Heavy Bass Distortion

[vrom]

I would super appreciate (as I hope others would too) first hand experience with any and all Heavy Bass Distortion (not fuzz or overdrive).

I'm looking for a 'boulders rolling around a giant's iron cauldron' kinda distortion. Ever felt/heard a 7.0+ earthquake in the middle of a large city? Yep, that's pretty close to the sound I'm looking to recreate.

Possible candidates are:
EBS Metal Drive - samples seem promising, but I'm not convinced yet.

I don't know; something with a low-mid center, uncompressed, no fizz, generates concern over speaker damage, tectonic shifts, rifts in spacetime, etc..

Suggestions?

I'm using a Warwick Thumb 5 string into a Mesa M9, if that helps. I'm also using the heaviest strings I could find, DR Drop Down Tuning set to BEADG.

Thanks everyone!

Here's my current board setup:

[Rob Fossil]

I just got a Dwarfcraft Baby Thundaa in a trade from the B/S/T forum and I think it can do what you're looking for. If you dial back the more extreme settings, you get a really heavy distortion sound. It's a loud, thick distortion that works very well with bass and it may just kick my TAFM off my board. As a bonus, you can dial in all sorts of crazy, so the pedal is much more than a one trick pony.

[hbombgraphics]

My first instinct is that you need a rat, but I feel like that is wrong

[jrmy]

The Elements from Dr. Scientist can cop some crazy distortion sounds, and has some of the most flexible gain and tone shaping options ever. Hands down.

The Fuzzhugger Magic Meter offers a ton of options as well. There's definitely some crazy basstortion possibilities there.

And while a regular Rat might not do the trick, the Fuzzrocious Rat Tail gets a LOT of loving from other bass players (I haven't tried one yet, but would love to one of these days).

[hbombgraphics]

Yeah I feel like the closest I get to this sound with my setup is the Hartman Rat so I am sure a dedicated bass rat would do the trick

[skullservant]

Turbo RAT, Landmine Distortion, DOD Death Metal. Any of them will lead to mayhem on bass.

[vrom]

Thanks all.

Yeah, I had a Fuzzrocious Rat Tail for a few weeks, and though a nice effect, it didn't offer the distortion I was looking for. I honestly don't think I'm a Rat lover, though I certainly appreciate what they have to offer. I've tried parallel and serial blending what I have, and some careful eq'ing of the B3K parallel to the TFR has gotten me close, but no cigar.

It was suggested I try hall reverb with some distortion eq'ing (B3K). I'll try that too since I do have a Reverberator on hand. Still, I would like to find a single distortion that gets me close, I'm sure I'll still have to eq a bit to get there.

[skullservant]

The Landmine has an exagerated EQ when you sweep it, so you can get as much of a drastic cut or drastic boost in the 3 band that you want, which DEFINITELY has lead to some earthquakes over here on my end

[bronzetalon]

The Elements from Dr. Scientist can cop some crazy distortion sounds, and has some of the most flexible gain and tone shaping options ever. Hands down.

The Fuzzhugger Magic Meter offers a ton of options as well. There's definitely some crazy basstortion possibilities there.

And while a regular Rat might not do the trick, the Fuzzrocious Rat Tail gets a LOT of loving from other bass players (I haven't tried one yet, but would love to one of these days).

I like the elements, the fuck is good too

[Jwar]

The Elements, Baby Thunda or Eau Claire Thunder, B7K into Okko Basstard...so many options. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

[Deltaphoenix]

I just answered this on TB...

Iron Ether QF2, 4 bands that you apply the amount of gain that you want on each band (for me a bit less on the lows, more on the high mids and highs, I hate the sound of overly blended fuzz or distortion on highs). Footswitchable 3x and 10x gain boost

Also, yes, Dr. Scientist The Elements, try running your TFR into it.

[MaggotBrainNY]

Bassist in my band plays a Warwick thru an OCD. Sounds brutal.

[Ancient Astronaught]

I always felt that the EBA Supercollider was one of the most brutal fuzztortion bass tones. Heavyness and girth of a fuzz, with the cut and grit of a distortion.

[excane]

So many options for what you're going for...

Check my sig

[hbombgraphics]

So many options for what you're going for...

Check my sig

you demo the megalith on bass yet?