WeHuntKings wrote:Hm 2 is way too gainy. I've had 3 in the past and never liked it. Fuck doesn't have a blend knob does it?
Honestly I really like the ODB-3 demos I'm hearing is that lame??
The HM-2 isn't that more gainy than the ODB-3, is it?
Turn down the mids and gain and you're set.
You migh like the clean blend on the ODB-3 though.
My personal fav for a dirt pedal in the style you're describing: Hotcake. A tad too dark and muddy on guitar at hight gain levels, but it turns out to be a really chewy slightly fuzzy bass overdrive that retains lows and cuts through a mix better than any rat/muff/boss I tried on bass. Kicked my Elements of my board for that particular use. I sold it when I stopped playing bass in a band.
On bass, always. However I see these popping up on CL for over $200 these days. What a bummer.
I really love the DOD Bass Grunge. I liked it was more than the bass overdrive I picked up even if it's basically the same pedal. Shame it has a switch that doesn't always work so I'm not using it until I can get someone to upgrade it. It's JANKEY INNIT? Still I got it for $30.
I'd honestly invest in a LS-2 and you can use any OD you want. I bought mine for $50 used and I know it's a bass player cliche but it is something I would never get rid of. Absolutely crucial. Essential even.
I'm a fan of clean blend for bass. When used sparingly it does help retain more low end, especially in a mix where everyone else is playing w/ distortion/fuzz. Tafm is great, but the darkglass microtubes is great too, especially for more subtle drive sounds (although it can get fairly high gain as well) that are well tuned for bass frequencies.
It's got this thing called "gain knob" that can be turned all the way down.
To be honest, this was my first thought too
I know some pedals shine at low gain but just don't have any high gain capabilities at all, and others flatout suck at low gain settings even though they've got plenty of high gain tones...
But it seems like the swedish death metal thing created so much shainsaw high gain hype, that people overlook the fact that by simply tweaking turning down the gain control, the hm-2 can be an excellent medium/low gain drive for both bass as well as guitar
Fwiw, a mij one can be had for 110Euro, though I'm not sure what the situation is outside of the EU
jwar wrote:I'd say just fuck with your amp man but I'd also look into a Boss DS1 for medium gain stuff and in general. It's cheap and can do really good shit with bass. A lot of folks don't dig them but it slays with my active bass dude.
I don't think Peter Hook used any OD's in early Joy Division man. I think it was all amp and some chorus. I'm pretty sure he used a Trace Elliot, so that could be a lot if his tone right there. Listening to Closer right now, and I don't hear any od.
So, what kind of bass you using?
I'm using a few VIs and a Gibson RD. There is sparing OD/distortion all over their record so I'm trying to do my best to recreate some of their tones but with my own flavors too.
Also to all the HM2 comments, maybe it is just the EQ I don't like. The bass parts on the record for this band are a lot rounder and smoother than what the hm 2 can offer in my personal experience. Besides, I have a FZ2 if I want to bring the noise.
Peter Hook uses the Voodoo Labs drive pedal now, but I think he used, as jwar hinted at, a Trace Elliot AH1200-12 head, which has a built-in drive. I use a Trace GP12 SMX and dual Trace cabs myself and can get fairly close to the Joy Division sound by just pumping the input knob up and messing with the EQ and compression. Not sure how easy it is to get your hands on TE in the US, but they're usually overlooked and cheap over here.
retinal orbita wrote:I'd honestly invest in a LS-2 and you can use any OD you want. I bought mine for $50 used and I know it's a bass player cliche but it is something I would never get rid of. Absolutely crucial. Essential even.
Clean blend is the solution. LS-2 is great for this purpose.
HM-2 with low gain sounds great with bass. HM-3 is a very underrated beast that might also do the trick for you (it's the only distortion that makes me love playing down-tuned guitar).
WeHuntKings wrote:Also to all the HM2 comments, maybe it is just the EQ I don't like. The bass parts on the record for this band are a lot rounder and smoother than what the hm 2 can offer in my personal experience. Besides, I have a FZ2 if I want to bring the noise.
The HM2 and FZ2 are different beasts. If you keep the gain knob on the HM2 a hair above zero you get a deep, fat, round bass tone. Turn it up any further and you get this Swedish chainsaw bollocks which I have no use for. The FZ2 is just mayhem. The gain knob on that thing does fuck all, there seems to be no way to turn it down.
retinal orbita wrote:I'd honestly invest in a LS-2 and you can use any OD you want. I bought mine for $50 used and I know it's a bass player cliche but it is something I would never get rid of. Absolutely crucial. Essential even.
Clean blend is the solution. LS-2 is great for this purpose.
HM-2 with low gain sounds great with bass. HM-3 is a very underrated beast that might also do the trick for you (it's the only distortion that makes me love playing down-tuned guitar).
I definitely want to find an HM-3 if it pops up cheaply....
The way you describe your band's sound, makes me think it's probably in the same vein as ours. Our bass player uses the classic SansAmp bass drive for sweet, gritty, bright clang and a Harmonic Percolator set dirtier than the Sansamp - so it brings the grit and a ton of sustainnnnnnnnnnnn.
Alternatively, you could try and find yourself a Traynor TS-50 head...
If you got a blend pedal like the xotic (which I'm actually thinking of selling) you could use any old distortion or fuzz and blend it in. There's a crossover blend that looks really cool but $$
I should add that I'm thinking of selling my blender because the Markbass mini bass distortion retains the bass so well that I don't need it anymore. So that would also be something to try. The Boneshaker also has tons of bass and lots of flexibility.
