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Yo Bass Guitarists *Distortion Devices*


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Yeah I know ,there was a thread on Distortion a while ago.

Considering the thread quickly went off topic (I believe Amps were banned from the thread) and it was mainly guitarists that posted.

 

I want to hear only from Bass Guitar dudes. What dope distortion/saturation box's are available, what do u use an why??

 

I intend to use such a device on dark bass sounds generated by various synths. Distortions in many synths are ok, but........ I want that something more to get a dark sinister sound. Keep in mind, after the signal is distorted to my likings, i'd like to be able to filter the signal thru a Hi-Pass or Band Pass filter.

 

Speakin of Filters. Anyone use or recommend any Filter boxes?

 

Nice to hear from yo all.

 

ketone

 

 

[This message has been edited by ketone (edited 06-30-2000).]

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I FIND THE BEST DISTORTION COMES RIGHT BEFORE YOUR EQUIPMENT BLOWS UP. TAKE ANY PROCESSOR YOU OWN AND CRANK THE INPUT. ANYWHERE THERE'S A GAIN STAGE, CLIP IT(EXCEPT ON THE WAY OUT)

IT'S HIT OR MISS, BUT IF YOU'RE GOING FOR THAT BLUE WHALE STABBED IN THE STOMACH WHILE TOURING MAMMOTH CAVE SOUND, THIS IS IT.

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  • 2 weeks later...

My favorite box for bass distortion is also my favorite for guitar, the Quadrafuzz. This is a do-it-yourself project that I wrote up back in the 80s (PAIA Electronics sells a kit of parts, and Steinberg sells a plug-in version for computer-based systems). The Quadrafuzz works well for bass because it splits the signal into four different bands, and each one can be distorted individually. Single-band distortion typically adds too many high frequencies, so the bass ends up sounding tinny unless you follow it up with EQ. With the split-band design, you can just add a taste of distortion on the low notes to add "growl," and pull back a bit on the highs. The main reason I designed the Quadrafuzz in the first place was because I didn't like the sound of any commercially available distortion device.

 

The biggest problem with it is all the controls and switches, which makes it very difficult to recall favorite settings. That's one reason I like the plug-in so much -- I can save patches!

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ketone,

 

As far as bass guitar distortion goes, type "distortion" into the search engine at the Bottom Line's homepage and leave yourself a lot of time to read the posts. www.magpie.com/tbl . Lots of great comments. It all depends on what you want for that distorted sound -- some people sweat by cheap RAT and DOD pedals. For others, nothing short of an all-tube setup will do.

 

I can give you a list of stuff to try, but it's so bloody subjective that you probably should just read the reviews and hear stuff yourself.

 

Wow. Quadrafuzz I don't have to build? And it's cheap too! I'm for sure picking that up.

 

--JES

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A couple more Quadrafuzz thoughts since there seems to be some interest...

 

* The plug-in is far more versatile than the hardware box, with variable-width filters and stuff. But of course, you can't put the software in a rack

 

* Steinberg is very generous in giving me credit for the Quadrafuzz design, but I had nothing to do with the code, I just gave them the idea and a hardware Quadrafuzz to research. Spectral Design did the hard work; luckily the guy doing the code is a guitarist, so he "got" the concept immediately.

 

* It sounds really good on drums as well as bass.

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Demeter for DI

RSP tube saturator for warmth

TLA tube saturator for distortion

Roger Mayer Rocket Octavia for wild distortion

Moogerfooger for lowpass filter and resonance

Urei 1176 for compression

 

And now I got a Bass POD...hmmm...anyone want to buy all the other sh*t? http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/tongue.gif

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A fairly clean distortion(is that such a thing??) that i have found and is relevantly inexpensive is the SansAmp Tech-21 Bass DI. is is not only a great DI but has a pretty good distortion sound for the money. Also i have heard good thing about the Line 6 Bass POD.

good luck

dan

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