The Essential Effects

BlakeJustBlake · #1 06-07-2010, 03:00 AM

Personally, I'm not really into effects. I'm a very analog sort of person when it comes to music. I think effects are something that you have to do very well in order for them to be useful else your music just sounds either very fake or something just sounds wrong.

But I know that is probably a very close minded view of effects usage. So I was wondering, if I played bass professionally as a session musician or in a cover band or something along those lines and I wasn't trying to get a certain tone, I was just trying to get the minimal amount of effects and pedals for giving me a wide enough range of tones for playing all sorts of music. Then what pedals would I get? Excluding a tuner of course. And just to keep it concise, let's say I was only willing to get a max of 5.

Remember, these are just 5 effects or pedals that are essential for just being as malleable of a bass player as possible, no targeted tone or sound.

tony_clifton · #2 06-07-2010, 03:19 AM

This is only my opinion, and I know a lot of people will disagree but here I go:

For a pop/rock band you don't have to get pedals. On the internets they are like a status symbol, live they can easily ruin your sound. I think only 5% of the audience ever listens to the bass player, and even less notices the nuances of his tone. Why start competing with your bandmates by taking extra frequencies they need? You might sound better but the band doesn't!

I've been searching for reasons to buy pedals and I have been gassing for a chorus but then I realised that I'm in a three-piece rock band. Why the hell do I need chorus for?

Anyway, essentials: if you play slap you might use a compressor because it's more pleasant sounding for the audience (less volume peaks).
And maybe a preamp pedal, to sound like you play trough another amplifier without the hassle of dragging around another expensive rig. Especially useful when you pick one with a built in DI, so you have a backup in case your amp dies in the middle of a show.

Regarding distortion I'd get a nice cranked-ampeg kind of overdrive or a fuzz, but with a clean blend pedal as well. I don't like distorted bass unless you can drastically adjust the EQ of it and crawl behind your rig to turn off the tweeter. With a clean signal underneath you get a more effect-like feel.

Can't think of any others.
I've been thinking about an octaver as well but I don't really see what it contributes to your sound, besides the sake of using it.

Needless to say the only pedal I own is a tuner, which is permanently stored in my guitar bag when not needed to tune up

.

BlakeJustBlake · #3 06-07-2010, 04:01 AM

I'd say that was a very insightful post. I agree about taking up frequencies that the rest of your band needs. I really just feel that bass is still very useful clean when playing with people because you don't lose anything if you just keep up the groove and play harmonically with the rest of the band, at least if you're not playing anything highly stylized.

I had a friend who was a very good bassist that I had never seen use a pedal before, but the last time I saw him play he had an entire board of stuff. Whenever he switched over to using that stuff it almost seemed like the band had completely loss the bass because his playing style would change to playing as if it were more of a melodic instrument and there wasn't a bass player anymore, there was a guitarist.

That being said I could see the use of both a compressor and a preamp. Sometimes there's just too much bite there that the compressor can take care of and a preamp can just be useful for reasons already covered. I'd love to hear some more ideas on this though.

JimmyM · #4 06-07-2010, 04:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlakeJustBlake

I'd say that was a very insightful post.

it was? looked to me like he came into the effects forum for the express purpose of congratulating himself for not using effects

personally i think it's a gross exaggeration. the potential is definitely there to go overboard and use effects poorly. but in the right hands, effects can sound absolutely wonderful on bass. i don't think you can listen to highly effected bassists like juan alderete or justin meldal-johnsen and say that they've turned themselves into guitar players.

having said that, i don't think there are any effects for bass you can call "essential," although overdrive/distortion is commonly used in music of all kinds these days. if there's any you could consider essential, that would be it. i know a lot of bassists use compression, but i gave it up because i always get compressed in the house anyway, and since i went back to tube amps it seems so wrong

my rule of thumb for effects is if you don't know why you need it, you don't. of course that didn't stop me from using a lot, but i've pared it down to overdrive and octaver now. many like chorus but i don't. used to until 80's music and guitarists and bassists who would always have it on made me sick of it.

it's very much a personal thing, though. just have fun and try not to shoehorn them in for the sake of having an effect on.

tony_clifton · #5 06-07-2010, 04:52 AM

Yeah, I'll probably use them poorly, that's why I don't use them. No sarcasm intended. I still think that this way works out best for me.

I figured my opinion was valuable because it's easy to build a pedalboard with the five essentials (and more), but it might or might not suit the music or the band.

Scottgun · #6 06-07-2010, 05:01 AM

The first box I would get would be a SansAmp, but that is not really an effect. If I got effects at all, the first thing would be a chorus, followed perhaps by a delay.

Hizzoner · #7 06-07-2010, 07:00 AM

I only have a few pedals but find my Tonehammer is constantly engaged as preamp. At my rehearsal yesterday I had my new Agro pedal set with light saturation on for every rocker we play...the slight overdrive really adds a lot to MY tone and it cuts like mad through the mix...contributes significantly to the foundation of my band which is the goal..

skulletwhip · #8 06-07-2010, 07:38 AM

It really depends on the music you are playing. My band does a lot of spacey stuff and a lot of heavy stuff. My board is able to deliver heavy and driven tones and whacked out trippy stuff.

Its more about having the right ammo for the job,

stratovani · #9 06-07-2010, 07:52 AM

Here's my pedal setup - volume pedal>DigiTech Bad Monkey OD>Boss LMB3 Limiter Expander>Boss GEB-7 Bass EQ>Boss CEB-3 Bass Chorus. I play in a Contemporary Christian band, and these pedals pretty much cover every sound I need. They're not all on at the same time. I use them only when I need them, the exception being the EQ pedal, since I switch basses a lot - the EQ requirements of a P-Bass being different from a Hofner bass. They may or may not be THE essential pedals but they're certainly MY essential pedals.

carlos840 · #10 06-07-2010, 08:42 AM

This is as small as i can get to play in my function band.
Whith my original bands i usually dont use any effects.

Those are:

Tuner
Fuzz
Distortion
Phaser (could get rid of it)
Octave
Envelope filter
DI sans amp
If i got rid of the phaser i would get a synth...

jpTron · #11 06-07-2010, 08:47 AM

Preamp and OD. Possibly compression.. which is something I'm going to experiment with even though my tube screamer gives that effect anyway. Maybe an EQ pedal too.

faceinbass · #12 06-07-2010, 09:20 AM

If I were a session player or a hired gun for gigging I would pull the trigger on a U5.

beyond that..
A pedal preamp, an overdrive, a bass eq, a fuzz, and MAYBE a chorus or low pass filter.

jmorbita · #13 06-07-2010, 09:40 AM

This might not be 100% related to the OP, but, why should only guitar players be allowed to have fun with effects?! I agree bass works great with no effects, but then again, so does guitar!!
I believe bass can use a whole bunch of effects tastefully and still hold the low end of the song tight.
I use distortion, fuzz, chorus, flanger, delay in many songs in my band, and it's true the audience might not notice it, but I think it comes down to what YOU expect from your sound.
Personally, when in my band we are making new songs, I sometimes imagine the bass doing this or that, and then it doesn't sound right to me without this or that effect. I'm not a great player, but I believe sometimes effects add a lot to what i'm doing without loosing the lowend.

Turtle71 · #14 06-07-2010, 10:04 AM

As has been said before, "essential" is really sorta subjective, one persons essential is another persons overkill....

I use effects sparingly, most of my pedals are cheap Boss units but they get the job done for me, but there are obviously better ones to be had though.

If I had to define essential effects I'd say some overdrive/fuzz of some sort, a preamp/DI (I just got one of those), and maybe some chorus.

Just my 2 cents...

**Staccato** · #15 06-07-2010, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyM

...my rule of thumb for effects is if you don't know why you need it, you don't. of course that didn't stop me from using a lot, but i've pared it down to overdrive and octaver now. many like chorus but i don't. used to until 80's music and guitarists and bassists who would always have it on made me sick of it...

JimmyM sounds right-on with his philosophy-as usual!

billgwx · #16 06-07-2010, 10:50 AM

Agree with not stepping on other musicians' frequencies, but still you can find room to add color in the right places. My use of effects is pretty limited...mostly for amp modeling/EQ, maybe compression to make things punchier, also a little chorus/reverb at times. I don't use octave much anymore but it can add a nice touch...thinking mainly Pino Palladino here, also Gary Grainger on the John Scofield tune "Blue Matter" (both 80's so dated?), but I've even heard Duck Dunn from Booker T & the MG's use it subtly on a tune from their mid 90's release "That's the Way It Should Be"...he's one of the last players I'd have figured would use that kind of effect.