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Beginner Bass Sound Experimentation

G

govind678

Jan 4, 2010
10
0
San Francisco, CA
#1
Hi.
I've been playing the Bass for about a year now using a local made bass guitar (which has a surprisingly good tone) and an average amp. Well, i wish to really experiment with my sound by buying a couple of effects pedals. (I have never used any effects pedals on the bass before). And effects i mean in the likes of Cliff Burton's "For Whom The Bell Tolls" intro. Also, some of Tool's songs like Schism and The Pot. Well, actually in most of Tool's songs, I love the way Jusin Chancellor sounds. And well, i don't think i'd get there immediately because i've seen some of his "Gear Talk" videos and he has a gazillion effects pedals. Well, I need to start somewhere so could you please instruct me on what I need to buy? Also, I never understood what a Direct Box does.

Thanks.
 
#2
If u wanna sounds as for whom the bell tolls....

A wha pedal
A metal distortion
A good amp
A little of reverb

.... I use the GT-10

If u wanna start, you can buy a multieffect pedal... a easy one, as the me-20b or the me-50b, also u can buy individual ones:
A compression ---> If u wanna Slap
A Distortion ---> There are many types, so u choose depending what u wanna play
A Chorus -----> Beautiful sound
A reverb ---->Its like a echo sound that create a surround sound
Equalizer ---> Actually i use these with any other effect... just need to watch some videos of people playing....and u will understood...

Extras:

A synth
A octaver


Well, i hope a help u...

Boss is the best effect mark...
 
#3
A direct box simply allows you to plug your bass directly into the sound board without using an amp and microphone. It's often used on bass simply because the amp and speaker cab traditionally don't do as much for tone as they do with guitar. Also, if you do mic a bass cab, you can lose some of the nuances, as the sound waves are longer than with higher tones and don't have time to "develop" (?) by the time they reach a mic, which is traditionally placed close to the speaker.

As for effects, all I use is a GGG-tuned Big Muff (basically a Bluebeard) for a distorted sound, and an EHX Clone Theory to add some chorus/vibrato. I use the Muff sparingly, but the Clone Theory is almost always on.
 
#4
23travis said:
A direct box simply allows you to plug your bass directly into the sound board without using an amp and microphone. It's often used on bass simply because the amp and speaker cab traditionally don't do as much for tone as they do with guitar. Also, if you do mic a bass cab, you can lose some of the nuances, as the sound waves are longer than with higher tones and don't have time to "develop" (?) by the time they reach a mic, which is traditionally placed close to the speaker.
Click to expand...
sorry to correct you publicly, but sound waves have no problem entering a mic no matter how long they are. sound waves don't have to "develop" to full length to be heard. now i disagree about micing a cab losing the nuances, but that's more of a matter of opinion. but it's a fact that sound waves don't have to develop to be heard. otherwise you couldn't hear your bass in a small room or through headphones.
 
#5
JimmyM said:
sorry to correct you publicly, but sound waves have no problem entering a mic no matter how long they are. sound waves don't have to "develop" to full length to be heard. now i disagree about micing a cab losing the nuances, but that's more of a matter of opinion. but it's a fact that sound waves don't have to develop to be heard. otherwise you couldn't hear your bass in a small room or through headphones.
Click to expand...

No, you're right. I did make a mistake there. I guess what I meant (even without telling myself?) was that I'd heard something that could have been taken that way. I was doubtful of it myself, but I'll try to find the piece I was reading to figure out exactly what was meant there. I think it had more to do with the room's effect on the sound.

As far as losing the subtleties and nuances, there's no way that you CAN'T lose some of that stuff when you don't go direct -- a.) A longer signal path and b.) converting the signal from electrical to acoustic and back again. Now, if you want the particulars of your power amp or cab (or a particular mic), that's another matter. But, like I said, that's traditionally not as large an issue with a bass as it is a guitar.
 
#6
Vibratto said:
If u wanna start, you can buy a multieffect pedal... a easy one, as the me-20b or the me-50b, also u can buy individual ones:

A compression ---> If u wanna Slap

Boss is the best effect mark...
Click to expand...

A multi-effect is a good place to start.

However, compressors aren't just for slap. I slap a lot and I never use a compressor. With good technique, you don't need a compressor to make your sound even.

Also, Boss are not 'the best' effects manufacturer - just the biggest. They are decent, and some of their pedals are highly sought after. However, some are not brilliant. There are a whole slew of other companies out there who are doing different things to Boss, and some of them are doing better things than Boss.
 
#8
Stuggi said:
I'd say that Boss is good for entry level stuff, but I'm not very thrilled by their bass versions of guitar effects. I'd look more to Elektro Harmonix if I'd want a be-all-end-all brand for funky effects. The EHX compressors on the other hand aren't that great, luckily there's EBS for that. :D
Click to expand...

Don't get me wrong, I love Boss. OC-2, DS-1, BF-2, PH-3 and NS-2 should all make it onto my live board. However, there is no way that I would ever claim that ANY company produces the best effects, and if I had to pick, it wouldn't be Boss.
 
#9
Happynoj said:
A multi-effect is a good place to start.

However, compressors aren't just for slap. I slap a lot and I never use a compressor. With good technique, you don't need a compressor to make your sound even.

Also, Boss are not 'the best' effects manufacturer - just the biggest. They are decent, and some of their pedals are highly sought after. However, some are not brilliant. There are a whole slew of other companies out there who are doing different things to Boss, and some of them are doing better things than Boss.
Click to expand...

When i said BEST mark
And when i said use compression to slap

I said because the tittle of the topic said BEGINNER BASS SOUND EXPERIMENTATION, i will not said to buy it some marbass, bigbuff, GT-10B, or some EBS pedals....
 
#10
Stuggi said:
I'd say that Boss is good for entry level stuff, but I'm not very thrilled by their bass versions of guitar effects. I'd look more to Elektro Harmonix if I'd want a be-all-end-all brand for funky effects. The EHX compressors on the other hand aren't that great, luckily there's EBS for that. :D
Click to expand...

When i said use compression to slap, is because i dont think he is a victor wooten, he is a BEGINNER

JESUS!
 
#13
JimmyM said:
that's even more reason NOT to use a compressor. if you squash your signal, how do you know if your technique is any good? never use a pedal to cure a technique problem.
Click to expand...

iF u dont have the money to buy a good bass a good compressor change the it sounds, not to have better techniq... thats ridicoulous, when i was younger i dont have the money to buuy a good bass, i use some pedals to change a little it sound, but it doesnt make me have a better technique, jusy the practice...

Sorry for the grammar-spelling
 
#14
Vibratto said:
iF u dont have the money to buy a good bass a good compressor change the it sounds, not to have better techniq... thats ridicoulous, when i was younger i dont have the money to buuy a good bass, i use some pedals to change a little it sound, but it doesnt make me have a better technique, jusy the practice...

Sorry for the grammar-spelling
Click to expand...
i see what you're saying. basically we agree ;)
 
#16
I'll throw another +1 on a multi-effects unit. You can play around with a lot of effects and pinpoint the effects in which you are interested.
While I fiddled around with a Line 6 Bass POD a couple of times, I really dove in head first with individual pedals. It's now an expensive addiction.
 
#17
Well, Thank you very much for all this info. :D

Firstly, I completely forgot i even posted this thread. I just started doing a lot of reading of my own after I posted it. I've pretty much seen every thread on TB about effect pedals. I've kinda decided not to go with a multi effects pedal. I'd rather buy individual effects mainly because i can't afford a good multi fx pedal right now. I'd rather spend money on individual pedals and maybe build up a collection over a period of time. Also, i figure you can get a lot more control than on MFX ones.

Secondly, i own a pretty bad bass guitar. I play for my college band and at all our jam sessions, I use a guitar amp coz i don't have a bass amp (I used to play guitar for a couple of years but i've really found playing the bass more interesting and fun). We gig occasionally and obviously, my bass sounds different at different gigs because I use the cab they provide. And that's why i asked about the DI pedal and how it worked n all.

I've been developing a lot of my tapping technique on the bass and i really enjoy it. I saved up some money and bought myself a Boss DD3. It sounds amazing, especially with tapping!!

I've been wanting to get a good synth pedal. After like 6 months of research and a lotta threads on TB, I decided to go for the EHX XO Bass Micro Synth. My parents said they'd buy me one for my birthday. I just ordered it last week on eBay.:bassist::bassist::hyper::hyper:

So, to sum it up, thank you all, very very much. I did not expect replies at all. I'm actually on a summer internship program away from home and i get really really bored here. So all i do is read about pedals. I guess it's all the G.A.S working on me but what the heck, one can dream!!
I love TalkBass!!! I've learnt so much the past six months!!!:D

Thanks again,
Govind

PS. Yes, I'm not Jesus Christ. Neither am I Victor Wooten, both of whom are pretty much the same to me.
And well, a couple of months ago, i went to a Victor Wooten concert and well, HE SIGNED MY BASS!!!!!!:hyper::hyper:
 

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