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Subtle Overdrive

A

Aharon

Jan 23, 2008
128
0
#1
Ok so I am in the market or an overdrive pedal. I am looking or something quite modern sounding that leaves the low end nice and clear.

I've used electric guitar distortion pedals an they are very close to what I am after, however they tend to cause the low end to dissappear. Very nice sizzling overrive that isnt too over the top.

Could anyone point me in the direction of a pedal that can keep the low end in tact and add a nice subtle overdrive in the higher registers?

Ideally I would go own the bi-amp route, but I dont have the space / cash for two rigs:hmm:

Any ideas?
 
#2
There are frankly a lot of pedals that are well liked on this forum that could fit the bill for you. The Fulltone Bass-Drive in Comp Cut mode is great for a nice subtle overdrive, then there's the Ibanez TS9DX, which is your average guitar overdrive (tubescreamer) but with extra modes that add in a lot more bass and are much more bass friendly, some people also like the Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive, which is a tubescreamer with a clean blend to help you keep your lows, and the Barber LTD is another subtle drive people around here really seem to like. So check those guys out, that should give you a good start! Good luck!
 
#3
Of course for great overdrive I always recommend the Fulltone Bassdrive. Excellent pedal. Allows the lows through.

But there is a new pedal that I have been using lately that you might be interested in, the Tech21 VT Bass. I think if you could try one with the Character knob slightly to the right of the the 12:30 position and the Drive knob slightly to the left of the 11:30 position you might like what you hear. The more the Character knob is turned to the left the more old school it gets, the more you turn it to the right the more modern it gets.

Since you know about using two amps, one clean and one distorted, look at the VB Jr blend pedal. This pedal allows you to blend the signal from a distortion pedal that sucks your lows with your normal signal so you can mix your lows back in. This would allow you to use a guitar pedal, like the Rat, that you might like the sound of, but that sucks your lows out of your signal with used alone.

Link Removed
 
#4
 
#5
Aharon said:
Ok so I am in the market or an overdrive pedal. I am looking or something quite modern sounding that leaves the low end nice and clear.

I've used electric guitar distortion pedals an they are very close to what I am after, however they tend to cause the low end to dissappear. Very nice sizzling overrive that isnt too over the top.

Could anyone point me in the direction of a pedal that can keep the low end in tact and add a nice subtle overdrive in the higher registers?

Ideally I would go own the bi-amp route, but I dont have the space / cash for two rigs:hmm:

Any ideas?
Click to expand...

absolutely....

Mark Olson already mentioned this pedal in a post above, but i will expand on it...

Digital Music Corp. Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive $129.99

This is an overdrive pedal based (not an exact copy) on the vintage TS808 format, it includes the original JRC4558 opamp, but has been modded with metal resistors and polyester capacitors which creates a tighter midrange, a crsiper high, and overall IMHO a far better capacity for note definition than the original 808. They have also added a clean boost channel which allows you to blend the clean signal with the overdrive circut. This allows you to boost the direct clean signal which in turn restores the attack and feel and bottom end which is usually lost in most pedals when the signal is compressed in the ovedrive circut. The boost is 15db.....

can't think of a much better way to spend $120.00 bucks

buy it you won't be sorry
 
#6
I'll be posting clips and a review of Uncle Ernie's BassDriver soon.

The BassDriver is a great overdrive/distortion pedal. You can go from subtle to full distortion (almost fuzz sounding). Plus, it keeps the low end nicely because it actually has two circuits in the pedal. One is for your clean sound (it can also boost your signal) and one is for the overdrive/distortion. The nice thing about it is that each circuit has a volume knob rather than just one blend knob.
 
#7
Thanks for the replies.

Here in England these items cant be found in most music stores, so it might have to be the reade 'blind internet purchase'. That Voodoo sparkle drive sounds very good. All the ones mentioned seemed to feature a blend knob. This is good news, but is the transition between wet / dry truly dynamic? The guitar player in my band has an old Hughes & Kettner Tube 100 amp hea and the wet/dry effects loop blend on his amp is horrific. I mean it literally has no decent ammount of midleground.

Looking at the name, is the 'sparkle' drive designed specifically with this in mind?

Aharon
 
#13
I have a bad monkey. I enjoyed it for well over a year now, but i am gonna get rid of it. Not because it isnt good, but because i dont use it for what i do now. I recommend it as a beginner only pedal. It will get your feet wet, and leave you hungry for more.
 

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