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2015 pedal wrap up

#41
I finally gave in and started buying pedals this year...my small collection now contains:

Seymour Duncan studio bass compressor
Source audio peq
Darkglass vmt
Idiotbox blower box

Next summer concerns the rest of the rig - gonna build me some fearfuls :bassist:
 
#42
Cog Effects T-16.
This thing actually has revolutionized my way of thinking about effects.

I mainly just used compression all the time and added a little chorus or flange for short passages,
but now I'm seeing even some clean passages could be made better through judicious use of effects.
Really got me out of a rut.

I also finally got a wah pedal, it may feature in some new sounds.
 
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#46
This year:

Stereo pulsar. Really neat pedal, does the tremolo thing. The wave selector switch adds a lot of variation. Goes incredibly fast and reasonably slow.

Phase 90. :hyper: Especially following fuzz. It was instantly apparent why it was such a loved pedal once I actually played with it. Love combining it with fuzz and

I built a fuzz pedal this year!
I started looking at BYOC, and trying to understand the schematics. From there I learned basic components and circuit building blocks. This pedal is a clipping amplifier stage with a gain control, volume and lowpass tone control.
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and on boxing day, I purchased a Tc flashback mini with giftcards. It is an amazing delay, and the toneprint thing is pretty cool. I have found some nice tape delays. I have never used a digital delay before, and pairing this with my DM-2 is beautiful. I cannot give the flashback higher praise; it is totally awesome. Ambient machine.
 
#47
MXR Bass Distortion was the big one for me this year, although Broughton Audio LPF and HPF pedals are right up there for me as well. But I bought way more pedals this year than any other, and while I really enjoyed some of them, most just didn't work in my band and I either sold them or shelved them.
 
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#48
big score for me was the TC Spark Booster and the Mooer Octaver which adds an octave up. These two together can take my bass from clean boost to raging SVT overdrive but in a very different way than the VT Bass pedal does. The TC simply does the best job of adding tube like crunch of any pedal I have ever used, and it is also really useful as a clean boost or a preamp to add a little subtle bass and treble to my passive basses. The mooer when used lightly adds a barely discernible octave up that just adds attitude and clarity, especially when overdriven. It can sound a lot like an 8 string bass if desired, but the way I am using just fattens up the sound, which is nice in a 3 piece.
 
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#52
Matt Dean said:
I submit my pedal of 2015: the Southampton Fifth Gear. Nothing fancy*, but... tasty as hell. And the contenders were strong: Origin Cali76 CB and a Wampler Euphoria.

*It was actually a purple one, so it was sort of fancy.

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I REALLY like that man, great look for that pedal.

I happen to have Fifth Gear #1. I was thinking about getting it redone, but because its #1, Im reconsidering just not touching it. But I really dig that original yellow and big black knob that he has in reg production. But oh well. It doesn't matter what it looks like anyway, and the FG is probably one of my tops of 2015 as well. What an awesome pedal for any bassist. Doesn't matter if you play jazz or metal, itll fit.

Some others that I must add to my "best of" list of 2015

Big Game Bedlam and EAND fuzz. Ryan is one of the coolest dudes Ive had the pleasure to work with and he makes some really nice pedals at an affordable price.

I had a bit of an OD meltdown the last part of the year. That was rough!! haha

I think 2015 was the year of the dirt for me haha. Ive always swapped dirt out the last few years but it seems that this year I was constantly trying new things in the dirt area. And I had a TON of fun doing it. I discovered how awesome the Malekko B:assmaster is, that I will never get rid of my Idiot Box Blower Box, that Abominable makes a hella great muff, the Hail Satan, while I love my Bedlam, I started wanting some more warmth to my OD sound so I got a DG VMT (again ;)) and I love it as well. And that no matter how many dirt pedals I try, I still want to try more!!

I also picked up the DOD Gunslinger recently. WOW. What a badass bass dirt. Its serious in the mix. May very well be one of the best performing dirt pedals Ive ever used for bass in the mix. Seriously.

I also sold my SA Orbital, something I never thought I would do, and replaced it with the ol EHX Small Clone. I couldn't be happier. What a great bass chorus!

2015 was also a year that saw me do something else I thought I would never do, add a sister board. Im still not crazy about it, but I like it. And it works. So its staying for the time being ;)
 
#55
JimmyM said:
MXR Bass Distortion was the big one for me this year, although Broughton Audio LPF and HPF pedals are right up there for me as well. But I bought way more pedals this year than any other, and while I really enjoyed some of them, most just didn't work in my band and I either sold them or shelved them.
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I'm glad you liked it. I had the MXR Bass Distortion and the Bass Overdrive at the same time. The Distortion especially was a cool little pedal, just could not get it to do what I wanted.
 
#58
My year was nearly a wipeout for various reasons.

However, if you count ordering a pedal in 2014 and receiving it in 2015, then I'm in luck. I only got three pedals in 2015, not including buying one for a gift to a friend:

Cosmichorus
Tremolemonessence
And...

In a stroke of luck, I got a Cali76 STD.


I had to/chose to pass on several screaming deals in early 2015 such as an ADA Flanger that was $100 off... :crying: The foolish things we do. It's only one of the best flangers ever, and I'll never see that icon at that price (new) again! :bawl:

In the latter half of 2015, I made a big purchase [edit: non-pedal big] ... big. So starting to recover from that now. The shackles on my pedal purchases has been removed...



Lookout 2016!
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#59
alecduncan said:
...My pedalboard is linked in my signature block, the only difference is I've added a Solidgold FX Sasori (amazing, and dethroned my Frazz Dazzler).
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ARgh I was GASsing for both!

NortyFiner said:
...
My other major acquisition was the OBNE Black Fountain "oil can" delay. It finally nailed what I've been hearing in my head for years.
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That must be EXTREMELY satisfying! Congrats, not many people achieve that nirvana of realising externally the sound within their heads.
 
#60
2015 for me was less about any specific pedal, and more about discovering new builders. There seems to be a plethora of newer, small, mostly young, creative, builders out there, waiting to be discovered. Often these wares are very reasonably priced as well.

Chicago Stomp Works, straight ahead clones, yielded very well built Rams Head and Green Russian Muffs, and a killer two in one MFZ-1a/ Red Llamma pedal.

(Recovery) Effects Grizzled Mighty and Couple Skate are cool new takes on fuzz.

Big Game's EAND has some cool mods to an aggressive Muff circuit.

Jext Telez Dizzy Tone V5 and V6 are, well... Scrumpdiliscious.

Tone-Junkie offered his Sting Bee Deluxe Fuzz. A gnarly circuit with a separate clean boost that is switchable before or after the fuzz circuit. I'm sending it back for some mods to be more bass friendly.

This year I also fell in love with the Mastrotron, Frazz Dazzler, EHX Freeze, Divided Octave Mutron clone, and the Keeley Bassist. It was a good year for effects.
 

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