Recommend a distortion pedal?

[62P-Bass]

Hi there,

I'm after a distortion pedal. I'm running a vintage bass and valve amp, so I don't need it to warm up the sound or make it sound 'tubey', as it already does. I'm looking for something to sound raspy, but not too fizzy - if that is in any way a helpful description! Preferably with a small footprint - anything I should look into?

I already have an EBS Valve Drive, but I don't need that much added warmth and is too big. I also have an Bass Blow Torch, which is pretty flexible, but just sounds too fizzy when I dial out the warmth/bottom end.

Cheers,

Andrew

[clauster]

I love my EHX Bass Blogger for distortion. But it's not that small a foot-print.

[Elvis Valentine]

I like my cheap as chips EHX Bass Muff. Its pretty small but dunno if its what you mean by raspy or fizzy though. Its fairly versatile. I used to have A wooly mammoth clone , it was called a fuzzy elephant and that was pretty darn good. Also very small.
Is there any tunes you have in mind that have the sort of sound you mean?

[simwells]

I tend to go straight to my Darkglass B3K for all things distorted, have you any examples of distorted sounds you like?

[Pinball]

I like the MXR blowtorch. I haven't vast experience of distortion pedals but it hits the spot for me.

http://www.dv247.com/studio-equipment/mxr-m181-bass-blowtorch-bass-guitar-effects-pedal--65034

[Doddy]

I love the Emma Electronics ReezaFRATzitz. It can go from mild overdrive to full on distortion and doesn't
lose the low end.
Alternatively,I also really like the Pigtronix Polysaturator. It sounds great,it's pretty small and has a 3 band EQ.The
Aria is similar but more overdrive than distortion.

[Thor]

I love my Fuzzrocious Oh See Demon - just great! Covers all my distortion needs.

Alternatively you could try a RAT - go very nicely with your P and amp.

[victor5string]

Xotic bass BB preamp, is really worth a look. Nice and small with great tone.

[BassPimp66]

Aguilar AGRO. Get one!

[Mr Fretbuzz]

I've only got one pedal...... So far :-)

It's an Ashdown LoMenzo and it's great fun :-D

[chrismuzz]

Marshall jackhammer is a great cheap option, it's got an EQ on it so you can pretty much get any tone you want! No blend knob, but it can sound great without anyway!

I'm really intrigued by the Darkglass stuff at the moment though, very expensive but I've never heard a bad word about em!

[paul_5]

[quote name='Mr Fretbuzz' timestamp='1352402143' post='1862678']
I've only got one pedal...... So far :-)

It's an Ashdown LoMenzo and it's great fun :-D
[/quote]
if I hadn't fallen head over heels with my DHA pedal then that's one that I'd have kept. Sounds brilliant and looks awesome.
Fairly mahoosive footprint though.

Edited November 8, 2012 by paul_5

[62P-Bass]

Thanks guys - some great info. I don't know much about distortion so you've given me some great places to start. V helpful! Will let you know how I get on.

A

[Salt on your Bass?]

Check out the Tech 21 XXL as well - very aggressive pedal that gives you what I'd call distortion rather than a fuzz or overdrive. Very in your face and solid. I a/b's this with the aguilar and preferred it, but the aguilar is also in the same ball park I think - I think I did a brief comparison on effects forum if you have a quick search - my thoughts only of course!

Also a +1 for the Rat - I ran a turbo rat for a while that worked well. I'm intruiged by the B3K, but dont know that much about it.

Loads of choice, just try out loads and have fun. Only difficult thing I find with distortions and fuzz is you dont get a proper feel until your at band volume in a band context as to whether its actually to your taste or not.

[HotelEcho]

I've had some success getting a good metal distortion out of the MXR M-80 DI+, but I've caught the Darkglass bug recently too...

Bit cheeky of me, but I'm selling off a modded Turbo Rat in the Effects marketplace at the minute - it wasn't quite the right tone for my zingy death metal sound, but with an old P-bass and a valve amp, I bet it would sound bloody marvellous. [/plug]

Edited November 20, 2012 by HotelEcho

[Sibob]

I'm a big advocate of the Xotic BB Preamp. I have one as well as a clone, they're both awesome, although I favour the clone slightly. For most people the Darkglass B3K is the best distortion around, it's probably also the most expensive (for what it is).
Definitly also check out the Fuzzrocious offerings, the Oh See Demon is probably the most similar to the BB Pre circuit, being based on a hyped up OCD circuit. Their Rat Tail is also great, obviously based on a Rat but voiced more for bass with loads of features.

Si

[clauster]

ARRRRGH!!!! Gas attack!

I had to go and look at the Fuzzrocious page. I'm more of an od/distortion rather than fuzz kinda guy. For two years I've been pretty happy with my Bass Blogger, but now I've stumbled across the Rat Tail. Lovely, just what I want. Except I then looked at (and listened to) the King Rat. I don't need all the extra features, but I've got to have one.

[Sibob]

Haha, let me know if you order one
Ryan and family are great to deal with!

Si

[Doddy]

I've been looking for another distortion pedal (well,more overdrive really),despite already having the EMMA,
Pigtronix and a EHX Bass Big Muff. I was looking at all the funky stuff and was very tempted by Fuzzrocious
and Wampler,and I was leaning towards the Xotic BB Preamp. But....the other day I tried a pedal on a whim
and bought it there and then-an Ibanez Jemini. What a great pedal. It's got a really good overdrive channel,
based on a slightly modded Tubescreamer,and a good distortion channel based on Vai's modded Boss DS-1.
I was expecting it to have a lot of low end loss,but with the tone knobs you can dial in quite a lot of low end if
you want.
I think I'm going to be using this pedal quite a lot.

[Prunesquallor]

There's also the Malekko Bassmaster, Flea's fave fuzz.

Never gets much love on these pages, tho, for some reason - probably the cost.

[Dood]

[quote name='Doddy' timestamp='1353634975' post='1876920']
I've been looking for another distortion pedal (well,more overdrive really),despite already having the EMMA,
Pigtronix and a EHX Bass Big Muff. I was looking at all the funky stuff and was very tempted by Fuzzrocious
and Wampler,and I was leaning towards the Xotic BB Preamp. But....the other day I tried a pedal on a whim
and bought it there and then-an Ibanez Jemini. What a great pedal. It's got a really good overdrive channel,
based on a slightly modded Tubescreamer,and a good distortion channel based on Vai's modded Boss DS-1.
I was expecting it to have a lot of low end loss,but with the tone knobs you can dial in quite a lot of low end if
you want.
I think I'm going to be using this pedal quite a lot.
[/quote]

I'd seen the Jemini pedal and did wonder what it'd be like on bass. Can you have both halves on at the same time?

[Doddy]

[quote name='dood' timestamp='1353667997' post='1877111']
I'd seen the Jemini pedal and did wonder what it'd be like on bass. Can you have both halves on at the same time?
[/quote]
No,you can't have both on at once-when you turn one side on,it turns the other off.

[Dood]

[quote name='Doddy' timestamp='1353678073' post='1877304']
No,you can't have both on at once-when you turn one side on,it turns the other off.
[/quote]

poopie! lol. Ok. Shame as I think paired they could generate some rather nasty noises

[dannybuoy]

What cabs are you using? Please don't say you're using tweeters! Old school bass and amp deserve an old school cab. I'm using a Boss ODB-3 into an Orange Terror Bass and Ampeg SVT210AV, the natural rolloff from the cab filters out the fizz that the pedal is notorious for.

[Sibob]

Eugh, ODB-3 . You might roll off the fizzle, but I just didn't find any decent grind/texture in the low-end whatsoever.

It's worth just trying as much as you possibly can....in a gig setting, playing in your room or a shop doesn't tell you anything about how a pedal (or anything) sits in a mix!. You might love something that we hate and vice-versa.

Another random suggestion is a Bogdan Polish Love, excellent low-end retention, but slightly more 'Fuzz' than 'Distortion'

Si