A bunch of Single Pedals or One Pedal board

Fred Slider · #1 05-30-2009, 06:15 PM

I dont have any bass pedals yet, but I am trying to figure out what the best way to go about this situation.

I want a good bit of effects just in case they come in handy. I dont know whether to go one big board that comes with all of the effects that I could think of (possibly not having the best sound quality) or spending more than 500 dollars on 5 or 6 different pedals that dont do half as much stuff.

Help me out on this one guys and if you have some advice on what pedals to get for a decent price, let me know. Im looking for either a wah or Envelope filter (not sure which. more help:P), chorus, octave, limiter or EQ (not sure which. more help :P), and maybe a synth. Is a synth necessary and am I missing any vital ones that are a must-have?

Chronicle · #2 05-30-2009, 06:18 PM

This is what I suggest to every customer that has this question. I would recommend getting a reasonable Multi-efx unit like a Digitech BP200 or BOSS ME-50B(used) so you can get an idea of what sounds you like. Then sell that and use the money towards single pedals because single pedals sound much better and are easier to use.

Wasted Bassist · #3 05-30-2009, 06:19 PM

Single Pedals are good if you know what you want so you can choose the one that suits your fancy. Multieffects can be a fun tool/toy to give you an idea of what you want (unless you buy an incredibly expensive one).

bobbass4k · #4 05-30-2009, 06:27 PM

If you do go the single stompbox way, I wouldn't get a synth, most synth pedals are just a combination of fuzz + filter + octave, which are all good effects to have on their own anyway and should be on any well rounded board (IMO), I sold my bass microsynth and got an octaver and a filter (already had fuzz) and I've never looked back

Fred Slider · #5 05-30-2009, 06:35 PM

Ok well Even if I did get an expensive FX board, I wouldnt really be getting the full effect of the pedals. It would be kinda half the effect...? I know what you mean. I was kinda leaning towards singles. I just didnt want to get too expensive. What are some necessary pedals then?

warwick.hoy · #6 05-30-2009, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fred Slider

Ok well Even if I did get an expensive FX board, I wouldnt really be getting the full effect of the pedals. It would be kinda half the effect...? I know what you mean. I was kinda leaning towards singles. I just didnt want to get too expensive. What are some necessary pedals then?

I agree with chronicle's statement...if you are new to FX get a descent multi FX unit to learn the vernacular and learn what sounds you like. When you have a good grasp of that...then start getting into the single pedals.

If the stompbox route is the one you want to take; do your research and try to stick with used pedals. That way if you don't like the sound of it...you can usually flip that pedal for what you paid for it.

RickenBoogie · #7 05-30-2009, 06:49 PM

There are no "essential" pedals. Just a good variety of effects, and an even greater variety of each effect. Get the multi unit, and see what you like. Don't go buying singles unless you know what you're after.

cheapbasslovin · #8 05-30-2009, 06:58 PM

+1 to the multi. I like the Zoom B2 or B2.1u above the Digitech or Boss. They're cheap, have pretty good effects, and are pretty solidly built. You could just kill yourself trying to keep up with buying and selling things until you find the right sound if you don't have a clue where to start. Some of us DO kill ourselves and we have a clue where to start.

Buy it used if you can.

Enjoy the addiction.

Edit::: I just got a Zoom G2.1u to replace my Holy Stain, Micro Q-tron and Small Stone and the only one I kind of miss is the Small Stone, but just barely. It doesn't have the versatility of each of the pedals (I don't use the lowpass setting on my Q-tron so I got lucky that I didn't need it on the multi), but I have already built the 3 patches necessary to do what I was doing with those 3 pedals and have versatility to do a bunch more. The sound quality is there with some of the new multis, it's just a matter of whether or not your sound is in there.

Once you get comfortable with the multi, get a parallel looper or blender and start playing with that to really open up your sound.

Good Luck

Chronicle · #9 05-30-2009, 06:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobbass4k

If you do go the single stompbox way, I wouldn't get a synth, most synth pedals are just a combination of fuzz + filter + octave, which are all good effects to have on their own anyway and should be on any well rounded board (IMO), I sold my bass microsynth and got an octaver and a filter (already had fuzz) and I've never looked back

That's opinion based. I have multiple fuzzes, octaves and filters and I still love my Bass micro synth for that sound.

You won't be getting "half the effect" with multi-fx(btw, refer to the FX boards as multi-fx please, it sounds like you need a pedalboard which is a board with multiple single pedals on it), it's just that the sound of the multi-efx to most people isn't as good as a single effect. Like the Digitech BP200's Chorus won't sound like a BOSS CE-5 but can get close.

It's better to spend the 200$ on the multi-efx now than to spend $2,000 finding out which kind of pedals you like... I'm on about 12,000$ on just pedals...still trying to find the coolest ones out there

Fred Slider · #10 05-30-2009, 07:07 PM

OK so i think you guys have convinced me into getting a decent multi-efx board but what are some good ones to look at. I had a couple picked out but im the naive one when it comes to this...so enlighten me. I was thinking either the Me-20B or Me-50B

Chronicle · #11 05-30-2009, 07:14 PM

I'm not a fan of the ME-20B. I started with the ME-50B and I liked most of the sounds. I actually recommend getting one used. They will be going for 150-200$ on ebay. They are discontinuing the ME-50B so you will have some trouble finding them in stores. (No announcement of a ME-70B is concerning me though.)

Fred Slider · #12 05-30-2009, 07:15 PM

Ok well ill look out for that one. That was actually at the top of my decently priced one :]. Would that sound good with active pickups? like i said im naive when it comes to this.

cheapbasslovin · #13 05-30-2009, 07:18 PM

Best multi effects pedal.

Chronicle · #14 05-30-2009, 07:19 PM

Ah active pickups...I wouldn't be too sure on that to be honest...You might have to find the right volume on the bass and efx board to help compensate the volume boost active pups can make.

Chronicle · #15 05-30-2009, 07:21 PM

And you might want to get on this

Boss Me-50B for sale

fivestringgecko · #16 05-30-2009, 07:24 PM

+1 to Chronicle's suggestion of starting with a multi-fx, for exactly the reasons he stated. I've suggested the same thing to several people.

5sg.

lowbass68 · #17 05-30-2009, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobbass4k

If you do go the single stompbox way, I wouldn't get a synth, most synth pedals are just a combination of fuzz + filter + octave, which are all good effects to have on their own anyway and should be on any well rounded board (IMO), I sold my bass microsynth and got an octaver and a filter (already had fuzz) and I've never looked back

Thats a very subjective statement. I have the old model BMS and it has it's place. It is very good for certain applications. I have never successfully recreated it's sound and feel with individual pedals.

Swift713 · #18 05-30-2009, 07:30 PM

I think that different multi's have different strengths. What kind of sounds are you into? What sort of music do you tend to play? What's your current set up? Bass, amp, etc. ? Some units are very strong on amp models but not so strong on effects, some don't have models at all. Sometimes an amp model makes a better overdrive than a multi-effect's overdrive. It might be best to go to a Guitar Center or something and try a few multi's out. I think the Boss units are laid out like a pedal board while the Zooms and Digitechs often have up and down switches to scroll through patches or presets. Programmability can be very convenient but it can also be somewhat cumbersome. It all depends on how you think about your sound and how you want to be able to change it.
Sorry, no easy answers in my head

Just try out whatever you can get your hands on and buy the one that sounds best in your price range. You'll learn from there what you wish it would do. I have a Zoom B2, it sounds pretty good, not much noise, cheap, easy to program. It taught me what I wanted to pursue as far as effects.