Can anyone suggest a good Bass overdrive/distorton pedal?

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timiscott
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Can anyone suggest a good Bass overdrive/distorton pedal?

Post by timiscott » Mon Mar 15, 2021 8:27 am

I'm looking for a bass OD or similar that'll work well with an Eden WTDI box. I'm looking for JJ Burnel type rasp and rattle.

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marqueemoon
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Re: Can anyone suggest a good Bass overdrive/distorton pedal?

Post by marqueemoon » Mon Mar 15, 2021 10:51 am

Tronographic Rusty Box or something Rat flavored with a clean blend like the Jam Pedals Rattler Bass.

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timiscott
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Re: Can anyone suggest a good Bass overdrive/distorton pedal?

Post by timiscott » Mon Mar 15, 2021 11:10 am

I'm really hoping this is not a 'you get what you pay for' situation! I was thinking about the Ampeg Scrambler but I won't jump if it's not great. I got an MXR Timmy and it's great, so I was thinking there must be something great out there in that price range. Any ideas?

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Re: Can anyone suggest a good Bass overdrive/distorton pedal?

Post by Dr Tony Balls » Mon Mar 15, 2021 11:14 am

marqueemoon wrote:
Mon Mar 15, 2021 10:51 am
something Rat flavored with a clean blend
Tooting my own horn here, but it DOES check the boxes mentioned above. Rat-adjacent with multiple clipping options and a clean blend. My personally preferred bass distortion.

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Re: Can anyone suggest a good Bass overdrive/distorton pedal?

Post by burpgun » Mon Mar 15, 2021 11:46 am

I'm probably the only person out there who will pitch the Ashdown Lomenzo Hyper Drive. You can find them pretty cheap used and they've got that VU meter thing Ashdown loves. I'm not a fan of the full on distortion sound, but the controls are great at allow you to add some top end very adjustable dirt while preserving the punch of the clean signal. My only beef is the pedal could be a lot smaller than it is.

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Re: Can anyone suggest a good Bass overdrive/distorton pedal?

Post by marqueemoon » Mon Mar 15, 2021 12:57 pm

timiscott wrote:
Mon Mar 15, 2021 11:10 am
I'm really hoping this is not a 'you get what you pay for' situation!
Eh, for bass I’m a bit snobbier.

I use a Darkglass Vintage Microtubes myself. I love it, but probably too polite sounding for what you’re going for.

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Re: Can anyone suggest a good Bass overdrive/distorton pedal?

Post by ElephantDNA » Mon Mar 15, 2021 3:28 pm

I will always say Rusty Box or Tech 21 Bass Driver. I feel like this thread comes up sometimes and I have yet to find anything that I like better than those two. To be fair I don't know what this eden thing does or doesn't do though.

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Pepe Silvia
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Re: Can anyone suggest a good Bass overdrive/distorton pedal?

Post by Pepe Silvia » Mon Mar 15, 2021 3:58 pm

marqueemoon wrote:
Mon Mar 15, 2021 12:57 pm
timiscott wrote:
Mon Mar 15, 2021 11:10 am
I'm really hoping this is not a 'you get what you pay for' situation!
Eh, for bass I’m a bit snobbier.

I use a Darkglass Vintage Microtubes myself. I love it, but probably too polite sounding for what you’re going for.
I have a Microtubes 500 so it has the vintage and b7k built in. The vintage is a nice warm overdrive, b7k can get quite gnarly.

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marqueemoon
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Re: Can anyone suggest a good Bass overdrive/distorton pedal?

Post by marqueemoon » Mon Mar 15, 2021 4:50 pm

Pepe Silvia wrote:
Mon Mar 15, 2021 3:58 pm
marqueemoon wrote:
Mon Mar 15, 2021 12:57 pm
timiscott wrote:
Mon Mar 15, 2021 11:10 am
I'm really hoping this is not a 'you get what you pay for' situation!
Eh, for bass I’m a bit snobbier.

I use a Darkglass Vintage Microtubes myself. I love it, but probably too polite sounding for what you’re going for.
I have a Microtubes 500 so it has the vintage and b7k built in. The vintage is a nice warm overdrive, b7k can get quite gnarly.

They make good sounding stuff and there is a healthy used market for it.

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Re: Can anyone suggest a good Bass overdrive/distorton pedal?

Post by fuzzjunkie » Mon Mar 15, 2021 6:16 pm

A Rat type is the more common answer, but I like a Tonebender Supa or Jumbo. They are basically a Big Muff with less clipping, and while they don’t have a clean blend, they sound like they do. There’s some sort of low pass filtering going on that lets the bass cut through.

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Re: Can anyone suggest a good Bass overdrive/distorton pedal?

Post by bubba899 » Tue Mar 16, 2021 6:45 am

Our bass player really likes that Ampeg Scrambler drive pedal, sounds good to my ears.

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Re: Can anyone suggest a good Bass overdrive/distorton pedal?

Post by s_mcsleazy » Tue Mar 16, 2021 8:57 am

i have a proco juggernaut. it's pretty rad
offset guitars resident bass player.
'Are you trying to seduce me Mrs Robinson? Or do you just want me to solder a couple of resistors into your Muff?'

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Re: Can anyone suggest a good Bass overdrive/distorton pedal?

Post by MechaBulletBill » Tue Mar 16, 2021 10:35 am

wh pork loin
ssbs mini
ehx bass big muff

my gf (more of a bassist than me) uses a clone of the old ampeg scrambler fuzz w/ clean blend - scrambled brains

i had an mxr distortion+ modded with different cap values that KILLED on bass, so maybe something like the eqd gray channel

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Re: Can anyone suggest a good Bass overdrive/distorton pedal?

Post by jorri » Tue Mar 16, 2021 6:24 pm

I've tended to use the Fulltone OCD clone Mooer Hustle Drive. they were intended for bass as well, the circuit is designed to clip the lower frequencies less.

Muffs are good. I played in a band where the bassist's 'bass big muff' was already enough without engaging the 'bass mode', in stock setting.

Rats need a clean blend there is little in the way of bass frequency in them. Well, a lot more can work with a clean blend to be honest!

Stranglers used a guitar amp. Maybe try a guitar amp sim into bass amp, i'd imagine that could sound great.

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Re: Can anyone suggest a good Bass overdrive/distorton pedal?

Post by HarlowTheFish » Tue Mar 16, 2021 8:57 pm

I've been running a Plexi amp sim with a bit of grit, then blending three ways between the Waves Berzerker, the Ignite Amps Pro FET, and clean to get some good coverage. Probably way crazier gain than you're looking for, but it's real flexible.

If you need a pedal, something with a clean blend or some sort of bass bypass is gonna be pretty important to get some good low end. Jorri's suggestion of running some kind of cranked guitar amp to blend in is also pretty good, it'll get you some nice growly midrange and let your bass amp handle the low end and dynamics.

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