How do you use your pedals?

Fullmetal · #1 05-28-2009, 05:38 PM

Ok so I made this thread because I'm currently at a dead end.

I recently got a Morley PWO and a EHX BBM, and due to some problems with the band I've decided to leave. Now I have these two pedals that I originally only used to cover "For Whom The Bell Tolls" by Metallica. Now I seem to have no use for them.

This thread is to discuss how you use your pedals (not necessarily Wah and Fuzz) what kind of styles you use them for and how often you use them. If I spent £130 on pedals, I wanna be able to use them and use them often.

If this is the wrong place, please move accordingly.

Intolerantbass · #2 05-28-2009, 05:45 PM

I have 16 pedals on the board....with the exception of the
whammy II not being a bass whammy and the big muff not being a colorsound tonebender....the board was built to be used in the Tool tribute band Im with .

I use every pedal on the board ....everyday I plug in .

IB

RickenBoogie · #3 05-28-2009, 05:45 PM

Use them however you wish. They are merely tools that change the tone/sound of your bass/amp. You know what they sound like, so use that sound however you want to.

Fullmetal · #4 05-28-2009, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RickenBoogie

Use them however you wish. They are merely tools that change the tone/sound of your bass/amp. You know what they sound like, so use that sound however you want to.

I just feel like I'm at a loss with them. In the same way writers can get writer's block, I've got riffer's block? I cannot find any way to use them, even though I have been practicing with them XD

Mudfuzz · #5 05-28-2009, 05:51 PM

How do I use my pedals............ This is a hard one for me to nail down but...........

I use dirt pedals[fuzz, overdrive, dist] to get a dirty sound fill in in parts of songs that need "more" to the sound, sometimes this is for aggressive type of thing sometimes it is for extra heavyness, sometimes just to give it that extra hipness.

I use wah for normal wah type wahing stuff and also I use it for envelope filter type stuff, weird sounds, slow phasing sounds, tone filtering for synth type sounds; with a fuzz into a wah and some practice you can play that really cool synth part in the beginning of PF's dark side of the moon.

I use trem a lot as well,mostly for normal tremolo sounds but sometimes I will run it on a hard square wave into a envelope filter to get pulse synth sounds.

ect ect ect.

**TheMutt** · #6 05-28-2009, 06:00 PM

There's no right or wrong way to use pedals (unless you're using em with no volume, or plugged in backwards

). I play in two praise bands currently, and jam with friends on the side. I use most if not all the pedals that I have in all of them. Start playing around with your pedals when you jam with friends or find another band. You never know when kicking on that pedal will give the song something extra that it didn't have before.

takfar · #7 05-28-2009, 06:10 PM

Quote:

I use wah for normal wah type wahing stuff

hehee.. classic

Me, I use my pedals (fuzz, od, wah, synth) whenever I can get away with it. That said, I play clean 80% of the time, as that's what fits most songs best. When we start writing our own songs, I'm going to push a bit towards the effects side, tho... If I can play effected 50% of the time, I'm gonna be a happy camper

Mudfuzz · #8 05-28-2009, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by takfar

whenever I can get away with it.

LOL!

Live I usually try to play it safe, but my idea of safe is not the same as others, in one band I play in most of the members like my use of FX even when this is traditional blues and folk an roots, the rhythm guitarist though......................... isn't a fan of bigmuffs

Vic Winters · #9 05-28-2009, 06:21 PM

Listern to Rage/Audioslave, that should give you some ideas.

kevteop · #10 05-28-2009, 06:22 PM

I think if you're in a band doing other people's music then it's going to be inappropriate to use effects most of the time. Similarly if you originals band is rooted firmly in an existing genre, effects on the bass probably aren't called for.

But if you've got some creative people in your band who want to make a new sound, that's when you need some pedals.

Fullmetal · #11 05-28-2009, 06:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheMutt

There's no right or wrong way to use pedals (unless you're using em with no volume, or plugged in backwards

). I play in two praise bands currently, and jam with friends on the side. I use most if not all the pedals that I have in all of them. Start playing around with your pedals when you jam with friends or find another band. You never know when kicking on that pedal will give the song something extra that it didn't have before.

Well I might be jamming with my mates band, and they play alot of Metallica-esque Thrash. The reason I got the pedals is because I adore the late Cliff Burton's sound and have always wanted to replicate it. Now I can, I dunno what to do XD

I currently use a Morley PWO but I'm not liking it too much. I want something that will turn on when I put my foot down on the pedal, not have to hit a switch first. Apparently the Weeping Demon can do this? If so, I definantly know what wah I should be using.

**Mads** · #12 05-28-2009, 06:36 PM

I've got a few pedals on my board that I'll might not use with my current band, but then again I like to keep 'em handy just in case... (of a jam or something)

You'll never know

warwick.hoy · #13 05-28-2009, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kevteop

I think if you're in a band doing other people's music then it's going to be inappropriate to use effects most of the time. Similarly if you originals band is rooted firmly in an existing genre, effects on the bass probably aren't called for.

But if you've got some creative people in your band who want to make a new sound, that's when you need some pedals.

This

Mudfuzz · #14 05-28-2009, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kevteop

I think if you're in a band doing other people's music then it's going to be inappropriate to use effects most of the time

This is if you are trying to make the song sound like the original and not doing a different take on it. I personally can't stand sounding like the recording, I even am disappointed when I see the original band play it exactly like the recording -->

The one bland I play in that does all covers does reworked versions of the original songs and this is why I can take and even really like playing with them.

Just MOP but then I am me so......

nellie48 · #15 05-28-2009, 07:46 PM

Subtle effects are what I use the most. However, I love my overdrive pedal (Fulltone BD) combined with my Sub Octave pedal (ampeg SuBlastter). This give me that Wolfmother organ tone you hear on their records.

**Bryan R. Tyler** · #16 05-28-2009, 08:27 PM

I use them to separate and add depth to song parts when looping, as the sound of bass on top of identical-sounding bass usually ends up boring me after a short while. I use wide EQ and pickup pan changes on my bass for the same affect. When playing in a normal band-type context, I use effects much, much less and often keep my bass' pickup pan and EQ in the same place.

**TheMutt** · #17 05-28-2009, 08:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fullmetal

I currently use a Morley PWO but I'm not liking it too much. I want something that will turn on when I put my foot down on the pedal, not have to hit a switch first. Apparently the Weeping Demon can do this? If so, I definantly know what wah I should be using.

True, you can do that with the Weeping Demon (and the Dunlop 105Q) but the WD has a bonus in that you can use the switch, or have it spring-loaded. This is great if you like the spring loaded thing (I personally don't) but still want to be able to use it half-cocked for Metallica-type stuff. There's a ton of wah pedals on the market that work better or worse for bass. Check out the wiki for clips and do some searching on here for reviews.

takfar · #18 05-29-2009, 04:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheMutt

True, you can do that with the Weeping Demon (and the Dunlop 105Q) but the WD has a bonus in that you can use the switch, or have it spring-loaded. This is great if you like the spring loaded thing (I personally don't) but still want to be able to use it half-cocked for Metallica-type stuff. There's a ton of wah pedals on the market that work better or worse for bass. Check out the wiki for clips and do some searching on here for reviews.

To put it simply... I would swap my VT Bass with a programmable version, if that ever comes out; I might swap my BBM with a Brown Dog someday; my SYB-5 could be replaced by a BMS; If my PitchBlack ever dies on me, I'd get a Turbo Tuner as a replacement.

The Weeping Demon tho, it's the only pedal I have which I'm pretty sure will never leave the board or be replaced.

And yea, you can move a lever to choose to have it on auto-activate or footswitch activation. HOWEVER, it's not something you can do in the middle of a song (why'd you want that, anyway), and you better make sure you have some extra room in the pedalboard to reach and move the lever comfortably, as its mechanism can easily pinch a finger if you're not careful. Hurts a lil, not pleasant at all if you have to continue playing afterwards.

lowbass68 · #19 05-30-2009, 07:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mudfuzz

This is if you are trying to make the song sound like the original and not doing a different take on it ...

+1
One of my friends is in a tribute band and they are good at what they do: sounding like ACDC. And while I respect the idea of sounding just like another band while covering their songs, I generally can't do that myself. I like taking a song and spinning it into something different. I don't attempt to make the song better, I just want it to fit the originals I am writing at the moment. My sound generally incorporates some degree of dirt and phasing, but I throw in Wah, octave, flanging, etc when needed.

Sir Edward V · #20 05-30-2009, 05:12 PM

when we play covers we either play it almost identical to the recording, or completely re-write it. More often we play it like the original. One of the ones we re-wrote was "whatever you like" by T.I. - its a ska song now.

I feel like my pedals enable me to sound like anything I want. I am big into manipulating my tone dramatically... using my pedalboard I can sound like an organ, guitar, synth, trumpet (once), noise (hehe), and most importantly, bass. I don't have too many pedals on my board (7-8), but I know them inside and out and I can tweak them to sound like anything I want. They also aren't necessarily the most sophisticated or expensive pedals in the world, most I got for under $60.

I end up playing clean a lot, but I throw them in occasionally when I think it will sound good.