unarmedman wrote:I have also used a danelectro Fab Tone, and EH Big Muff USA, but never been totally thrilled with either.

I've got a FabTone too, I'm trying to figure out some sort of deranged mod to do to it...

anyone have experience with different pedals and traynor amps?
I've played a ts- 200 solid state with boss o/db and bluesdriver, proco rat...
now i have a yba3 tube head and looking for the best pedal.
i play a pbass with seymour duncan pickups.
everything i try is a little too muddy as we play relatively fast.
thanks for your help, low budget keeps me from buying a bunch to try so any help is appreciated.

How much dirt do you need for your purposes?

Something to keep in mind is that with bass distortion you sometimes are better off with the heavy metal - smash box distortion pedals. Specifically because the additional tone controls allow you to knock out some of the high end in the distortion leaving room for the guitars but leaving in some middle so that the tone is not muddy.

As well you can split you signal path and have the distortion and original signal blended so that you have you full bass tone without any loss of bottom through boxes and the effected tone by blending them you can get a lot of clarity with tons of distortion and feedback as well.

Sometimes haveing a effected sub octive can be a interesting sound.

Humphrey Bear wrote:
Unlike most people I don't need piles of effects and pedals to get a good sound. If you don't sound good when plugged straight into an amp, you should consider playing another instrument or not playing at all.

Statements like these are lame and tiresome. The greateast guitar players in history used stompboxes, often lots of them. Many depended on them to get their sound.
Right, let's see, by this logic Hendrix must have sucked. Page, Beck, Van Halen, Roger Miller, Andy Gill, Steven Drozd, David Gilmour, Jonny Grennwood, Andy Summers - they all suck. Fan boy magnet number one, and our benevolent board leader Steve Albini - sucks. A guitarist that I think sucked, but has legions of fans, SRV, loved a pedal or two. Kevin Shields - magna suck

Talent and stompbox use have no correlation whatsoever. I can think of very few examples of guitarists who, without the pedals, aren't really playing competantly.

That said, nothing beats amp distortion, but for the extra push, or if I need to have a very clean mode so I rely on pedals for distortion, I love the Rat.
Currently in my chain I have a Boss SD1 Overdrive, a Mentone King of Brits, and a Smart People Factory Ego Boost, and no Rat. That set up is just what I need for the band I'm in now. If I had to pick one though, the Rat is the most versatile thing made.
My favorite of all time is the Ross Distortion (Harmony put out the same box with their branding). It's just perfect. The Fender Blender is excellent as well.

Never understood the cult of the Tube Screamer though. Why do people gush over tht thing so much? I have a clone of it, the Smart People Factory Green Line. I'm probably going to sell it.

-A

(200th Post!)

i want a pretty maxed out, but precise sound.
im not sure if that makes any sense...
thanks for the tip about the metal smash boxes, and i had been thinking about trying to split the signal.
are green box big muffs that great?
i've heard bassists use them and disliked it.
sansamp?
should i try and get a bluebeard?

I don't like the Big Muff on bass. My experience is only with the Double Muff, but it doesn't distort the lower frequencies very well.

I second the vote for any type of "Heavy Metal" pedal. I use a Rocktron Metal Planet for bass. It has a 4 band e.q. so I can dial in what I need, from 60's psych fuzz to nasal to death.
My best pal used to play in Archers of Loaf, and he uses a Boss Heavy Metal pedal. It sounds great.
I think these sorts of pedals are just so over-the-top, that they do what needs to be done for bass fuzz.

If you have one, Rats actually do nicely on bass, since their EQ is pretty great. Really, for guitar, bass, or even vocals, everyone should have one of these in their tool box. You can get them used for 50 bucks. I go years without using mine. Then I find that I need it for something, and it's there waiting for me.

For a little grit, but not outright fuzz, an overdrive pedal, like the Boss models, are excellent. It will give you the same sound as a hard driven amp with a pre-gain, like some Ampegs, or the G-K, even if you have a simpler amp.

-A

If you ever find yourself with $300 to go through, the ZVex Woolly Mammoth is the sickest thing I've ever heard on bass.

Fulldrive 2 into a Boss Super Octave set to 'drive' mode = pure sickness...

Another vote for the trusty Marshal Guvnor. Plenty dynamic, and retains definition at fairly high drive settings.

I also use a hand-built replica of a fuzz face, but it picks up the radio which can be a little irritating.