Bass Pedal/Pedalboard Setup

[bsilva92]

Hey guys, I've been playing bass for nearly 8 years now and I've only just started getting into several different effect pedals for my bass. I'm still looking for a few more pedals to complete my pedal line-up, but I can't seem to find a particularly helpful thread or website with other people's setup. So, I've created this thread in the hopes that those of you who have a sick bass pedalboard setup would takes pictures and share your pedals. Thanks!

My setup as of now is:

BOSS TU-3
Tech 21 SansAmp DI
MXR Bass Octave
MXR Bass Compressor
Dunlop Bass CryBaby Wah

I'm also getting a ZVEX Wooly Mammoth and the MXR Bass Envelope Filter soon, but I still want other people's opinions to get a better idea of what pedals I should try out.

[fivestringgecko]

Welcome to the wonderful wide world of effects, where your wallet will hate you and your pedalboard will never be finished. Lol

Check out the Post Your Pedalboard threads to see the latest and greatest TB pedalboards, chances are you'll get some great ideas. I know I have! This one is like the 40th or 41st thread in the series, so there's plenty of backlog for inspiration.

Here's where I'm at currently with my boards...

5sg.

Main board, Pedaltrain Mini


Secondary board, currently stuck in inspiration limbo. Selling a few pedals to fund others, so for now....... A blank spot. Lol


...and before the inspiration block

[Bassmike62]

Experiment is the key to finding your tone with the pedals ya got, but I'd start with this:

BASS > Boss TU-3 > MXR bass octave > Cry Baby wah > MXR Bass Compressor > Tech 21 SansAmp DI > AMP

[fivestringgecko]

Originally Posted by Bassmike62

Experiment is the key to finding your tone with the pedals ya got, but I'd start with this:

BASS > Boss TU-3 > MXR bass octave > Cry Baby wah > MXR Bass Compressor > Tech 21 SansAmp DI > AMP

Exactly how I'd set the order for those pedals too.

And +1 for experimentation. It's all about what works for YOU, not what someone else thinks works for you.

5sg.

[SGD Lutherie]

Originally Posted by fivestringgecko

Secondary board, currently stuck in inspiration limbo....

Nice BlueTube! I have one also... bought it new when they came out. Does yours hum when engaged? I stopped using it because of the hum. They sound great with a 12AU7 tube replacing the 12AX7.

[Spaldo]

Originally Posted by fivestringgecko

Welcome to the wonderful wide world of effects, where your wallet will hate you and your pedalboard will never be finished. Lol

This is a painfully true statement

I'm currently reconfiguring my board, i think im gonna need more space!

[Rip Topaz]

Originally Posted by fivestringgecko

Welcome to the wonderful wide world of effects, where your wallet will hate you and your pedalboard will never be finished. Lol

Check out the Post Your Pedalboard threads to see the latest and greatest TB pedalboards, chances are you'll get some great ideas. I know I have! This one is like the 40th or 41st thread in the series, so there's plenty of backlog for inspiration.

Here's where I'm at currently with my boards...

5sg.

Main board, Pedaltrain Mini

Secondary board, currently stuck in inspiration limbo. Selling a few pedals to fund others, so for now....... A blank spot. Lol

...and before the inspiration block

Ah, the Bluetube. That pedal saved my ass back in the day when I was using a crappy beat up Peavey bass head. Actually made it sound good. Shame they're so hard to come by these days.

[mjac28]

I have one and love it I put a NOS Amperex Bugle Boy in it and it sounds incredibly warm they are always on eBay.

[fivestringgecko]

I love that Bluetube... One of my top 3 favorite overdrives. I snagged it from Ebay for $100 shipped a couple years ago and still see them show up pretty regularly. I swapped the stock 12AX7 with a 12AU7 and really dig it. Still plenty of gain available for my taste (I'm a low-gain kind of guy) and it made the whole range of the Gain knob more useable for me. Mine does need some TLC though... The footswitch is starting to get a little sketchy...

5sg.

[SGD Lutherie]

I don't have a pedalboard, but here's my collection of pedals, in no particular order. I think I have a few more somewhere. The Phase 90, ODB-3, and Microsynth are modified. The black box is a Brassmaster clone. The Ground Control operates either a Johnson J-Station or Yamaha REX50 (not pictured).

[SGD Lutherie]

Originally Posted by fivestringgecko

I love that Bluetube... One of my top 3 favorite overdrives. I snagged it from Ebay for $100 shipped a couple years ago and still see them show up pretty regularly. I swapped the stock 12AX7 with a 12AU7 and really dig it. Still plenty of gain available for my taste (I'm a low-gain kind of guy) and it made the whole range of the Gain knob more useable for me. Mine does need some TLC though... The footswitch is starting to get a little sketchy...

5sg.

Yes, they are so much more useful with a 12AU7. With the stock tube it was all fuzz if you wanted to get unity gain.

With the 12AU7 you can go from clean to a bit of dirt to quite fuzzy. I was using it for years in front of any SS amp I had at the time. Because of the slight hum problem I decided to retire my Trace Elliott and get a Hartke LH500. Now I get the same warm tube sound with no hum, and use the BlueTube for a little grunt.

I think I got that pedal back in '91 or so. I had to fix the power cable, which split where it entered the pedal, but otherwise it's held up well.

[mjac28]

They are great pedals and response well to different tubes.

[jimfist]

Mine is a Behringer FCB1010 and an AxeFxII. Whatever I might miss by not having certain specific or "boutique" pedals is far outweighed by the obvious gains in using the AxeFx. JMHO, and sorry if this is off topic. Just wanted to share the sentiment of the never-ending G.A.S with respect to stomp pedals. The AxeFxII will cure you of that problem for a long, long time...at least it did mine! So if you have a pedalboard loaded with stomps, cables, carrying case, etc. that cost a total of +/-$2000, then the MIDI pedal/rack processor route is worth considering. Again, JMHO.

[SGD Lutherie]

Originally Posted by jimfist

Mine is a Behringer FCB1010 and an AxeFxII. Whatever I might miss by not having certain specific or "boutique" pedals is far outweighed by the obvious gains in using the AxeFx. JMHO, and sorry if this is off topic. Just wanted to share the sentiment of the never-ending G.A.S with respect to stomp pedals. The AxeFxII will cure you of that problem for a long, long time...at least it did mine! So if you have a pedalboard loaded with stomps, cables, carrying case, etc. that cost a total of +/-$2000, then the MIDI pedal/rack processor route is worth considering. Again, JMHO.

That's a good point. Besides playing bass, I also play lead guitar. I just picked up a Vox VT80+ modeling amp to use in a band (switching from bass to guitar because the guitarist isn't that good!). Besides some very convincing amp models, including rare amps like a Trainwreck and Dumble, and not so rare amps like an AC30 and Fender Twin, it has models of pedals. Everything from a Boss CE chorus, Phase 90, Boss octave box, to a Klon Centaur! They have limited controls, but sound like the real thing.

Clearly not as versatile as the AxeFX, but it saved me from putting together a guitar pedalboard for a band I'm about to play with.

I also have an old Johnson J-Station, which is like a better Pod. Some of the tones on there are amazing.

I've been using and building analog pedals since the 70s, but the modeling stuff is very cool, and has gotten to the point where it sounds like the real thing.

[dogmeat08]

here is my current bass board setup

[scottfeldstein]

Originally Posted by Bassmike62

Experiment is the key to finding your tone with the pedals ya got, but I'd start with this:

BASS > Boss TU-3 > MXR bass octave > Cry Baby wah > MXR Bass Compressor > Tech 21 SansAmp DI > AMP

I'd put the compressor right after the tuner.

Here's my board right now.