Round out my pedal selection, please!

skwee · #1 01-04-2012, 02:25 PM

Happy New Year gang! I'd like to get your ideas on how to round out my pedal selection. My current setup is a Fender MIJ Jaguar, roundwound strings, usually played in the p-bass setting. I use a GK MB112 run into the house P.A., and use the amp for onstage monitoring. I usually play dry, sticking to special cases for a pedal (for instance we recently played some Sly Stone where I used one of our guitarist's extra distortion pedals for sections).

For this season, I would like to spice up my sound offerings, on a range of tunes from classic Stevie to spacy Bjork, with some McCartney and Doobie Bros. thrown in.

What I own:
DOD FX72 Bass Flanger
Digitech Hyper Phase Stereo Phaser
(blindly picked it recently from a grab bag at a local shop-it's pretty fun!)

I've got about 250 bucks I'd like to throw at one or two pedals. What should I get to round out what I have? A compressor? Envelope Filter? All ideas welcome

icecycle66 · #2 01-04-2012, 02:38 PM

To finish out the time delay modulation set you can grab a chorus from somewhere.

Other than that, and from your description, you could get one of or all of these to flesh out your effect capabilities.

Echo/Delay (I like my Line 6 Echo Park for the tap delay, but a bunch of pedals are getting tap delay built in now)

Distortion (Blind grab bagging a distortion is as good as asking which one is the best.)

Wah/Auto-wah/Envelope (I like the manual wah. Get a Bass Chi Wah Wah just because i want one and don't have the cash to get one right now.)

HolmeBass · #3 01-04-2012, 02:45 PM

Dirt and enveloped filter would be my choices. Start w/ OD for dirt, mixes a bit easier with other effects. Maybe a Pork Loin or Sparkle Drive. For EF I'm digging my SA BEF pretty well, although others are crazier, maybe an IE Xerograph Deluxe.

bassgod0dmw · #4 01-04-2012, 07:07 PM

OD/Dirt/Fuzz (whatever you like best)
Envelope Filter
Octave

BogeyBass · #5 01-04-2012, 07:13 PM

I want to say Ring modulator, because nobody knows what to do with them.

skwee · #6 01-05-2012, 08:19 AM

I'm curious about the dirt. Do you employ it all the time as a component of your basic sound, or just use for certain songs?

bassgod0dmw · #7 01-05-2012, 09:14 AM

It depends on the song for me. For some of my original stuff, I'd use dirt all of the time depending on the general tone of the song. Other times I would use it in certain sections of songs, or not at all.

Use it whenever you want, like any effect.

blastjv · #8 01-05-2012, 10:31 AM

Yeah, I'd say Fuzz, Octave, Envelope. For $250 you could do pretty nicely. I'd suggest a Way Huge Swollen Pickle, a used Boss OC-2, and maybe a Digitech Bass Synth Wah (which has filters, synthy sounds, and a nice octaver, too) Probably enough left over for a tuner...

-JV

PS - That DOD Flanger is sweet, huh? Love mine!

scottfeldstein · #9 01-05-2012, 01:23 PM

Sounds like a fun group you're in, nice music selections.

Here's what I think about pedals. (What suits me right now.)

1. Tuner. TC Electronic PolyTune

2. Envelope filter. Major funk box. I use the simple but gorgeous-sounding MXR one. It's a one trick pony compared to SourceAudio--but what a trick.

3. Compressor. Nearly sprained my brain trying to figure IF and why to get a comp and...ended up with the MXR unit. For a while I wasn't sure it was doing anything for me until one day I found myself without it--and the world just felt wrong--like I had all my clothes on back to front or something. Weird. Of all my pedals, it's the one whose future on my board is most assured.

4. I hope to put an octaver in this spot. (Yes, MXR. No, I'm not their b****. I don't think.)

5. SansAmp Bass Driver DI. I'm the kind of guy who uses this full-time. I don't run it too dirty, and it gives the mixing bench or the FOH board something ampy to work with. It really compliments my very hi-fi sounding solid state GK amp, similar to the one you have. Having a DI on the pedal board also means that if my entire amp just died I could still serve the FOH.

GodinFan · #10 01-05-2012, 01:58 PM

1. Tuner - TC Polytune and Korg Pitchblack are both great. If you switch instruments, consider the Pitchblack+. Lets you switch between two inputs and remembers the tunings if you have different ones from standard.

2. Dirt - Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive. The clean control is great for keeping the bottom end intact.

3. EH Micro Pog. - octave up/octave down. I see the octave up as much more useful on bass. Most of the octave units I've seen just do down.

4. Tech21 Sansamp VT. It's my backup amp.

droo46 · #11 01-05-2012, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GodinFan

4. Tech21 Sansamp VT. It's my backup amp.

I wondered how many posts it would take for this one to come up. Get one of these. I didn't care for it when I first got it but I'm finding that I leave it on more often than not. It's aggressive sounding but subtle. I can't say enough about how much I really love the VT. You can often find V1 in the classified section here for about $100.

skwee · #12 01-05-2012, 08:45 PM

Thanks for all the advice gang. I'm feeling like I should definitely invest in a compressor, based on other stuff I've read here and at ovnilab. After further thought, I think I'd rather really hear distortion as an effect, rather than omnipresent. Since I can borrow a fuzz pedal, I'll probably save the money there. That MXR envelope filter looks pretty nice, too. I'll have to try one out at the store.

chuck norriss · #13 01-05-2012, 08:54 PM

For funky space cadet Macca Doobie I'd guess Markbass Super Synth.

Bassmike62 · #14 01-05-2012, 09:00 PM

Tuna : Polytune, Boss (Tu-2 and Tu-3) and Korg Pitchblack are well-liked around here and I'm sure there's lots more that do a decent job.

Compressa: I just shopped around and bought the BBE OptoStomp, but looked real hard at an MXR Bass comp. The monocle did it for me.

Filta: Geez... where to start and most important, where to end. MXR, 3Lead Audio, Boss, DOD, Digitech... Some guys get into that zone and never get out of it. Good luck with that

bassteban · #15 01-05-2012, 09:14 PM

00funk.

Dark Barn · #16 01-05-2012, 09:26 PM

Try these

blastjv · #17 01-06-2012, 07:14 AM

I don't see that compression would be that useful to you. If you're running into the PA the soundguy is probably compressing you there, and if you're not having a problem with your sound through your amp, which you said is only for your own onstage monitoring, then I feel like compression would be a waste. (not knocking compression, I have a BBE Opto Stomp that is ALWAYS on, but the places we play rarely have a PA for more than vox and kick, so my rig is my sound).

-JV

skwee · #18 01-06-2012, 11:00 PM

Went in to check out some pedals. GC had very little in stock for bass pedals. I did try the Markbass Compressore, which didn't do what I was hoping. Perhaps the ambient noise was a little much while I tried the MXR envelope filter, but whatever was happening must have been too subtle for me to really hear in the store.

Question, do they make an octavator that does more than just octaves? Like perfect fourths or other intervals? Now, that would be fun.

ripman3 · #19 01-06-2012, 11:12 PM

Check out the POG and the Boss Harmonizer.

scottfeldstein · #20 01-07-2012, 12:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skwee

Perhaps the ambient noise was a little much while I tried the MXR envelope filter, but whatever was happening must have been too subtle for me to really hear in the store.

Perhaps the wet signal was turned down? Or the sensitivity wasn't set right. If that's not set just right, it either quacks like a duck on every single note--or it never does. The way I like is to make it go when I dig in hard, and not when I play lightly.