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What pedal can do SUBTLE overdrive?

#21
MCS4 said:
I'll add the Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive to the list. It has both blend and EQ. As a side "benefit" for you, once you set the blend to around 50/50 or so, the pedal is fairly subtle even at high gain levels.
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This is what I use for this purpose. But do note this is sort of a holy grail here on the effects forum- you'll see *a lot* of these kinds of threads if you do a search.

What I take away from that is that there is no one-size-fits-all solution for this problem. Differences in basses, amps, and personal preference just mean you'll have to hunt around a bit. But I would give up any Muff or muff clones for this purpose, just my opinion to help thin the search field. Good luck!
 
#23
I have a GK Diesel Dawg that would fit the bill. $99 on their website. It's absolutely gigantic though. Like, absurdly so. That's never bothered me, but could be a deal-breaker for some.

For a smaller, perhaps more versatile couple of choices, I would recommend checking out the Hardwire Valve Distortion or Tube Overdrive. Both can give you the tiniest bit of hair and both have eq knobs. The Tube Overdrive colors your tone (in a really great way imho) whereas the Valve Distortion lets your bass come through relatively unaffected. Both of these can be had for $40-70.
 
#24
MCS4 said:
I'll add the Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive to the list. It has both blend and EQ. As a side "benefit" for you, once you set the blend to around 50/50 or so, the pedal is fairly subtle even at high gain levels.
Click to expand...

+1. I was looking for the exact same thing as OP, and never found it until I discovered this pedal.

@OP, before you spend any money, spend a little more time with your amp. A GK will give you lots of nice growl, which could be just the ticket for you. The gain and boost knobs are the keys to bringing this out.
 
#26
Something to remember is that audible distortion when playing solo will often become subtle, or even invisible in a full band mix. There are a lot of very clean, smooth, pure, etc. sounding recorded tones that when listened to solo are snarling, raunchy stuff of nightmares.

With that said, the Fairfield Barbershop is what comes to mind based on your description.
 
#27
Get your hair cut at the Barbershop, as others have recommended (haven't got it, but I've got GAS for it)...

...or add a tiny bit of dirt with the Elements.

Elements has blend, bass mid and treble eq. For more control you can select the type of clipping and another toggle controls the bass cut, so more of your low end is unaffected; yet another toggle selects the freq range of the mids knob. Vol and Gain.

That's a lot of control over your signal, if you ask me. Oh, and an expression pedal input for the blend knob so you can fill up some sonic space when the guitar goes for a solo and back off when it's business as usual.

I wouldn't mind trying the Badder Monkey...
 
#32
Have to agree: split the signal and blend in an OD that has an eq (I actually use the tech 21 British). It's subtle, but it adds just enough bite. I tried the Pork Loin too. While it's a great pedal, I lost all of that high end sizzle. Just didn't do it for me.
 
#33
jlane72t said:
what "stuff" is that? (genuinely curious)
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A stock Bad Monkey has a tone sucking non-true bypass switch, lots of low end loss, and little to no headroom on the input. It's not a bad $35 guitar pedal, but it's still a $35 guitar pedal.

The Hardwire CM-2 is a similar platform but with much higher quality parts, no tone suck, no bottom loss, and tons of headroom. These two compare because Hardwire is Digitech's high end brand.
 
#34
mmbongo said:
A stock Bad Monkey has a tone sucking non-true bypass switch, lots of low end loss, and little to no headroom on the input. It's not a bad $35 guitar pedal, but it's still a $35 guitar pedal.
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My BM has none of these issues. Maybe you had a duff one? I've never noticed any tone suck, despite it not being true bypass. The EQ section can give you a bass boost, and I have always found that it can actually give you too much boost if you turn it up high.
 
#39
I think the Pork Loin is the best sublte overdrive that doesn't rob any tone. I find a lot of people describe it as "dark sounding", but many people don't realize that it's a passive tone knob. If you crank the tone knob all the way up then you will retain the highs you already have. With this in mind you can keep all the tone you have dialed in and get a nice smooth overdrive tone.
 
#40
Having just watched Steve Lawson's pedal breakdown, but never having played one myself, I'd check out a Darkglass Vintage Microtubes. I've never been interested in an OD pedal until hearing his.
 

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