Advice on pedalboard

[chriswebbmusic]

Hey Guys,

So I know there are LOADS of threads on here about new pedalboards. I've been studying hard over the past few months to put together mine..

I have never really used a pedalboard a such on gigs, only taking out the occasional pedal for certain gigs, eg.distortion for rock, octave for some pop gigs.(I use a minimoog for synth so never need many effects on my bass for the pop gigs)..

Soooo I have a pedaltrain junior board to stick some pedals on, Im trying to limit myself and focus on quality for what I actually need..
the list so far is...(in bold is what Im sure and tested about, not in bold i need help and advice!)

Tuner - TC Electronics PolyTune
Octave - EBS OctaBass / Boss OC-3 ??
Preamp - Fodera 2010 / EBS MicroBass II ??
DI - (if I went with Fodera, sitting next to the pedalboard) Avalon U5
Envelope - Q-Tron / MXR Auto-Q / search for a MU-TRON III ??
Compression - Demeter Compulator / Retrospec SqueezeBox(hard to find!) ??
Chorus - Boss CEB-3 / TC Electronic Stereo Chorus / MXR Stereo Choru
Distortion - Electroharmonix Bass BigMuff / Fulltone Bass Drive(hard to find in UK)
Looping - Roland RC-20XL


Know people probably post this all the time so any help is much appreciated. Just want a versatile pedal board for my solo work (jazz/fusion) right through to all the sessions..

Thanks.

C

[fitz420]

octave....have you considered the newer mxr bass octave deluxe. if you like analog octavers its my personal favorite. tracks well and has some tone shaping options. i've owned/played almost all of the popular octavers and settled on this. the ehx micropog is also a good choice, it tracks the best, but is very synthetic sounding.

envelope....have you looked at the 3leaf audio groove regulator and the newer mxr bass envelope filter. not quite as wet as the qtron.

i have a lot of experience with overdrive/distortion/fuzz, and my personal opinion on the bass big muff is that (like most muffs) theres not enough mids to cut through a mix. as far as muff variants go, i think the blackout effectors musket is the best....having dedicated mids on a muff is extremely important in my opinion for not getting lost in a mix. some people like the fulltone bass drive, but i like other tube screamer varients better. i found there was too much low end loss and again...got lost in the mix. as far as reasonable priced od's go, the sparkle drive by voodoo lab is awesome because of the ability to mix the dry signal back in....it cuts through a live mix wonderfully.

the demeter compulator is my favorite compressor.....it adds a bit of warmth and can also limit peaks very well

my favorite chorus is the analogman clone chorus...kind of pricey though. i like the older boss ce-2b better than the ceb-3....it sounds more organic to my ears and can be had on the used market for about the same price as the ceb-3

hope some of this helped....i've bought and sold a TON of effects to find what i'm happy with.

[JamesHommersen]

Tuner - I like the TU-3
Octave - MXR Bass Octave Deluxe
Preamp/DI - Sansamp
Envelope - Micro Q-tron
Compression - don't need it (if so ToadWorks Mr. Squishy)
Chorus - Analogman or Fromel
Distortion - EHX Sovtek or Tonebender (Fuzz), Hematoma or Bass Angler (OD)
Looping - Roland RC-20XL

[chriswebbmusic]

Thanks guys! such a help.

I have heard about the Analogman Clone Chorus, gonna try and hunt down one in UK to test.
Interesting you both gone for the MXR Octave over EBS, again I havent tried the MXR so might just have to reconsider and find one..

Will definitely have to do some more testing with ODs and Fuzz that you suggested...

thanks!

[fitz420]

the other newer octaver worth looking into is the aguilar octamizer. theres a big comparison thread between the new mxr and the aguilar since they are fairly similar and released around the same time. if you want to spend half the coin, you really can't go wrong with a boss oc-2. usually go for around 50 USD around here. in my opinion way better sounding than the oc-3

[Eric!]

Some other pedals to consider:

Tuner - Korg Pitchblack, Sonic Research ST-200
Octave - Octron
Preamp - not my field
DI - Radial stuff (JDI, J48), Dave Hall Amps stuff
Envelope - 3leaf Audio Groove Regulator!!,
Compression - check out here, but props to the Compulator
Chorus - Analogman all the way. Or yes, a Boss CE-2B
Distortion - This could take up your entire board. I have a 3-dirt plan: Muff (overdrivey), TAFM (or other balls-to-the-wall distortion), and crazy-ass fuzz. Yeah, they're all fuzzes, but w/e
Looping - EHX Hazarai (for simpler looping), Boomerang III