Big, distorted bass tone

[jchadstopherhuez]

i've had great luck with the original SANS AMP pedal.

i usually end up with bass on 4-5 tracks....usually a clean di, sans amp di, close mic on a clean cabinet, then a few mics on a distorted amp sound...mosty an old sovtek mig 60 that i run into a 4x10 cabinet.

sometimes a bass player will just HAVE a sound...and a sm7/LDC like a u47, 4033, 4047, or the like on the cab will work fine.

as with most of my mic'ing suggestions...a little labs IBP will do wonders for you when combining bass di and amp sounds.

all the best,

jchristopherhughes

[Dirty Halo]

There's a boutique pedal company that makes a distortion pedal for bass that is INSANE called the "Whooly Mamoth" (SP?)

Also, that tone is almost always in parallel with a solid tight clean tone.

-andrews

P.S. Woolly Mammoth Review | Zvex | Reviews @ Ultimate-Guitar.Com

[evillain]

I use the Fulltone Bass Drive 99% of the time on stage and in the studio....it sounds incredible....soaring, thick, warm, and heavy distorted bass tone. i turn the knobs all the way up and put it on the vintage setting...

[bighud]

Originally Posted by Dirty Halo

There's a boutique pedal company that makes a distortion pedal for bass that is INSANE called the "Whooly Mamoth" (SP?)

Also, that tone is almost always in parallel with a solid tight clean tone.

-andrews

P.S. Woolly Mammoth Review | Zvex | Reviews @ Ultimate-Guitar.Com

ZVEX is the brand that makes this. Most guitar distortion pedals fall into a clone of either a tubescreamer, Fuzz Face, Rat, or Hotcake.

Not 100% if that is accurate with bass as well. Try a hotcake or any other really good sounding distortion pedal.

If you have a DBX 160...give that a try.

[IntenseJim]

1.Not to sound like an ass but there is no best. Each fuzz or distorton gives a different texture and responds differently to pick or fingerstyle attack.

2. Each will be affected by how you set the OBP (onboard preamp) on the Music Man. Also, try a jazz bass instead if you can.

3. For that tone I'm found of the Real Tube Tubedriver. It helps to mix wet (distorted) with clean.

4. As above, I think the Sansamp (various models) can do a good job and you can DI them. I think DI'ing overdriven guitars and bass otherwise is meh, for the most part.

[cyork]

I'd second the Sansamp...as well as add to try a Big Muff.

Cheers,
Chad

[dalley]

Originally Posted by evillain

I use the Fulltone Bass Drive 99% of the time on stage and in the studio....it sounds incredible....soaring, thick, warm, and heavy distorted bass tone. i turn the knobs all the way up and put it on the vintage setting...

+1 great pedal

maybe try the Ampeg SVX plugin???

[useme2305]

i actually prefer my guitar sansamp for gritty distorted bass.

the original rat pedal from the 80s is also amazing for that kind of tone.

[kellyd]

In the studio I use a DI for the solid tone and then another amp for the distortion. A SVT is the ideal rig for me. Run the distortion into the amp only and leave the DI clean. Dump some of the lows from the dist amp and either cut or boost some of the highs. Scoop some mids and there you go.
As far as pedals, they all distort differently. Tube Screamers, RATTs, Sans Amp. Get a bunch of pedals and start experimenting.
The good thing about this approach is that you don't lose any of the solidity from the bass. All the punch and lows are there from the DI, the dist amp adds what you need. Blend the 2 and you're good.

Going back to the early 90s the best dist bass sound I ever got was when I was doing some sessions for the metal band Warrior. AC 15 thru a Marshall 4 x12 and trident 80B pre thru a 1176. The blend was truly amazing.

[Matt Whritenour]

I'll also Suggest the Sansamp (one of the rack models)
There are now 2. The RBI has a mid control that the pedal does not have (I forget which freq off hand it boosts and cuts. Then the RPM is the new one that has a sweepable mid control. They're both $330 off of sweetwater.

I also just added a Dan Electro Fish and Chips EQ pedal before the sansamp this way I can use the output boost on the EQ to get a little more overdrive out of the sansamp and have a little more eq control, works out great so far.

[matt thomas]

I have a woolly mammoth, its pretty crazy, not your standard bass distortion

technically its designed by chuck zwicky , but is part of the zvex line.

My most used bass distortion is the crowther hot cake XLF version. The new version of the hotcake combines the guitar, bass and blues versions into one pedal, thanks to an internal jumper for selecting. I don't know if its similar to what you are after, but it is a great bass distortion.

I have a sansamp too, but prefer the hotcake

narco

[Nu-tra]

route 66 pedal

[Flying_Dutchman]

if you want to get big you´ve got to move air.
push these small molekules and place the mic where they hit your chest.
Do it loud.
What is loud will sound loud, seriously.

[music friend]

Its hard to use a pedal that doesn't suck out all the low end. I like the Fulltone Bass Drive and/or a Big Muff. Big Muffs of different eras sound pretty radically different from one another too. I like the old big green one best.
Don't like pedals going direct for the most part. SansAmp, the old tried and true, works sometimes.
I've also been using guitar heads lately with some success.

[heyman]

Sansamp Bass pedal works wonders. Tuck that in with the original tone..

[Louderock]

For the Rage stuff, Tim used a Marshall Guv'nor through a second amp for distortion.

[David-Morpheus]

I'm getting good results with the sans amp PSA-1. And if we record a clean DI only and there is need to distort the track at mixtime my favourite is izotope thrash

d.