Assistance in effects pedal set-up/understanding please

[iandi.bass]

I have only recently begun to get into effects pedals for my bass guitar.
I currently only own a Dunlop bass wah and a Boss ODB-1.


Firstly, what would a recommended set-up be for these two pedals (as in order). I've found it better to place the Boss before the Wah.

Secondly, how are effects pedals supposed to (if at all), affect your sound, or rather the clean sound.
For example, I find that my rig, without any pedals hooked up into it, sounds at, lets say a '10' volume level. Then when I hook my pedals into it, it will come to a '7' volume level, without me having messed with anything except plugging the pedals in. And if it is the case, that I simply need to re-work my amp rig settings to be louder and to have the tone I want, would that cause any sort of damage to push the head more so than I normally would?

Thirdly, my amp rig is simply a Gallien Kreuger 700RB going into an Ampeg 8x10. When I hook up my pedals, I plug my bass into the BOSS, the BOSS into the dunlop and then from the dunlop into my input on the amp head. Would this be considered a 'proper' set-up? And would there be any other ways, because I do see on my head, and others, effects loop in and out options, but the pedals never seemed to work when I tried it.

Thank you.

[FreaqyFrequency]

Originally Posted by iandi.bass

I have only recently begun to get into effects pedals for my bass guitar.
I currently only own a Dunlop bass wah and a Boss ODB-1.

Are you quite certain of the name of the Boss unit? No such pedal was ever in existence; there is, however, an ODB-3.

Originally Posted by iandi.bass

Firstly, what would a recommended set-up be for these two pedals (as in order).

In this case, there is no harm in either order. Some think a wah sounds harsh after a grit or distortion, others think it sounds great. It's up to you to decide that.

Originally Posted by iandi.bass

Secondly, how are effects pedals supposed to (if at all), affect your sound, or rather the clean sound.
For example, I find that my rig, without any pedals hooked up into it, sounds at, lets say a '10' volume level. Then when I hook my pedals into it, it will come to a '7' volume level, without me having messed with anything except plugging the pedals in. And if it is the case, that I simply need to re-work my amp rig settings to be louder and to have the tone I want, would that cause any sort of damage to push the head more so than I normally would?

If there is that much of a volume drop, I would seriously investigate your pedals, and your cables. There is no excuse for a drop in signal like that.

And no, you won't harm the amp itself (you can really only blow an amp by sending it a tremendous signal even momentarily, such as a jack pop from an active bass). If you crank the master volume, though, you may damage your speakers if you are feeding them too much power.

Originally Posted by iandi.bass

Thirdly, my amp rig is simply a Gallien Kreuger 700RB going into an Ampeg 8x10. When I hook up my pedals, I plug my bass into the BOSS, the BOSS into the dunlop and then from the dunlop into my input on the amp head. Would this be considered a 'proper' set-up? And would there be any other ways, because I do see on my head, and others, effects loop in and out options, but the pedals never seemed to work when I tried it.

See my above sentiments. You can use the GK's effects loop, but there's nothing really wrong with your current set up or any conceivable one for that matter, with exception to placing effects after the power amp section. That will do them some serious harm, if not destroy them.

[iandi.bass]

your correct. I meant to say, ODB-3.

and by power amp section, do you mean taking the output from my amp head and placing that into the input of the pedals, as opposed to my instrument into the pedal etc. etc.

[FreaqyFrequency]

Basically, most amp heads (including the GK you have) are made up of two parts: a preamp, which is your input volume (gain) and tone-shaping circuits, and a power amp, which supplies the wattage to your cabinets. Sending 300-500 watts into an electronic circuit = disaster and smoke.

[cheapbasslovin]

Speaker out = power section.

[nad]

How long are your cables? Do you have a passive bass? That can contribute to volume loss, but a substantial amount makes me think something is wrong with one of your cables or one of the pedals. Process of elimination can help with that, try one pedal/cable at a time to see if that is the case.

I never bother with effects loops for pedals, generally speaking those are designed for line-level rackmount effects. The order of your pedals is completely subjective: whatever sounds best, is best.