Bass Overdrives with six-stringers

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BintyTwanger77BintyTwanger77 Frets: 2208
edited February 2017 in FX

Anyone here using a bass overdrive when playing the bass's well-known six-stringed cousin (which I believe is called the "guitar"? Joe Bonamassa endorses them...)?

Just wondering why you might choose to and what they bring to your tone that another drive wouldn't. I think Jonsi uses them.

I ask because I like the look of the Dark Glass stuff, and I saw that their Vintage Microtubes Deluxe drive is a bass pedal. Any insight helpful. Ta!

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Comments

  • The bass version of the EHX Soul Food is supposed to be excellent with guitar, there are a few videos of it and it seems to work well.  
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  • StrangefanStrangefan Frets: 5845
    edited February 2017
    I do it the other way , bass through Guitar fx, the Digitech tone driver plays really well with my bass, in fact all my fx do, something I struggle to see the point in buying fx for specifically bass or guitar :P0
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  • guitarfishbayguitarfishbay Frets: 7953
    edited February 2017
    Pros -

    Usually there's a clean blend, which can be nice if you're running a drive pedal into something already driven and want to keep a lot of the fundamental sound and just add some hair on top.  This usually also retains low end.  Even bass pedals without a clean blend do tend to be voiced to retain low end.

    Tone - always going to be subjective, but my own subjective opinion is the flatter sounding ones should work pretty well on guitar (and that would include the Vintage Microtubes).

    Cons -

    EQ points could be below what'd be useful on a guitar.  For example any pedal with a 40hz bass knob probably isn't going to be much use on a guitar, but an 80-100hz bass knob would be fine (again Vintage Microtubes pedal will be 100hz IIRC, Sansamps tended to be at 80hz IIRC).  If the EQ is left fairly flat it won't matter anyway, I just personally wouldn't try to put a whole load of deep bass through a guitar speaker

    Some of the scooped bass distortion pedals sound quite extremely scooped on guitar.  I have used an MXR M80 as a guitar distortion before and it worked ok providing the mids were run very high (run flat it was very scooped).  If there's a way to dial the mids back in it'll probably be fine though.
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  • Pros -

    Usually there's a clean blend, which can be nice if you're running a drive pedal into something already driven and want to keep a lot of the fundamental sound and just add some hair on top.  This usually also retains low end.  Even bass pedals without a clean blend do tend to be voiced to retain low end.

    Tone - always going to be subjective, but my own subjective opinion is the flatter sounding ones should work pretty well on guitar (and that would include the Vintage Microtubes).

    Cons -

    EQ points could be below what'd be useful on a guitar.  For example any pedal with a 40hz bass knob probably isn't going to be much use on a guitar, but an 80-100hz bass knob would be fine (again Vintage Microtubes pedal will be 100hz IIRC, Sansamps tended to be at 80hz IIRC).  If the EQ is left fairly flat it won't matter anyway, I just personally wouldn't try to put a whole load of deep bass through a guitar speaker

    Some of the scooped bass distortion pedals sound quite extremely scooped on guitar.  I have used an MXR M80 as a guitar distortion before and it worked ok providing the mids were run very high (run flat it was very scooped).  If there's a way to dial the mids back in it'll probably be fine though.
    The Vintage Miccrotubes would be going into a Mesa Rectoverb 25W (on both clean/pushed & vintage/modern gain channels), if that makes a difference.
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  • A fair few "bass" drive pedals are just rebranded or very slightly tweaked guitar pedals anyway.. Ehx Bass big muff, for example, is a standard Russian big muff circuit with a bass boost switch.

    I like using guitar distortion for bass (Boss Metal Zone is the best), but I use bass Wah for guitar, because it doesn't give that heinous top-end fingers-down-blackboard sound that normal guitar wahs do.
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  • Skip to 1:55 here, guitar playthrough of the VMT pedal.  Sounds like it'll work fine to me.


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  • The Catalinbread SFT and D*A*M Ezekiel 25:17 are quite popular with guitarists.
    My wife asked me to stop singing Wonderwall.
    I said maybe.....
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  • Bass big muff sounds great on guitar
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  • Boss Bass Overdrive works for guitar, ask King Buzzo from The Melvins.
    My trading feedback can be seen here - http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/58242/
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71963

    I like using guitar distortion for bass (Boss Metal Zone is the best)
    I think you've just given me an excuse to buy one :).

    Although if it replaces my Hyper Fuzz I'll be astonished.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • ICBM said:

    I like using guitar distortion for bass (Boss Metal Zone is the best)
    I think you've just given me an excuse to buy one :).

    Although if it replaces my Hyper Fuzz I'll be astonished.

    @ICBM if you ever get the chance also try the MD2.  It probably needs a clean blend for deep low end but as far as a bass distortion goes I think it is pretty good, I prefer it to the MT2 anyway.
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