OMG I need to know what effect X used to play Y song ASAP!

[Jazz Ad]

Honestly, you guys are doing it wrong.
The proper way to approach this is to try reproducing the tone you're after with the available gear you have, not to buy every other pedal your favorite band's bassist claims to be using.
It's less expensive and much more interesting.

[tekkentool]

honestly i don't even bother with effects on bass, it doesn't suit it IMO. Occasionally some chorus added for chordy high-fret rubbish but other than that i like it clean.

[Jazz Ad]

Well that's cool too.
Thanks for visiting the effect forum anyway.

[tekkentool]

Originally Posted by Jazz Ad

Well that's cool too.
Thanks for visiting the effect forum anyway.

I'm trying to add more irony into my life.

No i love whoring up effects on synth's, just on bass i don't think it needs it.

I agree with this. I think the 'Learn to do what you can with what you have' approach is always best. It forces us to - GASP - LEARN SOMETHING!! And, it does in fact help save money.

I'm really learning this with my foray into home recording. I found myself quickly falling into the, 'If I just had such-and-such plugin, this would sound great' mentality. The remedy for this, of course, is doing what I can with the plugins already at my disposal.

[ack]

I see what you mean.
I use two pedals - a Zoom B2 and a MXR M-80 DI. I use these two because bass is just a hobby of mine, and I can get close enough (for me anyway) to most sounds I'm trying to emulate out of any bass I own.
It's a much cheaper solution than a full pedalboard, but...having helped my son build up his guitar pedalboard, they're a lot of fun. I find individual pedals intriguing and the arrangement alone can be scientific.

[René_Julien]

Originally Posted by Jazz Ad

Honestly, you guys are doing it wrong.
The proper way to approach this is to try reproducing the tone you're after with the available gear you have, not to buy every other pedal your favorite band's bassist claims to be using.
It's less expensive and much more interesting.

+1

I was thinking about this last weekend.

My band does mostly originals... but what if we suddenly do just one cover?

My example: Motörhead, Stone Dead Forever we cover.
I don't need a Rickenbacker and a Marshall stack to play this song.
Just any decent fuzz pedal will do. (In my case a Big John Hairy Balls.)

It might not sound like Lemmy, it even sounds better.
(Yes, sorry for this statement... as a matter of fact I feel a pinch in my left testicle for saying this... Lemmy is GOD.)


Metallica covers this song also on Garage Inc. The bass tone from Metallica is awesome on the Motörhead covers.


Unless you are a dedicated Motörhead coverband (with lots of money to spare) it might be a good idea to get a Rickenbacker and that Lemmy signature Marshall stack.


This is just one example.


I get what you are saying JazzAd.

In the real world it doesn't make much of a difference what gear (bass, amp, pedal) you are using.
Mostly, the audience doesn't notice or care.



But, it's pretty fun to obsess over what your favourite bassist is using also. That's why we are geeks.


(OTOH, my favourite bassist plays through SVTs and I don't like playing with those amps.)

[pdubya]

hmm.
get yer own sound
then maybe,just maybe you can develop your own style

[Swift713]

+1, probably my favorite (famous pro) bassist is Tony Levin. A lot of his tones rely on a Big Muff, a big Ampeg, and a Stingray. That's not quite my voice, I've tried several Muff variants and Ampeg emulators and they felt like they were working against me. My Stingray copy is nice but my 55-02 is much better suited to my taste.

[mattfong]

on the topic of covers,

When your band covers a song, it's not supposed to sound exactly like the original. it's supposed to sound like your band's interpretation of that song. So, agonizing about getting the bass tone just like the original is kind of silly, IMO.

[superbassman2000]

Originally Posted by Jazz Ad

Honestly, you guys are doing it wrong.
The proper way to approach this is to try reproducing the tone you're after with the available gear you have, not to buy every other pedal your favorite band's bassist claims to be using.
It's less expensive and much more interesting.

I think he used a boss odb-3

[Jazz Ad]

But it's not true bypass! I guess he had his modified?

[kesslari]

You're right, worrying about what effect X used to play Y song is unimportant.
But please, please, tell me exactly what P used to to play song Q!!!
I MUST know!

[Deluge Of Sound]

I happen to enjoy those threads, its always interesting to learn what equipment people use.

[theunknowndude]

Originally Posted by Deluge Of Sound

I happen to enjoy those threads, its always interesting to learn what equipment people use.

gotta agree there,...

but when it is the multiple muse/tool/RATM etc questions....

or the very simple 'how do I get this tone' when a million people have to answer back 'tube amp and pick'....

not hard to see where I've started not replying to threads and going and making my own tone that I like now... I guess running out of money also helps solve my GAS problem hehe

[Ubersheist]

Originally Posted by tekkentool

honestly i don't even bother with effects on bass, it doesn't suit it IMO. Occasionally some chorus added for chordy high-fret rubbish but other than that i like it clean.

I agree with your bass ethos in general, except I have a big asterisk with that statement. Here's how I agree: Almost all effects (especially the cheap ones in stomp boxes) like choruses, phasers, and such get washed out in the mix, and only server to muddy up the sound in live situations. Digital delays and reverbs do the same, unless you have a good HF pass that gets sent only to the effects. Tones can be shaped enough with the pots that I never consider ever getting an EQ box. Even compression is sort of BS in a live setting, since you and only you would ever really know the difference with the compression or without, even if you're playing aggressive slapping.

Here's two ways in how I don't agree: 1) In the studio on recordings, all bets are off on effects, and just about all of them can be used very effectively. 2) Effects used in a live setting that radically alter the bass' tone are worth the bother. The best example are synth pedals where they generate a totally new signal. Other signal generators like octavators also apply to this statement if they are used right. Distortion can be a bit gray, but certainly can be worth it if it's applied in the right ways. Wahs (or other LF pass effects) and the good ol' Bass Balls effects are worth it, too, if they're set to be extreme enough to cut through the mix and be pretty drastically different then the original so that anyone and everyone who's listening can hear a big, big difference in tone.

[/2 cents]

Here's my effects chain that I am currently running at live shows, and I get a huge host of sounds: bass --> EHX Microsynth --> EXH Bass Balls --> tuner --> amp.

That's all I've ever really needed, since there's a distortion setting on the Bass Balls for when I need some distortion. When I kick on the Microsynth, I usually use a setting (90% of the time) that has the original bass guitar signal at 0% so that none of the original signal gets sent to the amp. All of the signal reaching my amp is generated from the pedal, with not one bit of it from the original signal.

[/slightly off topic reply]

[theunknowndude]

I have to agree with the last post im slowly finding this out for myself,...

my band has a new lead guitarist who has gone all 'metallica' on me in regards to having the bass in the background... so used to playing as a 3 peice and using my effects to 'support' a song that in the new situation using a fuzz or a wah just drops me straight out of the mix without turning up a bit... chorus helps me cut through and OD works well in some situations,... and of course tuner is always handy... but it means my 8 pedal board is now limited to only using 3 effects lol

(if it helps, we usually practice loudly with earplugs in so close to volume level... which means im pretty certain if I used much gig wise id just be using most my pedals as mute switches if he keeps things up...) I have no problem with turning down cos I know im loud but if its turned down too far its just blah now... roar of OD and wah ala cliff burton is now squeak heard in background lol

I stopped at his suggestion of altering my playing of a song I had been playing for a year by just letting the bass with distortion just ring out during an intro... it supported the song well and I didnt really want to overplay it or make it too muddy and told him... ahhh joys of playing bass in a metal band lol

/end rant

have bought drum machine and now going to mess around at home making my own drum and bass duo stuff with effects to get that side of things out of my system

[JimmyM]

i agree 95% with jazz ad. the 5% where i disagree is that i think it's ok to ask what kind of effect someone is using.

but what isn't ok is letting yourself live under some illusion that if you have their equipment you'll sound like them, or that a specific piece of gear is necessary to sound like someone..."if you want to sound like the tool guy you have to have a $700 bass whammy pedal that they don't make anymore." listen, you're not going to sound like the tool guy unless you play just like him. and since there's already a tool guy playing bass with them, what is the point?

i also disagree 100% with anti-effect snobs coming into the effects forum and proclaiming how we shouldn't be using effects. i don't recall anyone asking you.

[bassplaya614]

I agree. Hell, why not make your own effects?

Only brand-name effect I truly want is a Mutron. There is NO envelope filter that can get that sound.

I might just have to build a clone.

[Swift713]

I don't generally try to cop anyone's tone but sometimes I'm curious how they got it. Sometimes I'd like to get a similar tone for whatever reason. As for covers, my band doesn't do very many but when we do we try to do our own interpretations.
The best way to sound exactly like "X" is with an air guitar.