Uncompressed Tubey Mild Transparent OD?

#41
jimfist said:
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. ;)
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I hate using that word but I do use it from time to time. It's a quick and easy reference for me to use when I want to describe an OD that doesn't color my naked signal that much if at all. Just adds some drive or grit into the signal. Like @NKBassman said above, pedals like DG, certain preamps like a rusty box or VT that instill their own sound and flavor to the signal. That is not transparent to me. To me, something like the Pure Sky or depending on how you set it the MBD1 can be that way. But then I don't really want a pedal to be THAT transparent. Then what's the reason to use it?! I like different colors and shades and flavors to color my sound. Heck your amp and especially your cab in most cases will color your bass's tone the most.

I really want to try a TC Spark as well.
 
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#42
gregmon79 said:
I hate using that word but I do use it from time to time. It's a quick and easy reference for me to use when I want to describe an OD that doesn't color my naked signal that much if at all. Just adds some drive or grit into the signal. Like @NKBassman said above, pedals like DG, certain preamps like a rusty box or VT that instill their own sound and flavor to the signal. That is not transparent to me. To me, something like the Pure Sky or depending on how you set it the MBD1 can be that way. But then I don't really want a pedal to be THAT transparent. Then what's the reason to use it?! I like different colors and shades and flavors to color my sound. Heck your amp and especially your cab in most cases will color your bass's tone the most.

I really want to try a TC Spark as well.
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Yeah, I get it. I guess if I wanted to guarantee the my "core" tone could be left as-is, I'd go about it by looking for a pedal with a wet/dry mix feature, or use a pedal like the Boss LS-2 that allowed me to layer the drive atop my original signal in varying amounts. That opens up a whole new set of possibilities, since you can use drive pedals which, on their own, might not be suitable for the stated purpose of "transparency". ehhh...nevermind.
 
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#43
I just think 'transparent' means that your bass still sounds like your bass, even when the drive is on. Meaning, the fundamental EQ shape is still apparent even among all the new harmonic content added by the dirt. (forgive if this is a repetition, I skipped the 2nd page for some reason and now I've typed it already.)
 
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#45
mmbongo said:
Definitely not a Barbershop. Too farty and 'sharp peircing distortion' sounding.

Check out Creation Audio Grizzly, Solid gold Beta, and TC Spark.
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Barbershop is not a distortion pedal, it's a mild overdrive. :)
If you try using it as a distortion pedal, asking it to do something it was not meant to do, it won't do that as well as it will do it's designated job.
 
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#46
donahue said:
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.
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I have tried most on your list above and keep coming back to my VMT Deluxe for the tone you describe. Your avatar is the VMT however stepping up to the deluxe gives you a few more options and sounded noticeably better to my ears.
 
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#48
Crazy Otto said:
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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Yeah, the whole “Barbershop-as-kazoo” thing has been long ago debunked. I’ve had 3 or so of them, and fed them with passive and active basses, hot and mild signals, run them high and low gain, stacked and unstacked, used them live and in practice...and, no, they don’t sound like farty kazoos at all. They sound pretty amazing. :)

Anyway, back to the OP - maybe a CCP Valvecaster/Bugcaster, or one of the Broughton tube-based circuits - those have real life tubes in them. Or for less expensive and easier to access, I really love my Southampton Fifth Gear and Hudson Broadcast for doing exactly what you are looking for. Another option - Diamond Compressor. Very very mild compressing, and oozes tonal magic in a fattening and rich way. Best of all - add together all of the above! :)
 
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#49
This thread confirms my thinking that everyone has different ears and rigs. I’ve seen a few of the usual suspects suggested and a few “you can’t be serious” ones named. I do own 6 different basses and a few overdrives. I’ve found the combination of bass, pedal, and voice of the amp and cab are pretty influential.

Compression and coloration are bound to happen as a byproduct of clipping and exciting harmonic content. The question is, what range do you want the harmonics?

I think one route to consider is to gets blend pedal like the Mosquite and work in a low gain sound, or get a pedal with a blend built in. Blending higher gain sounds can be challenging, trying to make it sound like a single layer. Lower gain hasn’t been as tricky for me. YMMV.

That said, the Darkglass blend is pretty good, and I don’t find their lower gain sounds terribly compressed. I’d lean towards the B3K then AO, for transparency when blended. The new B3 does have an eq option to remove the mid cut baked in, but I haven’t heard it. I haven’t been a big suggester as DG stuff for high gain, but I’ve been playing the 900 head for a while, and come to appreciate the lower gain, blended sounds.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the Aftershock high gain sounds, but there were some sounds in there I liked. If you’re down to experiment and program, then I’d bet you could get that box to fit the OP request.

Rumor has it that the JGR Gasoline might fit the bill, but those are expensive and not easy to get.

I think the W&C Phat Phuk would get my attention, as would the Creation Grizzly and Brimstone. I’ve not played these.
 
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#50
I have three faves for different types-

Slight "Overdrive"; Tronographic Rusty Box. I'm sure people here are getting sick of me propping this thing, but I just like how it sounds. It gets as gritty as you need, without losing the instrument's character, and yet DOES impart it's own sonic over the sound too! Weird, I know, but think playing any bass into an old G-K head- you get still get the sound of the instrument AND the amp as well. Similar, yet different!

More "Overdrive"; Guitar PCB's "Guitar Bass Driver" (or as I've labeled it in my rig, "The Bass Driver). The circuit for this is ALMOST a clone of the SFT pedal. A bit more guitar oriented, IMHO, but still able to get stoner-dirt, while not losing bottom end.

Crazy Stupid "Overdrive/Fuzz"; Earthtone Pi. My guitarist's little cottage thing is building pedals under the "Earthtone" moniker. He did up a pretty decent clone of a Green Russian Big Muff, and tweaked for more bottom end. It's the kind of pedal that is the bass players' equivalent of "keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all time" fuzz. If you even think of letting go of the strings, you WILL be greeted with the swell of feedback and distortion. I love this thing for that massive sustain and controllable feedback. BUT, it in no way lets your instrument's tone come through- lots of bottom end, lots of fuzz and lots of sizzle. P-Bass? J-Bass? Ricky? MM? Doesn't matter. Get ready for a buzzing bass tone!
 
#54
I did a very similar search and posted something like this thread on TB. I wanted very mild overdrive, with no scoop, no buzzy distortion, and something that didn't change the underpinning tone. Mids are very important to me. I had been through a few Tech 21 Sansamp pedals and overdrive units, always dissatisfied. The two most frequent recommendations from TB were the Grizzly and Barbershop. I decided to try the Grizzly and never looked back. It is transparent in the sense that your tone doesn't change, there's no scoop, and there is no loss of low end. When you kick in the pedal, it still sounds like your bass and your tone. I have also found the high cut (low pass filter) and IRONICALLY the mid scoop to be very useful when used alongside OD and/or distortion. By pulling back treble and mids - very slightly - it thickens the sounds, giving it girth and leaving no buzzy distortion artifacts. This comes from a person who hates scooped sound. But it somehow pulling back treble/mids a smidge fattens the tone without sucking the life out note definition, etc. It's completely controllable, vs other pedals that give you a baked in sound (scooped, muffled, or whatever).

Anyway, another in a long list of thumbs up for the Grizzly. Transparent, touch sensitive and very flexible.
 
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#55
donahue said:
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 :)
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I don't know but when you find it let me know!!!

I will add these unsolicited comments to each of your requests because this is the kind of stuff that keeps me up at night.

1. mild overdrive - easily achievable by many great pedals. The crucial thing that keeps things mild is less clipping of the low frequencies and strong filtering of the highs so mid focused pedals do mild overdrive really well.

2. not compressed - possibly something with higher than normal headroom like a pedal that runs at 18 or more volts and does not rely on standard Si clipping diodes.

3. not scooped - avoid amp-in-the-box typed pedals.

4. not a distortion or fuzz - easy enough. One crucial element though is that any high output basses can turn friendly overdrives into raging beasts.

5. is fairly to very transparent - goes back to the avoiding pedals that try and cop a tone (like the aforementioned amp-in-a-box type pedals). The difficult thing here is that clipping is not transparent and the pre- & de-emphasis that is necessary to make the clipping pleasing is not transparent.

6. and adds a nice amount of thick tubey - I think of this as either warmth in the low mids (Marshall style) or Scooped but thick (Fender style) or angry (SVT/V4 on blast). These are all great sounds but not transparent.

7. mild od goodness - one man's goodness is another man's scooped, is another man's transparent, is another man's sterile.

Something that ticks all the boxes for me would be a tube pre/overdrive like a Verellen Meatsmoke pre or something similar. It is a tube preamp-in-a-box but I think they're pretty flexible (to avoid any baked in or scooped tone). Something I'd suggest on a budget would be a Way Huge Green Rhino. It misses the mark slightly in the "not compressed" compartment but if you don't drive it to hard then it's not a problem. It does have a sort of a mid honk to it but the newer ones have an active mid control I believe.

Good luck!
 
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