bass distortion

[peterjack]

which has a great tone?

i have used the rat and was very unsucessful. also, i hear the big muff + orange is no good... any suggestions?

[Boy_Narf]

Rat needs a clean blend then it works okay. Check out the fuzzrocious rat tail if you like the rat sound.

the TAFM fuzz machine is highly regarded on talk bass.

Another very popular one is the Way Huge Pork loin.

I've used a Bass BB preamp for years and it sounds great on everything I play it with. Just recently added a clean blender and it works ever better.

The bass big muff is terrible. I sold it 5 minutes after I got it.

GL!

[OU818]

I run a RAT WFRI in the loop of a One Control Mosquite Blender. Gives all the fuzzy distorted goodness whilst leaving my clean tone in the mix.

If you can ever find one grab a Tym Big Bottom (rare as all hell). It is a clean blend with a HPF on the effect loop so you can get more of a bi-amp feel when running distortion. They sound amazing.

[Boy_Narf]

I should add that I was getting pretty frustrated with bass drive until I picked up one of the Broughton Audio LPF pedals. Here is the latest iteration of my bass board:

https://goo.gl/photos/7QR15VRCjijcGC6JA

Turning down the highs on the BB did the trick (cutting out the buzz) initially, but the tone lost way too much definition. Leaving the highs at noon, or slightly boosted then shaving a bit off the top with a LPF makes the whole tone much more open. If I could have it my way every single dirt pedal would have a proper clean blend, a 4 band EQ, and a LPF built in. Three pedals might be a bit overkill just for a touch of grit but having this much control makes things way easier for me.

I forgot to mention the source audio aftershock. It is digital but considered to be one of the best. There are infinite options for sculpting your tone once you dig into the app. Might be worth a look. The SA dozens of pedal models built in, even a gate. Had I not put together this board, I would have picked one up for sure. TBH I could probably replace all three of these guys with the SA. Hmm...