Best overdrive pedal for bass?

[sr2000]

I'm doing some research for my bassist - he's looking for the best overdrive pedal on the market.

Genre would be closest to the nu-metal sound

Would appreciate any suggestions from those who have used some - thanks

[Matteran]

for a nu-metal sort of sound, I think the Boss ODB-3 is best.

For fuzz, any Electro-Harmonix pedals (like the double muff) are awesome.

And for a tubey overdrive, either the Sansamp Bass Driver DI or Marshall Guv'nor (1 or 2) are great.

[el cochino]

I'm not really sure what a nu-metal bass sounds, but the Fulltone bass drive is a great pedal, and doesn't cut off the low end of the bass like most guitar distorion do.

[GravityRobert]

******//www.talkbass.com/forum/archiv...hp/t-8203.html

[Pasta4lnch]

T-rex bass juice
******//www.t-rex-engineering.com/def...w=page&id=2473

although I'm not a big fan of using dist boxes on bass . . . this one sounds pretty cool

. . . also the Mudhoney is good for adding a little snip of drive as well

[Blast9]

The Ibanez PhatHed is the one you want --- Sounds stellar with a pick player through a decent amp or Sansamp Bass Driver when recording direct (the Sansamp's distortion is not as good IMHO). Also try the MXR Bass DI plus --- Very aggressive.

The Fulltone is a great pedal, but more "fat clasic grind" than Death Metal.

Try the EBS pedal too! Very modern sound

Don't overlook the Marshall Valvestate amp either: You could use that wityh an A/B or A+B pedal (line out or preamp out from the valvestate).

[sr2000]

Thanks for all the responses - I'm hopin' Guitar Center has some of these (doubt it - but maybe they'll have a couple)

[CrankyRayHanky]

Here's another happy Fulltone Bassdrive owner...though it delivers great tone, I also wouldn't recommend it for it's chainsaw metal sound; it supplements a great rig yielding even more power and playability

[Sid Viscous]

A cheap guitar amp.

[bluestarbass]

mxr bass blowtorch hands down. This comming from a guy who has 5 different fuzz/distortion/overdrive pedals on his board. Goes anywhere from a slightly overdriven SVT to all out distortion. I almost always run this pedal in my signal now.

[sr2000]

MXR Bass Blowtorch - I'll have to check it out - what other pedals are you comparing that to and what style of music do you play?

[MrBogeDangles]

My favorite is the Boss ODB-3. I as well play Metal (Mudvayne, Tool, Machinehead, Slipknot style)

I also use a Snarling Dogs "Black Dog" for that muddy overdrive, and a Tech21 SansAmp Bass Driver DI Preamp Pedal..but i also use a GK 2001RB head which has a overdrive channel.

The best by far (by my opinion) is the Boss ODB-3. And that is compared to the SansAmp, the Snarling Dogs, MXR Bass Blowtorch, Fulltone Bassdrive, The Ibanez PhatHed, and the DOD bass distortion....I tried all of them before buying the Boss...has the perfect sound if you can dial it in from a little light fuzz for slapin' and poppin', or that full blown distortion that i dialed in sounds exactly like the bass distortion intro for the song "H" by Tool on the Ænima album.

[soundman76]

Originally Posted by Matteran

for a nu-metal sort of sound, I think the Boss ODB-3 is best.

For fuzz, any Electro-Harmonix pedals (like the double muff) are awesome.

And for a tubey overdrive, either the Sansamp Bass Driver DI or Marshall Guv'nor (1 or 2) are great.

IMO, the Double Muff is too high-gain for Fuzz, but I use a Russian Big Muff with my bass all the time and am quite happy with the results.

[sr2000]

Thanks for all the responses. I realized that I should've been more specific when describing our sound. Linkin Park, Breaking Benjamin, Deftones, Hoobastank, and Korn would all be in the ballpark of the music we're doing.

A couple of you mentioned the Boss ODB-3 - I've heard that you will lose some of the bottom end when using this pedal. True or not?

[Methlab]

I played some shows with Hoobastank. i don't think he was using any distortion at the time. His bass tone was real nice though.

I was using my MesaBoogie head for crunch...I use the Big Muff if needed. I'd buy a tech 21 and parallel out into a small guitar amp and put a TS9 in that chain. That way your low end stays clean and your top will be as dirty as you want.

[Blast9]

Originally Posted by sr2000

Thanks for all the responses. I realized that I should've been more specific when describing our sound. Linkin Park, Breaking Benjamin, Deftones, Hoobastank, and Korn would all be in the ballpark of the music we're doing.

A couple of you mentioned the Boss ODB-3 - I've heard that you will lose some of the bottom end when using this pedal. True or not?

Yes you do IMHO. My bass player got rid of his for that reason.

The best way to get what you're describing, is having an A plus B pedal like Boss Line selector, and have the clean signal blended with the dirt (a lot o fthe pedals mentioned have that anyway, but you can crank the gain more and still have great definition.

If you soloed some of the stuff you're referencing, you'd be surprised how bright and clangy and ugly it sometimes is!

Having said all that, those tones can be done with medium gain, using a pick to get a more "guitarry" attack to the note.

[MrBogeDangles]

I've never had a problem losing bottom end with my ODB-3...but if that's a worry there is a bass/treble cut/boost knob...so it fixes it right there...

[Yuri Kogan]

The best one (out of a dozen or so we have in the studio) is D.A.M Ezekiel Great pedal (as are most of their pedals)

Yuri

[BOWIE]

The best I've found is the Mesa Boogie Recording Rectifier. Yes, it is a guitar preamp but it's truly unreal on bass (so much so that I almost didn't post this so that it would be my little secret).
As far as pedals go, I really like the Jersey Girl Fulltender. Sucks the low end a LITTLE (not as bad as 90% of the bass pedals out there) but the midrange is to die for. Think Lemmy of Motorhead.

[lpkyer]

russian made muff!

[soupking]

Best Tube Overdrive Pedal uh...ever.

www.butleraudio.com

The BIAS control will floor you. It operates off 2 tubes (12ax7 and 12au7) depending on how strong or subtle you want the overdrive to go.

I'm not a pedal guy, but I love overdrive.

I'll never buy another overdrive pedal again.

[Pasta4lnch]

Originally Posted by soupking

Best Tube Overdrive Pedal uh...ever.

www.butleraudio.com

The BIAS control will floor you. It operates off 2 tubes (12ax7 and 12au7) depending on how strong or subtle you want the overdrive to go.

I'm not a pedal guy, but I love overdrive.

I'll never buy another overdrive pedal again.

wow, this looks interesting. and a tube amp for your car too . . . now I've seen it all!