Effects that turn bass into a lead instrument

SMILEYSIXX · #1 10-25-2010, 12:03 PM

So last night, me and the drummer I play with have come to the final conclusion that every other musician we tried to work with wasn't working in relation to what we wanted to do. I had him look up some DTA1979 and Om and we decided to try bass and drums only. With what I wanna play, I need to bring my bass more out into the lead instrument light, so I need some good effects.

To start, I wanna get some octave up, distortion, and synth just to start. Any recomendations on good effects that could really help me out here?

t3ch · #2 10-25-2010, 12:06 PM

looper, octave, chorus?

bigchiefbc · #3 10-25-2010, 12:07 PM

If I were gonna be lead bass in a 2-piece, I'd start with a fuzz, a whammy, a delay and a modulation of your choice (for me, either phaser or flanger)

dokazaado · #4 10-25-2010, 12:11 PM

do you really know what music you want to make?
DFA1979 and Om are pretty dissimilar.

Really, with a two-piece, you don't need any effects
to become a lead instrument.
You'll be a lead instrument by default.
It all just depends on what you want to hear, dude.

cybersnyder · #5 10-25-2010, 12:13 PM

You want an M13.

Jared Lash · #6 10-25-2010, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cybersnyder

You want an M13.

I could see that. A looper would be a must for me in this format and the M9/M13 would give that and more.

I'd want separate dirt boxes though.

But it absolutely depends on what kind of music you really want to do. If I was to start a drum & bass duo I'd likely do something very similar to El Ten Eleven. And I'd probably want a board that does a lot of the same thing Kristian's does, especially looping a pitch shifting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fD2xS...eature=channel

worxforme · #7 10-25-2010, 12:52 PM

My nephew plays drums in a band with a drum/bass only lineup. Here is his myspace with music. Not sure if this is what you are after:

http://www.myspace.com/drdevice

His bass player uses a some type of splitter and two amps, one bass and one guitar amp. I've seen them play, it really fills the room and sounds similar to a guitarist and a bassist and the crowd seems to like them.

I know one effect he uses is a loop pedal.

Bassblisters · #8 10-25-2010, 01:31 PM

Electro Harmonix has a couple of effects that could take care of many of your needs for relatively cheap.

EHX Ring Thing

The EXH Ring Thing is a very versatile modulator that you can use for whammy pitch bending and a variety of modulation effects. It takes care of your octave, whammy, vibrato, tremolo and ring mod needs. You could control it with an external modulation source (such as a drum computer) and an expression pedal. Lots of versatile freakiness for a relatively small price tag.

EHX Stereo Memory Man with Hazarai

This is a digital delay with a filter for warming up repeats, reverse delay, chorus, flanger and 30-second looper capabilities.

As for Fuzz, you may need to get several, depending upon what you're after. A muff clone would be cool, and a gated fuzz would be cool. Some recommendations for robot fuzz are the Team Awesome Fuzz Machine, Dr. Scientist Frazz Dazzler (angry Robots) and Devi Ever OK (Synthy stutter fuzz). For muff clones, the Blackout Effectors Musket Fuzz and Fuzzrocious Grey Stache are recommended.

Sounds like a fun band!

electracoyote · #9 10-25-2010, 01:32 PM

The big three: Chorus, Delay, O.D./Distortion

Mix to taste. It works for guitards and bottom feeders alike.

bassbrad · #10 10-25-2010, 01:39 PM

Starting with a good multi-efx is the way to find what will work or not, then you can focus on areas from there.
Octave Up= Akai UniBass, EHX POG, Whammy or a pitch shifter harmonizer.

SMILEYSIXX · #11 10-25-2010, 01:58 PM

I have a Boss ME-50B so I have an idea of what will sound good, but the ME-50B doesn't have the quality I need. Danelectro makes a pedal that provides octave up and distortion in one. I beliieve it's called French Toast. Has anyone tried it?

electracoyote · #12 10-25-2010, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SMILEYSIXX

I have a Boss ME-50B so I have an idea of what will sound good, but the ME-50B doesn't have the quality I need. Danelectro makes a pedal that provides octave up and distortion in one. I beliieve it's called French Toast. Has anyone tried it?

I have one, but never tried it with bass. It's a re-creation of the Foxx Tone Machine. It is noisy as hell. I even had one of my techs re-house it and try to buffer the noise with a cap, it's still noisy and picks up RF interference.

YMMV.

Jared Lash · #13 10-25-2010, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SMILEYSIXX

I have a Boss ME-50B so I have an idea of what will sound good, but the ME-50B doesn't have the quality I need. Danelectro makes a pedal that provides octave up and distortion in one. I beliieve it's called French Toast. Has anyone tried it?

Most "octave up" distortions are not what you want. Yes, they provide a bit of octave via clipping but not enough to really round out the sound. You'd be better off with a Whammy/POG/Unibass and a distortion, though the AKAI's built in dirt is not bad at all.

faceinbass · #14 10-25-2010, 02:42 PM

whammy or ring thing

gastric · #15 10-25-2010, 04:07 PM

I'm pretty sure Death From Above's recorded sound seemed vastly different than their live sound based purely on sound clips I've heard. The studio sound is fairly polished, lots of lush stereo imaging and layering. Live, the bass was a lot more loose and generic sounding.

bassbrad · #16 10-25-2010, 04:55 PM

I have a French Toast but to me it really isn't all that cool for bass, but it does the Octavia thing in spades for guitar and Tweety bass.

Chrisk-K · #17 10-25-2010, 04:57 PM

Quote:

To start, I wanna get some octave up, distortion, and synth just to start.

You better buy an M13 instead of buying a few seperate effects.

AcidFripp · #18 10-25-2010, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SMILEYSIXX

So last night, me and the drummer I play with have come to the final conclusion that every other musician we tried to work with wasn't working in relation to what we wanted to do. I had him look up some DFA1979 and Om and we decided to try bass and drums only. With what I wanna play, I need to bring my bass more out into the lead instrument light, so I need some good effects.

Damn, you had him check out some good bands! Great examples of a bass/drums setup for sure.
Distortion is what you're looking for, though, definitely.

SMILEYSIXX · #19 10-25-2010, 05:07 PM

The M13 is a little more than I can afford right now, but I'll see what I can do. I've pretty much narrowed down what I want to delay or loop, distortion, maybe chorus, and wah. For the wah, I think I'm gonna go with a crybaby.

If I go with the M13 and crybaby, that's almost 600 plus whatever the chorus pedal might be. Any chorus recomendations?

EDIT: for chorus, I'm thinking electroharmonix clone theory or memory boy.

gumtownbassman · #20 10-25-2010, 05:17 PM

I use a Boss GT-10B multi effects and a Roland GR-20 synth, bass lines with synth backing while you play..