Overdrive/Distortion pedals. What to choose.

[JonnyCumbo]

Ampeg and Aguilar apparently make decent overdrive/distortion pedals. They both have blend. Which would you choose or would you go for another brand?

[Baloney Balderdash]

I would personally go for EHX :

 

Bass Soul Food (Klon clone with clean blend) for low gain always on overdrive grid

 

Hot Wax (Hot Tubes + Crayon dual overdrive with clean blend, the Crayon being an alternate take on the Xotic BB Preamp circuit) or Operation Overlord Nano (pretty amazing original circuit with a lot of control options, including a Treble, Mids, Bass EQ section and clean blend) for low to high gain overdrive

 

Metal Muff Nano (metal type original distortion that sounds pretty awesome on bass, this is the only one of the mentioned that doesn't have clean blend) or Hell Melter (Boss HM-2 clone with clean blend) for high gain distortion

 

Or

 

 MXR M85 Bass Distortion (RAT clone with clean blend and Turbo RAT mode) for pretty much everything

 

Edited November 2, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash

[krispn]

It’s a minefield! What sounds are you trying to get? What bass tones/bands/songs are you trying to sound like? Fuzz? low gain? clanky? modern drive? Thickening up for an old school sound? Strident mid forward? Old time amp?

 

That is not a complete list by any stretch 😀

[JonnyCumbo]

I'm aiming to thicken up an old school sound in a three piece setting whilst the guitar solos 

[Lozz196]

In that case the Ampeg Scrambler or the TCElectronic Spark Booster are worth checking out.

[Stofferson]

https://lusithanddevices.com/product/ground-pound/

 

Not long had one of these bad boys, sounds fat, clean blend has a mild comp on it (2:1) which really fattens it up.

 

Fuzz wise, https://www.moosetwentythree.com/shop/dobsky

Russian muff with clean blend and mids! chonky!

[BassAdder60]

Simple choice Spark Booster full model ) 

Low cost and works well with bass 

 

Even though I use an Ampeg V4B I run the spark booster into it to add that extra grunt ! 
Best for the money in my opinion 

Edited November 2, 2023 by BassAdder60

[jimbobothy]

34 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

In that case the Ampeg Scrambler or the TCElectronic Spark Booster are worth checking out.

... the TC Electronic Spark Booster (full size one) is really great for that breakup sound, and very cost effective as well.

[jimbobothy]

lol, two people at once recommending the same pedal is a pretty good sign ha ha.

[Supernaut]

TC Spark Booster. 

[krispn]

I’ve a TRex bass juice which at low gain adds a nice ‘bigger’ version of your bass but with mucho gain plus a fuzzy old school sounding tone. I have a Spark too and it’s well voiced for bass.

[tony_m]

I used to run an EHX Bass Soul Food as an always-on tone-thickener, but was never entirely happy as it always seemed to teeter on the edge of being a bit too shrill. Replaced it with an Ampeg Scrambler, which seems far warmer overall (subject to the position of the Treble control) and is definitely more what I was after.