planning a peddle board?

[eveilleu]

Hi,
I've recently started having some fun on the bass. It all started 'cause my son was playing guitar, I've always loved the bass but never did anything about it. Yet, it sort of called me, if there is such a thing. Anyhow, I got myself a littlte yamaha to play rocksmith with him last year. Then the yamaha got switched for a fender jazz and I started to love the sound of my little fender in a little ampeg micro VR I happen to pick up along the way.

Then I hooked up an oc-3 to that rig because I'm playing moving in stereo in a little show my music school is putting up together, and today, a big muff came along (delux bass).

Long story short, I'm having a blast! but I have no idea how to put up a peddle board together! help? Do the pedals and effect just "come along" with the songs and sounds you guys liked or did you guys plan them?

I know I want a TU-3 and that q-balls looks real good, but is that enough to go ok, I'll go grab a pedaltrain jr + voodo power and that'll be it? How was the process for you guys? btw, my brother in law is having a blast saying I have gas....

 

[Crystalman85]

If you're looking for something new to add to your pedalboard, you might wanna try out an overdrive\distortion pedal. the most popular choices for an overdrive\distortion pedal is a darkglass b3k and the vintage microtubes. there's also the ebs multidrive and the metaldrive. another type of effects that worth trying out are modulation effects like a chorus and a flanger. the mxr bass chorus deluxe is an excellent choice for a chorus pedal that'll keep your lows unprocessed. there are so many effects to choose from. you just need to find the ones that's right for you.

 

[Downunderwonder]

What are you selling? No matter, peddling pedals is only allowed in the classifieds.

Pedal buying becomes pedal breeding before you know it. Check out the pedal breeders' big board club for cautionary tales.

Before I played jamming jazz I had no use for pedals, even now for cover rock I don't take my main board and rely on natural tube overdrive for the most part.

The SFX RedDragon micro has the best tube emulation I have come across for a full but mildly overdriven sound.

 

[Ric5]

Here's my pedalboard ... http://www.3dentourage.com/425/effects.htm

What makes it work is parallel processing.

 

[Montanamike]

There are a ton of good threads on signal chains and layout and it really becomes a matter of experimentation. I also agree that a good overdrive is really important. I use 4 different ones.

The place I think people spend too little time is picking the board itself. Do some research before you runout and buy. There are a lot of alternatives to the mainstream choices.

My 2 cents

 

[GMC]

There are a ton of good threads on signal chains and layout and it really becomes a matter of experimentation. I also agree that a good overdrive is really important. I use 4 different ones.

The place I think people spend too little time is picking the board itself. Do some research before you runout and buy. There are a lot of alternatives to the mainstream choices.

My 2 cents

The problem a newbie has is that there are so many options and choices...but se few great reviews which help cut through the plethora of options. I cut to the chase and bought a Boss pedal board....but i has a finate life and it's a short term place holder

 

[IncX]

you can always start out with a multi effects pedal like a zoom b3 ... then just decide which ones youd wanna have analog versions of.

 

[Downunderwonder]

Build a board out of plywood, spend the savings on a high power all isolated multi voltage power supply and you're all set.

 

[eveilleu]

Thanks guys, what I’m hearing is pedal buying leads to pedal breading so beware!

Advice about let’s call them staple pedals or the 2-3 go to guys is very helpful. I’ll look into an OD pedal!

I like the idea of just using a piece of ply wood, I figure the savings I could do there would help cover the cost of a BK3 (dang, they’re much more expensive than an OD-3!). The biggest reason why I like the ply wood idea is that right now, I have no idea how many/wich peddles I’ll have in let’s say a year or so. Therefore I have no idea the size or shape that I need. I can just take a small piece of plywood, slap on some Velcro and I’m good to go! Later on, if the pedals don’t fit the shape of the board I can just cut a new one. Nice!

On the other hand getting something that fits 5-6 pedals would limit the breading. Unless I end up with horny pedals... no telling what could happen then! (Yes, that’s the excuse I’ll use with my wife, not my fault, those where horny pedals dear!)

Again, thanks for taking some of your time to help me out, you have no idea how empty my glass is right now! I have so much to learn and discover, this is awesome!

(I Think I’ll go grab one of those talent simulator pedals during lunch hehe)

 

[Montanamike]

Build a board out of plywood, spend the savings on a high power all isolated multi voltage power supply and you're all set.

This is a great starting point.

 

[Montanamike]

Remember that it is ok not to have a full board. I ran into the same issues with not knowing the right size. That's the reason I designed and built my own that are expandable.

When your ready shop around.

 

[eveilleu]

Remember that it is ok not to jave a full board. I ran into the same issues with not knowing tje right size that's the reason I designed and built my own thay are expandable.

When your ready shop around.

No worries! Right now my priority is learn practice learn practice, pedals are something I think about when I'm tired of writing design documents at work and alt-tab to these forums

However when I arrived home yesterday with my muff I realized that I needed something to prevent my silly pedals from moving all over the place and something to power them with. Hence the questions!

Now i have answers! plywood and a little voodoo pedal power thingy!

Oh, and damn you guys for making me understand the difference between fuzz and overdrive ... I'm stopping at steeve's this weekend now.

 

[eveilleu]

Build a board out of plywood, spend the savings on a high power all isolated multi voltage power supply and you're all set.

 

[Unemploid]

i have a mxr bass octave deluxe and mxr bass fuzz deluxe. i wanna get the mxr bass chorus and crybaby bass wah. mny bro bought all the van halen pedals, so that inspired me to get pedals for my bass. bass wah like evh wah. octave instead of a phaser, fuzz just because i wanted a distortion pedal because they are popular with guitar players, but i didn't want too much distortion. bass players that i talk to fuzz is the way to go on bass but it's whatever level of distortion you want to play. those were the three pedal s i wanted to get for a while, but i didn't have a pedal that was too crazy sounding. i know when to add fuzz/octave/wah, i wanted a pedal to experiment with. i was looking into choruses and flanger. i liked the evh flanger but not sure if i wanted to get a flanger pedal for bass because i may not you it as much as the flanger. then mxr made a bass chorus deluxe and it has a flanger button and the x-over is sick, it's effects the high strings and not the low. you don't have to use bass fx pedals for bass guitars, they're best for bass, but it all depends on what sound you want to hear and play. the two pedals i have are great. here is how my signal chain is going to be. bass > wah > octave > fuzz > chorus > amp. do i have to have my pedals in that order? no. wah before octave you wah the octave. octave beofr wah you octave the wah. different sound, one is not better than the other, but it's which ever you want to hear and play. also, look up splitting signals.

 

[itchyfingers]

If you want to make something a tad closer to a PT, and a bit classier looking than a piece of plywood - I recommend hitting up Ikea and getting a Gorm shelf or two. They're like $3.00, and you can cut them down to any size, paint em, and slap some velcro on em. I've made a bunch of different sizes and they're all great for the different projects I do.

 

[DiabolusInMusic]

Are you wanting signal chain advice or just tips on actually building the thing?

If you are a home player just go get cheap piece of plywood cut to size and attach another couple pieces of wood to give you some angle. Cover that puppy in trunk liner with a little glue or staples. Voila, one pedalboard. I built mine for free since we had some trunk liner at work and nobody will miss a couple feet. This is not the best option for gigging, I like to have my pedalboards in a case. I have a pedlatrain nano and a Boss BCB-30 depending on what pedalboard I use.

In terms of signal chain, it is all subjective but this is the recommend order. Effects will react differently depending on where you put them. The only real rule is volume after time, unless you are going for some out there effects.

Compression - Wah (this includes Phasers) - Dirt(any kind) - Modulation (chorus/flanger) - Time (delays) - Volume (tremolo). The tuner can really go anywhere.

Hope that helps.

 

[Downunderwonder]

All this time I've run phaser after chorus because I like it that way. The rule that trumps all rules is that there are no rules, only the guidelines of what usually works best.

 

[Sethakamoe]

Well I agree with every one who says just make your own pedal board it is easy I made a new one just two days ago But if u are wanting to buy pedals. Then look at electro harmonix that is my fav brand but that doesn't mean they are the best. I mean I have a digi tech lopper a boss bass od and a momary boy sorry about the spelling I mean u just need to do your research

 

[monkeyfinger]

My suggestion is... BUY USED!!!

There are lots of great used pedal in the classified section of this forum. Terrific deals and great sellers who are an active part of this community. (You can see seller ratings too!).

In my experience, you will try a lot of different pedals in the search for 'that sound'. It can be an expensive proposition. Buying used will cut the cost to you significantly. Most pedals you buy on talkbass, you can re-sell on talkbass for little or no financial loss to you. You will need a supporting membership to sell stuff, but it is overall cheap to do so.

 

[eveilleu]

Are you wanting signal chain advice or just tips on actually building the thing?

...

Compression - Wah (this includes Phasers) - Dirt(any kind) - Modulation (chorus/flanger) - Time (delays) - Volume (tremolo). The tuner can really go anywhere.

Hope that helps.

Helps a lot thanks!

Mainly building the thing and trying to get an understanding of how people see their pedals, what's cool and fun, what's useful and what's "needed" in order to get a feel of the setup I could end up with. That, to in turn find a pedal board/power supply that will fit. Today I learned that I need an OD pedal

I was not thinking signal chain yet (baby steps...). But you made me go humm... How about my octaver? Where would that fit? I'm assuming way up front or else it won't be able to track.. Suggestions?