BASS Octave BASS Overdrive -That's what I need!

[Drengur Grar]

I am in the market for finding the ultimate octave and overdrive combination for a bass guitar. The problem I run into is the octave sounds like a computer and the overdrive kills the low-end and just doesn't give you enough ''BVVVV" sound that seems so unobtainable. Any ideas? Any boutique stuff or vintage pedals that I may be missing?

[GearJunkie]

Originally Posted by Drengur Grar

I am in the market for finding the ultimate octave and overdrive combination for a bass guitar. The problem I run into is the octave sounds like a computer and the overdrive kills the low-end and just doesn't give you enough ''BVVVV" sound that seems so unobtainable. Any ideas? Any boutique stuff or vintage pedals that I may be missing?

EBS OctaBass for the octaves. It rules.

Distortion, honestly, I love my Boss ODB-3. I've yet to find another pedal that has so much dynamic range in the distortion. Want it to sound like a preamp of a tube bass amp? Easily done. Wanna make it totally over the top? Easily done.

Don't fix it if it ain't broke.

Hartke BassAttack: Weak. The "shape" button is great, and the ability to have the XLR out is great and all, but it's a VERY VERY mild overdrive. I wouldn't even call it a distortion.

I've got an old Ross Distortion that I was using on my board for a while. The only reason I took it off was because it's old and I don't want it to get destroyed being packed in and out of smoky and dirty clubs. That pedal sounds AMAZING for bass. You're gonna have to ebay hunt for it, but it's great. It's a black pedal with yellow writing.

[Bellringer]

I used to use a boss OC3 (the brown octave pedal) with either a Big Muff or a Boss Bass overdrive (yellow one). I prefer the Muff with the octave, though most of the band I was in liked the Boss OD. The Boss had a little more definition to the notes but lacked the kind of low end tone I wanted. The Muff didn't have as much note definition. I also suggest trying a MuTron (just the filter, cut the attack to 0) with a Big Muff. The sound is hard to explain but reminds me of the beginning of the Beasties "Sabotage" bass riff.

[Nubus]

The biggest bummer was getting home to find out that my Digitech Whammy II took like half a second to process sound. Pretty much never saw any use just because of that. The drummer could instantly tell that Iwas playing behind the beat. Drummer stops song to say: "Somethings wrong. (makes confused face)"

[GearJunkie]

Originally Posted by Nubus

The biggest bummer was getting home to find out that my Digitech Whammy II took like half a second to process sound. Pretty much never saw any use just because of that. The drummer could instantly tell that Iwas playing behind the beat. Drummer stops song to say: "Somethings wrong. (makes confused face)"

I live by my Whammy II. It's my favorite pedal going. Sounds like something's wrong with yours. Mine tracks fine. It's got the same chip as the original WH1, as well as allowing for footswitching ability. the new whammys sound like crap.

[Nubus]

I think it's fine, just doesn't work for me cause I play bass. Most guitarists love it.

[Nubus]

Now you got me thinking... at one point I did have to return it to Digitech for repair. Man that was so long ago....

[GearJunkie]

Originally Posted by Nubus

I think it's fine, just doesn't work for me cause I play bass. Most guitarists love it.

they made a bass whammy for a while. it looks just like the whammy II but it's blue. takes the lower frequencies in it.

it's hard to find and if you do find it (hello eBay!) it'll be expensive as all hell.

[Nubus]

Coooool I wanna find that one