I use the natural drive of my bass head to give me the slight growl I need. No complaints. Most bands I have played in needed a growl/clean type sound anyways, so I never had a need to use a bass distortion pedal of any sort. Personally, I would use a pedal if the music called for it, and I would use it tastefully. My view of playing in a band is a group of fellas who blend all their instruments together to get the band sound the band desires, which involves team work. Using a pedal to override the guitarist or the rest of the band has other priorities in the band, and can work against the bass player. I have seen bass players spend thousands of dollars on pedals just to out-do the guitar player, only to get kicked out of the band. If the band is cool with your sound, and if the sound is complimentative to the band's idea of their sound, then all is fine. If not, it will create pissing matches in your band down the road.
