This wasn't my experience with the Barbershop with a passive bass, I think it's pretty sensitive to what kind of signal is being fed to it. Regardless, it's not a pedal I would ever use for high gain...but I love it as a low gain drive.
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Uncompressed Tubey Mild Transparent OD?
- Thread starter donahue
- Start date
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- fat od transparent
This wasn't my experience with the Barbershop with a passive bass, I think it's pretty sensitive to what kind of signal is being fed to it. Regardless, it's not a pedal I would ever use for high gain...but I love it as a low gain drive.
My first "which pedal" thread. What is your favorite mild overdrive pedal that is not compressed at all, not scooped, not a distortion or fuzz, is fairly to very transparent, and adds a nice amount of thick tubey, mild od goodness? Am I looking for a Fairfield Barbershop? Idk? Please suggest your favorite mild od and why please. I would like to get my hands on a real keeper od pedal. I have plenty of distortion and fuzz but want an awesome mild not wild overdrive. Thanks
I was quite surprised at the Cadine Pure Sky. That is a very tube like drive. Barely there all the way to hot pushed tubes. Great on the low end too. That and the Pork Loin would be my top 2 choices for that type of drive. Or the Barbershop. Which I've never played. The One Control Green Hookers Bass Machine was really good too.
I agree with the Grizzly Bass suggestions- transparent, but with the option for color, and very touch-sensitive at the right setting.
That looks interesting, and not expensive. How do you like it?
Digitech Hardwire Tube overdrive. Very neutral sounding. I have that one and the Bad Monkey and they are both amazing overdrive pedals
The Grizzly unless it's a passive trebel-ly bass (like a passive Jazz), then the Beta. It adds the perfect girth to bright basses.
I prefer the Joyo Orange Juice to the VT bass, again, unless you need to add low end, then back to the VT.
I prefer the Joyo Orange Juice to the VT bass, again, unless you need to add low end, then back to the VT.
I still stand by my old HAO Sole Pressure for that level of OD. It makes everything sound full and rich.
I like it! It thickens and gets that tube-y goodness with minimal fuss and muss. I'm really amazed that it's not more popular here on TB.
Shucks....I've done lots of research trying to get a good low gain or drive going, and never once did this pedal come up in my searches.
I love the Southampton Fifth Gear for this, as well as the Grizzly and the Barbershop. Out of these three, I’m most impressed with the touch sensitivity and transparency of the 5th Gear.
Wow, thanks for the replies! Great suggestions. I get the compression thing, I was meaning not highly compressed, I should have been more clear.
There are several named that were on my radar such as the Barbershop, Fifth Gear, Beta, Spark, Tonehammer (been wanting to try). The Grizzly came up alot as well. I've heard about that pedal, but know nothing about it. The Spark is the lowest priced one I have seen so I have to look at that also. I have gear research to do, which I love doing.
There are several named that were on my radar such as the Barbershop, Fifth Gear, Beta, Spark, Tonehammer (been wanting to try). The Grizzly came up alot as well. I've heard about that pedal, but know nothing about it. The Spark is the lowest priced one I have seen so I have to look at that also. I have gear research to do, which I love doing.
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Another vote here for the TC Spark. I use it primarily as a boost for solos but add just a tiny bit of hair (I'm not a OD sound kind of guy at all). Good eq also.
I'm gonna go the totally opposite direction as the many amazing pedals mentioned here, and say that I had a similar desire for a tubey- over driven tone to add dirt on top of my lines that are picked, but couldn't have bottom loss because I am in a three piece.
I settled on the ridiculously cheap joyo tai-chi overdrive, and haven't regretted a single second of it. With the gain at zero, it let's softly picked lines through with clear bottom end. When I play harder, it breaks up in a very natural way.... I believe the term is "hairy". Just a bit of dirt.
When I dig in with a pick for rocking/punky songs, it has a consistent deep growl that is very natural, like you had a naturally growly bass and naturally growly strings, and then had the gain up on an ampeg. Lol.
( In all fairness, I'm playing a Warwick with sunbeams into a genzbenz. )
I find the "useable" portion of the overdrive to be between 0-5. Above that, it is far too much for my needs. The tone and volume are great and interact with each other and the drive. Lots of great options in a simple cheap box.
*shrug*
Its like, $40. Lol.
Ymmv
I settled on the ridiculously cheap joyo tai-chi overdrive, and haven't regretted a single second of it. With the gain at zero, it let's softly picked lines through with clear bottom end. When I play harder, it breaks up in a very natural way.... I believe the term is "hairy". Just a bit of dirt.
When I dig in with a pick for rocking/punky songs, it has a consistent deep growl that is very natural, like you had a naturally growly bass and naturally growly strings, and then had the gain up on an ampeg. Lol.
( In all fairness, I'm playing a Warwick with sunbeams into a genzbenz. )
I find the "useable" portion of the overdrive to be between 0-5. Above that, it is far too much for my needs. The tone and volume are great and interact with each other and the drive. Lots of great options in a simple cheap box.
*shrug*
Its like, $40. Lol.
Ymmv
I'm having trouble wrapping my head around the concept of a "transparent" overdrive? What exactly does that mean? If a tone is being overdriven to any extent, does this not mean, by definition, that it is no longer transparent?
No worries...it's just me. Sorry to digress...as you were.
No worries...it's just me. Sorry to digress...as you were.
I'm having trouble wrapping my head around the concept of a "transparent" overdrive? What exactly does that mean? If a tone is being overdriven to any extent, does this not mean, by definition, that it is no longer transparent?
No worries...it's just me. Sorry to digress...as you were.
Some pedals impart a very strong sonic footprint of their own to the tone (Sansamp and Darkglass come to mind). Others sound much more natural with just some added character on top of the natural tone of your instrument.
I'm having trouble wrapping my head around the concept of a "transparent" overdrive? What exactly does that mean? If a tone is being overdriven to any extent, does this not mean, by definition, that it is no longer transparent?
No worries...it's just me. Sorry to digress...as you were.
Not to open a can of worms, but.... I came across this vid from Brian Wampler just last night LOL. For guitar, but applicable to bass. Funny thing is, someone left a comment that a specific Wampler pedal is the most transparent.
I recently got the TC Mojo mojo and found that it's quite sensitive to my dynamics. You do not lose any low-end with this pedal, it actually adds warmth, especially when the drive knob is turned all the way down. You can get a totally clean, vintage tube tone like that. It can go from totally clean to pretty damn saturated and all for a low price.
I LOVE Walrus pedals. The Messner, Voyager, or 385 could fit the bill for any of those you described.