Going through maximilist stage

[vegas532]

I myself am going through a "holy crap, starting from scratch again" phase. I got back into playing hollowbody bass again and want to do a project built around a fuzzed out/effected holowbody sound. What sounds great on solids doesn't always translate well to hollows. What was surprising was one of the fuzzes that worked best with hollowbody isn't exactly revered 'round these here parts.

It looks like a house cleaning may be coming up in the near future.

[MSUsousaphone]

Originally Posted by isthimus

now you see.

dont get me wrong, i love ya to bits for saying this, and i agree that the bass should be an integral part of the band. i'm in two projects atm an in both the bass is important, plays melody as well as harmony, etc etc.

but my setup is bass > amp. :P i just like a clean sound...

Different agenda....same enemy.

[Tendollarcat]

I play in an original noise rock band. We write the riffs together, my guitarist uses two boards, I run alot of pedals and it's a whole bunch of fun.

The reason my friends and I started our band is that we had spent years of playing as sidemen for folk, indie and rock bands where the tunes where pretty defined, very safe and the obvious step as a bassist was to play quite clean and within the predictable structure. In many ways, thats not dissimilar to covers. To stay faithful to the tunes, you have a very narrow corridor to take your tone - unless you get a nice "lets do something different moment".

It's easy to generalise and some non-effect players drop by and seem to infer that they have more magic in their hands because they play clean. We effects snobs have a tendency to suggest that we have more going on in our heads creatively because we find new sounds and use them in our bands. I think the reality is a good player is a good player and if you are respectful of the tune, you can do a bunch of good playing clean or with a wall of fuzz doom. A good player understands that the project defines what sounds are appropriate.

[eyeballkid]

We once played a show in DC where one of the guys in the other band had soooooo many pedals he came in with this big thing that looked like a four and a half foot tall Wu-Tang symbol on wheels. It was PART of his pedalboard. When he opened it it was five or six rows of pedals that arched about five feet and had two "smaller" wings that connected on, each with about an additional 15-20 pedals so that it made a near half circle around him. I think all told there were nearly 70!! I dont remember the songs, which were surprisingly well crafted, I just remember the near breakdance movements required of the guy to make it all work. Which he did quite well.

[Tim_Mofunk]

Originally Posted by MSUsousaphone

That's awesome just the bass, a tuner, and an amp is good for you. But just being on stage with the other guys....just being near them....isn't enough for me. I want my sound to be an integral part of what my band is playing. I want the younger generation to look at me and say "I want to do that because that excites me". Not, "hey...that looks easy".

I choose effects.

Bravo man.

I currently turn up to gigs/practice with 12 or more pedals on my board, some of which remain on the whole time. (Thumpinator & Comp). Whist I think it is important to limit your tools within a particular piece of music so that you can create some sort of recognisable tone for a track (I would never use all twelve pedals on and off in one song), I also think it is important to have as many crayons in your pencil case as you can. How can YOUR sound be Passive PBass>SVT? That isn't YOUR sound, thats 10000 other guys sound as well. If you are in an originals band, you should sound original. 1 effect or 100, create something that is yours. There are other ways to create an original sound through technique, style and groove, but if you play in an effects driven world, with Fuzzed out guitars taking centre stage, it's time to step up to the plate and show the world how a bass can sound.

Awesome thread.

[behndy]

dood. EXACTLY. play clean if you want. play with 7 Wutang Symbols (my new measurement unit) worth of pedals. run a midi keyboard for your bass lines.

who. ****ing. CARES.

it's once you're a doucher about your way being the only good way that you're a flipping idiot.

..... only MY way is automatically the correct way. silly billies.

[caeman]

For the folks expanding, maybe you don't always need a single bigger board, just a second board to sit next to the first. Maybe even take a modular approach of several PT-Minis and have a fuzz board, a modulation board, a clean/compression board, then you can position the boards in a semi-circle for easier reach.

In watching the "Post Your Board" thread, there are some massive boards.

[Jean Baudin]

Originally Posted by caeman

For the folks expanding, maybe you don't always need a single bigger board, just a second board to sit next to the first. Maybe even take a modular approach of several PT-Minis and have a fuzz board, a modulation board, a clean/compression board, then you can position the boards in a semi-circle for easier reach.

In watching the "Post Your Board" thread, there are some massive boards.

Says the guy with the 1-pedal pedalboard.

[caeman]

Just because *I* have reduced to one pedal, doesn't mean I don't appreciate the large boards. But from an efficiency point of view. having multiple small boards that just a single row would seem to put more pedals at immediate reach as your surround yourself with many pedals board building your whole chain.

[behndy]

yah. i tried two PT-2's for a hinute, one Pro was way better. pain to carry around but on stage one board in one direction fits way better, and i want as quick and easy a setup as possible.

HAVE 19 ONE PEDAL BOARDS LAID OUT IN A WUTANG SYMBOL AROUND YOU.

so much win.

[DeltaPhoenix]

Geez, I may have lied accidently on the Minmal thread. I don't think I can sell the pedals I have. I have an amazing bass already, plus a decent 5 stringer to mess around with, that can do backup if I need. I probably should just buy a Mono gig bag for my bass and accept that I am going to mark it up gigging and practicing. I was wanting the othe bass for schlepping around...I am back on team maximizing!

[behndy]

Mono bags are sooooooooooo nice. i can't wait for the PT-Pro one to drop. plus, they're but close to me. WOOT.

[caeman]

Originally Posted by DeltaPhoenix

Geez, I may have lied accidently on the Minmal thread. I don't think I can sell the pedals I have. I have an amazing bass already, plus a decent 5 stringer to mess around with, that can do backup if I need. I probably should just buy a Mono gig bag for my bass and accept that I am going to mark it up gigging and practicing. I was wanting the othe bass for schlepping around...I am back on team maximizing!

[G3Mitch]

I've only read the original post so far, and I agree COMPLETELY. I see the bass as a vital instrument to any music, and play it as so. and effects only enhance that. They're not there to try and make us sound better than we are (atleast not for me) they are there to add flavour to the OVERALL sound of a band. Effects are great tools for any musician when used in a tasteful way, and I mean that for all types of music be it noise, ambient, rock...whatever.

Just my opinion!

[Dark Barn]

There is no right way.

I'm a bass player, I love the instrument. I love music. I like MANY kinds of music, but I guess I just don't have the reductionist view many of the posters I see on here (by on here I mean TB, not on this particular thread) do. Music doesn't need a bass player to appeal to me, if it has a bass player I don't demand that the bass player sound any particular way or meet any sort of criteria or even be a good player, these considerations are all secondary to the total package, the whole music, which will fall somewhere along a gradient between I love it and I hate it.

Sure, I can intelligently consider any single piece of music and relate to you aspects of it that I like/dislike, that work/don't work for me, but I'd never tell you that I can apply these distinctions universally to all other music. My tastes are contradictory to themselves and I'm fine with that.

I don't know why this thread caused me to ruminate, but it did. And I want to gripe about one Universal Talkbass Maxim That Bugs Me Often. Fuzz doesn't NEED a clean blend. Not every fuzz, leave me a few fuzzes that don't provide this feature, or go buy yourself a blend pedal and stop trying to direct the market to do it for you. If you want a gorilla then get a ***** gorilla, if you want a dude with alot of back hair then don't get a gorilla and a bottle of nair. I'm half kidding, I can always not use the blend feature, and I admit it's sometimes useful, but those of you who won't touch a fuzz/distortion that doesn't have a blend are missing out on some great stuff out there.

[bigchiefbc]

Originally Posted by Dark Barn

There is no right way.

I'm a bass player, I love the instrument. I love music. I like MANY kinds of music, but I guess I just don't have the reductionist view many of the posters I see on here (by on here I mean TB, not on this particular thread) do. Music doesn't need a bass player to appeal to me, if it has a bass player I don't demand that the bass player sound any particular way or meet any sort of criteria or even be a good player, these considerations are all secondary to the total package, the whole music, which will fall somewhere along a gradient between I love it and I hate it.

Sure, I can intelligently consider any single piece of music and relate to you aspects of it that I like/dislike, that work/don't work for me, but I'd never tell you that I can apply these distinctions universally to all other music. My tastes are contradictory to themselves and I'm fine with that.

I don't know why this thread caused me to ruminate, but it did. And I want to gripe about one Universal Talkbass Maxim That Bugs Me Often. Fuzz doesn't NEED a clean blend. Not every fuzz, leave me a few fuzzes that don't provide this feature, or go buy yourself a blend pedal and stop trying to direct the market to do it for you. If you want a gorilla then get a ***** gorilla, if you want a dude with alot of back hair then don't get a gorilla and a bottle of nair. I'm half kidding, I can always not use the blend feature, and I admit it's sometimes useful, but those of you who won't touch a fuzz/distortion that doesn't have a blend are missing out on some great stuff out there.

+1 - I friggin hate clean blended fuzz. Kill it with fire

[FilterFunk]

Originally Posted by MSUsousaphone

First off, I love you Caeman, this is not a troll thread. And I know you didn't mean what started. And you are an FX fan and lover. This is not at you.

But I am in a maximilist stage. My board is getting massive and I'm at the point where I have to kick stuff off that I love.

Yes, my OD is the only thing that gets a ton of use when I'm playing live. But the songs where I kick on the Megalith and drop some fuzz also drops some jaws. The Faye Sing I was running on some choruses to get these massive sweep sounds going...on the low end for a change...mesmerized people in the crowd (really...I saw them staring at my expression sweeping foot in awe, and slight smile and a glint in their eye). I just got the Goatkeeper in, but holy balls, I already have some plans for that that are going to be off the chain, and the Timeline can give me some crazy mind blowing sounds but I mostly use it for lighter stuff that just enhances the sound.

Yeah...each pedal might be turned on twice a show....but ****. That twice a show sounds pretty good.

I rock. Not an adjective saying I'm awesome. I play rock. I hate funk. Can't stand envelope filters. My band would most sound like The White Stripes or The Black Keys had either of those bands had a bass player. It's indie alt with a southern rock element. I lay down the rhythm and I do all of the things a bass is supposed to do. But I'm not satisfied just there.

I listen to music on the radio and hear guitars. I hear the singer. I hear the drums. I can sometimes hear the keyboard. But I rarely hear the bass. And I blame that on the older generation. When singers, guitarist, and keys were enhancing their tones and playing around with new stuff, evolving, you stayed where you were. You thought the staight up bass sound, all nice and in tune, was enough and now bass players of my generation aren't heard on studio releases. I don't even think some of these bass players are allowed in the studio with the rest of the band. Certainly doesn't sound like it. We're a laughing stock. The outcasts. The moochers along for the free ride.

Well some of us don't like being "that tambourine dude" who was just handed an instrument because they were a friend or to fit an image. We want to be heard. If guitar players and keys showed up to a gig with just their instrument and an amp, they'd be laughed off stage. Effects are where it's at. You let us down these past four decades but don't flame us while we're trying to push the envelope you should have pushed way back when.

That's awesome just the bass, a tuner, and an amp is good for you. But just being on stage with the other guys....just being near them....isn't enough for me. I want my sound to be an integral part of what my band is playing. I want the younger generation to look at me and say "I want to do that because that excites me". Not, "hey...that looks easy".

I choose effects.

I'm down with everything you're saying...except the part about funk and envelope filters (see my username) .

[Basehead]

Rock on, Sousa!

[MSUsousaphone]

Originally Posted by FilterFunk

I'm down with everything you're saying...except the part about funk and envelope filters (see my username) .

Haha...sorry. I think one of the quotes that spurred me into this kick was something like "I'm not in a funk band so there's no point in FX" or something like that.

[cloudyorchestra]

I applaud you as well. I hate it when I can't hear the bass being played. I ain't no tambourine man, I come to do one thing and that is, rock!