Overdrive/distortion for bass

[LBx]

A few pedals that have worked well for me on bass
DOD 250
MXR Distortion+
ProCo Rat
EHX Big Muff (every variety I’ve tried has some charm with bass guitar)
Silicon Fuzz Face
Jordan Bosstone

Really, lots of the classics are quite full frequency and work great for both guitar and bass, especially in conjunction with amplifiers’ tone controls.

~del

I'm at home base with an EQD White Light (250) into a MXR M85 (Bass Rat). Even the White Light on it's own is really excellent but I'm a full time Sleep/Om junkie so...

The newer 250 is good if yr easy on the gain.


Jonzing to try a Black Ash but with the prices forget it. Wondering how close the MXR Brown Acid Fuzz is too it.

[LVC]

Back when I gigged I used a Boss ODB-3 for moderate to medium gain tones. For anything heavier, my secret weapon was a Boss MD-2 Mega Distortion ― mediocre on guitar, but surprisingly great on bass despite the lack of a blend knob.

I have a homemade Green Russian Muff clone with a few bass-specific tweaks, including a clean blend. Sounds great, but honestly the ODB-3 & MD-2 combo has such a wide range of gain that the Muff didn't get much use onstage.

I also made a parallel loop switcher with a dry/wet control ― a very simple tool that allowed me to use virtually any guitar drive pedal with a bass. I found out that most if not all ODs and dists work well with bass provided you can blend in a little bit of your dry sound to retain some lows and a decent attack, but many fuzzes on the other hand will only make your bass sound farty.

[JSett]

A lowly Boss LS-2 gives you the option of clean blend on every pedal on the planet. Grab one of those and then test anything you like through it.

[cpeck]

My bass player uses the Union Sub Buzz and it sounds incredible.

Canadian made, too.

[Shadoweclipse13]

I always liked the sound of muff (usually Green Russian muffs) for bass, but the few I've played didn't blow me away in person, even with clean blend. Makes me think that some heavy EQ-sculpting or post-recording tweaking happens for that sound.

After trying a ton of stuff on bass, I ended up with an EQD Plumes and a Darkglass Vintage Ultra (Microtubes with DI I believe). I also really like the sound of a Rat-type with bass.

[fuzzjunkie]

I use a ‘90s re-issue Colorsound Tonebender. It came in a big Tonebender Jumbo case, but it’s not a Big Muff variant. It’s actually a Distortion + with a Muff style tone stack. There is some clean signal blended in to keep the bass frequency response, so it’s got huge bottom end. It’s not great on guitar because it’s not really a fuzz, but it’s perfect for bass.

I haven’t seen the Boss Heavy Metal mentioned yet? I didn’t know any guitarists using that pedal back in the day, but it was popular with bass players that didn’t like the Rat.

[cpeck]

I use a ‘90s re-issue Colorsound Tonebender. It came in a big Tonebender Jumbo case, but it’s not a Big Muff variant. It’s actually a Distortion + with a Muff style tone stack. There is some clean signal blended in to keep the bass frequency response, so it’s got huge bottom end. It’s not great on guitar because it’s not really a fuzz, but it’s perfect for bass.

Is that the orange/grey one? Kinda low output?

[wingnutkj]

I'm currently using a Caline Orange Burst overdrive as my default dirt on bass (and I keep it on most of the time because I'm in a grungey trio). 25 quid bargain pedal.

When I need to make it even more fuzzy, I've got a kit-built Big Muff clone with a blend knob on it - Fuzzdog "Big Fluffy Pie - Bass Blender" is the kit. Green Russian circuit, with the switch to take out the first set of clipping diodes, which makes things a bit more expansive.

[fuzzjunkie]

I use a ‘90s re-issue Colorsound Tonebender. It came in a big Tonebender Jumbo case, but it’s not a Big Muff variant. It’s actually a Distortion + with a Muff style tone stack. There is some clean signal blended in to keep the bass frequency response, so it’s got huge bottom end. It’s not great on guitar because it’s not really a fuzz, but it’s perfect for bass.

Is that the orange/grey one? Kinda low output?

There were 2 orange/grey reissues, one was a thin case and was a MK-3 Tonebender, the other was in a larger case like the Jumbo Tonebender and was marketed as being a Jumbo. Turns out it was not.

‘90s reissue Tonebender *

*can’t believe they actually sell for that much?!?

I was looking for a shoegazer fuzz when I got mine. The original Jumbo Tonebender was described as a “more expansive Big Muff.” It was based on the Muff circuit, but removed a makeup gain and clipping diode section. Without the diodes the makeup gain wasn’t necessary.

I had an Op Amp Muff that was too “over the top” for what I wanted most of the time and couldn’t really be dialed back. This pedal had the Muff tone range, but was smoother and less gain, so it could be dialed back to clean up like a Fuzz Face to some extent. Say Tubescreamer to low gain Muff.

It is lower gain, but I wouldn’t call it low output. I usually kept it at unity which was close to straight up. If you were expecting Superfuzz/Big Muff levels of gain, it could be disappointing. I think that’s were that attribute comes from - it wasn’t what was advertised.

Since my Big Muff wasn’t transistor based, it never occurred to me that this was different other than the circuit board was much smaller. It wasn’t until years later that I got into building pedals and found out it’s based off the Distortion + with an added tone section that is basically the Big Muff tone stack.

So if you ever wanted a Distortion + with a tone control, there you have it.

One interesting thing about it other than the clean signal being blended in - there’s no control over that - is if you hit it with a booster in front, it sounds just like my Op Amp Big Muff. It adds that missing gain back into the signal and you’ve already got the tone.

[Zork]

A lowly Boss LS-2 gives you the option of clean blend on every pedal on the planet. Grab one of those and then test anything you like through it.

+1

[elektrovac]

I make this (so this is obvisouly a very biased opinion, but the pedal does fit the bill for you, I think):

It's the signature pedal for local, Danish bass player Jakob Jørgensen (Psyched Up Janis and Ring Them Bells). It basically lets you mix big muff, amp-like overdrive and clean sound in parallel, meaning you can have as little or as much of each as you please.



https://www.reusseffects.com/collection ... ubsonicwhy

[fuzzjunkie]

I make this (so this is obvisouly a very biased opinion, but the pedal does fit the bill for you, I think):

It's the signature pedal for local, Danish bass player Jakob Jørgensen (Psyched Up Janis and Ring Them Bells). It basically lets you mix big muff, amp-like overdrive and clean sound in parallel, meaning you can have as little or as much of each as you please.



https://www.reusseffects.com/collection ... ubsonicwhy

I saw Subsonic Why an immediately thought of Psyched Up Janis. Oh course Sune went on to bigger things, but it’s cool the bassist gets some recognition too.

[Plumerai]

KMA Tyler Deluxe is a loop/blend pedal with crossovers for each send/return: one high & one low. You can also mix the loops & the clean. Has a tighter sound to me, but maybe it's all in my head.

https://shop.kma-machines.com/product/tyler-deluxe

[hulakatt]

Ampeg Scrambler octave fuzz for me. The blend knob really changes everything. It's one of my favorite pedals for bass or guitar!