why don't more bass distortions come with blend knobs?

[runmikeyrun]

I mean, it's something i feel EVERY bass distortion should have.  Is it that much of an added expense?  I feel it is almost critical.  After fighting for years trying to design high gain bass pedals for myself that still cut through the mix, i have come to the conclusion that the extreme amount of compression from the distortion is what causes it to get lost.  The bass is no longer felt, just becomes a fuzzy blend in the mix.   Facing defeat (and not having room to either add the control to an existing box or have room to add a separate blend effect box) I just ordered the MXR Bass DI which has a blend knob on the distortion channel.

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

When Dr Samuel Johnson was asked why he defined the pastern as "the knee of the horse" he replied, "Ignorance, madam. Pure ignorance."

The lack of a blend on bass distortions would be the same thing. Oh, plus criminal cheapness.
And I'm guilty as well. My envelope follower really feels the lack of this facility.

[Apehouse]

i added a circuit from RG Keen's panning for fun page that allows my friend to mix back in just enough of his clean signal to the distortion to 'feel' his bass again. Works great. Can't even hear the clean signal but very noticeable change on his big rig. The rumble is back

[zencafe]

I think it has more to do with the fact that most of Bass Distortion Designers don't even play bass... luckily they play guitar...
I'm a bassist, and I Agree the Blend knob is a MUST for any bass OD/Dist...
The costs are very low... is basically just the blend pot, plus one cap... that's because 99% of bass OD's have an input buffer, which you can take the clean signal from for blending, and then mix it with the affected signal at the output buffer (as any standart active adder(?).

Regards

D.

[Mark Hammer]

Well it would appear this insight is spreading.  The latest bass distortion releases fro EHX incorporate this feature.

[Milothicus]

reviving and old thread, but for good reason (i think):

i'm planning a bass overdrive, and have toyed with building a separate blend pedal with a bunch of buffers, but this post makes it sound unnecessary.

When you say you can take the clean signal from the input buffer, do you mean take the signal before the input buffer, and then just mix it back in after the output buffer? or after the input and before the output?

I think it has more to do with the fact that most of Bass Distortion Designers don't even play bass... luckily they play guitar...
I'm a bassist, and I Agree the Blend knob is a MUST for any bass OD/Dist...
The costs are very low... is basically just the blend pot, plus one cap... that's because 99% of bass OD's have an input buffer, which you can take the clean signal from for blending, and then mix it with the affected signal at the output buffer (as any standart active adder(?).

Regards

D.

[sean k]

Just look at the bottom of this page.
http://www.muzique.com/lab/sat2.htm

As for your question I think the original blender, from the Japanese, from which Moosapotamus? got his blender from will give you lots to look at.
http://moosapotamus.net/THINGS/paraloop.htm
End of the first set of paragraphs are the liks to the Japanese bass fx wonder site.

[Ed G.]

I've been considering designing a bass OD for a friend. The first thing I thought about was the clean blend. The other thing, you mentioned, was the compression going on. The bass guitar sends out a huge signal, even more so for active instruments. I was thinking about running the circuit at 18v, and using LED clipping diodes due to its higher clipping threshold.

[Gus]

One thing you can do is REDUCE the input cap size to the distortion section.  Reduce the value until you get a good mix of the fundamental to the distorted harmonics, not as good as a split with eq and  high pass shelf and low pass on each split side and mix/blend but it sometimes works well.

[Joe Hart]

Or run in stereo like a Ric 4001 and distort the bridge pickup a tad and leave the neck pickup to handle the rumble.
-Joe Hart