Distortion Quest!

[Prime_BASS]

I have the Mastotron fuzz with the sub switch, which this has so was wondering if anyone has tried the distortion with bass as it has the same sub switch on it.

I'm looking for a good distortion/drive pedal and I really like the Mastotron fuzz so have high hopes for this distortion.

Thanks.

EDIT:
This thread has now turned into my distortion quest. I am after a very specific sound from a specific player, vid is a few posts in.

Edited March 28, 2012 by Prime_BASS

[pantherairsoft]

Tried it. It sucks. Nothing like the Mastotron. Subs on 3 for the Distortron is less than subs on 2 for the Mastotron.

I was pretty excited about it, but IMO its not great for bass.

[dudewheresmybass]

I tried it with bass, but as shep says it doesn't do the low end any favours.

There are far better drives out there for bass

[StraightSix]

If you fancy a Zvex, try the Woolly Mammoth.

[Prime_BASS]

I have the Mastrotron atm but the geiger counter I have coming does the sound I am after fuzz wise, and I doubt I'll be needed both for a single song. Where as I know I'll be using a solid drive a lot.

It's so hard to find a good drive for bass without having to buy it first.

I really want to try the Okko BASStard but that's nearly £300 last I looked,

Things ion my list to try include

Fulltone OCD
Microtubes B3k B7k
EBS valvedrive


but thats about it.

Most appealling is the OCD as it's high pass helps keep the bass bassy. Although I'm willionmg to sacrifice some low end for the right sounding pedal, as it'll be mixed with a direct clean/sub channel.

[lxxwj]

[quote name='Prime_BASS' timestamp='1332705844' post='1591984']
I have the Mastrotron atm but the geiger counter I have coming does the sound I am after fuzz wise, and I doubt I'll be needed both for a single song. Where as I know I'll be using a solid drive a lot.

It's so hard to find a good drive for bass without having to buy it first.

I really want to try the Okko BASStard but that's nearly £300 last I looked,

Things ion my list to try include

Fulltone OCD
Microtubes B3k B7k
EBS valvedrive


but thats about it.

Most appealling is the OCD as it's high pass helps keep the bass bassy. Although I'm willionmg to sacrifice some low end for the right sounding pedal, as it'll be mixed with a direct clean/sub channel.
[/quote]
The EBS pedals are quite nice for drive. I would recommend the Wren and Cuff Phat Phuk B, but sounds like you want something heavier than just overdrive. I personally hate layered/blended sounds (especially on bass) so I don't particularly like the Darkglass pedals.

[dudewheresmybass]

I wouldn't recommend the phat phuk b unless you have an all valve amp.
It's a dirty boost rather than a specific 'overdrive' pedal per se

[ahpook]

if you're interested in the OCD, why not give the joyo ultimate drive a go ? you can get them for ~£25 and i've very impressed with mine, on both bass and guitar.

[Prime_BASS]

[url="http://youtu.be/b_yfX3RRNxU"]http://youtu.be/b_yfX3RRNxU[/url]

Here is a good example of what I'm aiming for. And pretty much all of Takeshi's bass sounds in this era.

[Ant]

yo bro, if you're after the crack distortion takeshi uses a boss mt-2 metal zone for the 'extra gainy' bits around that era, like the first riff you hear in that and the riff in shodoku etc.

the core tone comes from his pearce BC1 preamp, but you can get pretty close if you whack up bass and treble, the key is using a parametric EQ and massively boosting the mids at somewhere like 1khz

i used to geek over this guys tone totally and its really helped me develop my own sounds.

[cheddatom]

deffinitely a big mid boost for his main sound, I absolutely love it!

[Prime_BASS]

[quote name='Ant' timestamp='1332835730' post='1593610']
yo bro, if you're after the crack distortion takeshi uses a boss mt-2 metal zone for the 'extra gainy' bits around that era, like the first riff you hear in that and the riff in shodoku etc.

the core tone comes from his pearce BC1 preamp, but you can get pretty close if you whack up bass and treble, the key is using a parametric EQ and massively boosting the mids at somewhere like 1khz

i used to geek over this guys tone totally and its really helped me develop my own sounds.
[/quote]

Cheers, this gives me some ideas to check out. As the band is Japanese, and despite being fairly large at their peak, there is very little info on anything I can find. Tried emailing Takeshi's blog page biut couldn't navigate.

I am surprised that he use's the MT-2 as a lot of the boss pedals that arn't bass specific suck a lot of low end. The closest I got to a low gain sound he has is using a BD-2 and then boosted the low end a lot with a GEB-7 but it sounded fake and hollow compared to the clean sound's low end.

I will check out that pearce preamp though.

I love MCM so much, I have the complete discography, just missing one alternative mix of midi surf that is on a youtube vid. Takeshi Is my favourite bassist in a band setting.

Edited March 28, 2012 by Prime_BASS

[RandomProddy]

Have just got a Boss SD-2 and a MZ-2 to play with. Can recommend both.

[cheddatom]

I love the Tech 21 XXL at the moment. On the bridge pickup (jazz configuration) with a mid boost on the bass it can get very "brutal" indeed!

[Sibob]

I use a Boss MD-2 to good effect, I can't listen to your vid just now so not saying it will acheive that sound, but I find it's a great Distortion for bass, it has treble and bass controls too.

Si

[Prime_BASS]

[quote name='Sibob' timestamp='1332939711' post='1595149']
I use a Boss MD-2 to good effect, I can't listen to your vid just now so not saying it will acheive that sound, but I find it's a great Distortion for bass, it has treble and bass controls too.

Si
[/quote]

I'll be interested to hear your thought once you've heard the vid, truely messed up sound!
Ive tried a lot of OD's and a few being from Boss and the Bass EQ knob has been rather useless. I've only tried one distortion from boss and it was fairly ok but lots of mid scoop and zero punch.

[phil.i.stein]

love MCM too, they were the dog's.

from another recent thread on here (westwood's i think), you could try a heavy fuzz sound going into a boss odb-3 (blended of course).

you get that metal string sound added on top of bass fuzz. it won't be exact, but you should be able to dial in something similar.

i'm liking b3k>depth charge>odb3 for that kind of sound. try it if you have one kicking around.

[Thor]

I reckon a RAT distortion pedal will get you pretty close to the desired effect.

[Ant]

I've got a few score books and things that show images of his various rigs and signal path etc

There's loads of text about it too but it's all in japanese

[Sibob]

[quote name='Prime_BASS' timestamp='1332947612' post='1595317']
I'll be interested to hear your thought once you've heard the vid, truely messed up sound!
Ive tried a lot of OD's and a few being from Boss and the Bass EQ knob has been rather useless. I've only tried one distortion from boss and it was fairly ok but lots of mid scoop and zero punch.
[/quote]

I'll see what I can get out of my bits (oo-er)
I don't know anything about MCM, but I suspect he's not just relying on his Dist/OD pedals, bet he's EQ'd the hell out of his sound.

Si

[Prime_BASS]

[quote name='Sibob' timestamp='1333042019' post='1596697']
I'll see what I can get out of my bits (oo-er)
I don't know anything about MCM, but I suspect he's not just relying on his Dist/OD pedals, bet he's EQ'd the hell out of his sound.

Si
[/quote]

True that!
I've been suggested all kinds of stuff in the past to get close to his core sound, Shep's helped a bit on the more complex and textured pieces which include some cool octave up bass solo's with crazy warbles when going back down.
If Ant is right (which I don't doubt) then my next destination is indeed the boss MT-2.

[cheddatom]

I actually think it's much more to do with EQ rather than the specific dirt pedal, but i've not listened to them in ages

[Ant]

yeah i had a boss mt 2 and i thought it was sh*t, that was years ago though.

i have a pearce BC1 and can cop all his tones easy peasy, its all about whacking up the mids at 1khz, in the books ive got it shows the exact settings he used for certain eras.

my favourite has always been the distortion sound on the PARK album, which is just pretty much the gain from channel 2 of the pearce.

[Prime_BASS]

I love the sound on Park and Limit, but the rest the vocals ruin the songs for me. 4 plugs is by far my favourite album, O.U.T is a massive song.

I will definitly try and get up there to try a BC1!

[Sibob]

I've been messing around and I can cop pretty similar tones with either my MD-2 with GEB-7 boosted at 800hz, as well as an ODB-3 with the same EQ'ing. Obviously slightly different sounds, but both pretty close to that recording. No blended sounds.
Of course that's just in my lounge at home, those tones will sound very different in a live setting. I'd put money on him using different gear to get that studio tone to what he uses live.

Oh the other thing which is important, which I'm sure you're doing, is using a plectrum, makes sooooo much difference!

Si