Got rid of my board! Where are you going in your effects evolution?

Mark Olson · #1 03-21-2010, 08:26 PM

I've been on a path of super-simplification of my rig. When I first started using effects heavily I used a PT-2 and would fill it up with all kinds of goodies and change it up constantly. I've owned over 30,000$ worth of pedals.

But lately I've started my own band which I front on the bass (earthy psychedelic blues rock). Along with getting the purest, simplest tube amps I could get I had since converted to a PT-Jr. powered by a T Rex Fuel Tank Jr, and dropped down the number of pedals I bring to a gig to four. I've also sold off all the pedals I didn't absolutely need. I've only got 8 pedals left now.

I just found I was spending too much time rocking to fiddle with anything with lots of knobs. I now generally refuse to use any pedal with more than two knobs on it, the only exception I have is my delay which has three. I got sick of dialing in tones, I've really only kept the pedals that don't require any dialing in to sound great. I've been more pleased with my tone since changing to simple amps with only a handful of knobs, and I began to think less knobs = more tone.

I've worked out a deal for studio time that involves me doing sessions on the bass in exchange for free studio time, and I'll be recording an EP with my band soon. I only use four pedals on the whole thing, and that includes my tuner, and even though the most knobs I have on a pedal is the three on my Carbon Copy, I'm able to achieve a wide range of sounds with my setup.

I've now gotten rid of my pedalboard altogether and have been running everything on batteries. I'll only bring my Fuzz/Wah and my tuner to my next gig, but all of the other pedals are there for when I need them in the studio.

However I've also been able to get a lot of other sounds with a couple new additions to my rig, which are a Kahler Vibrato 7410 on my SG Bass, and a Rocky Mountain Slide Company Blues Boy in Bayou Blue that my twin brother bought me for a groomsman's present (he's getting married soon). These things are helping me get back to my blues roots in style.

So even though I've simplified my rig so much, I feel like I have a wider range of possibilities at my fingertips (and toes) than ever. I feel like I have to work a lot less to dial in the sounds that I want, and I'm less distracted by things that don't quite fit what I'm all about. As an artist, I feel like I can more concisely and clearly express myself, and have taken a big step in developing my own voice on my instrument.

I just thought I'd throw all that out there, and see if anyone else wants to share where they're going in their "effects evolution".

nboyer941 · #2 03-21-2010, 08:41 PM

I like this thread. Keeping myself on a pt jr limits myself from tinkering with too many pedals.

tobin999 · #3 03-21-2010, 09:02 PM

i just started building my board after 10 years of playing without its proving to be pretty fun

derridiandrift · #4 03-21-2010, 09:09 PM

I've been on a distortion/fuzz bender for a while...

Fulltone Bass-drive
MXR Bass Fuzz
Sansamp VT
Sansamp BDDI

Other than those, I run an EBS compressor. That's it! Small home-built board to keep me from spending stupid amounts of money on gear I barely need.

selfblessed · #5 03-21-2010, 09:15 PM

I know how you feel.
My PT JR has a Tuner->GGG Red Llama->NYC Small Stone and a footswitch for my Bassman 300 Pro. I only want to add my wah which is currently broken and maybe a analog delay. But I really don't need it. So it will be when I have extra cash.

JimmyM · #6 03-21-2010, 09:41 PM

distortion, octave, envelope, phase. usually just distortion and octave. but i'm currently in a state of flux. i'm waiting for the vt deluxe to come out so i can see how my board ultimately shakes out. but i could easily do every gig i do with no effects at all, so sometimes i think i'm just whacking and i plug straight in the next gig. then i start to miss them

Mark Olson · #7 03-21-2010, 09:45 PM

The basic setup I've been using for a long time is wah -> fuzz -> modulation -> delay -> tuner, 5 pedals, 4 if I use a fuzz/wah. That all fits very nicely on a PT Jr. That's basically everything I need to do whatever I want live or in the studio, and I'll probably still use that setup in the studio, but now I can just bring a bag with a couple pedals/cables/powerstrip to gigs that won't be as clunky as my old flightcase from my PT-2, which I still used to haul my PT-Jr.

The delay I hate using live because it requires the most tweaking of anything in my rig. I may bring the modulation (I use a Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe) to some gigs when I feel like having it, but even then with my fuzz/wah I'll only have 3 pedals.

Since I wrote all the material for my band myself I do have a lot of songs that I use these effects on though, so I'll be seeing if I miss the Micro Vibe too much if I leave it at home.

TaySte_2000 · #8 03-22-2010, 07:21 AM

I got rid of my M13, kept the M9 as it's handy for those times when I need something else but basically my board is wireless, tuner, boost and sft and that's it.

For jamming soon I'm going to have a volume pedal and a boost and that will be it, well will have a cranked tube head maybe with a THD depending on the jam location.

But I've gone up and down over the years from bigger than a PT Pro to now a PT Mini and it's hella fun.

Toasted · #9 03-22-2010, 07:29 AM

I've got next to no pedals left that I gig. I'm all about the cleans these days.

St Drogo · #10 03-22-2010, 07:33 AM

It's true, limitation breed creativity. And of course it's a lot more impressive when you do one thing really well instead of a thousand things meh. Cool story, I hope you feel better this way.

Though your signature would imply that you are simple. :P

theunknowndude · #11 03-22-2010, 08:08 AM

mine has been a roller coaster,....

started out with multi effects and then got sick of the lots of 'meh' and the inability to really tweak to how I'd like,... started collecting stomp boxes including trying to find the fuzz and overdrive that I would love,... started off with a simple 'bring tuner OD and wah and set them on the floor' to an 8 pedal board,... then put the wah on the board limiting the amount of pedals,... then bought another 8 pedal board for crazy fun times (as in the recent noise album where I featured my song eccentric master crunch)

fast forward a bit and I then realised my band didn't call for my cliff burton/justin chancellor wannabeism, so backed off and focused on providing good bass with the right fuzz, wah, OD, chorus, delay and tuner to use as needed,... have probably improved alot with my playing too!

I really need to sell alot of stuff as theres quite a few pedals I don't use any more and most likely never will again,... cutting down to the one band board and simple set up and the one noise/home board and everything else shall go...

that said, I do like using the few moments I can for effects to shine through even if I mostly play clean fretless mid range plonk to cut through for 99.99% of the time

edit: oh and now LOVE the LS-2 combined with the devi ever hyperion in a loop and clean... use it as a boost / with clean lows and effected mid/high's, really stands out cos my guitarist can now hear everything where as before it was a wall of super low mud (sounded awesome in bedroom, not so awesome in band setting)

aledeville · #12 03-22-2010, 08:32 AM

I think most of the bassplayers on earth play just like you described it. Maybe even simpler.
It kind of looks like an US thing, to have that many pedals. When I sometimes see the pedalsboards in the forum, I have absolutely no idea what kind of sound you could possibly do, at least not what kind of bass sound.
Maybe it is because the prices in the US are way lower than in europe for instance. In the german-speaking forum bassic.ch is a effect section, there are about twenty postings per week there (almost 24'000 bassists are signed in that bassforum).

I don't want to judge at all, I even have some pedals myself. I just wonder, but I'm fully aware that talkbass is not representative for US bass players.

Now tear me apart

lowmid · #13 03-22-2010, 08:38 AM

I'm actually going for less and less too! I have a boost/OD, a wah , an octaver and a tuner, and like to combine them all ! I think it's true that limitations breeds creativity because you stretch out more as a bass player than as a effect player

TaySte_2000 · #14 03-22-2010, 09:36 AM

I'd be very interested in finding a vol/wah/fuzz pedal and maybe changing out the insides and making like a wierd "should only be used with a tube amp analog multi"

loendmaestro · #15 03-22-2010, 10:02 AM

Man, I go through phases. I used to just keep 2-3 pedals going....then that eventually turned into a big honkin' pedal board with all kinds of fun trick noisemakers. They I'll say "That's it! I'm done!" and go back to dry bass & just fall in love with my clean tone all over again.

Then the pedal itch starts again. Usually when I participate in one of our 'saturday wide open jams' where it eventually devolves into songs that are 10 minutes in the key of E. Then I need all of my stompboxes to keep it interesting...well, at least interesting for me.

Now I'm just running my VT Bass (always on) & a Fender Sub-lime fuzz for dirt.

rratajski · #16 03-22-2010, 10:10 AM

I am in the downsizing boat too...It even makes me nuts to have two basses! (I know, blasphemy...I love my Ric that much...).

I am down the bare essentials I need at the moment: HOG for octaves/chords, etc; GGG-tuned Big Muff + Wounded Paw Blender which is on 98% of the time; Compulator b/c the compressor on my head has a poor limiter; and tuner which is obviously essential since I can't tune quickly by ear.

I have a Black Russian Big Muff that I modded to Civil War specs that I haven't tried in a band situation yet to see how it sits in the mix. It might replace my other muff for a bit, but I'll NEVER sell my GGG-tuned, as this is the 1st effect I built.

I am dying for a Moog Freqbox to round out the team, but other than that, I'm done...oh wait, the Mad Professor Bass OD has to come on board too...Who am I fooling?!?

Basically, for an effect to have any staying power, it has be used often and must fit on the board.

ga_edwards · #17 03-22-2010, 10:32 AM

I have my board as stripped down as I can to get my sound. 5 pedals, 3 of which stay on all the time.

Additude P p/up into tuner, -> EQ (dialling out low end) -> Bad Monkey -> one side of TC Nova dynamics set to stun -> Boss LS2 input A
Attidude woofer p/up -> other side of Nova Dynamics -> Boss LS2 input B -> mix with above to amp.

The only thing I turn on and off in a set is the tuner and the Bad Monkey for occasional dirt. As such I'm contemplating replacing the Monkey for a TC Nova Drive and a G switch so I can keep the board out of the way at the back of the stage and turn the drive on and off remotely.

Jared Lash · #18 03-22-2010, 10:40 AM

Lately I've done a few things that just required clean bass and I'm okay with that if it fits the band/song/jam best, but I gravitate towards music where effected bass is preferred. And because of that I like having a big pedalboard.

The essentials to me are Octave, Fuzz and Filter. Right behind them are delay and then phaser.

If need be I could strip down to 3 or 4 pedals and be fine.

But truthfully I ALWAYS want a million sounds at my disposal and yet I ALWAYS want to downsize. It's a little battle that I'll never win. I'll sell stuff off to minimize, then build it back up and so on.

So I've decided that I'll get my "core" pedals and then cover everything else with a multi, likely an M9 and that should be the best compromise for me.

JoshC · #19 03-22-2010, 10:42 AM

What I love about pedals is I can turn them off whenever I want, it's a no loose situation. For me bigger boards only increase my tonal possibilities. I've finally settled on the style of effects I like and am enjoying having the option of using them if I think it will enhance the music I'm playing in any way.

lowregister · #20 03-22-2010, 10:48 AM

I had a similar feeling of downsizing when I hit my 5th. Having so many controls kinds of complicates things. For certain, one of those pedals that sounds great with minimal tweaking is the Electronix Submarine.

For me I hit a point where I had to step back and examine all of my pedals and thought processes. For me, effects and the quest for THE TONE can go so far down the rabbit hole. In the end I try to remember what the tolerance is for what people would notice about my tone. Aside from the bass player or two who would hear me at a show, very few people would notice the intricacies of the tones I developed.

I try to find the balance between my personal satisfaction of tones, and that is very possible with just a few effects. My last show I played just with my submarine because I could go from a rock-trebbly sound to a boomy reggae sound with the turn of a knob.

I also realized that sometimes my tone by itself sounds best. Simple is a good way to go for sure!