Why Some Distortion Pedals Sound Tight But Thin
any distortion pedals remove bass before clipping to improve clarity and note definition. While this can create a tighter sound, it can also make a pedal feel thin. In this video, I use a modified version of my Radical Distortion pedal to demonstrate how bass makeup circuits restore low frequencies after distortion and why many pedal designers use this approach. Through musical examples, frequency-response measurements, and engineering analysis, you’ll hear and see how bass makeup affects distortion tone.
Pedal featured in this video