Best bass effects for 3-piece

[Frank77]

It really depends on a lot of things, but as much as I like effects I don't think they necessarily are the answer for situations like these - It's much more about how you play during these passages. Too much effects may drive attention away from the other guy's solo, or literally drown it out. The whole band should be involved in the strategy chosen for these passages.

That's MHO and of course, YMMV.

 

[Deleted member 165050]

Maybe something like the [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]? Does a lot of stuff.

Looks interesting. Also the player has an excellent bass face.

 

[Wasnex]

It's original material...

This gives you complete freedom to do whatever you want, with any available effect. But IMHO, the effects should flow naturally and organically from the music, rather than being forced in an attempt to fill an uncomfortable silence.

 

[backin82]

I play in a trio that does a wide range of covers from 1960's to Present. We decided pretty early on that due to instrumentation and the natural limits of a trio, we would actually allow/enjoy/emphasize space in the music in times when it would sometimes be tempting to just fill the void with playing.

Even so, I run with a chorus and flange nearly 100% of the time, but mixed down compared to my dry signal. I'll turn it off when we do songs by bands like Khruangbin, etc...because I want it to sound minimalist. But when we play stuff by The Weeknd, I'm going chorus + delay and/or verb on a lot of it to achieve a more washy synth background.

 

[jasper383]

compressor

some kind of fuzz that you can blend in clean a bit

I love playing with just one guitar and drums--everyone has space

 

[RattleSnack]

Bunch of recomendations for compressor here. No doubt it's a usefull tool for some (less for others) but what it has to do with playing in a trio? If anything, you need more dynamic range...
Right thing is to adopt your playing to more space, just like you adopt when there is less space (big band, or another instrument in your range, like synth).
If you still prefer to add something to your sound, simple solution is OD or octaver, whichever you like better (I'm more octaver guy).
I am not familiar with more complex solutions, but there are good ideas here, mostly splitting your signal and thus producing another guitar.

 

[chiphaleonbass]

Board I've been using as of late for a power trio, but also a bigger band, has two overdrives, one low and one high gain; sub octave and a reverb pad sort of pedal. Don't find I need much else; but have had chorus on the board and other modulation to get some movement. 9/10 I'm trying to just be bigger sounding during solo's and such so the band doesn't feel like it's lost anything when someone else isn't playing rhythm

 

[Five String]

1. Listen to Led Zeppelin live album Song Remains The Same.
2. Play like John Paul Jones.

 

[btmpancake]

When I did play in a power trio the best effects I used was none! I had a guitarist with super chops that did amazing fills and I maybe would play a few extra notes to help highlight a passage or two. The better your guitar player is, the less you have to do- of course.

 

[Spidey2112]

Buy a MIDI pedal board and add more sounds with your big toe.

 

[beatmachine pro]

my,...2c
sorry to disagree with you sweet and low
i think the bass has to cover the spaces the guitar solo makes
sure normally you want to play in the octave below the guitar
what if hes soloing the 12th fret E on the high string
bass is in the 3rd/4th octave down

i think solos work out better when there is movement in the bass too

if you use an octiveizer that woud fill up the hole in the middle
and you fuzz would sound a lot bigger as well

 

[Barry Vestal]

Fuzz,Envelope filter,Chorus....

 

[Deleted member 165050]

1. Listen to Led Zeppelin live album Song Remains The Same.
2. Play like John Paul Jones.

1. I saw them live...

2. To play like JPJ I'd need an organ and a mellotron, oh and the ability to play them

But the JPJ reference is interesting as in Them Crooked Vultures he used some crazy multi-course basses for a big sound on some songs I believe.

 

[lizardking837]

Looking for ideas for bass effects to fill out the sound in a 3-piece rock format, primarily for when the guitarist switches to lead passages i.e. single note. I already have a bazillion pedals I built in lockdown including octave, fuzz and overdrive but looking for something more. Maybe EHX bass mono synth or POG? All suggestions welcome although not wanting to go down the routing of adding a hex pickup... well not just yet anyway.

I think it depends on the songs, too. I played a gig last night, the bass player for the band on before us had a phaser, keeley compressor, mini pog and I think a Big Muff. Which I thought was good set up. For the group I'm with I just run a Sansamp clone into the front end of my amp.

But we play different stuff. They cover a lot of modern pop/rock and we focus mostly on older/bluesier rock. My set up works for me as a "set and forget."

 

[Nighttrain1127]

T-Rex Quint Machines or Boss OC5 for the octave up and clean blend also add a mild Overdrive. For the full deal An Electro Harmonix HOG2 with a rotary speaker sim like a ventillator II and an expression pedal to change the speed for that Hammond B3 effect to fill in the empty space.

 

[el murdoque]

1. Reverb
2. Source Audio C4.

 

[Killing Floor]

Depends on the setting, genre. I play pretty clean even though I love pedals so…
Some dirt, OD or fuzz. I personally think fuzz works better on bass because in my very correct opinion most bass players use OD incorrectly and it just sounds like their amp isn’t working.
Maybe octave, pairs great with fuzz for a synth sound. Some envelope or modulation, keep it simple.

By “simple” I mean buy a ton of pedals and enjoy them at home because they’re fun. But only bring a few to the gig. A small combo doesn’t need too much mayhem.

 

[Deleted member 165050]

Lots of interesting suggestions! I get the idea of reverb to fill space and chorus etc for a bigger sound but as the guitarist is already using a lot of effects I reckon the Pog / Quint type ideas are most in the zone, fill out the bass when needed but still keep it in the realm of bass...

 

[HolmeBass]

Quickly put this together from my DIY pedals... from R to L: compressor, octave (OC2 clone), 6-band EQ, dual ring modulator fuzz, arpeggiator (Arpanoid clone), 4-head delay. Not sure about the ring mod, probably a POG would be better.

I think swapping in a POG for the ring mod fuzz would be good. I might go for a flanger/phaser/chorus in place of the delay, too, unless you’re doing a lot of ambient/slow/moody music. Unless you absolutely need the 6-band EQ, I might put a fuzz there instead, a Muff clone with good mids and tons of low end.

All pre-supposed on using a single amp. If you end up with dual rigs (like many bassists in this kind of scheme) then the delay might work very well since it would really differentiate the bass from the “guitar” signal. But I don’t have direct experience with that, I am definitely coming from single amp experience and POV.

 

[G On Bass]

I've played in a few trios and just have 3 different levels of overdrive available on my board from a mild dirt to grit to distortion. Having a good drummer you lock in with helps as the rhythm section can go into their own thing together while the guitarist does whatever. A combination of the right bass lines and playing off the drummer filled it all nicely without having to go spatial or technical or trying to sound like anything other than a driving bass.