Overdrive Quest : the pedals and Bottom-End / Revival Drive compact question

[iSoft]

Hi everyone,

I have a question about the bottom-end on overdrive pedals.
For 4 years now, I've been using my all time favorite OD which is a Weber Effects Plexi CM V3 and also a Weber Effects Epitome (they were handmade in Belgium, not made anymore, went out of business with Covid).
The V3 is obviously is a tweak on the Carl Martin Plexitone with a JTM45 side, a JCM800 side and a independent boost, but does way more to the sound than the Carl Martin.
It is a monster of a pedal which has a LOT of bottom end, so that a tiny cheap 1x12" is able to sound like you're playing on a 4x12" with Redback in it.

Be careful, when I say a lot of bottom end I doesn't mean that it adds dirtiness in the sound and bass to the spectrum, I mean it makes the amp, the ground and the walls and the room vibrate, even at low volume, it moves everything but the tone bottom end in itself is still well defined, tight and precise, not dirty at all.

I've been on a mission to find another OD for few weeks now, don't ask me why as this is my absolute favorite, maybe just because I'm a gear geek and want something new on my board as I've been playing with it for 4 years now without ever changing it (and all my other pedals have changed several times meanwhile )

So I went to few stores for the last weeks with my board to have a direct comparison to the Weber and plug all sorts of OD's hoping to find something smaller and a bit fatter that could fill my need and retire temporarily my Weber (I have few of them).
And man..... every single OD's/distos I've tried were soooo flat beside of the Weber ! They (almost) all sound so thin, with no Bass at all and nothing moving... that I actually don't understand what's going on here. When you increase the bass on those pedals, yes it adds bass to the tone itself, but doesn't moves the speaker at all and actually is really really thin sounding.

Here are the pedals I've tried during the last weeks : JHS/Boss Angry Driver - JHS Angry Charlie - JHS Paul Gilbert - JHS Kilt V2 - Walrus Audio Ages - Keeley Aria - Catalinread Formula 55 - Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret - Seymour Duncan Diamonhead - Walrus Ironhorse - Hamstead Odyssey - Gurus Double Decker - Wampler Plexi Drive Deluxe + lots of pedals during the last years.

On all of them, just 3 could compete with the Weber in terms of vibrations in the speaker :

- The Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret had a really great sound but unfortunately too much gain (even with gain on 0 you were able to play ACDC with amp dead clean and vintage humubkcers)
- The Hamstead Odyssey had all the needed bass and a nice low gain sound, but when pushed, it went into the fuzz/muff territory (and I personally don't like fuzz and muffs :/)
- The Seymour Duncan Diamonhead also had lots of bass, but way way way too much gain on tap, really made for metalhead out there

Every single other OD in this list I've tried those last weeks were so tiny and thin sounding ! Careful, some were really nice sounding, I really loved the sound of them but the fact that they had no bass vibration at all gives me the feeling to play through an old radio speaker and I hate that.

So what's going on on there ? As on the last few years I found that almost 90% of the OD pedals I tried out there lacked the bass response, I guess it is something normal and you might love it but have you ever tried some pedals that had those bass ?

And a final question, I'm tempted by the Origin Effects Revival Drive Compact here but can't find any to try nearby and would have to order online.
If you have experience with it, can you tell me about this kind of bass response please ?

Thank youuuuuuuu

 

[tonfarbe]

Do you play in a band?
In this situation, an overdrive pedal that “makes the amp, the ground and the walls and the room vibrate” is not what you want.

 

[MatchlessMan]

I use the full size RevivalDrive at home and the Compact on gigs. I have no idea whether it will give you the bass you seek. The pedal is an amp-in-a-box and the Highs and Lows controls are for helping you to set up the pedal to react like different amps. I have mine set to approximate a Marshall Major, for which both those controls are set at or below 9 o’clock- they are not simply treble and bass controls.

 

[wildschwein]

Boss Mega Distortion!

 

[KC]

Most dirt boxes are built to cut bass -- at gig levels, in a band with a bass player, it's just mud down there. If you want more control, the Timmy has a bass level control before the dirt section and a treble after. You can dial in the amount of bass that sounds good to you without saturating the drive section. The Lovepedal Amp 11 works the same way. The Vex Distortron has a 3-position bass switch that seems to do the same trick.

 

[Edgar Allan Presley]

Nobels ODR-1 famously and infamously has a lot of bass. That's why I eventually stopped using it. I usually play with a bass player and drummer, so I stay mostly out of the bass frequency range to avoid a muddy mix.

 

[basher]

Yeah, the ODR-1 as well as the Boss OD-3 are way too bass-heavy for me, but they'll be great if that's what you're looking for.

 

[allesz]

The bass of metal pedals are difficult to find elsewhere; sadly metal dirts have always too much gain.

Did you tried a Riot, or one of his clones? I had one, stupidly sold It, but I think it had a great low end, great high gain and a pretty nice low gain sound.

It's still a metal/hard rock pedal, but it's Aldo suprisingly flexible.

 

[Brett Valentine]

Yeah, the RevivalDRIVE Compact has a good amount of bottom end depending upon the EQ setting you choose. If you choose EQ1, it is darker and thicker with a large bottom end. You can balance this with Highs and Pres with add top end sparkle and upper mids, along with treble, but these adjust the character of the breakup. The Adjust knob will darken and emphasize lower end when turned clockwise. If it is too dark and "bottomy". turn the adjust knob counter clockwise to tame the bottom end and bring back top end. EQ2 is for darker amps, so the bottom end is reduced, but you boost the bass control and turn the Adjust knob clockwise to boost the lows. It's a balancing act between the controls, but for me, it's got enough thump on hand.

 

[RetroTeleRod]

I have a Visual Sound Open Road which is a clone of the Nobels ODR-1. It has plenty of thump in the bass

 

[wildschwein]

I have a Visual Sound Open Road which is a clone of the Nobels ODR-1. It has plenty of thump in the bass

Fantastic pedal. Amazing, throaty growl!

 

[wrathfuldeity]

Maybe a VFE triumvirate?

 

[11 Gauge]

Most dirt boxes are built to cut bass -- at gig levels, in a band with a bass player, it's just mud down there.

Exactly this, or maybe more specifically - OD pedals seem to be designed so that the amp itself provides 'all of the rest' of the EQ response.

So if you want a pedal that's emulating massive low end but at bedroom levels, you don't really want just a traditional OD pedal. The pedal now has to attempt to replicate a cranked amp in its entirety, so something like an amp-in-a-box pedal, or something with T/M/B tone circuits at least, which somewhat 'override' the tone circuits or characteristic EQ shaping within the amp itself.

...I think where results vs. expectations tend to differ has to do with the amp being used. Some amps might be midrange-emphasized while others might be mid-scooped, and the same pedal will potentially sound better with one amp than the other.

 

[wildschwein]

The Marshall Guv'nor 2 is also a good option as it has a low end control. It doesn't need to be overly gained out either. Very cool pedal.

 

[roeg]

My experience with Menatone pedals(Red Snapper and Blue Collar), both have generous bottom, and are not thin or tiny sounding (compared to other vintage tube screamer types i own). But my menatone pedals are from the early years(late 90's) , so i don't know if the new reboots from menatone have the same quality.

 

[blowtorch]

I have the OriginEffects Revival Drive compact hotrod.
It sounds very good. Plenty of bass available there.

There is also this, for a lot less money- it also sounds awesome

 

[hopdybob]

i ask myself reading your quest, why do you want so much bass?
i know i get tired of over bassy music, that is why i sold my G&L tribute with the big MFD pickups.
could not get rid of its bassy attitude