Effects to thicken a live band sound as a whole.

[BillyIVbass]

I play in a cover band, mostly pop. We're having trouble finding a second guitarist so our current guitar player mentioned I should get a midi pickup on my bass...

I'm sure this has been brought up before. What are you guys using? An octave pedal I feel will cause me to play more midrange and then leave the lows to naked. I've also considered an 8-string bass (not effects related) but was curious if anyone else fought this battle?

[Matt Dean]

Really, all you need to do is make your bass a little more distorted and turn up your attitude and presto! You've got a kick ass three piece (instrumentally speaking).

Or you can get synthy by running an octave into a fuzz and filter... now you're real thick.

Then run a little phaser once in a while, and you'll have to post your pedal board on PYPB.

[HiFi]

Originally Posted by Matt Dean

Really, all you need to do is make your bass a little more distorted and turn up your attitude and presto! You've got a kick ass three piece (instrumentally speaking).

Bingo. I added a Rusty Box to my sound for some drive when we lost a guitarist, and as a three piece, it did the trick.

[DeathFromBelow]

Originally Posted by Matt Dean

Really, all you need to do is make your bass a little more distorted and turn up your attitude and presto! You've got a kick ass three piece (instrumentally speaking).

Or you can get synthy by running an octave into a fuzz and filter... now you're real thick.

Then run a little phaser once in a while, then you'll have to post your pedal board on PYPB.

And before you know it, you'll be broke, single and homeless...

[JustinDubree]

It's hard to say for a cover band. I play in an original group, and have adapted to the trio setting. I play a six to start with, (mostly for the upper range). I play a load of effects as well (people hate seeing bass players with pedalboards IME). I use a lot of things like delay, and multiple eq pedals to make crisp high-mid tone much like a second guitarist would if he existed in the band. Surely I don't do both low"bass" parts and upper parts at the same time, but we have the ability to write music around the limitations we have. Pedals help a lot to get the fullness of a quartet without the fourth person. I recommend some EQ pedals, an octave pedal, possibly a EHX POG (possibly one of the best "filling" pedals I have seen. It takes a lot to get that sound though.

[kdiggity]

I'm in a trio (+ singer) band, and we seem to make it work OK. I use some effects here and there, when suitable for the song and sound, and I also have adapted my playing style to fill a bit wider role.

I play a 5'r, and that helps a little bit since it gives me a few additional options for counterbalancing the guitarist (and vice-versa).

I think the thing that has helped most though, is the adapted playing style. Instead of sticking to a 'traditional' bassist role, I've expanded my style to compliment both the percussionist and guitar player - even helping to compliment the harmonies of the singer from time to time.

None of this is groundbreaking stuff, mind you, so I'm not bragging about anything - just sharing my experiences with ya.

Effects wise, I use varying forms of chorus, flange, OD, fuzz, wah, and EQ. I also have a looper, which might be something you'd find useful. It opens up a lot of opportunities.

HTH!

-K

[Marton]

An Octaver and an Overdrive/Fuzz can really fill a mix, in my experience.

And a P bass too, but that's another debate !

[Eric!]

Rusty Box! Or some fuzz. Never hurt anyone TOO badly

[kdiggity]

^ True dat.

[bassplayerbob]

I also play in a 3 pc + singer coverband and we play sly stones Higher for example. I create a wall of sound using a boss oc 2 octave into a digitech hardwire distortion, drive at 9 o clock, into a boss phaser. Very Larry grahamish tone and fills the void nicely.

[GizmoTheOne]

What you really need is 3 EQ pedals. One for you, one for the guitarist, and one for throwing at the guitarist's head when he says stupid stuff.

Seriously, EQ can go a long way. You have to cover as much sonic territory as possible without interfering with others. That means, basically, less bass and more mids for both of you.

Of course, you're never gonna sound as big as a 4-piece. You can go "synthy", as said before, but say goodbye to clean and articulate tones, and be prepared to face mud in some songs. If you really want effects, you can get a nice overdrive/distortion pedal that would make you sound a bit fatter. Be careful, though, it might not be suitable for all pop covers.

I play in a 3-piece, and people who come to our shows are always thrown away by how good we sound. We get comments like "Man, you sound like if you were 6 in the band!" all the time. This is so cool. 1 distorted guitar, 1 bass, and a drummer. Almost no effects except for spicing up some parts. The secret : good EQ and unselfishness.

See sig if you want to have an idea of our sound. Bass is clean more than 90% of the time.

[jgroh]

My cover band recently went from 6, to 5, to 3 in a short amount of time. So we are essentially one guitar, me, and the drummer. I added some thick overdrive to my sound (still on the light side, not fuzz or full on distortion...its a Pork Loin) and that in itself helped alot. I do have a line 6 M9 and the octaver helps on some songs, and since I have a boss ls-2, I can run some effects while still keeping a clean signal as well.

[hipnotode]

i suggest either good eq'ing like gizmotheone sugested, or get a splitter/blender fx loop pedal, an octive and a distortion. signal chain:
bass --> splitter ---------------->blend-->
......................-->octive --> dist. ^

that way you have a higher distorted tone, but also keep your lows nice and clean.

[kdiggity]

Yeah, it's amazing how much additional 'body' a good octave pedal can provide.

Same goes for carefully applied OD, chorus or fuzz

(since he mentioned Pop - had he mentioned something else, 'carefully applied' could be something entirely different!).



-K

[bassbrad]

I use an Akai UniBass to add some texture similar to the Fishman Fission if it ever becomes available. The trick to those kinds of harmonizers is to pick and choose where and when to use them.

[chuck3]

I also play in a 3-pc + singer band, and I highly recommend the POG2, plus a chorus on it if you'd like. The POG2 is a form of octaver but much more; basically, if you'd like to turn yourself into a bass plus an organ at the same time, it does the trick.

I run it all through an Xotic Xblender so one switch turns all the effects on and I can easily blend them with the dry sound. (I always keep some dry sound too.)

I'm not against fuzz type devices, but for the band I'm in they would not be the right solution.

[Bassmike62]

Originally Posted by chuck3

I also play in a 3-pc + singer band, and I highly recommend the POG2, plus a chorus on it if you'd like. The POG2 is a form of octaver but much more; basically, if you'd like to turn yourself into a bass plus an organ at the same time, it does the trick.

Pretty interesting solution indeed ! Is this acheviable with the Micro Pog ? The Pog2 has a bit of a big footprint.

[GreggBummer]

You can get a pretty thick sound out of the band without effects to be sure. Again, as stated above, EQ can go a long way.

Of course, you could get really "Geddy Lee" on everyone and get one of these.

[Eric!]

Originally Posted by GizmoTheOne

What you really need is 3 EQ pedals. One for you, one for the guitarist, and one for throwing at the guitarist's head when he says stupid stuff.

I lol'd