Need some dirt (Overdrive Search)

[stinky634]

Yea, I got sucked into the world of effects pedals, and am getting close to filling out my board. Next up to get is an Overdrive pedal. I know the guys here will steer me straight.

I am looking for a RATM type subtle OD sound, that just gives a little grind to the treble. Maybe even something a little nastier, but not really looking for full on distortion (its ok to have, but not a neccesity)

I have looked and watched videos on some but still am lost in the abundance of pedals out there, its all new to me. I realy liked the tones from the MXR M80 I had, but the only thing that kept me from keeping it was the OD channel was always 'colored' as if I selected the color switch when I hadnt for the OD side, it was always on. I will also note that I have a effects blend pedal being made for me that I can blend my clean tone in with whatever effects I put in the loop, so I can do that to the OD if needed.

 

[JSmith]

I'd recommend an EBS MultiDrive or an Aguilar Agro. The Agro is particularly nice because it can do nice OD to full on face ripping distortion. I liked it so much I have two of them on my board. One for a crunch sound and the other for a heavier distortion sound.

Here's a quick demo I did of the Agro. I used my Thumb NT in passive both pups and a pick. First is just the thumb, second is some OD, and lastly is some distortion.

 

[stinky634]

I really really wanted to like the Agro. I had looked up the Tone Hammer pedal, but I didnt need a DI, and an 18v power supply wasn't gonna work for me. The Agro seemed like the go to compromise, and after watching reviews and hearing clips I almost convinced myself I needed it. Upon further comparison with other OD's its just too dirty for me. I hear it distorts the lows, not really what I am going for. Your clip actually sounded better than what I have heard so far, that 2nd section is very nice sounding.

Number 1 on my list right now is the Dredgetone Angler. It seems to keep the bottom and high end as you desire and add some grit. I hear its heavy distorted sound and am not too fond of it either, but the subtle tones sound up my alley VS others I've heard. My only concern is not getting gritty enough, even though I know I'll hardly use it to the extreme like that.

I actually thought a Boss OD sounded pretty cool, but then again I know I'd never need that much dirt for what I play.

 

[DiMarco]

I use a tech21 vtbass for adding a bit of dirt. This pedal is on almost all of the time. It also has a 3 band eq.
For full on distortion I have the mxr m80.

 

[Tom Wright]

+1 with regards to the vt bass. The speaker emulation makes a noticeable difference I find too.

 

[schlobodan]

Rodenberg is cool

 

[One Bad Monkey]

I just got a Frazz Dazzler from Dr. Scientist in this week. It's got two completely different voices; the left side of it has some tasty overdrive tones, and with the blend control, you can dial in exactly how much of it you want. The right side of it is a gated fuzz, which is, again, pretty tasty. The blend control will let you dial in how much you want (and honestly, even at 100% wet it still sounds good with bass).

 

[Stroud]

I've had my first afternoon with the valvedrive today. Gigged it yesterday without having an idea how it'd sound. Just chucked it in my head with some medium settings and hoped for the best. Seems really nice so far. It's very different from other OD pedals I've tried. Reacts massively to the volume of the playing. Even with heavy gain, the sound is pretty clean when you play gently and then really breaks up when you dig in. It's definitely not made for full on distortion though. More tube overdrive. Very very warm, round and punchy though.

 

[lilpbass]

Checkout the Barker A**Master. Pretty cool.

 

[lasteffect]

Right now, I', using a B7K and Vintage Microtubes (both by Darkglass) as overdrives and distortion pedals. Mainly the Vintage for that classic fuzz and drive from the 70s to the 90s.

 

[stinky634]

After some research, I went with the Dredgetone Angler. After getting it and playing with it, I don't think its gonna fit my needs after all. My basses seem to be too hot for it, since even at the lowest setting it still distorts more than what I was after, not that I couldn't use it, but as it sounds, its not fitting to the sound I am after. It does an amazing job at keeping the low end and high end intact, I don't even need a blend knob to match my dry tone which is excellent as I can have dry tone, then dry tone with a little layer of midrange dirt. I am looking for something that distorts more of the high end, probably not even an OD but more of light distortion, the AGRO is sounding more and more lovely to me.

Also, I hope my Blend pedal comes soon, since I think this pedal would blend nicely looped with the Fuzz. 2 very distinct and different voicings, probably would get very Muse-like when mixed together.

Thanks all for the input. Now off to get a deal on an Agro.

 

[Curtis]

VT Bass is very cool! MXR will release a new Bass Drive Deluxe which will be out soon.

 

[Hardy]

Real dirt delivers the Boss ODB-3. At this time the control-knobs were at 15 %, already enough for some heavy distortion, maybe already on the edge:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MArv5syKpzw

A sound like Melvin Gibbs on the "Weight"-Album by Henry Rollins would be fine! Does anybody know, whitch pedal he used?

 

[StoneAje]

Upon further comparison with other OD's its just too dirty for me. I hear it distorts the lows, not really what I am going for. Your clip actually sounded better than what I have heard so far, that 2nd section is very nice sounding.

You mentioned the Agro distorts the lows. One thing I have been paying a lot more attention to lately is how the bass is EQed before and after overdrive. I found to get the distortion I want I have to boost the highs before my overdrive more then I would normally for my bass tone and then EQ everything to its proper amount after in order to ensure I only really distort the highs and keep the low end fat. If you look at the way distortion works this would be the case for any conventional distortion.

I own the Agro and I do agree that it's a bit different trying to dial in a less distorted tone since there is no blend option. A lot of good tones come from blending your clean signal with a really overdriven tone.

 

[Ketzi]

What about the Ashown Lomenzo Hyperdrive? I really like mine Keeps the lows clear and gets you some nice bite on the top.

 

[One Bad Monkey]

I'm currently demo'ing the new line of bass specific pedals for Pigtronix, and would recommend the Bass Fat Drive for overdrive. It's one of the few overdrives I've used that's sensitive to the attack of the player, instead of just "Yep, the effect is on." I'm still fiddling with it, but the tones I'm getting are nice, and keep the lows of your bass - as well as the inherent character - intact.

Plus, it can run from 9v-18v, and comes with an 18v adaptor.

 

[Hardy]

Expamples/demos online anywhere?

 

[lasteffect]

Just a few NAMM stuff on youtube. I have all 3 of the pigtronix pedals. The Bass Fat Tube is more of a distortion than an overdrive. It's pretty tough pedal, but like Jon said, it's very sensitive.

It's the type you need to keep the gain down (off or almost), tone maxed and volume high. More switch probably down. It can get really Fuzzy too, especially if you crank it all the way up with the More in Up Mode. It's killer. I kinda like my Darkglass Vintage a little more for this or that, but this Fat Drive is cool. I'd definately use either for certain song types.

 

[Stroud]

I'm currently demo'ing the new line of bass specific pedals for Pigtronix, and would recommend the Bass Fat Drive for overdrive. It's one of the few overdrives I've used that's sensitive to the attack of the player

If anyone's interested, that's the same experience I've have with the EBS Valvedrive. You can go from clean to full overdrive with just finger technique.

 

[flipper_gv]

VT bass is incredible if you want Ampeg like overdrive.

For fuzz like tones, the B:Assmaster is great.