Consider using one of the best bass distortion pedals if you want to add some serious gritty bass, thicken out your low end, or simply change the flavour of your sound. While an overdrive pedal may, well, push your signal into overdrive, they don’t typically significantly change your tone. A bass distortion pedal will give your music additional richness and personality. The top bass distortion pedals may thicken your tone, tighten the EQ, or cut through a mix. Although there is some crossover with bass overdrive pedals, all of those listed below have access to a lot of gain.
The best distortion pedals for bass may help you add another layer to your playing, whether you’re kicking it in for a huge chorus or solo part or you’re seeking for something to always have on. Regardless of the feature set you’re looking for or the budget you’re trying to stay within, there are currently a lot of options, and there is something for everyone. Discover which bass distortion pedals we determined to be the best currently available by reading on.
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Darkglass Microtubes B7K Ultra V2 Distortion/Bass Preamp Effects Pedal
- Blend: Mixes the clean input signal with the overdriven signal. The clean...
- Attack Switch: Sets the amount of treble content to saturate
- Grunt Switch: Sets the amount of low frequency content to saturate by...
Darkglass, a Finnish manufacturer of bass equipment, has established a reputation for producing high-quality distortion pedals specifically created for American bass players. Their top-of-the-line, feature-rich distortion pedal is the B7K extreme. A clean preamp and EQ section, as well as a flexible and comprehensive overdrive/distortion section with independent footswitches, are included in the package. Eight control knobs and four 3-way dip switches make for a somewhat crowded control layout, but you’ll quickly get used to it because it is relatively simple.
By pressing the bypass footswitch to activate the preamp section, you gain access to the master volume control, which lets you adjust the pedal’s output level, the active EQ (bass (+/-12dB@100Hz), low mids (+/-12dB@250/500/1kHz), high mids (+/-12dB@750/1.5/3kHz), and treble (+/-12dB@5kHz), as well as the two dip switches that let you adjust the low and high mid Drive, Level, and Blend knobs are also included when the Distortion footswitch is on, along with the two remaining 3-way dip switches for Attack and Grunt. The Attack switch controls how your distorted signal’s high end responds, either flat, boost, or cut. For the low-end, the Grunt switch performs the same function as the Attack switch.
Drive controls the degree of distortion or overdrive, Level controls the effect’s level, and Blend combines the distorted and dry signals. From slightly overdriven to almost fuzz-like levels of distortion and sustain, the B7K Ultra offers a remarkably diverse variety of distortion sounds. Even though they are all more forceful, they all have great voices. Although a little overdrive may not be as smooth as with a bass overdrive pedal specifically designed for that purpose, this one comes close. The extremely distorted sounds produced by this pedal sound excellent and have a lot of punch and definition. You have more tonal options when you can blend in your dry signal. The cabinet simulator, which you can add to the DI signal with a button on the side of the pedal, is a pleasant feature. The D.I. is clear and transparent (with a ground lift switch on the side). With the 3.5mm headphone jack and 3.5mm aux in, you can practise without disturbing your neighbours while jamming to your favourite songs.
Anyone looking for an excellent distortion pedal should consider this pedal! You can obtain ear-shattering distortion from it as well as use it as a transparent preamp to shape your clean tone. Despite the fact that there are numerous knobs, the layout is simple and easy to learn. The B7K Ultra is a wonderful choice for any contemporary music genre that calls for a lot of distortion. This is the Best Distortion Pedal for Bass in 2023.
MXR M85 Bass Distortion
- Based on a classic distortion circuit famous for its nasty sound
- Separate Dry and Wet level controls
- Model Number: M85
This MXR pedal is really awesome. They developed the M85 bass distortion pedal in collaboration with Ryan Ratajski, the man behind Fuzzrocious Pedals. The ability to switch between two distortion circuits is what distinguishes this pedal; the Sil setting uses silicon diodes to clip your signal, while the LED option use light-emitting diodes to produce the desired distortion. The M85 has a straightforward 4-knob control scheme. The degree of distortion applied to your signal is controlled by distortion, Wet controls the volume of the distorted signal that is added to the output, while Dry controls the loudness of your dry tone that is added to the output. A high-frequency roll-off known as tone only influences the distorted signal.
The pedal accurately reproduces a variety of distortion tones. The LED option sounds open and warm and responds well to playing dynamics while the Sil setting has a more aggressive sound with more harmonics and compression. The M85 is highly adaptable as a distortion pedal, allowing you to quickly tune in both tight and snappy metal bass lines as well as vintage, lo-fi, fuzz-like bass tones.
The M85 is a two-tone generation circuit-equipped, all-analog bass distortion pedal that may be chosen via a switch on the faceplate. Distortion, Tone (affects solely the distorted signal), and separate Wet and Dry knobs to dial in your favourite combination of the clean and distorted signal make up the control arrangement. A genuine bypass ensures that none of your tone is lost when the pedal is turned off, and an internal trim pot is used to modify the LED clipping circuit’s gain. It uses a PSU or a 9V battery to draw 11mA@9V.
Due to its two distinct distortion circuits, the M85 is incredibly versatile, although it is fundamentally a rock pedal. It is simple to use and sounds amazing in both a metal band and a vintage rock context. Take a look at the M85 if you’re searching for an analogue bass distortion pedal that’s affordable for what it delivers and is made in the USA; you won’t be disappointed.
Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Bass Big Muff Pi Bass Effects Pedal
- Blend allows a player to mix to taste the direct and distorted signals
- Three outputs: a 1/4" effect out, 1/4" direct (buffered dry) out and XLR DI...
- Foot-switchable crossover section with a variable low pass filter on the...
The Big Muff Pi from EHX is a renowned fuzz pedal used by both bassists and guitarists. There have been a few Big Muff Pis designed specifically for bass players throughout its revisions, but none of them had this amount of intricacy and control. It has a dip switch, 2 footswitches, and 7 knobs. The Loudness knob controls the pedal’s output volume. Blend allows you to adjust the wet to dry signal ration to your preferred level. the high mids and treble are either boosted or reduced, The amount of fuzz you want to add to your signal is regulated by sustain. The toggle switch allows you to choose a -10dB cut to handle basses with hotter inputs. Gate adjusts the sensitivity of the onboard noise gate, HPF sets the range of the high pass filter, LPF sets the range of the low pass filter.
While the crossover footswitch activates the chosen settings for the high and low pass filters, the bypass footswitch switches the pedal on and off. The Deluxe BBMP is one of the most adaptable distortion pedals on the market thanks to all its tweaking potential. With only a little Sustain and more dry than wet signal, you can get smooth, overdriven bass tones; with more Sustain, you can get totally saturated, harmonically rich buzzsaw fuzz tones. The Sustain, Tone, and Blend knobs work together to produce a variety of sounds. Given how noisy Big Muffs can be, the noise gate on this pedal is a blessing and performs as it should. By adjusting the two filters, you may further your possibilities for tone shaping and, with the flick of a footswitch, switch between two distinct distortion tones.
The Premium Bass The ultimate version of the Big Muff Bass fuzz is Big Muff Pi. It contains 7 control knobs (Volume, Blend, Tone, Sustain, Gate, HPF, and LPF), a -10dB switch, and 2 footswitches. It is constructed in a double-sized cast aluminium enclosure (Bypass and Crossover). With its 14″ Direct Out, which enables you to pass your dry buffered signal to a second amp or to another effects chain, and its XLR D.I. output, which enables you to send your wet signal directly into a mixing console or recording equipment, it offers you a variety of routing possibilities. It can be powered by a conventional 9V PSU or a 9V battery.
Source Audio Aftershock Bass Distortion
- Dry/Wet Blend Controls; USB; and Free Neuro Apps for iOS
- Bass Distortion Pedal with Tube
- Fuzz Overdrive Engines; Drive
The Aftershock lives up to Source Audio’s reputation for making superb digital pedals and stompboxes. This digital bass distortion pedal has a tonne of secret features and is quite versatile. The Aftershock has four control knobs labelled Drive, Level, Tone, and Clean, a single 3-way dip switch in the middle, and a conventional footswitch. At first look, it appears to be a typical distortion pedal. The Drive knob controls the degree of distortion, Level controls the pedal’s total output level, Clean controls how much dry signal you want to add to the output, and Tone controls the distortion effect’s tone. Turn the Tone knob clockwise for brighter sounds and anticlockwise for darker sounds.
You can choose from the three preset distortion sounds—Tube, Heavy, and Fuzz—by using the dip switch. You may access strong distortion sounds with the Heavy option, an overdrive simulation that sounds smooth and creamy, and all the woolly crazy you could want from a fuzz effect with the Fuzz setting. If the Aftershock only offered this, it would already be a fantastic distortion pedal. There’s more, though. You’ll see that it has two 1″ inputs and two 1″ outputs upon closer investigation. These provide you a variety of routing possibilities, ranging from using the extra in/out as an external effects loop to routing one or two instruments into two independent rigs with unique distortion circuits for each. The Aftershock becomes a monster once you see the USB port.
You may access a vast array of other parameters if you link it to your PC or Mac. You can choose from among the tens of preset distortion kinds and save them to one of the three selector switch positions while editing the “Tube, Heavy, Fuzz” settings. The 2 distinct distortion engines, parametric EQ, Noise gate, filters, routing possibilities, and external control are just a few additional features that are available to you.
Boss ODB-3 Bass Overdrive Pedal
- Onboard two-band equalizer
- OverDrive pedal specifically designed for bass
- Balance knob controls dry/overdriven sound
In case you were wondering, the Boss pedal is located here in this review. The ODB-3 was developed by Boss, who are experts at producing basic quality pedals that function properly and are reasonably priced.
It contains all the normal aspects of pedal design that have worked so well over the years, including the off/on which appears unbreakable, so you can tell it’s a Boss pedal with just a very fast glance. What you actually need. It is designed for use and travel. This overdrive pedal was made specifically with bass guitar in mind. It is designed to be simple and easy to use because Boss does it so effectively.
Sound creation is dominated by four controls: Level, EQ, Balance, and Gain. What sounds are produced by a simple operation? The two-band EQ allows you to change the sound characteristics and make sure the bass end is not lost. The level of the overdriven sound is the balance. With this pedal, you have a lot of different sound possibilities and the freedom to apply as much or as little overdrive as you like. To preserve clarity, you can mix with the dry signal or drive it to its breaking point, where it will thrash with the best of them.