Bass Distortion

[Huw]

Been looking for one for a while.

The one's i've heard to be good are the Fulltone Drive and possibly the ZVEX wolly mammoth.

any one got any other recommendations?

also, has anybody ever tried a bass through a proco RAT? does it sound good?

cheers

[WoodyRATM]

If i remember right, the fulltone was pretty decent. it was last year i think i tried one..

I personally didnt like the rat.

Have you had a look at a muff?

or you could try a sansamp, i swear by mine.

Though i would say to avoid both the boss odb3 and the ashdown drive plus. ive used both, and found the boss just generally shite, and the ashdown broke 3 times (2 on 1 unit, same fault on a 2nd)

[Huw]

i have a sansamp, but i can as yet get a full distortion, i use it as more of a preamp. to change between 'pretty' and 'heavy' settings.

tried a big muff pi. it was way too much gain-wise,

i'm tempted by the fulltone, though its pricey!

[Alex]

I'm using an ibanez pd-7 - very highly recommended, the string separation's excellent (being distortion rather than fuzz), sounds bastarding heavy. Was recording through a big muff using a JCM900 head in an ashdown effects loop powering one of the 4*10s. Sounded amazing, but nae so good for lots of activity.

[The Sloth]

I have tried a RAT through a bass before and thought it sounded good...but I like noisy stuff.

[Huw]

I'm using an ibanez pd-7 - very highly recommended, the string separation's excellent (being distortion rather than fuzz), sounds bastarding heavy. Was recording through a big muff using a JCM900 head in an ashdown effects loop powering one of the 4*10s. Sounded amazing, but nae so good for lots of activity.

anywhere ijn the deen i could try one of the pd-7s out?

I have tried a RAT through a bass before and thought it sounded good...but I like noisy stuff.

really? well do you reckon it could be kept under control then, say if i had the dist. on half?

there only 45 quid and i could do with a good guitar dist anyway. may just get a rat.

any other suggestions?

[Decontrol]

Here's a few;

Tech21 XXL

EBS MultiDrive

Crowther Hotcake XLF

guyatone tube distortion td-1

Or you could get in contact with Dave Hall from DHA(dave hall amps), he makes effects pedals and has a few really cool sounding/looking distortion pedals, a bit pricey but worth it for having a handmade valve pedal. 8-)

Dave Hall Amps - Home Page

[Pierre Von Mondragon]

I think MXR do one whereby the crossover point for the addition of distortion is adjustable, ie. the distortion is applied to the higher frequencies, leaving the lowest clean, which will give you solid low end, but with ripping mids, as ever try first.

This just in, its the MXR bass DI, so multi-functional

[WoodyRATM]

' date=' post: 436518"']i have a sansamp, but i can as yet get a full distortion, i use it as more of a preamp. to change between 'pretty' and 'heavy' settings.

tried a big muff pi. it was way too much gain-wise,

i'm tempted by the fulltone, though its pricey!

Which kind of sans are you using? i use the bass programmable driver. 3 settings, i think maxi uses one too.

what kinda bands are you aiming to get a vibe like?

[The Sloth]

' date=' post: 436521"']anywhere ijn the deen i could try one of the pd-7s out?

really? well do you reckon it could be kept under control then, say if i had the dist. on half?

there only 45 quid and i could do with a good guitar dist anyway. may just get a rat.

any other suggestions?

Yeah, sorry that wasn't a very helpful post...I thought It sounded clearer than the bigmuff, cause it's more distortion than fuzz. RATs can go pretty clean if you want them to. I use a RAT on my guitar and it has a great sound for Heavy and non-heavy stuff.

[Huw]

Here's a few;

Tech21 XXL

EBS MultiDrive

Crowther Hotcake XLF

guyatone tube distortion td-1

Or you could get in contact with Dave Hall from DHA(dave hall amps), he makes effects pedals and has a few really cool sounding/looking distortion pedals, a bit pricey but worth it for having a handmade valve pedal. 8-)

Dave Hall Amps - Home Page

thanks

Which kind of sans are you using? i use the bass programmable driver. 3 settings, i think maxi uses one too.

what kinda bands are you aiming to get a vibe like?

aye that one. well i kind of want a range of sounds. i want a kind of crushing low-end sound - like jeff from isis. also a trebley distortion (devil sold his soul do this). also a kind of middy-driven emo/scremo sound with a decent low end (meet me in st. louis, damezumari, funeral diner kiind of thing) then just a nice warm clean sound.

my wallet and i have our work cut out. planning on getting a decent head soon though, so that should solve a few problems.

i think i'll keep my sans though.

Yeah, sorry that wasn't a very helpful post...I thought It sounded clearer than the bigmuff, cause it's more distortion than fuzz. RATs can go pretty clean if you want them to. I use a RAT on my guitar and it has a great sound for Heavy and non-heavy stuff.

that what i want, no fuzz, just distortion. it is hard to find a unit that can simply grit up lower frequencies rather than just liquify them.

[timson]

I use one of the original Sovtek Big muffs, cost me a fair but but it has a wamer fuzzier tone than the newer american ones made by electro harmonix,which I used to own.

Despite the Boss ODB3 slating on here, i own one simply for variety. I set it so that it has a tinny sound when i play in band and its great with my bass wah pedal. Its a bit similar to the Marshall Guv'nor.

[britheguy]

A bass player I knew used a early Marshall Drive Master. It's sounded pretty damn good.

[Graham]

i just took a chance and bought one of these

they are 80 new but got one for 40 on ebay. i've not heard it but i liked the description of it and i really liked the sound of the valve distortion pedal my mate had. his was for guitar though, but im hoping it will sound good. more info on it here Dave Hall Amps - Products, ValveTone 1 Bass

[jon]

' date=' post: 436516"']Been looking for one for a while.

The one's i've heard to be good are the Fulltone Drive and possibly the ZVEX wolly mammoth.

any one got any other recommendations?

also, has anybody ever tried a bass through a proco RAT? does it sound good?

cheers

Whenever I'm playing bass, I'll use my Rat as a distortion. It can't give a hugely varied amount of sounds, but it does melt my face and keep the bottom end. Chris used to use the Boss bass distortion peal in Deadenstereo, and that was pretty decent at keeping the bottom end too, although purists hate it

[chris h]

Flash liked it though. And he's kind of a purist. Or a pirate. I don't remember now, it was all such a long time ago...

[Huw]

i just took a chance and bought one of these

they are 80 new but got one for 40 on ebay. i've not heard it but i liked the description of it and i really liked the sound of the valve distortion pedal my mate had. his was for guitar though, but im hoping it will sound good. more info on it here Dave Hall Amps - Products, ValveTone 1 Bass

i saw those. the description sounded pretty cool, but i didnt want to take the risk, fill me in on how the sound!

Whenever I'm playing bass, I'll use my Rat as a distortion. It can't give a hugely varied amount of sounds, but it does melt my face and keep the bottom end. Chris used to use the Boss bass distortion peal in Deadenstereo, and that was pretty decent at keeping the bottom end too, although purists hate it

yeah i got a new tc electronic dual distortion for my guitar that i'm planning on trying out on my bass. its got similar controls to the rat, but may actually be better suited to bass as its a lot thicker (can get a bit muddy on guitar like).

will try the rat at some point though.

[stuartmaxwell]

tc electronics

excellent purchase

[Huw]

tried my bass through the TC distortion... sounds mint. Adds quite a thick distortion, but keeps the low end. if you've ever used the metal zone on a bass its kind of like that, but less fizzy and has more low end. The only problem i'm having is with levels at the moment.

So i'd recommend either the TC vintage Distortion or Dual Distortion, assuming that the dual has the same sound as the single.

i just took a chance and bought one of these

they are 80 new but got one for 40 on ebay. i've not heard it but i liked the description of it and i really liked the sound of the valve distortion pedal my mate had. his was for guitar though, but im hoping it will sound good. more info on it here Dave Hall Amps - Products, ValveTone 1 Bass

how is this sounding by the way?

[Graham]

its not quite what i expected but i do like it. its pretty low gain. i use it for a step up from a clean sound to a more driven sound. you'll hear it in action tonight! got a tc vintage bass distortion on the way from thomann though. cant wait!

[Huw]

its not quite what i expected but i do like it. its pretty low gain. i use it for a step up from a clean sound to a more driven sound. you'll hear it in action tonight! got a tc vintage bass distortion on the way from thomann though. cant wait!

oooft... hopefully get my TC out tonight too. look forward to hearing what the actual T bass distortion sounds like.

when you buy TC you enter a whole new world of tone... our guitarist just bought a NOVA delay. smart. as. fuck.

[Pierre Von Mondragon]

My mate Steve got the standard Boss bass dist at Xmas, and it sounds pretty good, rampaging and evil, plus a tweakable tone, some people are snobby about Boss stuff, but I have never had a bad product from the Roland corp, try em all first.

[Huw]

' date=' post: 436536"']oooft... hopefully get my TC out tonight too. look forward to hearing what the actual T bass distortion sounds like.

when you buy TC you enter a whole new world of tone... our guitarist just bought a NOVA delay. smart. as. fuck.

the other night was playing a gig. turned on distortion. fedback. blown speaker (i believe).

[Bonesaw Bazz]

Bass distortion sounds is something i have struggled with over the years. Most are crap, tried the Muff, wasn't much of a fan.. I have finally settled on the "You Dirty Rat", which is the newest incarnation of RAT pedal. I don't use alot of distortion on the pedal but it does sound fucking ace when ye crank it up. For Bonesaw i prefer to hear the bass tone but the pedal gives it that extra BITE. Sounds nasty, highly recommended.

Albie from Filthpact/Ablach uses the Marshall Guvner, which also has a nice nasty distortion tone...

Horse for courses though...