Effects and bass...what am I missing?

[bassbully]

Or am I not missing anything? This is not a thread to diss effects and bass. I will admit however I dont understand the two together and this is why I came in here the one area of TB I rarely ever look at

In my almost 10 years as a bass player my only effect has been a boss bass overdrive that i bought and tried in an old band that did some hard rock. I tried to color or add distortion to the sound. All it did is take the bass out of the room and feedback ..so I sold it.
I see others with all these efects and wonder ...why? I do understand it some in some types of music but allot of the bass effects I played around with at music stores are allfull. Is it just cool to look good with pedals as a bass player? Or Is the old plug and play approach like I do enough?

I do have an old Behringer sans amp box I used to use it allot as a preamp to add some color and EQ with. For a cheap box it worked great. I aslo have a Behringer tube mic pre I have used at outdoor shows to boost my siginal and get some warmth to my my solid state amp. So I guess I have used a little effects?

My question is stomp boxes type effects and what could they do for me. I am a very stripped down player. I play in a nu-folk ,Americana,roots rock band. I play passive P basses with flats thru solid state amps getting that uprightish tone. I do want to stand out for my fills etc so my tone is not mud.

Is there any effects that any of you can suggest me to look into that are standards in the bass world that shape or color tones without adding a drastic change? Maybe all is good and I am just bored and barking up the wrong tree. If this is the case let me know ..I will go away

[masterFlash]

Why not try a snyth or a tremolo. Those could be fun without being over the top.

[plangentmusic]

I went though my "effects" phase. Now I just use compression (which really isn't an "effect") and chorus -- and I almost never use the chorus.

The reason being -- ALL effects cause a loss of purity of the initial bass tone. You may think you're standing out, but unless you're really load, you're actually more LOST within the blend of the music because there's essentially more noise and less pure signal.

I think the attraction to effects is hearing a fresh sound on the instrument -- but in time, it grows old. And I can say from experience, almost NO ONE in the and wants to hear it. They need a bassplayer.

When recording I occasionally use an effect, but it's within the studio equipment. No one expects you to use pedals or rack mounted stuff in the studio.

So, in short, effects are almost useless in the real world. But if ya like 'em, ya like 'em! So why not.

Of course that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

[dokazaado]

I really don't know what effects would fit the music you're making.
Maybe a little slapback...

and plangent, it all depends on the music you're making.
there are definitely players who use dumb unnecessary effects,
and there are others who are taking the instrument to new places with them.

[skulletwhip]

It all depends on the sound of your band. I really don't like it when somebody says you'll be lost in the mix. Not all mixes are the same.

That being said, you have to experiment a lot.

[electracoyote]

Unless you are doing all originals, the songs you are covering should be your cue as to whether or not you need effects.

I went decades without a single effect, not even O.D./distortion, and worked every weekend for many years that way.

Now I'm in a different band and I ocassionally hit a stomp box because it is very pronounced on the original studio recording.

If you do originals, you have to make up your mind as to whether an effect is helping the song or just a self-indulgent experiment.

New to effects? Lower price point multi effects or el-cheapo stomps are the way to go until you decide an effect is really worth owning and using. Then you can splurge on a nicer unit.

And yes, some pedals steal a little low end, but in my experience, most do not steal low end to the point that you have to give up on the pedal. After you've decided you really like an effect, there is almost always a better box or an EQ tweak that will make that effect useful without robbing your low end.

[somegeezer]

I use no effects at the moment. I have a guitar distortion, but would never use it on my bass live. I would like to have effects though. Just to add the character. Make the piece speak more, rather than just a bass sound. Why do artists use coloured pencils when a good old graphite will draw the same picture? It makes it stand out more. You can make things different and arguably better. I think if I had the money, I'd buy a lot of effects.

[DannDubblewe]

Originally Posted by bassbully

...
Is there any effects that any of you can suggest me to look into that are standards in the bass world that shape or color tones without adding a drastic change?...

Aguilar ToneHammer
http://www.aguilaramp.com/products_p...tonehammer.htm

Darkglass Electronics B7K
http://darkglasselectronics.com/prod...icrotubes-b7k/

Sadowsky Preamp/DI
http://www.sadowsky.com/accessories/preamp.html

Sansamp Bass Driver
http://www.tech21nyc.com/products/sa...sdriverdi.html

I don't know about them being "standards" but these preamp pedals will color your tone in various ways and allow you to add a light amount (or huge amount) of distortion. Pretty basic tone manipulation that can get pricey! Definitely worth a look if you want to find "your sound."

[Matt Dean]

I consider effects pedals more or less the same as the tone controls on my amplifier... signal processors that shape and modify the signal that is produced by my brain, fingers, vibrating strings and pick-ups. Throughout the course of a set of music I use octave, overdrive, fuzz, filter, modulation and tone controls (and the voicing knob on my M6) to produce the sound I and my band mates hear in our heads.

I don't use effects all the time... in fact, depending on the band, I probably use effects anywhere from 25% to 60% of the time (although, I am starting a ambient/noise rock project that will probably push that to 100%).

[Achtane]

Never stop, effects forum.

I love you so much.

[steevdeadman]

Effects... BAH! Who needs 'em... Maybe I should go into the EUB forum and tell them they should play acoustic uprights and stop being such wussies.

[jrmy]

Also, to the original poster, extreme effects might not work for the style of music you describe. I agree that a slap-back delay or reverb might work (something along the lines of the Earthquaker Ghost Delay, perhaps). Tremolo might be cool - you can get a kind of spooky-country sound with a good tremolo (maybe the Iron Ether Cygnet).

If you're looking for something cheap to mess around with, I'm a big fan of the Arion Stereo Chorus - you can get them for as low as $20, and it's not really a typical chorus. I can get a great "whooshy" spinning Leslie sound with mine. They are plastic, and I wouldn't go stomping on mine, but it's fun for the price, and could possibly work with your band.

As for fuzz & distortion, you definitely need to do your homework to get the right one for you. Your current situation might not need fuzz, but there a ton of different fuzzes / distortions out there, and they will all have different flavors, some more amenable to your idea of your ideal bass tone than others.

[kevteop]

I like the sound of my Thumb bass, it sounds a bit different to the usual Fenders and Stingrays that all the other bands we gig with are playing, but it still sounds good.

I like the sound of my double bass for the same reasons.

I like the sound of my OC-2 for similar reasons.

... fuzz, for similar reasons.

... Octavius Squeezer...

I like to play with a pick sometimes too.

It's just another sound isn't it? There's nothing wrong with having some variety. I don't hear anyone bashing people for playing bass guitar with "Oh all you need is a double bass, these electric basses are fine for a gimmick, but nobody really wants to hear them."

[zenrad]

Funk. Envelope filter.
How in the world could I make greasy quacking sounds without one?

I use a compressor to control the peaks from the filter, VT bass for a little grit when required, octave pedal for the Funk as well. Playing with certain effects can change the way you approach the instrument, your touch changes, and with something like an envelope filter it almost becomes a different instrument as you learn to make certain sounds by using techniques specific to the effect you're using, for example if you want to make a bubbly sound vs. a synthy sound.

In the classic rock band I leave the pedal board home and go straight to the amp. They just want me to go thump thump on a P bass and turn down the treble.

FWIW, I've seen a few Funk bands in the "real world" and they seem to do ok with those effects.

[bassbrad]

Effects enhance my tones, inspire me to step out of the ruts and the people I play with like it.
I even get grief from the Western Swing guys when I leave my bag-0-trix home,
but then I have taste, chops and something to play.

[P-oddz]

Originally Posted by DannDubblewe

Aguilar ToneHammer
http://www.aguilaramp.com/products_p...tonehammer.htm

Darkglass Electronics B7K
http://darkglasselectronics.com/prod...icrotubes-b7k/

Sadowsky Preamp/DI
http://www.sadowsky.com/accessories/preamp.html

Sansamp Bass Driver
http://www.tech21nyc.com/products/sa...sdriverdi.html

I don't know about them being "standards" but these preamp pedals will color your tone in various ways and allow you to add a light amount (or huge amount) of distortion. Pretty basic tone manipulation that can get pricey! Definitely worth a look if you want to find "your sound."

Excellent example of pedals that can have light effects to your tone. For example, I use the Tone Hammer. It's a great, slight EQ. It gives my passive signal a little boost, and the gain stage adds a nice bit of round/warm breakup similar to driving a tube amp. And then you've got a DI for recording or stage. Something along these lines could work for you (but as mentioned before, completely not necessary) to help EQ your Precision (possibly boost some low end frequencies, etc.) and add some tube-like warmth to your solid state amp.

Just an example of a pedal that doesn't distort/chorus/flange/wah/fuzz your tone, and could be usable by someone with a more "purist" mentality.

[Deluge Of Sound]

"All right" is two words, unless your name happens to be Bob Dylan/Robert Zimmerman.

[phatbass]

I use effects when there's a perception (by me) that they would enhance the performance.

For example, Friday I'm hired to sit in with a Guitarist and Drummer that play mainly Blues/Rock. I'll take my Cave Grunt Deluxe for a touch of grit, and my Devi Ever GZ (octave fuzz) 'cause these guys tend to bollock around way too much between tunes so when it's feasible, and sort-of sounds like it's meant to be that way, I'll kick in the GZ and start the intro riff to the next tune to give 'em a "hurry up" kick in the butt.

At the Country gig last weekend, it was no effects; straight into the amp. With my new Power Blues/Rock/Jazz trio I'll probably be using my Dunlop 105Q Wah and an overdrive of some sort.

[Jared Lash]

This is, of course, a perfect example of why these threads never last. An OP wanders into the effects forum out of curiousity to ask about effects usage. The fact that he doesn't visit this subforum means that he doesn't realize this same question countless times. All of which is fine because there's some actual interest in learning why some bassists choose to use effects

Invariably someone else stumbles into these threads to tell us that effects on bass are useless for any number of predictable reasons and a thread that could have conveyed some useful information to the non-effects user is closed like every other thread that starts this way.

There's only two kinds of music - the kind you likeand the kind you don't. If effects can be tools to help you make the music you like then use them. If not, then don't. Pretty simple really.

[FunkyBassline]

Dub step wobble is always fun. If your gonna get effects don't get random effects that work independently, get effects pedals that work in conjunction to create a unique and very cool sound. i.e. Moog MF101, Prunes&Custard, OC-2, and EBS Unichorus for me is absolute sex.