Bass distortion recommendations?

[Seashore]

I used an MXR Distortion III in a parallel processing setup alongside a compressor, and I was happy with it, but the pedal got destroyed. I like to blend the mid to high end of a saturated, gritty distortion with a rounder, cleaner sound that carries the lows. I could just replace what I had but I figure I can do better, and maybe knock some other pedals (eq, compressor, gate) off my board, depending on features. I'm probably not looking for a fuzz unless it's very flexible, not super impressed with the Darkglass stuff I've heard. Guitar pedals that sound good with bass, bass-specific pedals, preamp/AIB... any suggestions?

[Securb]

My bass player is using the 1st gen Burton Morley fuzz wah and it sounds fantastic.

[Seashore]

My bass player is using the 1st gen Burton Morley fuzz wah and it sounds fantastic.

This wouldn't fit what I need but it looks fun as a special effect. I'm thinking something along the lines of an Aftershock or a Pork & Pickle, I just don't know what else might be the best fit out there.

[Aceman]

We had a sit in guy using one of the new reissue Expandora pedals and I thought it sounded really good.

[donaldr]

I really like the Teemah! distortion model for bass in my Line 6 HX Effects.
I like the Scambler distortion in my Ampeg SCR DI, when not pushed to hard.
A Tech21 BDDI preamp can be pushed to usable distortion if not overdone and using the blend knob.
Have a look at the Tech21 YYZ (Geddy Lee) pedal, the DP-3X (dUg Pinnick) sansamp and the SH1 (Steve Harris) sansamp .

[Seashore]

Cheers guys. Expandora bass version looks promising. So do the YYZ and dUg preamps. I have a a couple different signal chains for bass on the HX Effects, but that's going to be dedicated to guitar for this project, as is the old Traynor tube head I usually use for bass. I'm reworking the rig around a newer Traynor bass head with decent clean sound and EQ but crappy onboard distortion. I know the sound I want, but I don't know how best to get there with this gear.

I have a sort of kludgy parallel processing setup right now with a splitter, a compressor on one side, and an overdrive followed by EQ on the other. They're pretty much always on. The overdrive isn't a great fit in this rig but it's my only working dirt pedal now. I figured, as long as I'm replacing the MXR distortion, why not get something less kludgy that can do more of what the board is doing.

In addition to your recs and the Source Aftershock and Way Huge Pork & Pickle, the other ones I'm thinking about are Damnation MBD, EHX Battalion, and Darkglass Microtubes X. On paper any of this stuff should work but I haven't used most of it and no idea how it'll interact with this bass rig. I'm also wondering if something like a Wampler Gear Box or one of their other big box pedals might have flexible enough EQ to do justice to bass.

[El Dunco]

People absolutely rave about the Darkglass bass pedals. I have two Boss ODB-3s. One is modded for a warmer, fatter overdrive but the gritty rasp of the original absolutely has its place.

[marcello252]

seen a lot of pros using a Big Muff with good results

[Seashore]

I found the 1/8" power adapter cable for my old Big Muff, fired it up, and was instantly reminded why I never use it. Zero definition. I always want to like a fuzz sound on bass and I never quite do.

I found a tone I can live with through my existing setup - cranking one side of the Saturnworks to boost the crap out of the OD9 for saturation, then cutting the lows and mids with the EQ so it isn't boomy, while having the compressor dialed in mildly underneath. Luckily no phase issues.




No great way for me to post clips right now. I'm still getting set back up. The extra cable coming out of the "send" on the noise gate is for a direct signal for recording. Hopefully I'm not stuck with this setup by the time we start playing live, but I guess it'll work until I can afford something better. Maybe just another HX Effects.