LeftyBassist.com

There, I've said it. I love distortion pedals! I must've owned a couple dozen by now and currently use 3 in my set-up. Anyone else a slave to the grit?

not me ... but I do find the Has-Sound's Bass Guitar Varitone OD passive distortion setting to be just the right touch for playing a little Cream, Mountain, and/or Wishbone Ash


http://has-sound.com/index.htm

note that I've only used this with a Darkstar pickups - other pickups may not have the signal level to get a solid overdrive in the 5th position

all the best,

R

How does this work if it's passive Rod? Could you wire two together in series to get more dirt?

the way I install these, this unit basically replaces your tone cap - it's wired to the tone control knob and the selector switch rotates you through a combination of different cap values. the last position appears to enable that coil (bottom right of image) which works some kind of voodoo. unlike most overdrive pedals that have a brittle high end, this unit's clipping is right in line with that 60's fuzz bass tone - like overdriving a SWR into a pair of 18's

since I have this connected thru the tone control, adjusting the tone knob increases/decreases the effect of any of the cap/distortion values

all the best,

R

That's a pretty cool mod! It's something I may have to consider when I eventually get a P-bass.

But going back to the original question... I used to have a lot of distortion on my board. Now, I'm down to two - my amp's overdrive channel, and my MXR Blowtorch.

But my clean channel really isn't that clean.

I also am a distortion pedal addict... sort of. I'm a guitar player (and a righty to boot) but I constantly find myself using bass pedals instead of guitar pedals. Right now my signal chain is Rickenbacker 330 > Fodera model 2000 bass preamp > SIB Fatdrive > Dr. Z Delta 88 > '72 Hiwatt 4x12. I keep the Fodera's knobs all at roughly 12 o'clock. The Fatdrive has the bass almost all the way off, the gain up just a bit and the bright switch on. My other favorite distortion pedal right now is a Budda Phatman... yup another bass preamp/distortion pedal. Go figure.

Don't speak so badly of yourself Hieg, you also play bass.

I will say though, all those bass preamp/distortion pedals give Hieg one of the best guitar tones I've ever heard (the sweet guitar, amp and talent also help a little). I've often seen it discussed about bassists using guitar pedals but rarely do guitarists talk about using bass distortion pedals. Hopefully they don't all get wise and start buying up all our sweet pedals!

I'd like to hear these passive distortion controls Rod. That sounds really intriguing. If you can cascade them I'd like to put two in a tiny MXR style pedal box. How much do they sell for?

MysticBoo, have you ever tried the Duncan TwinTube? That is a great distortion pedal for bass as well as guitar.

The TwinTube? I've seen one or two, but never thought of giving them a whirl on bass.

I've only used two pedals on bass that were tube-loaded, come to think of it - an EHX English Muff'n and a Guyatone VTX Tremolo. Both were awesome in terms of tone and features, but had quirks that turned me off about them (in the Muff'n's case, the size and power supply... whereas with the Tremolo, it was because it had a loud incessant pulse when not playing).

So... tubes in pedals scare me.

MysticBoo, if you can find a Budda Phatman (they stopped making them) grab it ASAP... that's one of the nicest tube pedals ever, hands down. They have two guitar models which are also great, but the bass version is the proverbial shit.

+1 on the Twin Tube, I stole it from Andrew for a while... that's a great, versatile pedal.

What's the name of that little red Duncan pedal andrew? That thing is a trooper.

speaking of distortions, the guitarist for my band left his gear at my place and I was bored so I decided I would see how crappy his Boss PW-2 ("Power Driver") sounds on a bass, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised! I've never liked what the Boss ODs or DSs did to my bass signal (read as "I hate Boss distortions on bass") and I assumed the PW2 would do the same, but this thing sounded pretty freakin awesome. With some tweaks I could get everything from a subtle gain (with PLENTY of low-end) to a buzzsaw type fuzz sound, I really have to say I'm floored. I've never been a big fan of distortions for bass and thus haven't experimented with any of the more"boutique" type pedals, but the PW2 has just changed my mind... I will have one in the next few weeks, I Gayr-own-tee.

Basshappi's dirtbox list:

Danelectro Fab Tone
Danelectro Daddy-O
EHX Big Muff Pi (NYC)
EHX LBM
Ibanez TS9DX

Desire to Aquire:
Boss HM-2
Zvex Wolly Mammoth
Some type of Octavia-kinda-thingy

I could easily end up with far too many dirtboxes!