abc Posted December 28, 2013 Share Posted December 28, 2013 Hi all... I am wondering, as the title suggests, what your favorite dirt boxes are and what you might suggest I try as i am looking for something really dynamic to the touch and able to give me from just a little and fine 'hair' on my tone to... And...analogue would be nice! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GazWills Posted December 28, 2013 Share Posted December 28, 2013 It's such a personal thing and depedant on your choice of bass, amp, cab, strings, plec etc, but personally, i love the Xotic BB bass preamp for light o/d, and for fuzz i love muffs, my fave being the wren and cuff tall font russian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abc Posted December 28, 2013 Author Share Posted December 28, 2013 [quote name='GazWills' timestamp='1388251137' post='2320019'] It's such a personal thing and depedant on your choice of bass, amp, cab, strings, plec etc, but personally, i love the Xotic BB bass preamp for light o/d, and for fuzz i love muffs, my fave being the wren and cuff tall font russian [/quote] Yes, very personal it is indeed. It i opinions that I am interested in, so your reply is exactly the type of thing I am looking for. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted December 28, 2013 Share Posted December 28, 2013 I am still searching for a mild overdrive that I really can say is my favourite; I find they vary so much depending on what bass goes into them. Particularly struggle with active basses. Heavy drive/distortion, B7K. Fuzz, my custom Cog pedal has a modified Grand Tarkin circuit which just sounds fantastic. It's a completely subjective thing, and will vary depending on playing style, context and just general personal preference. I suspect they will all be named here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topo morto Posted December 28, 2013 Share Posted December 28, 2013 There are no good od/distortions, they're all rubbish. Catalinbread SFT sounds beautifully expressive in a vintagey way but is a bit bass-light and inverts phase. Darkglass B3k has a lovely natural 'edgy' sound at low gain but needs to be driven very gently to stay in 'bit of hair' territory. Also rather expensive, and can sound a little bit cartoony in high gain territory. BB preamp basically sounds good and has a nice EQ. also has the same problem about needing to be driven very gently, and it sounds a tiny bit boring. Rusty box sounds awesome but has a non-standard PSU and no separate post gain for the boost channel. Oh and it is hissy. Wren and Cuff phat phuk sounds like pure gold... but only at one specific gain setting. Those are the good ones - all the rest are even worse. And don't get me started on fuzzes.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andydye Posted December 28, 2013 Share Posted December 28, 2013 DHA vt-1, don't faff with emulation, get the real thing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bakerster135 Posted December 28, 2013 Share Posted December 28, 2013 [quote name='topo morto' timestamp='1388254549' post='2320054'] Catalinbread SFT sounds beautifully expressive in a vintagey way but is a bit bass-light [/quote] What!?...Have you been adjusting that "Bass" knob at all!? I find that if I turn that past noon I'm in danger of caving the roof in!...Definitely find it can add more lows than my clean signal, have you been using the old or new version? The phase inversion will only be a problem if you run this in parallel, and the SFT does NOT need to be run in parellel! I'm currently going for SFT and COG Darklighter for low/medium overdrive. The Darklighter sounds a lot like my old Fulltone Bass drive did, but with lows still intact! SFT is brilliantly dynamic, mainly used for hammering out RATM riffs at sound check! B3K does high-gain overdrive, I agree that it can get a bit caricaturesque like this but that's what I love about it! Fuzz-wise I'm with Gaz all the way, it's a Wren & Cuff Tall Font Russian for me! Ridiculous bass and low-mids out of that thing. Distortion-wise I'm using the COG TK-421x. Recently stuck an LM308 op amp in there, and with Low pass filtered-clean blend and asymmetric LEDs it absolutely kills! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topo morto Posted December 28, 2013 Share Posted December 28, 2013 [quote name='bakerster135' timestamp='1388255978' post='2320096'] What!?...Have you been adjusting that "Bass" knob at all!? I find that if I turn that past noon I'm in danger of caving the roof in!...Definitely find it can add more lows than my clean signal, have you been using the old or new version? The phase inversion will only be a problem if you run this in parallel, and the SFT does NOT need to be run in parellel! [/quote] IME because the bass boost is pre-gain, the sound turns into a farty mess if you turn the bass knob up too far.... no solid, well defined lows. I've used an original one and a latest one with the third colour scheme - not sure when v1 changed to v2 and what the difference is? sft is one of my favourites, no question, but always found it best for more middy sounds, and as a guitar OD. Always interesting how different people's experiences are! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abc Posted December 29, 2013 Author Share Posted December 29, 2013 Thanks for all the responses! I've been reading around a bit and am now wondering... Has anyone here tried the fairfield circuitry Barbershop OD? It seems to get very good reviews. I am also extremely curious as to cog effects knightfall...I seem to quite want one even without having heard much about it. Any opinions here on these two? Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_5 Posted December 29, 2013 Share Posted December 29, 2013 [quote name='andydye' timestamp='1388254691' post='2320057'] DHA vt-1, don't faff with emulation, get the real thing! [/quote] This. Coloursound bass fuzz is my favourite for really nasty stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonesy64 Posted December 29, 2013 Share Posted December 29, 2013 RAT for everything from boost to dirty fuzz. DAM Greasebox GB-80 is also outstanding on both bass and guitar. Really like the Wren & Cuff Pickle Pie Hella fuzz for muff stuff. Very interested in trying out the Tech 21 VT bass that I have incoming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abc Posted December 29, 2013 Author Share Posted December 29, 2013 [quote name='Jonesy64' timestamp='1388316518' post='2320618'] RAT for everything from boost to dirty fuzz. DAM Greasebox GB-80 is also outstanding on both bass and guitar. Really like the Wren & Cuff Pickle Pie Hella fuzz for muff stuff. Very interested in trying out the Tech 21 VT bass that I have incoming. [/quote] Which specific Rat do you like? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonesy64 Posted December 29, 2013 Share Posted December 29, 2013 The one I have is a 1978 clone built by Jim (Jerms) of Built To Spill. There are a number of other clones out there such as Fuzzrocious Rat Tail and VFE Alpha Dog (I think it's the alpha dog anyway). I believe the Rat Tail is tuned for bass and the VFE has a myriad options that I expect includes a decent EQ....I could be wrong on both counts though :-) I don't know how the modern ProCo's hold up but they are cheap enough to experiment with I should think and you could always throw a cheap EQ in the chain to bring up the low end if you found it lacking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xgsjx Posted December 29, 2013 Share Posted December 29, 2013 My current drive sound doesn't come from an actual dirt pedal, but the Moog Bass Murf gets the low grit that I like & I have a cheap PSK distortion pedal for distortion. The PSK is in a loop that's split from the Murf & used with the Moog LPF to get me some wonderful synth sounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foal30 Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Wounded Paw Attack Goat Bass Fuzz even the name is good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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