Quote:
Originally Posted by Krazy Bassist  |
Krazy Bassist: welcome to the forum. While you're here, allow me to provide you with some useful information before you start searching, as it seems you're going to get lost pretty quickly without at least a vague idea of what to look for.
All effects pedals that work on guitar also work on bass. However, some may cause you to lose some bottom end, and when it comes to bass, that's something you want to avoid if you want to still sound bassy!
With many types of effects (chorus, delay, flanger, etc.), you don't need anything that's "bass specific." almost all delay pedals work fine on bass, for example, and have no low end loss. So if you were looking for delay, you'd be considering other factors like tone, features, delay time, etc. in picking the right delay for you.
But in your case, you're looking for wah and distortion pedals. Out of all the effects types out there, these are the ones where "bass specific" really does matter. Most wahs are made for guitar, and most (but not all) will cut a lot of low end if used on bass. Same goes with many distortion pedals. So... it helps to keep an eye out for the ones that are built for bass. Exceptions exist, of course...
Cliff Burton is a good example of an exception. He used a wah which isn't normally meant for bass, but has an oddly wide frequency range and screaming tone: an vintage Morley Power Wah Boost from the 1970s. Most wahs sound nothing like a Morley, especially an old Morley. If this is the kind of wah you want, expect it to be nothing like a typical bass wah - or a typical wah, for that matter. The modern reissue Power Wah sounds very similar to the old ones, and unless you'd rather spend $120 - $150 for a giant chrome tank that runs only on AC power (yeah, the old Morley pedals were HUGE), you'll probably be better off with a modern Morley wah.
Now, for the distortion... technically, what you're looking for is a fuzz pedal. Cliff Burton used an old EHX Big Muff, which is normally used with guitar, but can pack a lot of bottom end and tons of gain. Nowadays, there are a lot of fuzz pedals to choose from, including a Big Muff made especially for bass (the Bass Big Muff).
Using these two pedals together will get you that crazy solo tone he used on a few songs.
My advice is to go to your local shop and try out a Big Muff or Little Big Muff. If they have a Bass Big Muff, try that too and compare it to the regular one.
If you eventually decide you want to look beyond just copying Cliff Burton, we'll be waiting here to help you out. There are all kinds of bass wahs out there, as well as bass-friendly overdrive, distortion, and fuzz pedals, plus a ton of other cool effects Burton never used, but many others do...
