Bass Distortion

[CFA]

So I was looking into a new Distortion pedal, and wanted to know your guys opinions. I'm leaning towards a Big Muff because my favorite bass distortion tone was Cliff Burton's, and he used a Big Muff (To my knowledge). But this brings up another problem in my search for my perfect Distortion, to my understanding he used the Guitar one.

So my questions to all those out there are what would be the main difference(s) between the Regular Big Muff, and the Bass one, and what model (or other distortion) would you recommend?

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I'm not really sure where else to ask, and I didn't really get an answer from the search function...

EDIT: And I should probably mention I'm looking to spend around 100 dollars.

 

[MingusBASS]

Get the bass Big Muff or spend another $50 and get the VT Bass pedal from Tech21. The problem with most distortion pedals(even the bass specific models) is that you lose a lot of low end. With the VT Bass you can eq the lows back into your sound.

I really like the Fulltone BassDrive also. That's what I have on my pedal board for live shows.

 

[mynan]

I use a Diesel Dawg. I like it because it doesn't suck all of the bass out. Also, I can get a nice, gritty sound without it being too fuzzy. Most of the other pedals I've tried just make fuzz...nothing between clean and fuzzy.

 

[oli@bass]

For my "small" setup, I use the Tech 21 SansAmp Programmable Bass Driver D.I. The 3 programmable settings are used for different levels of overdrive / distortion.

On the "large" setup a hand made pedal from a guy in Germany named Alfred Overdrive going into a SansAmp R.B.I. The RBI is used for a basic slight overdrive, while the Alfred is added for some very aggressive guitar like overdrive.

 

[CFA]

Thanks for the replies. So the biggest difference between a bass overdrive and a guitar one (If both were used with a bass) is that the bass one would have a better low end? I'll try all the suggestions made that I can find around, and thanks again for said suggestions.

 

[oli@bass]

Many of the overdrive/distortion units desigend especially for bass allow you to blend the dry and effected signal in order for the signal neither to loose too much bas nor to be too muddy.

 

[Slingy]

'm not a real bass player, but when I want to add some fuzz to some recorded bass lines, I split the signal with high and low pass filters, and only fuzz the high end. I really like the resulting sound. If there are any pedals that can do this I would be interested.

 

[ggunn]

Thanks for the replies. So the biggest difference between a bass overdrive and a guitar one (If both were used with a bass) is that the bass one would have a better low end? I'll try all the suggestions made that I can find around, and thanks again for said suggestions.

It's not necessarily universal, but yes, many distortion units that are not designed specifically for bass drastically cut low frequencies.

 

[CFA]

I was starting to lean towards a regular Big Muff, since I need a pedal for my guitars, and I already have a ODB-3 that I find alright on bass.. but then I found myself on Electro-Harmonix site and listened to a short clip with the Bass Big Muff and I'm sold.. haha. Thanks for the suggestions and information. I'll still try the mentioned pedals if I can find them, just to make sure though.

 

[Aussie Mark]

I use the Tech 21 SansAmp Programmable Bass Driver D.I. The 3 programmable settings are used for different levels of overdrive / distortion.

+1

The beauty of the Sansamp compared to most guitar-based OD pedals is the fact that the wet and dry signals can be mixed, whereas some other OD pedals only provide the wet signal, which when used with bass often results in the bottom end disappearing.

 

[Hellboy]

EBS Multidrive is the best distortion pedal for bass I´ve tried this far. Like it alot. Very all round and it sounds great. Try it out. I´m sure you won´t get disapointed.

Sincerely//Jan

 

[DJBenzBass]

Since you want to stay close to $100.00, I would recommend checking out the MXR Bass D.I.+ for the following reasons:
1. The distortion is good, and you can blend it with the clean tone.
2. It's a D.I. as well. Many reasons to have that, especially as a backup.
3. Gate switch.
4. 3 band E.Q.
5. The "Color" switch sounds great.

I'm not much into pedals, but this one is always in my case at every gig. Never know.
Plug a Stingray into this pedal, and have fun!

So I was looking into a new Distortion pedal, and wanted to know your guys opinions. I'm leaning towards a Big Muff because my favorite bass distortion tone was Cliff Burton's, and he used a Big Muff (To my knowledge). But this brings up another problem in my search for my perfect Distortion, to my understanding he used the Guitar one.

So my questions to all those out there are what would be the main difference(s) between the Regular Big Muff, and the Bass one, and what model (or other distortion) would you recommend?

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I'm not really sure where else to ask, and I didn't really get an answer from the search function...

EDIT: And I should probably mention I'm looking to spend around 100 dollars.

 

[strummer]

EBS Multidrive is the best distortion pedal for bass I´ve tried this far. Like it alot. Very all round and it sounds great. Try it out. I´m sure you won´t get disapointed.

Sincerely//Jan

+1

Ok maybe it's because we're swedes, but it really is an awesome little pedal

 

[DJ Jazzy Death]

I just picked up a Fulltone Fulldrive 2. I absolutely love it. The distortion feels very connected with my bass, unlike a lot of other pedals I've used. Check out the specs here:

Fulltone | Fulldrive2

 

[DJ Jazzy Death]

Dammit... I just noticed they sell a distortion pedal specifically for bass. Haven't tried it but check this out:

http://www.fulltone.com/bd.asp