Bass Distortion

Zangetsu

Not really much of a bass player as guitar is my true calling but I've been roped into playing bass for a mates band. They play along the lines of kyuss'y sorta stuff.

I was hoping some of the lords of low frequencies on boards could help me find a sound to suit.

I'm playing an ESP LTD B-50 through some random fender bass amp but I'll be changing amps all the time so a good decent will get me going for the moment.

Also how much should I be looking to spend on a practice/gigging amp of reasonable quality?

Cheers,

-Zang

feylya

Big Muff is the stable of bass distortion afaik. Great pedal.

Doctor J

Search ebay for a DOD FX52 Thrash Master pedal, bright pink yoke, it is the mac daddy of bass distortion and doesn't compromise the low end.

Dord

Tubescreamers sound nice on bass IMO. I use a TS-808 clone with my basses.

Zangetsu

So guitar pedals are the way to go then? I was offered a Boss ODB-3 for 40 euro, I have a BD-2 sitting there; which would you's go with between the two?

novarock

In all honesty, the best overdrive/distortion i have ever heard on a bass is the MXR blowtorch. Most guitar overdrives eat the bottom end out of your tone, and most other bass OD's turn it into a ball of noise......

Dord

The OBD-3 sounds awful. I know one or two people that are using modded BD-2's on bass.

Zangetsu

Hmm ball of noise you say That seems to be what they're aiming for lol... I'll try out the BD-2 when I'm home and see what it sounds like. I'll probably head into town tomorrow and try a few of the pedals mentioned and see how it goes.

Thanks for the advice lads

red_ice

feylya wrote: »

Big Muff is the stable of bass distortion afaik. Great pedal.

Its the soviet muff that gets the right sound on a bass. The us doesnt really do it right imo. I got my soviet from newyork. Its the tits for bass, and guitar is just class through it aswell!

I play alot of kyuss, brant bjork and qotsa through my Russian muff - its the only way to go for a bass fuzz for that warmth in a bass or guitar. If you want i can do up a couple of recordings to give a sound sample. I have a boss ds1 aswell, thats guitar pedal, it sounds very weak, so i have an eq pedal to fill that out when i play my bass with it.

Mr. CooL ICE

Doctor J wrote: »

Search ebay for a DOD FX52 Thrash Master pedal, bright pink yoke, it is the mac daddy of bass distortion and doesn't compromise the low end.

Dunno about the FX52 Thrashmaster, but i got the FX59 and i wouldn't recommend it. The tone is grand, but when played with a band, the bottom end goes completely and it can barely be heard.

smog

Cannot recomend this enough ... get a lovely low end with a heavty growl on top. I had tried everything before this, muffs (us and russian) handfulls of pedals from boss to ELs and nothing sounded meaty enough.

Doctor J

LordChessington wrote: »

Dunno about the FX52 Thrashmaster, but i got the FX59 and i wouldn't recommend it. The tone is grand, but when played with a band, the bottom end goes completely and it can barely be heard.

Maybe I got the number wrong. The bright pink one? Dunno how you lost the low end, I had the pleasure of playing bass through one a few weeks ago while auditioning some guitarists and the low end was crushing, there was an issue being heard alright, but it was the guitarists who were having that problem :pac:

basshead56

May I start by saying- boss pedals are only to be used with guitar IMO. I have yet to come across one of their bass effects pedals which doesnt completely remove the bottom end when activated!
The MXR Blowtorch didnt really impress me either, but in fairness, it was in a shop and not with anything similar to my own set up bass or amp wise.
The Sovtek/Electro Harmonix pedals are awesome! they have the bass distortion sound nailed. Never been let down by EH/SK.
However, the best bass distortion I can recommend is the HAO RustRide pedal. Handmade (ltd number every year) Japanese pedal- around 150 dollars (ebay) unbelievable!
Three settings and a knob to control the level. Simple design, great build quality and amazing sound. it actually boosts low end signal when engaged!Serious distortion and fuzz-very Muse when used with a Jazz bass or Stingray.
In terms of an amp, I´m gonna be shouted down at the press club here, but in terms of an affordable practice and small/medium gig amp- Fender!
You could get the new 100 Watt Rumble in 1x15 or 2x10 for under 350.Or a second hand BXR combo from a few years back Or if you had a wee bit more, the new Bassman 100, 150, or 250, all between 300-600quid. They are very good value for money and can cut it with the best of the combos. Dont buy these second hand though, as a lot of first generation models had teething troubles. All cleared up now though, so buy new with confidence.
If you have a few quid, buy an Ampeg combo- never let you down! If you have Duncans or EMGs in your bass, these wee amps will let everyone know! Serious bark of them. I had an old B2 combo, a pig of an amp that just kept going, wish I never sold it. It took years of abuse and sang like a nightingale every night! Try and find one of those (discontinued a good while back) but you might get lucky.
There´s also Laney, who are great value and are reliable as hell! They are cheap and long lasting too.
All The Best

Seziertisch

The key to a good bass distortion/fuzz is to blend clean and distorted.

Keeping a portion of the clean, keeps all that low end intact and the distortion/fuzz gives the high frequencies the cut you need.

Some bass distortion pedals offer this function although you could could do something similar with a Boss Line Selector.

Highly regarded bass fuzzes include the Zvex Woolly Mammoth and the Malekko Heavy Industry's B:assmaster (a clone of the old Maestro Brassmaster). Both are expensive, although affordable clones of the Zvex turn up on ebay every now and then

Zangetsu

Thanks for all the advice! I was playing around last night (with the bass not meself) and forgot how much fun it was and since I'm now shasing my bass tone I though a pickup upgrade might help.

I'm playing an ESP LTD B-50, needs a setup but it plays well. Could anyone recommend a good set of pups I could pop on? I don't really know where to start with looking so if anyone has any idea's or good experiances let me know!

Thanks again,
-ZanG

Zangetsu

Playing with the blues driver last night and managed to find the EXACT sound I was looking for! Makes a huge difference to the tone, it does take away some of the lower frequancies (sp) but the EQ sorted it out for me

Absolute...

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I'm dangerously close to dropping the guitar as my main instrument lol.