The Role of Pedals??

[rydin4lifebass]

I'm new to the bass scene and see all these pedals you guys have..not to sound stupid, but aside from volume or tuning..what are most of them used for and when do they come into play?

[lunarpollen]

There are so many different kinds of pedals, they are used mostly for for special effects (modulation effects like delay, reverb, tremolo, chorus, etc.), for tone shaping/reinforcement (signal boost, EQ, maximizers, compression, etc.) for imitating the sound of amplifiers at certain levels of clean/dirty drive (amp simulators, overdrives, distortions, etc.)... Depending on what kind of music you want to play, what kind of bass role(s) you want to perform, and what kind of sounds you like, you might not need any pedals whatsoever.

[notdavey]

It's all about making your own sound and tone. It also depends on the music you are playing. Each genre (rock, funk, metal, jazz, etc.) has certain effects commonly used in each.

Here's a link to a decent (albeit short) little bass pedal primer:
http://ezinearticles.com/?Bass-Guita...ist&id=3754373

[St Drogo]

There's a few categories:

-Drive/fuzz/dirt pedals. Make you bass go ROAR!

-delay/echo pedals. They make your playing have an echo, or reverberation. includes delay, reverb, loopers (though loopers are almost a different animal entirely)

-modulation. Make you sound more "swirly". includes chorus, flanger, phaser, tremolo.

-utility pedals. Used for switching channels, loops, boost you linesignal and other stuff. includes a/b switchers, eq pedals, compressors (see ovnilabs, a site run by a fellow tb'er about compressors. Might be a bit overwhelming, though...)

-filter pedals. Make you bass go wah or ow. Includes wah pedals, envelope followers/filters.

-pitch effects. does stuff to the note your playing. depending on the pedal, can create an octave lower, or higher, or can make whatever you play sound, say, a fifth higher. includes octavers, pitch shifters, whammy's.

I'm sure I've forgotten some, but these are the most common. There are always the more "out-there" mad professor like effect builders who do totally different things. Also, this is very, very generally speaking. You'd be well served to check out some video's on youtube or other sites. I like www.ehx.com myself, not in the least because they have all their effects nicely categorised and most with video samples.

Good luck! You're in for a hell of a ride...

EDIT: So. To actually answer your question...
How to use pedals depends largely on what music you make, what you want to do with them, how you percieve your role as a bassist and a bit on how evil your soul is. Some people use no effects whatsoever. Tha's cool. Some people lightly use some effects here and there just to get a good base sound if you know what I mean, just for some color. Others get giddy and go totally batshit insane when using pedals. This is awesome, because people can do some crazy stuff with it. For these people (and I count myself among them, much to the dismay of my wallet), the use of effects is an artform on its own. I see my pedalboard as just another instrument I play. I know exactly what to expect from each pedal and all the quirks, and I can get it to do weird stuff by combining them as their not supposed to be combined, by letting the juice almost run out on the batteries, and so on. This is a bit different from just, say, turning on a flanger for the verses. It's like cooking. Some people are fine with getting take-out, others will cook but only from a recipe. Others still will have a dish in mind and know exactly what spice, cooking time, heat and garnish it needs to make it perfect.

All cooks are fine. You just need to find out which type you are.

[Pilgrim]

Whether you need them or not depends on you and what you play.

I use the following:

TU-2 tuner: because I need a tuner and it mutes when in tuning mode, making it perfect for stage use.

Bad Monkey overdrive: to add some dirt when needed

Behringer DR-100 reverb: because I play surf music and reverb fits nicely

I also have a direct interface box but seldom use it.

[Ric5]

In the old days people plugged straight into the amp. The tone and distortion came from the volume level. With a pedal you can get that tone and distortion at different volumes. You can sound like John Entwistle "live at Leeds" without busting and eardrum. Back then there was a real difference in tone between live recordings and studio recordings. Now you can get a live sound in the studio.

[Bassblisters]

Some folks just like to collect effects pedals to see what interesting tone-shaping they can achieve. For example, I rarely use effects when I play with others. At home, it's a different story--I love to "knob twiddle."

Here are some of my personal thoughts about effects in general (rather than specific types of effects) that should in no way be interpreted as "the gospel," as there are many, varying opinions:

*Try to find effects pedals that are voiced for use with bass guitar. Many pedals work much better for guitar and can suck away bass frequencies and/or volume. Some pedals allow one to mix the "wet" (i.e. the effected) tone with the dry signal. This allows players to mix in enough unaltered signal to preserve bass frequencies (or other frequencies that may be lost in translation, so to speak). This is a useful feature, though it does not necessarily make those particular effects pedals "better" than alternatives. In addition, there are some pedals designed to mix an effects chain with a dry signal, such as the Xotic Effects Blender pedal.

* Multi-effects units may be a cost-effective way to try many different effected sounds with one's bass guitar. However, these are typically digital units that may be difficult to use, impossible to repair, and that may not sound as good as do individual stomp boxes dedicated to a single type of effect.

* Some effects pedals can create volume spikes at certain settings that could blow out your speakers (especially with filter effects). Be careful when playing with knobs on all effects pedals. At some future point, it may be to your advantage to invest in a compressor/limiter effect, though it's difficult to find a good limiter in a pedal form (I use a rack-mounted dbx 166-xl).

* Distortion and Overdrive seem to be the most-produced effects units, and can also be the most overpriced effects and also sound the worst with bass guitar, versus regular guitar. My suggestion would be to try out any of these types of pedals with your bass and buy one of these used. Listen to many YouTube clips to distinguish the difference between a Muff-Type fuzz, a hard distortion, and a synthy, bit-mangled fuzz and see which you prefer. (I use the Earthbound Audio Effects Supercollider for a "fuzz" and the Devi Ever OK for a bit-mangled sound.)

* Many bass players use envelope filters/followers instead of Wah pedals to produce a funky sound that automatically triggers (rather than having to control a Wah pedal with one's foot, which can become difficult for fast stacatto playing). Filters can be very sensitive to slight knob adjustments, and it can be difficult to "dial-in" the same setting and sound, twice. These are also dangerous to play with at high volume levels, due to the propensity for a volume spike. There is a lot of love on the Talkbass forum for the 3Leaf Groove Regulator, as it is one of the best-behaved and easiest to use envelope filters with bass. Please note that it is not uncommon to pay $200 or more for an envelope filter that works great, as these are some of the more tricky effects pedals designs to "get right." (I own about eight of these type of pedals--the most by far of any type I own!)

* Effects pedals can be grouped into two main categories, regardless of the type of effect: digital and analog, with the former technology sounding more "bell-like" and the latter sounding "warmer." I personally prefer analog pedals for most of my effects, though I'm comfortable with using a digital (rather than analog) delay and looper. Within these categories are pedals that are true-bypass and those that are not. The majority of higher-end pedals are true bypass, which enables longer quantities of pedals to be chained together without loss of volume or tone when in the "off" position. Non-bypassed pedals can be put in their own, separate effects chain to avoid this problem by using yet another pedal: a bypass looper. Radial, for example, makes the affordable Big Shot EFX loop switcher (and it does not require any power source, since it is used to mechanically re-route a signal path).

* Pedals generally need a power source. Some pedals can use both an internal battery (typically a single 9 volt) or can be powered by an external power supply (not using both at the same time). Other pedals can only use an external power supply. This usually occurs when the pedal either has high power requirements, or the pedal designer ran out of space to include a battery. Be careful to check how many milliamps your pedal requires for power and ensure you have a corresponding power supply that delivers the goods (as an exception to this rule, some folks like how their distortion/fuzz pedals sound with a weak battery). Also note that there are different styles of input jacks for power supplies, and adapters may be necessary. Be aware that plastic "quick change" battery door covers for pedals often break.

* Some effects pedals combine two or more different categories of effects and can be very versatile, such as combining and overdrive with a fuzz or other type of distortion. The question facing the purchaser is whether it may be better to purchase those effects, separately.

* When choosing a delay pedal, the analog versus digital distinction becomes important with respect to specific delay feature capabilities. For example, a digital delay can give cleaner repeats without volume loss, and can produce longer delays and backwards delay effects. An analog delay can give warmer-sounding repeats (as they successively distort), and the knobs can be moved to change the tone of the delays as they speed up or slow down (if desired). However, analog delay repeats will decay over time. (I have an Electro Harmonix Stereo Memory Man with Hazarai for it's versatility, as it also has a built-in looper.)

* Some effects pedals may not support polyphonic playing.

* In addition to an envelope filter/follower or Wah pedal, an "extreme" phaser pedal may also generate some funky sounds on bass, such as an Electro Harmonix Small Stone.

* Some effects may sound cool when you solo but can get lost in the mix when you play with others.

These thoughts are by no means the complete "low down" on effects, and I'm sure some folks will disagree with these opionions as expressed.

Best wishes with your new adventure into the addicting world of effects pedals!

[Daveelvy]

I play in a church worship band, and I use various pedals to bring in different feels to the music. Normally, my pedalboard consists of:

Tuner: pretty obvious.

Compressor: evens out playing dynamics and makes sure that the rest of the pedals get a good, strong clean signal.

Octave down: I play 4 string mainly, so this can fill in for some of those really low notes, but also can fatten the tone up a lot when I play up the neck.

Octave up (POG): Mostly kicked in when our guitarist takes a solo, or when I feel a song needs more power without adding distortion. Keeps a band sounding full, even when an instrument drops out.

Distortion: I have this blended with a clean signal, with less fuzz than clean. Sometimes a distorted bass just sits better in the mix during a louder song.

Envelope filter: makes things funky! To be honest, I use this pedal the least, but would hate to loose it off my board!

Chorus: gives a gentler tone to the bass. Also, with volume swells can give a keyboard(y) sound.

Delay: I use this in two ways. One is a really obvious effect - dotted 8ths mixed quite high - think 'Echoes' - 'One of these days'. The other, probably more useful effect, is to push my bass further back in the mix. Not to drop out altogether, but to create a different dynamic to the sound of the group.

Also, different combinations of the above can make some interesting effects!

[g&lplayer]

Yea so I was new to the effects scene recently too actually, although I had been playing and gigging actively for twenty something years or so. It was only until I joined this forum, started reading, and then saw this little envelope filter for $30 at a guitar store that I started down the road of effects.
I bought it because I was curious, and I just started playing in a funk group. The envelope filter gives me a great bootsy kinda sound and its really funky sounding on some songs. My only advice is DONT GO CRAZY with the pedals. Its really easy to get in too deep.
Ive found its way more worthwhile if you are going to use effects, to get to know each one individually for a while before going out and trying to get another one. That way you learn all the quirks and end up being able to sculpt your sound a lot easier with all of them. For example: I have this boss octave pedal (OC-2) which was made for guitar. I play bass (obviously) and after playing with for ten minutes you realize that it does NOT work for a lot of notes on the low E-string. What i realized however, is that it still plays real notes when you are on that string, just the wrong ones. Anyways, moral of the story is I can now use my octave pedal to play thirds. I think you will find that part of the fun of using effects on bass is finding cool little quirks like these.

[bassteban]

Economic stimulus.

[Bassblisters]

Excellent point about getting "too deep" too quickly.

I wound up getting rid of most of the first pedals I purchased, as they really weren't the best choices. I also loaded up on too many pedals that I didn't totally figure out how to use.

[SoonerMatt]

To be blunt, you use effects to get sounds that help to color your tone. Pedals don't make you a better or worse player, they're just tools.