Distortion advice

[neilb]

I want to attain that rasping distorted sound that JE got from his setup in the 90's for when we do our Who songs in our set.

I think he used a Digitech Guitar 2150 processor (the purple rack one), but think thats too over the top for me.

Could someone recommend a floor pedal that would come close?

Ive tried some distortion pedals and they seem to fair better than overdrive pedals.

Would a guitar distortion pedal be better than a bass one? I only want to distort the upper frequencies.

Any advice tips would be great.

My existing set up is in my sig.

Thanks

[Cabal]

[quote name='neilb' post='324335' date='Nov 7 2008, 05:06 PM']I want to attain that rasping distorted sound that JE got from his setup in the 90's for when we do our Who songs in our set.

I think he used a Digitech Guitar 2150 processor (the purple rack one), but think thats too over the top for me.

Could someone recommend a floor pedal that would come close?

Ive tried some distortion pedals and they seem to fair better than overdrive pedals.

Would a guitar distortion pedal be better than a bass one? I only want to distort the upper frequencies.

Any advice tips would be great.

My existing set up is in my sig.

Thanks[/quote]
I'm thinking of earlier Entwistle now, but personally i don't think a sound like that can be acheived through "signal processing". Just an old Hiwatt, a Precision or Rickenbacker and sheer volume in my case. Nothing else needed in the chain. Go old school.

Sorry, just realised you were thinking of his later sounds. No help here then.

Cheers,

Jake M

Edited November 7, 2008 by Jake_M

[umph]

[quote name='Jake_M' post='324415' date='Nov 7 2008, 07:10 PM']I'm thinking of earlier Entwistle now, but personally i don't think a sound like that can be acheived through "signal processing". Just an old Hiwatt, a Precision or Rickenbacker and sheer volume in my case. Nothing else needed in the chain. Go old school.

Sorry, just realised you were thinking of his later sounds. No help here then.

Cheers,

Jake M[/quote]
still a big valve amp would help. try out the ehx valve drive type thing that should get you close

[stacedabass]

maybe try out the ashdown lomenzo pedal, i have one and i adds distortion to the mid-upper ranges of the signal. i can get quite a trebble'y distorted sound out of it, while keeping the botttom end, very 'ox'!

[6h5g]

[quote name='stacedabass' post='324433' date='Nov 7 2008, 07:31 PM']maybe try out the ashdown lomenzo pedal, i have one and i adds distortion to the mid-upper ranges of the signal. i can get quite a trebble'y distorted sound out of it, while keeping the botttom end, very 'ox'![/quote]
+1 just what i was going to recommend

Edited November 7, 2008 by 6h5g

[Herr Fixxxer]

There's an other way around it, I tested it and it works just great : Boss LS-2 with a guitar distortion in loop A and nothing in loop B, A+B mode. This will blend the distorted signal of loop A with the original clean signal kept in loop B --> plenty of clean bottom end and plenty of distortion at the same time. Now you can experiment with plenty of pedals and find the right one for you, but remember that guitar pedals are the way to go - the Ox used a Digitech guitar multi-fx/preamp. The difference is that he used very heavy signal processing, routing the lows and the highs to different cabs, with different effects on them.
I used that LS-2 system for a while, and it's brilliant. You can adjust the level of blend of each loop, you can also simply bypass it.

[Gamble]

A couple of reviews on Harmony Central say that the LS-2 knackers your tone and can be quite hissy, any personal experience with this? If it's only a small ammount then this might be the way for me to go aswell, although I am getting all fussy about my tone these days.....

[neilb]

Ive just A/B'd several pedals at my local shop.

Ashdown Lomenzo - too brittle for my ear, not impressed.

Various Boss/ Ibanez jobbies. Ok, but too much dist on the lower frequencies. I want them let alone.

However, I tried a Blackstar HT Dist valve pedal. Blimey, what a lovely product. Warmed up the bottom end and gave a nice controlled overdrive to the highs.

Anyone alse tried these? I know they are guitar effects but they sound great.

[Mr. Foxen]

[quote name='Gamble' post='324999' date='Nov 8 2008, 09:30 PM']A couple of reviews on Harmony Central say that the LS-2 knackers your tone and can be quite hissy, any personal experience with this? If it's only a small ammount then this might be the way for me to go aswell, although I am getting all fussy about my tone these days.....[/quote]

I've been using one with a Sansamp GT2 and it seems fine.

[fretmeister]

[quote name='Gamble' post='324999' date='Nov 8 2008, 09:30 PM']A couple of reviews on Harmony Central say that the LS-2 knackers your tone and can be quite hissy, any personal experience with this? If it's only a small ammount then this might be the way for me to go aswell, although I am getting all fussy about my tone these days.....[/quote]


Nah - never had a problem with my LS2 and I've used one for ages. You can get hissy is you use a sh*te powersupply though.


Splitting the signal is the only way to go. TBH the LS2 (or any other splitter) is still a compromise - better to use 2 rigs, 1 clean, 1 for FX, but that is a bit over the top for a lot of people (I do it - sound is ace... but my back complains all the time!)


But when using 1 rig... Bass > LS2.... Loop 1: Synth pedal. Loop 2: EHX Metal Muff > Boss Chorus .... back into LS2 > Compressor > Amp.


Works just right!



For entwhisle I have used 2 pedals that get close... the Metal Muff and the Marshall Jackhammer. Both have very powerful EQ and are suited to the bass.

POD XT has a good Live at Leeds patch on it as well.

[dannybuoy]

[url="http://www.thewho.net/whotabs/equipment/bass/equip-entwistlegear.html"]http://www.thewho.net/whotabs/equipment/ba...wistlegear.html[/url]

[url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?p=6337418"]http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?p=6337418[/url]

That should get you off to a start. But it sounds like you want a nice low gain overdrive, for which I would recommend a DHA VT1, Barber LTD SR, or a Sansamp BDDI or VT Bass.

[The Funk]

[quote name='umph' post='324430' date='Nov 7 2008, 07:27 PM']still a big valve amp would help. try out the ehx valve drive type thing that should get you close[/quote]

I'd go for one of Dave Hall's Dual pedals. I have one. I crank up the first valve to full, then send it into the second valve and crank that - then I lower the master output to match the clean signal. It sounds immense!

Do a search for Dave Hall Amps - or just check out his sub-forum.

[cheddatom]

MArchall Jackhammer is a great pedal! It's good to see it get a mention. The EQ options make it really good for bass.

[jimijimmi]

try the Marshall govenor pedal..
i use it with a 68 non reverse thunderbird..it sounds unbelievably close to Entwistle...or even the Sansamp bass drive DI....

[lateralus462]

[quote name='cheddatom' post='325860' date='Nov 10 2008, 12:47 PM']MArchall Jackhammer is a great pedal! It's good to see it get a mention. The EQ options make it really good for bass.[/quote]


For sure - I've got one and it's my favorite pedal at the moment - Capable of some truly truly phat sounds.

[umph]

get a rat and mod it if you put both of the feedback resistors on pots and change the caps you can make it so you can control the gain on the high end and low end and achieve what your after i think.

[nick]

[quote name='jimijimmi' post='326035' date='Nov 10 2008, 04:08 PM']try the Marshall govenor pedal..
i use it with a 68 non reverse thunderbird..it sounds unbelievably close to Entwistle...or even the Sansamp bass drive DI....[/quote]

+1 for original Marshall Guv'nor - quite [i]'Oxy'[/i]

[Dood]

Would the MXR M80 do the trick? The ability to mix dry bass and dirty stuff together might be helpful. I really like mine. Infact, I like it so much, I sold the first one I had *fool* and ended up buying another!


Dan

[attackbass]

[quote name='neilb' post='325211' date='Nov 9 2008, 11:45 AM']Ive just A/B'd several pedals at my local shop.

Ashdown Lomenzo - too brittle for my ear, not impressed.

Various Boss/ Ibanez jobbies. Ok, but too much dist on the lower frequencies. I want them let alone.

However, I tried a Blackstar HT Dist valve pedal. Blimey, what a lovely product. Warmed up the bottom end and gave a nice controlled overdrive to the highs.

Anyone alse tried these? I know they are guitar effects but they sound great.[/quote]



Yeah I recently bought a Blackstar HT Drive pedal - Really cool distortion.. can get a little fizzy if you max the tone and gain control but back them off and it sounds ace... I blend this pedal with my dry bass tone using a goldworks fx parablender. Sounds awesome!