Am I silly for not using any pedals?

[DTRN]

Also might I add:

NO!

Absolutely no...

...but you ARE kind of silly for asking that question.

Agreed. I kind of thought there was some silliness somewhere. I just see a lot of pedal usage here and thought I was missing the party.

 

[DTRN]

You need a compressor, ie Keeley Compressor Pro

Does the compressor have to be bass specific or will a guitar compressor work? I have plenty. The Yellow Squash "Iron Fist" being my fav.

 

[el murdoque]

I
Maybe more. Golly...I'm an analog guy in a digital world.

Well, I'd say that in bass playing, the world is not a digital one yet.
Sure, there are lots of options when you want to - but you can also easily choose to keep your signal strictly analog.
I am in the process of building a pedalboard for my ampless setup to compete against my headrush gigboard.

The only thing I realized is that for the five sounds I use, my setup requires four pedals plus a tuner. With DI box, pedalboard and power supply, this retails at roughly twice the amount I spent on the headrush plus case.

So a while back, going digital was introduced, but it was not as good as analog.
Then it got better and the flagship models were able to compete. But they cost way more - their advantage was that they could sound like more than one setup (Kemper, for example)
Right now, we're past that and you get a sound quality that's totally usable for gigs for less than 600 bucks.

 

[Bleecker]

I played for years in a power trio without pedals. Your amp and your attack can be your sound. Later I got into a more progressive band mostly originals, I used a bass whah for some songs.



The Markbass Compressore is a nice unit, a bit much for me so I sold it. Right now I'm messing around with a Tech21 YT for some grit and an Ampeg OptoComp for a little squeeze. I do run a Peterson tuner in line.

Cheers!

 

[Krisfield]

There's a bunch of compressors that are a constant favourites of TBer's on the Effects forum. They are bass specific compressors, which means they retain the bottom end. Keeley Compressor Pro is used by guitarists as well. Very versatile.

If I only needed one pedal, a compressor would be it, and a nice amp of course. Those Mesa bass amps are the biz.

Does the compressor have to be bass specific or will a guitar compressor work? I have plenty. The Yellow Squash "Iron Fist" being my fav.

 

[Robscott]

Pedals sound great.........in your bedroom

 

[Kukulkan61]

No...

 

[DTRN]

There's are a bunch of compressors that are a constant favourites of TBer's on the Effects forum. They are bass specific compressors, which means they retain the bottom end. Keeley Compressor Pro is used by guitarists as well. Very versatile.

If I only needed one pedal, a compressor would be it, and a nice amp of course. Those Mesa bass amps are the biz.

I will consider and agree. Once you understand the compressor, you realize just how valuable they are.

 

[Lagado]

I wouldn't bother with a compressor either, I would concentrate on your dynamics and consistent attack. Unless you like relying on little boxes for that.

 

[DTRN]

Pedals sound great.........in your bedroom

That has been my finding with the 6 string. Great in the bedroom but no where to be found live. Now let's talk a Tele clean into a blackface...Oh you're gonna hear it.

 

[TinIndian]

I never used anything outside a tuner pedal for years. Now I have a pedal board with a couple effects on it and outside the compressor I rarely use those. So to me, nah, you're not missing anything. Stuff like that is fun to mess around with but In the stuff I do primarily outside of some overdrive I really don't have a need for them. I do pick up fill in work for a dance band on occasion and I use them far more in that.

 

[DTRN]

I wouldn't bother with a compressor either, I would concentrate on your dynamics and consistent attack. Unless you like relying on little boxes for that.

There's nothing like only a quality cord between you and the amp. Oh the humanity of it all.

 

[DTRN]

Thanks everyone for the replies. It's comforting to know I'm not a weirdo...or at the least not alone.

 

[Rib 13]

If you want to use a pedal for something, use it
If you don't want to use a pedal, don't use any

This didn't need to be a thread <shrug>

 

[kmon]

I’ve never had much luck with pedals and I’ve taste tested sooo many.

Now I have a pitch black tuner -> diamond compressor -> bass soul food. Comp is always on, soul food is on sometimes. It’s all subtle enhancement.

The tuner is the only one I’d be upset about if I forgot to bring it to a show or rehearsal.

 

[Nunovsky]

Just curious. Aside from my tuner pedal I use no pedals. I play the 6 string as well and was once a pedal junky. I divorced myself of the pedals and learned to play a Telecaster straight up into a clean amp (Fender blackface). It was a huge learning opportunity and became more accurate by using only the volume and tone controls on the guitar and all that's available on the amp. I was actually quite surprised on what I was missing, both in my technique (or lack there of) and available tones with just my guitar and amp alone. So naturally moving on to playing bass I found no need for pedals. Am I right or just stubborn. Is there some pedals I should look into? Incidentally, my favorite pedal for guitar was a compressor of all things.

You play whatever suits you best.
Like pedals? Great!
Don't like pedals? Great!

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

Just curious. Aside from my tuner pedal I use no pedals. I play the 6 string as well and was once a pedal junky. I divorced myself of the pedals and learned to play a Telecaster straight up into a clean amp (Fender blackface). It was a huge learning opportunity and became more accurate by using only the volume and tone controls on the guitar and all that's available on the amp. I was actually quite surprised on what I was missing, both in my technique (or lack there of) and available tones with just my guitar and amp alone. So naturally moving on to playing bass I found no need for pedals. Am I right or just stubborn. Is there some pedals I should look into? Incidentally, my favorite pedal for guitar was a compressor of all things.

Nope

 

[lbbc]

To be honest, I was never much of a pedal guy. I have a Radial Tonebone Bassbone (to adjust EQ and volume boost if needed) and a Shure GLXD16 wireless with built-in tuner. I may be "missing something" according to others but I prefer the "KISS" concept of keeping it simple.

 

[JRA]

Am I right or just stubborn. Is there some pedals I should look into? Incidentally, my favorite pedal for guitar was a compressor of all things.

"am i right" vs. "stubborn" = probably both according to your OP.

Using pedals you don’t need makes no more sense than not using pedals you should be using. No one can tell you what YOU need.

 

[MarMar]

Just curious. Aside from my tuner pedal I use no pedals. I play the 6 string as well and was once a pedal junky. I divorced myself of the pedals and learned to play a Telecaster straight up into a clean amp (Fender blackface). It was a huge learning opportunity and became more accurate by using only the volume and tone controls on the guitar and all that's available on the amp. I was actually quite surprised on what I was missing, both in my technique (or lack there of) and available tones with just my guitar and amp alone. So naturally moving on to playing bass I found no need for pedals. Am I right or just stubborn. Is there some pedals I should look into? Incidentally, my favorite pedal for guitar was a compressor of all things.

I gigged for years with zero pedals. A couple people over the years suggested I should get a distortion pedal. I never got one.