Are you comfortable with a soldering iron? If so, there are lots of DIY kits for some great pedals, which you can build yourself for a small fraction of the price of a manufactured pedal, and the quality will usually be better on the DIY, to boot.
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Can you tell us a little about your bass(es), what kind of pickups (active or passive? P? J? MM? HB? Vintage output, or hot?) what amp(s) you're playing through? Are you running any other pedals (compressor? boost? etc) Are you playing mostly at home for fun, or are you playing with other musicians? If you're playing with a band, what other instrumentation is involved?
Often what sounds great at home won't have the "cut" in a band situation, and what sounds great with a Hammond B3 and two guitars may sound less than stellar on its own.
Most pedals and effects are very rig-dependent. Giving us a little more information might help to steer you in the right direction.
Also, it sounds like you have time on your hands, but don't want to spend a fortune on gear. Are you comfortable with a soldering iron? If so, there are lots of DIY kits for some great pedals, which you can build yourself for a small fraction of the price of a manufactured pedal, and the quality will usually be better on the DIY, to boot.
.
So true (above). How many of us have bought one or several effects pedals, played with them at home, took it to the gig with the favorite setting you found, then it just does not work in a live band mix. I've even tried pedals with recorded music of bands I play with, sounded great, ready to rock. At the gig; wow, what happened. Just doesn't always work as you'd hoped.
I admit to being a OD novice. I bought a Aguilar Tone Hammer/AGS preamp pedal, 2-3 years ago. So many spoke of the great Tone Hammer amp tone. Not sure the premp pedal lost something in translation but I couldn't reproduce a good tone with that pedal thru my amp heads or even a powered speaker. I'm more gona chock it up to user-error and not spending enough time with the Aggie to learn it well, than blame the pedal. But maybe it's just not the tone for me; could happen.
And I prolly don't have to patience to sit and muck about with a pedal I felt I could figure out quickly after watching countless youtube vids of them. All that being said, I wanted a very subtle OD effect to just give my notes some "bite" when I dig in. Again, after researching here and watching countless more videos of OD effects pedals. I went with a DarkGlass B3K V2. From all I watched/heard on videos, it seemed the pedal that would give me the more subtle OD I was going for.
And not sure if the DG name is representative of their tone. But I seem to hear a very nice, glassy, modern tone with this pedal. So far just using it with my new Sire P7-5, alder/rswd and my also new, Rumble 100w V3, 12" combo. I believe the little amp and the Sire P5 is giving me alot of this nice OD tone itself. But I need that tone with my bigger rigs where the Rumble just won't cut it power/volume wise. Will try it with my '08 Am St P5, maple/cola and my Valenti Super (all-Norstrand) J5. Then I'll know it will work for me.
So many OD/Distortion pedals out there to try, hope OP can narrow down some choices and choose right sooner than later($$).
I'm thinking I've found "that one".
OH AND I wonder if that's really Walts's dog posting here or just the dog helping Walt formulate his thoughts that he posts here; Hmmmmm... 
peace y'all, e.
I admit to being a OD novice. I bought a Aguilar Tone Hammer/AGS preamp pedal, 2-3 years ago. So many spoke of the great Tone Hammer amp tone. Not sure the premp pedal lost something in translation but I couldn't reproduce a good tone with that pedal thru my amp heads or even a powered speaker. I'm more gona chock it up to user-error and not spending enough time with the Aggie to learn it well, than blame the pedal. But maybe it's just not the tone for me; could happen.
And I prolly don't have to patience to sit and muck about with a pedal I felt I could figure out quickly after watching countless youtube vids of them. All that being said, I wanted a very subtle OD effect to just give my notes some "bite" when I dig in. Again, after researching here and watching countless more videos of OD effects pedals. I went with a DarkGlass B3K V2. From all I watched/heard on videos, it seemed the pedal that would give me the more subtle OD I was going for.
And not sure if the DG name is representative of their tone. But I seem to hear a very nice, glassy, modern tone with this pedal. So far just using it with my new Sire P7-5, alder/rswd and my also new, Rumble 100w V3, 12" combo. I believe the little amp and the Sire P5 is giving me alot of this nice OD tone itself. But I need that tone with my bigger rigs where the Rumble just won't cut it power/volume wise. Will try it with my '08 Am St P5, maple/cola and my Valenti Super (all-Norstrand) J5. Then I'll know it will work for me.
So many OD/Distortion pedals out there to try, hope OP can narrow down some choices and choose right sooner than later($$).
I'm thinking I've found "that one".OH AND I wonder if that's really Walts's dog posting here or just the dog helping Walt formulate his thoughts that he posts here; Hmmmmm...
peace y'all, e.i have the Ampeg scrambler and it can be set to very subtle grind/hair/drive. It has a blend control as well, which is handy for finding that sweet spot.
Hi neighbour.
I cannot speak for any of the other pedals recommended but a friend of mine just bought a Barbershop as an always on pedal and loves it. He brought it round to show me and from the little I heard it sounded very good.
I used to use a Catlinbread SFT (clone) for a bit of subtle OD but haven't' used it since changing from a clinically clean PA amp + preamp to a GK MB800.
I cannot speak for any of the other pedals recommended but a friend of mine just bought a Barbershop as an always on pedal and loves it. He brought it round to show me and from the little I heard it sounded very good.
I used to use a Catlinbread SFT (clone) for a bit of subtle OD but haven't' used it since changing from a clinically clean PA amp + preamp to a GK MB800.
Hey, thanks for the full response. My setup is in my opening post as are the styles I'm playing. It's difficult to be specific about other musicians as one of my outfits is experimenting with different instruments and musicians and trying to decide what to incorporate in the band "full time" or just in the studio. It's got me playing keyboards for the first time in decades.
Thanks all. I love overdrives and distortions and have been using them since I started. First pedal I remember settling on was a Boss OD-1 which did the job for my ears circa 1985. As I say, I already have a couple of overdrive/distortion units which have found specific uses in my rig and I could probably enjoy all of the suggestions.
The Darkglass Vintage Ultra looks amazing but a bit expensive as it's a significant way toward the SVT Classic head fund. The Way Huge Pork Loin can be sourced easily enough in the UK and has been added to the list, probably along with the Fifth Gear, Broughton and Barbershop. Maybe 2 of.
The Darkglass Vintage Ultra looks amazing but a bit expensive as it's a significant way toward the SVT Classic head fund. The Way Huge Pork Loin can be sourced easily enough in the UK and has been added to the list, probably along with the Fifth Gear, Broughton and Barbershop. Maybe 2 of.
i use a DG Vintage Microtube and a Southampton Fifth Gear
