Hello, Effects forum - this is my first post here, after a lot of lurking and enjoying. I guess I should tell you first that I've been a songwriter and home recordist since 1989, and have just gotten back into playing bass in a covers band for the first time in 6 or so years.
I'm thinking about a multi-effects pedal for live bass, and (to a lesser extent) something I could use in my home studio for bass, guitars or keys, just for creativity's sake.
Live, I play a
1997 Fender American Standard Jazz Bass (
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/meet-my-1997-fender-am-std-jazz-bass-dare-i-change-anything-about-her-673615/#post9378684) with nickel rounds and stock pickups
and a
2004? Fender Mexican Standard Precision Bass with flats and an SD Basslines 'vintage' pickup
though a
Gallien-Krueger MB500 bass amp with Aguilar S410 cabinet: (
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f15/new-gallien-krueger-mb500-owner-first-impressions-existential-musings-666234/#post9261248)
...in styles ranging from James Jamerson soul, to Family Man Barrett reggae, to Steve Harris metal, to Cliff Burton thrash, to Mike Starr (Alice In Chains) rock, to Larry Graham/Sly Stone funk, to Paul McCartney pop.
The band I've just joined leans toward heavier 70s, and a lot of 90s-00s sounds, (they're all Alice In Chains lovers like me) and I've already influenced them to try some Bob Marley with me on bass & vocals... but they also know the power of the funk, and are are willing to expand their palette.
I am of two minds about effects; part of me is perfectly content to use variations of my fingers and my bass' tone knobs to craft a sound through this rig (which I bought just over a month ago, and am still dialing in).
Another part of me (the studio side?) sees effects as opportunities to spice up our sound and get creative with serving these songs.
I absolutely love to tweak parameters, and since I'm still stuck in the late 90's with my old Roland VS-890 recorder, I am familiar with Boss' sometimes clunky approach. Instead of being overwhelmed with the menu choices, I'm pretty task-oriented and I can zero in on what I want (be it a guitar, bass, drum, keyboard or vocal effect), then have a great time tweaking to taste.
I haven't been in the market for a MFX unit in FOREVER, and I had to catch up on what's out there nowadays by reading a lot of reviews and threads.
So, I'm wondering if an uber pedal like the
Boss GT-10B would scratch my itch for tweakable effects for my live bass playing, and creative possibilities with its expression pedal...
or, how about the
Line6 Pod X3 Live, which is marketed to guitarists, but has a pretty generous-looking selection of bass and vocal amps/effects as well? (I do play guitar on all my recordings, too, and all those choices appeal to me!)
Here's what I'd look for in one of these units:
I'd hope that the
switching between patches could be quick, if not instant... hopefully the technology has progressed beyond my 1993 Quadraverb GT, where I had to changes patches ahead of the beat.
I love
compression, even to the extent of
Revolver-era Beatles squashing, and I would hope for maximum flexibility in this area above all - or, if not flexibility, I hope for at least a couple of really usable choices.
I love
phasing/flanging/chorus for different ways to make the high-end of my bass sound "swimmy."
I love
tape echo (I have one of those Boss Space Echo pedals and an Ibanez DE-7 to address this itch)... not that I'd be using a lot of that on bass (though we do Another Brick In The Wall, so that's one excuse!) I particularly love the effect of those repeats getting louder, worse, and more beautiful every time when the feedback is set high (foot controllable, of course!)
I'd like to be able to add some
overdrive or fuzz or distortion to my bass for some patches, but this is way lower in importance to me than the compressor.
I wouldn't mind
obscure special effects craziness, though never in the amount offered via some of the preset patches
I'd
probably bypass any speaker simulation for live bass, but for home recording, they could be really useful (especially given my willingness to tweak the different combinations).
I love the idea of
being able to set the expression pedal to control ANYTHING. I've gotten creative with my Roland keyboard about this.
I'm willing to work with individual patch, and global, EQs to fight the fizzy sterility some have complained about. The GT-10B appears to have different output options, one of which is for a bass amp with a tweeter.
But what about the compressors?
I've read a lot of reviews and impressions on both the GT-10B and Pod X3 Live, but none have touched on their compressor options in the detail I enjoy. I've read both user manuals and (going by that alone) the Pod X3 Live seems to have the edge - at least, there are more compressor models, but I can't tell if their quality trumps quantity.
Which one - or neither?
Either of these units would be miles beyond anything I've ever used... it seems modeling has gotten better, and you can always turn it off... and I believe I can navigate the many options to work on sounds that are right for me.
From all I've typed in this lonnnng post about my tastes & inclinations, would you recommend either of these units?
Or, would you say "stay away - you'll be disappointed with the digital lameness of either"?
