ead Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 I've been reading the various threads on this with interest but I'm not sure I follow some of the subtleties being described. I currently have a very modest selection of an ODB-3 and an Behringer octaver pedals (and a tuner). I don't use pedals much, but there are certain moments on some of our tunes when they do sound effective (IMHO), and also for the odd cover we do. Despite mucho fiddling with the settings I find that when going for a more overdriven sound the bass part of the signal starts to disappear. Am Ichasing the impossible dream in trying to achieve distortion with decent bass presence? Any thoughts, coaching, laughing and pointing etc most welcome. If possible for <£100! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Are you going for a high gain sound? If not you should play with your ODB-3 more. It has a blend control to add back in your clean bass. It also has a low end EQ control which can boost the low end of the whole sound to rediculous levels. The high end EQ control can be used to get rid of any fizz on high gain settings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed_S Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 I use distortion very infrequently, but when it's called for I reach for my old ProCo RAT 2 and find it does the job nicely. I had an ODB-3 for a while and it really didn't hit the spot for me; I find the RAT much warmer, fatter and more musical. Apparently the new RATs aren't worth buying (to the point where Keeley won't even use them for their mods any more) so if you fancy trying one, I'd find an old one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pollinator95 Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 You could try blending the dirt with the clean signal, with the Boss LS-2, for example. [url="http://www.bosscorp.co.jp/products/en/LS-2/"]http://www.bosscorp.co.jp/products/en/LS-2/[/url] You could also make your own blender, or get a dirt pedal with a blend control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 [quote name='Pollinator95' post='1333419' date='Aug 9 2011, 11:42 AM']You could try blending the dirt with the clean signal, with the Boss LS-2, for example. [url="http://www.bosscorp.co.jp/products/en/LS-2/"]http://www.bosscorp.co.jp/products/en/LS-2/[/url] You could also make your own blender, or get a dirt pedal with a blend control.[/quote] But his dirt pedal already has a blend control Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ead Posted August 9, 2011 Author Share Posted August 9, 2011 [quote name='cheddatom' post='1333386' date='Aug 9 2011, 11:15 AM']Are you going for a high gain sound? If not you should play with your ODB-3 more. It has a blend control to add back in your clean bass. It also has a low end EQ control which can boost the low end of the whole sound to rediculous levels. The high end EQ control can be used to get rid of any fizz on high gain settings.[/quote] I've been messing around with the EQ and blend, but mostly between 3 to 7 (if you imagine a scale from 1-10). Are you saying that I need to go further to achieve the above. I'm trying to get that warmer sound that Ed_S is describing and to my ears at any rate the Boss pedal sounds a little synthetic (if that makes sense). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Some people just don't like it, and you may be one of them. All i'm saying is that if you're losing the "punch" of your clean signal, turn up the clean blend, and if you're losing low end, turn up the low EQ. There's so much low end available from this pedal... I use mine just as a boost for low end really, I have other dirt pedals I blend with my ODB-3 (IE parallel not series) for the high end dirt. Having said that, i've found that I can get a nice low gain sound (for me) out of it. If I were to use it on it's own, I guess I would have... low EQ set to 3, high EQ set to 10 or 11, Gain set to 9 or lower, blend set between 10 and 12 - these are hours on the clock face. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wil Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 I've had one for a short while, and with the blend it does retain all the low end and more, but I have a feeling on higher gain settings the mids get scooped. I tend to keep the blend at a quarter and the gain low for that reason. I tend to use it when the other instruments drop out to fatten things up too, in a band mix it does get a bit lost - I'm getting a VT bass for my regular overdriven tone for that reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 I never liked the ODB3. I have liked: - Boss MD2 Megadistortion. Around £35 used. It does not have a blend knob, which would be nice, but it sounds pretty good without blending. A guitar pedal designed to preserve the lows and definition in severely downtuned guitars, it does a great job on bass too. - Ashdown Hyperdrive (James Lomenzo signature). Great sounds. Very tweakable with the mid frequency sweep.. but it does take a bit of a fiddle to understand the pedal to get the most our of it. Very sensitive to input levels. You must adjust the input level knob if using different basses, or the sound will vary too much from bass to bass. Used costs around £40-45 - Danelectro (Cool Cat) Transparent Overdrive. I have the very first model, gold with white label. It's a much lower gain pedal, and it's great for adding just a bit of grit/fat, although it does have enough gain for a proper overdrive sound. They made a new version and changed it a bit, and I have no experience of the second version. The first one cost £33 new inc. delivery about 2 years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ead Posted August 9, 2011 Author Share Posted August 9, 2011 [quote name='cheddatom' post='1333747' date='Aug 9 2011, 04:25 PM']If I were to use it on it's own, I guess I would have... low EQ set to 3, high EQ set to 10 or 11, Gain set to 9 or lower, blend set between 10 and 12 - these are hours on the clock face.[/quote] Thanks for that, I'll have a further play. Also thanks for the other suggestions people, the guidance is much appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PauBass Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 [quote name='cheddatom' post='1333747' date='Aug 9 2011, 04:25 PM']Some people just don't like it, and you may be one of them. All i'm saying is that if you're losing the "punch" of your clean signal, turn up the clean blend, and if you're losing low end, turn up the low EQ. There's so much low end available from this pedal... I use mine just as a boost for low end really, I have other dirt pedals I blend with my ODB-3 (IE parallel not series) for the high end dirt. Having said that, i've found that I can get a nice low gain sound (for me) out of it. If I were to use it on it's own, I guess I would have... low EQ set to 3, high EQ set to 10 or 11, Gain set to 9 or lower, blend set between 10 and 12 - these are hours on the clock face.[/quote] + 1000 Don't know why all the negative comments always about this pedal, I'm adding a second one to my board Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pollinator95 Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 (edited) [quote name='cheddatom' post='1333429' date='Aug 9 2011, 12:51 PM']But his dirt pedal already has a blend control[/quote] Sorry, I was having a slow day. I skipped a sentence. What I meant to say (but failed) was that the OP could get a dirt pedal which he liked the drive sound of without worrying about low-end loss, and then blend it with his clean signal. Edited August 17, 2011 by Pollinator95 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudewheresmybass Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 sub £100 it's worth trying the ibanez pd7, Ashdown Lomenzo hyperdrive mentioned above, Hardwire tube overdrive The MD2 lost low end in my rig, as did the Cool cat TOD. I appreciate it's a little over budget, but the new Markbass Bass Tube Marker retails from effectspowersupplies.com @ £110ish It does so many sounds, that its well and truly earnt its space on my boards for two of my bands Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electric nate Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 My vote goes to the Ibanez PD7. I bought it as a dumb teenager and never really realized quite how magnificent it was until I grew up a bit and learned to apply the concepts of 'subtlety' and 'taste' to my sound! Good points about this pedal are the overdrive tone itself and the "attack" setting switch. I'm not [i]entirely[/i] sure what the attack switch does but it seems to provide a slight scoop to the sound and apply less of the effect to the midrange and lows and more to the treble and overtones - which sounds bloody fantastic on my Aerodyne Jazz bass especially with new strings. It sounds more gritty and grindy with attack in position 2 or 3 rather than fat and beefy with it off (position 1). The attack setting doesn't seem to have much effect on the actual attack of the sound which is curious. The build quality is also magnificent, built like a cliche similie. Has "tone-lok" knobs too that can be pushed inside the pedal to keep them out the way of your feet PD7 also has a distortion setting and a clean setting - both of which are rather 'un-special' in my opinion and seem like they were probably afterthoughts or marketing gimmicks. I guess the clean setting could be useful to push a tube amp hard or as a boost. However, one thing bugs me about this pedal, and I couldn't reccommend it without mentioning this: the EQ section. OK, so it's a little bit better than just having a master 'tone' knob - but the bass and treble frequencies seem to be set to "bowel loosening" and "ear piercing" and there's no way to turn off the eq or just have a neutral sound. I've tried just running the pedal in clean mode, matching the levels and then trying to make the pedal tone as close as possible to the bypass signal and it's just impossible. Maybe it'll sound great with someone elses bass, but personally it's the midrange I want detailed control over when applying overdrive. bloody hell, that turned into a mini review - too much coffee methinks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassist_lewis Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 I tried out the new Ibanez TS9B last weke and it has a great overdriven sound, think the bass on 'Do I Do' or 'Uptight'. Its very responsive too, check out the review in Bass Guitar Magazine. I also tried out the Aguilar bass overdrive (but TBH its more of a distortion), and though i'd never use it, it was very good at what it did: very bright (can be rolled off with the presence knob though) and lots of hi-mids. its a metal/punk/industrial sound. Depends what your after, find someone whose sound you like and find out what they use Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 I`ve been after a bass overdrive for a bit, but want one that really only adds the slightest of break-up, when at minimum settings. Having listened to a few on Youtube, most are far too much for me. Even at minimum, there is far too much going on. However, the Ibanez TS9B as per bassist_lewis`s post gets my thumbs-up - it seems exactly what I want, and having heard it on Youtube, was very impressed. But, being new out, is still a tad expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ead Posted August 19, 2011 Author Share Posted August 19, 2011 I've been spending some quality time with my ODB-3 starting with the guidance on settings received, and I have to say I'm a much happier camper now having dialed in a considerable chunk of lows and backed off the distortion it now sounds 90% of the way to what I want to sound like so thans very much for your guidance cheddatom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PauBass Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 [quote name='ead' post='1345763' date='Aug 19 2011, 07:31 PM']I've been spending some quality time with my ODB-3 starting with the guidance on settings received, and I have to say I'm a much happier camper now having dialed in a considerable chunk of lows and backed off the distortion it now sounds 90% of the way to what I want to sound like so thans very much for your guidance cheddatom [/quote] Excellent, see, it was only a matter of playing a bit with the controls, many pros use the ODB-3, there must be something good about them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 Cool. I've been recording a band recently and used the ODB-3 for the bass on one song, it sounds ace. I'll try and remember to do sound samples. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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