What fuzz/OD would you suggest for these needs?

[Sunset Shalom]

Once again I would say check out the VHT V Drive, lots of other good recommendations so far but I bet most cost at least 2-3x as much and have less features.

It has 6 knobs (7 including the voltage control on the back) but you can still set and forget it, also when you get used to it tweaking it is actually very simple.

2 of the knobs are 10/11 notch selectors actually, the depth controls the low end frequency cut off point. You can have it all the way down and cut out most of your low end or max it out and keep it all, or anywhere in between. The select knob goes through 10 clipping modes and a killer clipping bypassed clean boost.

It can get pretty hot too and nail some solid distortion and quasi fuzz tones especially if your boosting it or running it into an already hot amp.

Here is a good demo of it on guitar:



I made a short "demo" of it on bass when I got it mainly to show its amazing low end response, I need to get a better one up soon.

 

[winterburn69]

Like Tim Lefebvre, I'm a big fan of the OC-2 and Pork Loin combo.

 

[AngelCrusher]

You're a bit over the map with your goals. Fuzz and OD are at opposite ends of the spectrum, and some of the pedals listed can be wildly different. If you're after more subtle things, look for overdrives. If you liked the OCD, you'd probably like a Dunwich ODB, but they are hard to find (though one is in the classifieds now) and a few dollars over your target. Otherwise, the OCD has other clones, as well, like the Fuzzrocious Demon.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

The Demon is a low to medium-high gain drive with distortion-like capabilities. With the gate/boost mod, it jumps into the gated fuzz range! The Demon can do the “just on the verge of breakup” thing at low drive settings or a pushed amp sound at higher drive settings.

Yeah. So what im after is a fuzz or heavier od that is nice and warm and doesnt crank up in volume and overpower everything when i engage it. Similar how to lefevbre uses his distortions. Its a tonal change but its not jarring. My favorite tone so far from these posts is the wren and cuff, and i did like the fulltone. The appeal of the source audio is it has different tones. Im afraid it may sound a little too cold or modern to me when i get it. Maybe not..its a pretty sweet sounding pedal but it does sound like a modern, darkglass type of distortion. I hear what you are saying. Im a little more classic and analogue.

I want to get a little synthy. Add the oc2 or filter or chorus. Maybe sometimes everything together. What makes it tough is not really knowing what it will sound like effected until its here. But i like getting those quasi lefevbre edm sounds, and i dont want to bite his chain, but build my own thing. Only same pedal is the oc2. I love the classic boss pedals a lot. Its a great one.

This stuff is tough to describe. Probably why we all try so many damn pedals.

 

[AngelCrusher]

Once again I would say check out the VHT V Drive, lots of other good recommendations so far but I bet most cost at least 2-3x as much and have less features.

It has 6 knobs (7 including the voltage control on the back) but you can still set and forget it, also when you get used to it tweaking it is actually very simple.

2 of the knobs are 10/11 notch selectors actually, the depth controls the low end frequency cut off point. You can have it all the way down and cut out most of your low end or max it out and keep it all, or anywhere in between. The select knob goes through 10 clipping modes and a killer clipping bypassed clean boost.

It can get pretty hot too and nail some solid distortion and quasi fuzz tones especially if your boosting it or running it into an already hot amp.

Here is a good demo of it on guitar:



I made a short "demo" of it on bass when I got it mainly to show its amazing low end response, I need to get a better one up soon.

Hmmm this is more in the realm of my 5th gear, at least in that video. I can get that type of gain with it turned up. Looking for something a bit more extreme. Id like to hear your demos though.

Very nice soundig pedal regeardless.

 

[AngelCrusher]

You're a bit over the map with your goals. Fuzz and OD are at opposite ends of the spectrum, and some of the pedals listed can be wildly different. If you're after more subtle things, look for overdrives. If you liked the OCD, you'd probably like a Dunwich ODB, but they are hard to find (though one is in the classifieds now) and a few dollars over your target. Otherwise, the OCD has other clones, as well, like the Fuzzrocious Demon.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

The Demon is a low to medium-high gain drive with distortion-like capabilities. With the gate/boost mod, it jumps into the gated fuzz range! The Demon can do the “just on the verge of breakup” thing at low drive settings or a pushed amp sound at higher drive settings.

Well i just listened to demos of the demon. I think you are on to something here. Its what i was describing in my post above. What a freaking sweet pedal. Wow.

Got one coming. Appreciate it.

 

[Sunset Shalom]

Hmmm this is more in the realm of my 5th gear, at least in that video. I can get that type of gain with it turned up. Looking for something a bit more extreme. Id like to hear your demos though.

Very nice soundig pedal regeardless.

It can get pretty sizzling when you crank it, that was more of a classic OD demo though. It has germanium and silicon clipping modes so you can set it for some pretty searing stuff especially with a boost before it and or into an already hot amp.

 

[zoonose]

I'm still glowing over the MXR Bass Distortion. So you should get one.

Same here! It's a solid choice.

 

[monsterthompson]

Well i just listened to demos of the demon. I think you are on to something here. Its what i was describing in my post above. What a freaking sweet pedal. Wow.

Got one coming. Appreciate it.

Glad I could help. I hope it works out.

 

[GMC]

If I was looking for a single OD / Fuzz pedal I would probably go for the Source Audio After Shock. It would offer me pretty much every type of OD / Distortion / Fuzz available and then allow me to select the three I really like the most and use them a switchable presets. If I was looking for a single analogue circuit...that's a little bit more tricky. Analogue circuits tend to be good at one and not so good at the other. For example...and I'm not picking on anything directly....the OCD is a great fuzz, but as an OD it's only passable. I would probably end up with the MXR Bass Distortion.

 

[Nephilymbass]

I have a light OD (the 5th gear) which is great. I use it first in my chain and turn it on when I take solos or just want to change my tone a bit.

What I am looking for is a fuzz or heavy OD. Something that I can turn on and not tear the roof off with, and instead just get a real nice controllable fuzz or heavier distortion that works real well with an OC-2. I'm doing a jazz/funk project and a good example is how Tim Lefebvre uses distortion with guys like Mark Guiliana, except I'm not trying to copy his exact setup.

My pedalboard is optimally in this order:

5th gear >OC-2>MXR Bass Filter>(Insert OD/FUZZ here)>Corona Chorus

I will probably use the pedal 20% of the time or less so I don't need an expensive boutique pedal. Here is what I have tried so far :

Blower Box - pretty darn awesome pedal, but for what I am doing it's very tough to use without having a pretty big volume boost, no matter how I use it. If I was doing heavy, grinding music, this pedal would be staying.

Fuzzollo - just a square WAV of fuzz. Nothing subtle there. Really cool pedal, but it was more output than I needed

Pork Loin (John K modded) - This was real close. I know Lefebvre made this his go to, so you would think that would be fine, but I'd like to try and keep the pedal size smaller and also have something with a little more warmth to it.

I'm leaning towards the MXR Bass Distortion but open to other suggestions. I like mainstream makers a lot - Boss..DOD..MXR etc. But anything in the $150 range is fair game.

I use a darkglass duality fuzz for anything beyond overdrive.

 

[NortyFiner]

This stuff is tough to describe. Probably why we all try so many damn pedals.

"Writing about music is like dancing about architecture." -- Martin Mull. We try to describe the sounds we hear, be they in performance or just in our heads, and our written vocabulary is sadly limited in its ability to convey our subjective sonic experiences. Many times I've read through threads here about some particular pedal with people giving multiple opposing descriptions and wondered, "Are any of you talking about the same pedal?" The bottom line is the tone we hear in our heads, and our seemingly endless pursuit of it. There's times I'm jealous of the "plug straight in" crowd, to be honest. But you can't do "Stranglehold" right by plugging straight in, so that is what it is.

Anyway, the OP has decided, so I'll shut up now.

 

[taylor16]

An OCD sounds like it might fit the bill.

I posted this on Sat. Gives you a really good idea with a looped run into Fuzzrocious Dark Driving, high gain Cat King (RAT), medium gain Demon King (OCD), medium Gain Cat King and finally gated/high gain Demon King.

Dark Driving vs Cat King vs Demon King AUDIO

Hope it's helpful. My rec for you is the Demon King.

 

[Jared Lash]

Well i just listened to demos of the demon. I think you are on to something here. Its what i was describing in my post above. What a freaking sweet pedal. Wow.

Got one coming. Appreciate it.

That sounds like it will fit the bill for you.

If you end up deciding you want something synthier to pair with the OC-2 and/or your filter, give the ZVex Mastotron a try.

 

[MGR]

In terms of synth fuzz, the synthiest I have personally tried are the Mountainking Heavy Machine, Mountainking Magnetar and the Jext Telez Dizzy Tone.

 

[el murdoque]

My personal favorite is the OBNE Haunt Fuzz. That thing feels like your bass is shock frostet and then ripped apart with a rusty chainsaw. If you want it. But with the gate and clean blend and the diode toggle, you can also add a warm wooly layer to your sound or just have a mild gnarly sizzling on top - and everything in between.

Others to check out are the Grey Stache by Fuzzrocious, just about anything Darkglass builds and the Aguilar Agro (which is a Distortion and not a Fuzz, but very good)

 

[dinoadventures]

Perhaps look into the Damnation Audio MBD-1. I have found it to be VERY easy to control and get some super useful sounds out of it. If you want more of a fuzz, COG Grand Tarkin is the best general purpose fuzz I've found, though if you are getting funky with it a gated fuzz like a TAFM or Brown Dog would likely work better (especially for staccato playing).

 

[AngelCrusher]

I posted this on Sat. Gives you a really good idea with a looped run into Fuzzrocious Dark Driving, high gain Cat King (RAT), medium gain Demon King (OCD), medium Gain Cat King and finally gated/high gain Demon King.

Dark Driving vs Cat King vs Demon King AUDIO

Hope it's helpful. My rec for you is the Demon King.

Yeah thats where I went, well I just went with The Demon. It checked all the boxes. I listened to the different variants and the simple 3 knob one really did it for me the most. I give pedals months before deciding to try something else, so I'll get plenty of time with it.

One of the key parts is that it sounds more focused in the low mids, which is what I like. A lot of the pedals are more high mid focused, and that results in the jarring change I was talking about in my OP.

 

[bushbass]

Joyo ultimate drive ( awesome OCD chinese copy for very cheap. It beat out some of my boutique pedals)

Agreed, for around $30 you can't beat the Ultimate Drive

 

[pbass2]

Just to throw another one out there, the Xotic Bass BB Preamp is pretty awesome. It's an oldie but a goodie...

I love my BB with my OC-2----sounds great. Doesn't go into full on endless sustain synthy buzz saw territory, but based on what the OP is looking for it could be the ticket. I'd say you'd have to crank up the gain pretty much full, but then you're there. Then you also have it as an excellent option to the 5th gear for everything from subtle warm boost all the way up to fuzz. It's very "ampy" the way it responds, has a GREAT EQ--just a top notch pedal all around, super versatile.

 

[taylor16]

Yeah thats where I went, well I just went with The Demon. It checked all the boxes. I listened to the different variants and the simple 3 knob one really did it for me the most. I give pedals months before deciding to try something else, so I'll get plenty of time with it.

One of the key parts is that it sounds more focused in the low mids, which is what I like. A lot of the pedals are more high mid focused, and that results in the jarring change I was talking about in my OP.

The only thing about the OCD tone is that it can get buried more easily with overdriven and distorted guitars. It sounds incredible on its own- I call it the "idling diesel" tone and my favorite between the two BUT the Rat tone really just rips through. The Rat is like the Precision bass of distortion. It just flat out works. At least with low to medium gain. With high gain, it becomes more fuzz like which I don't necessarily like and is hard to hear articulated in a band mix.