I'm writing this out loud, in hopes of garnering some cohesive answers from the peanut gallery.
I am in the process of building a small bass fx board. Current configuration: Tuner -> Behringer BEQ700 EQ -> Source Audio Flanger -> DI. I looooove the flanger. Now, to upgrade the "preamp" section.
I have a few lines of thought.
1) Get a nicer EQ box, like the MXR 10-band or the SA EQ when it comes out if sounds as good as it looks. The MXR will give me frequencies to fiddle with and the SA EQ will have the ability to save presets, which could be handy.
2) Tronographic Rusty Box. The reviews here are positive with many happy owners. It had a 3-band EQ, which would seem to negate the need for a further EQ pedal.
3) Nocturne Brain Classic + EQ. The Nocturne pedal takes the preamp section of the old Space Echoes to give guitarists a chance at a Setzer-like tone. The upside is that the Classic pedal works really well with basses, with a nice full tone whether you use a pick, fingers or slap, but no EQ control.
Option 3 is the most expensive and uses the most board space. Option 1 looks to be the cheapest, Option 2 in the middle, both taking up just one pedal space.
I play most Saturdays (synagogue) and every Sunday (church of god) morning playing klezmer, jewish liturgical, contemporary gospel, old-time hymns and contemporary christian music. I also play some bluegrass bass on occasion, but I tend to go effect-less with my amp on those occasions -- bluegrass folks just don't appreciate Flanger!
The Rusty Box sounds way cool! So does the Brain Classic. The EQ alone works but lacks the pizazz the RB and BC give to the sound.
Usually, I would just say, "Buy them all, then run them all for a few weeks." But, I don't have that kind of cash to conduct such an experiment.
What sage advice doth thee offer?
