what effects pedals?

[bassben12]

Hey guys, need some help. I'm looking to get some effects pedals. I want an envelope filter, an overdrive, a delay, a chorus, and maybe a synth style pedal, what do you recommend?

[Duke21]

Which overdrive? There are 1000 of them and all have there style and sound. Sansamp BDDI/ VT? Ibanez Tube Screamer..? RAT distortion? etc. For "general" overdrive I'll say a Sansamp pedal (BDDI / VT) is the "thing" as you can dial lots of various tones. Or if you have no idea what you are after, buy they Line6 bass POD which includes lots of various effects (real effects which are very well emulated). You will learn by using the Line6 what you really want and like.

[Plays_For_Dog]

Get all the best envelope filters in one unit, plus tweakable controls for sweeps up or down. Go with the Source Audio Bass Envelope Filter. Just got on today and I spent hours on the thing. Totally lives up to the hype.

[Sunnspot]

Hi BassBen

I use for:
Envelope Filter - the new MXR Bass Envelope Filter(on my pedalboard)
Overdrive/Distortion - Prescription Depth Charge (on my pedalboard), ** EHX Bass Muff (Very Inexpensive/But very good), ***Zvex Wooly Mammoth (Very Good/Very Expensive)
Delay - Boss RV3 Reverb/Delay Pedal (Vintage) (on my pedalboard), Boss RE-20 Space Echo Pedal (on my pedalboard)
Chorus - N/A I'm more of a delay person. But I have tried the Boss Bass Chorus (very cold, kills low end), and the TC Chorus Pedal (Nice but very expensive)
Synth Pedal - Digitech Bass Synth Pedal, the Ibanez Bass Synth Pedal (Both good/Inexpensive)(Both have been on my pedalboard)

You want to make sure that whatever envelope filter, or bass synth pedal you use, that it tracks very well.

You want that to make sure that any overdrive/distortion pedal you use does not drop out your low end sound.

The Soundblox sounds good, haven't tried it yet, but will definitely after watching the videos it.

I also agree with Duke21. There are lots of different OD/DIS pedals out there, try a Line 6 Bass Pod/Pod Xt,you can find one used. I just learned that the Bass Pods are no longer in production.

I hope this helps.

Sincerely,
Sunnspot

[gumtownbassman]

If you are quite comfortable about tweaking and programming, a multi effect might be the way, such as the Boss GT-10B.
It will give you multiple effects (chain of 18 at once in the GT-10B), 200 user patches and 2 footswitches and an Expression pedal all programmable to your taste.
Plus preamp and cabinet modelling if required, and a 38 second phrase looper, main jack outputs plus additional stereo XLR D.I. outputs.
All this integrated into one box.

[TheMutt]

This really depends on a lot of factors...

1. Firstly, what is your combined budget for these pedals?

2. Can you give us examples of these effects in songs that you are trying to achieve? (e.g. you want envelope filter sounds like Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers has in Sir Psycho Sexy, or the fuzz bass like Chris Wolstenholme from Muse has in Starlight.)

3. As already mentioned, you might want to seriously consider a multi-effect pedal if this is your first foray into the effects world. It's the most effect for your buck and lets you get your feet wet and see what you like and what you don't.

4. That all being said, if money were no object, and you were just looking for suggestions, and you didn't want to look into a multi-effect... my recommendations would be:

Envelope Filter: 3leaf Groove Regulator 2, or the Source Audio Bass Envelope Filter.

Overdrive: Xotic Bass BB Pre, Fuzzrocious Dark Driving, Dredge-Tone Bass Angler.

(I am unsure if you were looking specifically for an overdrive, a distortion, or a fuzz, so here are my recommendations for those as well)

Distortion: Fuzzrocious Rat Tail, Roger Mayer Voodoo Bass, bass modified BOSS DS-1.

Fuzz: Malekko Heavy Industry B:Assmaster (Silicon or Double Germ), Fuzzrocious Grey Stache, Smallsound/Bigsound Team Awesome Fuzz Machine.

Delay: Malekko Heavy Industry Echo 616, Electro-Harmonix Memory Boy/Memory Boy Deluxe, Empress Superdelay.

Chorus: Analogman Chorus (w/ depth switch or fixed deep option), Maxon or Ibanez CS-9, Fromel Seraph, Electro-Harmonix Small Clone/Neo Clone.

Synth: Octave/fuzz/envelope filter combination (e.g. BOSS OC-2 -> Malekko Heavy Industry B:Assmaster Silicon -> Source Audio Bass Envelope Filter), Electro-Harmonix Bass Micro Synth, Digitech Bass Synth Wah, Markbass Super Synth.

[Modulator]

Originally Posted by bassben12

Hey guys, need some help. I'm looking to get some effects pedals. I want an envelope filter, an overdrive, a delay, a chorus, and maybe a synth style pedal, what do you recommend?

Do you have experience using effects? If you don't I wouldn't advise you to spend a lot of money until you've tried some stuff out and figured out what you're looking for.

That having been said, I really like the MXR line of effects and would advise you to start there and slowly replace the stuff you don't like, or take the advice above and get a good multieffects.

[Slackerprince]

There are good suggestions ^^^^^^^.
Pretty much covered what you need.
I might suggest pedals with modes, so that you get more bang for your buck.
Delay-Hardwire DL-8 with 8 delay modes and a looper
Chorus-Hardwire CR-7 with 7 chorus modes
The Source Audio Envelope Filter as suggested earlier has tons of modes. Very versatile.
Compressor-EBS MuliComp has 3 modes and great tone
Distortion-Source Audio again.
I like having many options with each pedal that I have. It makes for lots of tweaking and experimenting and helps to keep me interested and trying new stuff.
Good luck.

S

[Explorer]

Just out of curiosity, Ben, what equipment are you currently using? For example, I know that I have to get gear which plays nice with active pickups, and I use a full range, flat response sound reinforcement solution. That affects what pedals I use.

The suggestion given earlier, regarding providing examples of what sounds you're aiming for, is an excellent one.

It's easier to give directions if someone knows where you're starting from and where you want to go.