Advice on bass effects pedal

[BassGirlfriend]

Hi all,

Firstly, apologies if this is in the wrong section; I literally have no idea about bass guitars or their accoutrements. My knowledge is limited to the fact that most have 4 strings and sound awesome...

My partner, however, is a wonderful bass guitarist, and he's the reason I'm here. I would like to get him a bass guitar effects pedal for Christmas, but wouldn't know where to begin. He did have a 'Bass Over Drive ODB-3', but that broke soon after he got it.

I'm looking in the £20 - £50 price range, which I know isn't huge but unfortunately being a student puts a lot of constraints on me financially.

I'd be really, really grateful for any advice you guys could give me. Many thanks in advance.

[ehque]

Hi, and welcome to TB!

If you posted in the effects forum, you might get more replies. I've tagged your thread to be moved.

[Daveelvy]

Your budget could severely limit you if you are buying new. You could look into Danelectro or Behringer pedals - budget pedals (and objects of very mixed reviews) but ultimately reasonable for the price. Possibly a better value route is searching ebay or the like. Pedals such as Boss or Electro Harmonix go quite cheaply second-hand depending on their vintage.

Also, decide what sort of pedal you want to get - distortion/overdrive, modulation, delays, compression, tuners etc. I'm sure people can give you their opinions on all of the above!

[heavyfunkmachin]

as a bassist's girlfriend looking to buy him something you'll get tons of support around here,I guess mainly because we all want our girlfriends to do it!!

anyway, if he has no effects, had a boss obd-3 and broke, maybe get him a obd-3 again? did he liked it?

Maybe another distortion... if you tell us what music he plays, or what bands/bassists he likes we could be more helpful.

and by the way, once you decide what to get, I would say get it on ebay for the cheapest price.

Best regards!

[grygrx]

Moved to effects.

[electracoyote]

Gift certificate. Insist he use it only for an effects pedal.

[bongomania]

Since his only pedal so far was an ODB-3, I'd say the next neato gift for him, at a reasonably low price, would be a Sansamp BDDI or an MXR M-80. Both provide more tone options and more functionality options than the ODB-3, but are similarly rock-overdrive-oriented. Also both can be found used quite readily, if you are willing to buy used.

[RickenBoogie]

Yeah, the MXR M-80 would be a very useful gizmo for him to have. It does more than one thing, and pretty well, too. You're a great girlfriend for doing this for him- my wife has done it in the past, but not anymore, she thinks I have "too much stuff". Good on you.

[McSpunckle]

Originally Posted by BassGirlfriend

Hi all,

Firstly, apologies if this is in the wrong section; I literally have no idea about bass guitars or their accoutrements. My knowledge is limited to the fact that most have 4 strings and sound awesome...

My partner, however, is a wonderful bass guitarist, and he's the reason I'm here. I would like to get him a bass guitar effects pedal for Christmas, but wouldn't know where to begin. He did have a 'Bass Over Drive ODB-3', but that broke soon after he got it.

I'm looking in the £20 - £50 price range, which I know isn't huge but unfortunately being a student puts a lot of constraints on me financially.

I'd be really, really grateful for any advice you guys could give me. Many thanks in advance.

First of all, he's lucky to have you.

Secondly, while I totally realise the fact you took the effort to research and find a pedal for him means so much more than the gift itself, the fact is there's a ton to choose from, and it would be awful if you were to spend your money on something he ends up not really enjoying.

For that reason, I'd recommend a gift card to Guitar Center or the like. That way, he might be able to go try it out first.

But, as I said, it means more if you get the gift, so, questions!

Did he like the ODB-3 that he had? What sort of music does he listen to/play? Does he ever express interest in specific effects?

[heavyfunkmachin]

Originally Posted by McSpunckle

First of all, he's lucky to have you.

Secondly, while I totally realise the fact you took the effort to research and find a pedal for him means so much more than the gift itself, the fact is there's a ton to choose from, and it would be awful if you were to spend your money on something he ends up not really enjoying.

For that reason, I'd recommend a gift card to Guitar Center or the like. That way, he might be able to go try it out first.

UHMMM... I disagree, if she gets him a nice pedal it will show much more than a gift certificate, it shows she cares, she investigated what he might like and actually bought it. SURPRISE HIM WITH A PEDAL

It's cristmas, man, a gift certificate is so cold-hearted...

[electracoyote]

Originally Posted by heavyfunkmachin

UHMMM... I disagree, if she gets him a nice pedal it will show much more than a gift certificate, it shows she cares, she investigated what he might like and actually bought it. SURPRISE HIM WITH A PEDAL

It's cristmas, man, a gift certificate is so cold-hearted...

Or...no matter how hard she tries to describe his needs with her limited knowledge, and how many extremely varying responses she gets from the experts and noobs alike here on TB, it could be something that only gets returned or exchanged anyway.

I personally love gift certificates, no one could possibly know my shifting tastes and whims better than me.

[drnknmstr]

Originally Posted by heavyfunkmachin

UHMMM... I disagree, if she gets him a nice pedal it will show much more than a gift certificate, it shows she cares, she investigated what he might like and actually bought it. SURPRISE HIM WITH A PEDAL

It's cristmas, man, a gift certificate is so cold-hearted...

Agreed. The research shown means a lot. At worst it'd be a nice decoration. Though hopefully he won't sell it and make her mad, like that one guy did with his one bass

[Wud]

Within your finances I'd readily suggest one of these -

http://www.gak.co.uk/en/behringer-bd...modeler-di/988

Behringer pedals can be iffy with regards to build quality, but this gets good reviews and is meant to sound very good.
It's a copy of one the Sansamp pedals that are very popular, but also about five times the cost of that Behringer.

[g&lplayer]

Get him a Boss OC-2 off ebay. Its in your price range, and although they are not produced anymore, but are great, reliable pedals that get lots of love on this website. They can also be used in a variety of styles and chances are, he will enjoy it. Plus anyone can go to a store and buy a brand new pedal. Doing enough research and finding a cool vintage one that is harder to find is way more awesome.

[drnknmstr]

Originally Posted by g&lplayer

Get him a Boss OC-2 off ebay. Its in your price range, and although they are not produced anymore, but are great, reliable pedals that get lots of love on this website. They can also be used in a variety of styles and chances are, he will enjoy it. Plus anyone can go to a store and buy a brand new pedal. Doing enough research and finding a cool vintage one that is harder to find is way more awesome.

I'm in this camp, too. It's a rather popular pedal for good reason and it's affordable.

[OOZMAN]

Originally Posted by Wud

Within your finances I'd readily suggest one of these -

http://www.gak.co.uk/en/behringer-bd...modeler-di/988

Behringer pedals can be iffy with regards to build quality, but this gets good reviews and is meant to sound very good.
It's a copy of one the Sansamp pedals that are very popular, but also about five times the cost of that Behringer.

Behringer pedals are good, because they're usually knock offs of Boss. I have a Behringer synth pedal and it's exactly the same as the Boss counterpart, right down to the placement of the dials, and the name!

[BassGirlfriend]

You guys are incredible, thank you so much!

I just think it's amazing to be able to play an instrument; I would love to be able to myself, but I just don't think I'd have the dedication or skill necessary. So if I can encourage him with something he enjoys, all the better!

He did like the ODB-3, but from what little I know from the research I've done, it's a relatively limited model and I'd love to get him something a little more fun to mess around with.

As for his music tastes; Foo Fighters, Tool, Metallica, Smashing Pumpkins, Avenged Sevenfold, QOTSA, NIN and Muse to name a few off the top of my head, so heavy stuff generally.

I did consider a gift certificate, but I really want to show that I've made an effort to find him something he'll love. I suppose I could ensure that a refund is available if he really hates it? Or I could just take up bass guitar instead and use it, haha.

So, so far I'm going to spend tonight researching:

- Behringer V-Tone Bass BDI21
- Boss OC-2
- Sansamp BDDI
- MXR M-80

If it gets to mid December and I'm still feeling in no position to choose wisely, the gift certificate idea will come in handy, thanks!

EDIT: Oh, also I will definitely be pointing him in the direction of this forum once Christmas is over, he'd love it.

[boynamedsuse]

I don't have a suggestion, but more of a query to the rest of the TB regulars:

If a person doesn't know what they want for a gift like BassGirlfriend, what about a low cost MFX unit like a DigiTech BP90?

[drnknmstr]

Sounds good that you're ok with him returning something. I will say that most of these things are easy enough to trade or resell, and you'll have to especially if it's a used item he doesn't particularly care.

With the heavy music, may I suggest for consideration an MXR El Grande Bass Fuzz? You can hear many samples on youtube. Of course, I don't want to overly complicate your situation.

(and I'm glad you apparently missed some of the distasteful posts removed.)

Originally Posted by BassGirlfriend

You guys are incredible, thank you so much!

I just think it's amazing to be able to play an instrument; I would love to be able to myself, but I just don't think I'd have the dedication or skill necessary. So if I can encourage him with something he enjoys, all the better!

He did like the ODB-3, but from what little I know from the research I've done, it's a relatively limited model and I'd love to get him something a little more fun to mess around with.

As for his music tastes; Foo Fighters, Tool, Metallica, Smashing Pumpkins, Avenged Sevenfold, QOTSA, NIN and Muse to name a few off the top of my head, so heavy stuff generally.

I did consider a gift certificate, but I really want to show that I've made an effort to find him something he'll love. I suppose I could ensure that a refund is available if he really hates it? Or I could just take up bass guitar instead and use it, haha.

So, so far I'm going to spend tonight researching:

- Behringer V-Tone Bass BDI21
- Boss OC-2
- Sansamp BDDI
- MXR M-80

If it gets to mid December and I'm still feeling in no position to choose wisely, the gift certificate idea will come in handy, thanks!

EDIT: Oh, also I will definitely be pointing him in the direction of this forum once Christmas is over, he'd love it.

[BassGirlfriend]

Originally Posted by drnknmstr

Sounds good that you're ok with him returning something. I will say that most of these things are easy enough to trade or resell, and you'll have to especially if it's a used item he doesn't particularly care.

With the heavy music, may I suggest for consideration an MXR El Grande Bass Fuzz? You can hear many samples on youtube. Of course, I don't want to overly complicate your situation.

(and I'm glad you apparently missed some of the distasteful posts removed.)

Thank you, I'll check out the Youtube examples now, it'd be useful to actually hear it.

I didn't see any distasteful comments? Sorry if my posting here has annoyed anyone.