Blues & Blues/rock bassists using pedals

[DavidEdenAria]

I know i dont get out much but i still dont see many Blues bassists using pedals.

Usually a clip on tuner only...this is dozens of times thru the past say 10+ years.

 

[JonathanPDX]

Plenty of blues guys use pedals, from Roscoe Beck to Dusty Hill.

I've worked the blues scene for over 20 years, even though my background is as much in jazz and soul as straight blues. With a large ensemble I usually just run my Vintage Microtubes on some songs to get a little classic tube overdrive. But sometimes I have to double up on horn, piano, or organ parts depending on the lineup, so I bring along a Freeze, octave, chorus, and envelope filter. That gives me enough tools to fill whatever is missing.

-Jonathan (Portland, OR)

 

[Hundred proof]

My go-to Beale street blues ... blues/rock setup

 

[AlvarHanso]

I know i dont get out much but i still dont see many Blues bassists using pedals.

Usually a clip on tuner only...this is dozens of times thru the past say 10+ years.

Why should someone else's creative limitations place those same limitations on somebody else's creative use of pedals? Also, I'm sure there are Willie Dixons out there now who play almost only Blues, but I know I don't set genre limitations on myself. I hate listening to 99% of country music, but playing it can be fun to me because it's outside my comfort zone and makes me play differently. Maybe a lot of the bassists you're seeing are Blues or Blues/Rock bassists who similarly play a wide variety of things, but their paid gig (or perhaps just the paid gig you've happened to catch them on) requires little to no pedal use, so they don't bring any, and maybe their other project is psychedelic and they have a huge pedalboard to do ambient soundscapes.

The point isn't what somebody else uses, it's what tools do YOU need to do the job? Or what tools do you want to have at your disposal, whether they're actually engaged throughout the evening or not? At church, I used 0 pedals in over 9 years until a few weeks ago when I started using a reverb pedal. In a classic rock/blues cover band I was in for 4 years, I would rehearse with no pedals, then bring my big board to gigs, and basically use one or two effects in a couple of songs out of about 40 for the night. And my jambands I rarely even practice without the full rig, and use tons of effects throughout the gigs, playing clean on a handful songs. When we played blues in that cover band, I don't think I ever used any effects. One song I used an effect for every time was Bob Seger's Turn the Page, I always used the EHX SuperEgo for a creepy reverb sound. And I used envelope filter when we used to do the Dead's Fire On the Mountain and Help On the Way. Not remembering using them on many others, but I liked having the option.

TLDR: different strokes for different folks.

 

[MrLenny1]

Depends on the gig but I rarely see blues bassist using effects.
My buddy plays with Joe Louis Walker and no effects.

 

[CapnSev]

I didn’t for the longest time, then I started to use them pretty heavily and I loved it. Octave on funky, simple lines; and sometimes I’d drown the bass in thick chorus on slow blues.

It makes a HUGE difference to break up the monotony. People noticed.

 

[DavidEdenAria]

I didn’t for the longest time, then I started to use them pretty heavily and I loved it. Octave on funky, simple lines; and sometimes I’d drown the bass in thick chorus on slow blues.

It makes a HUGE difference to break up the monotony. People noticed.

"break up the monotony", thats kind of what i am getting at...i mean i grew up with Cream, Mountain, Free, all using EB type basses but Cream and Mountain i was convinced the bass was using fuzz pedals but no, just an EB 'mudbucker' overdriving an amp....Free was much different, a cleaner 'tuba sound' but this is obviously blues rock.

It depends on the song arrangement and how many instruments of course. I like chorus and a bit of flanger (used more like a chorus)...still messing with octave!

 

[DavidEdenAria]

Why should someone else's creative limitations place those same limitations on somebody else's creative use of pedals? Also, I'm sure there are Willie Dixons out there now who play almost only Blues, but I know I don't set genre limitations on myself. I hate listening to 99% of country music, but playing it can be fun to me because it's outside my comfort zone and makes me play differently. Maybe a lot of the bassists you're seeing are Blues or Blues/Rock bassists who similarly play a wide variety of things, but their paid gig (or perhaps just the paid gig you've happened to catch them on) requires little to no pedal use, so they don't bring any, and maybe their other project is psychedelic and they have a huge pedalboard to do ambient soundscapes.

The point isn't what somebody else uses, it's what tools do YOU need to do the job? Or what tools do you want to have at your disposal, whether they're actually engaged throughout the evening or not? At church, I used 0 pedals in over 9 years until a few weeks ago when I started using a reverb pedal. In a classic rock/blues cover band I was in for 4 years, I would rehearse with no pedals, then bring my big board to gigs, and basically use one or two effects in a couple of songs out of about 40 for the night. And my jambands I rarely even practice without the full rig, and use tons of effects throughout the gigs, playing clean on a handful songs. When we played blues in that cover band, I don't think I ever used any effects. One song I used an effect for every time was Bob Seger's Turn the Page, I always used the EHX SuperEgo for a creepy reverb sound. And I used envelope filter when we used to do the Dead's Fire On the Mountain and Help On the Way. Not remembering using them on many others, but I liked having the option.

TLDR: different strokes for different folks.

Yea....one artist i like is a female blues/soul/funk bassist but also does 99% of the vocals....she mentioned she doesnt like to have to think about much in terms of bass playing with her being the main focus vocally, but, you throw the 'funk element' in and it begs for some bass effects of some type to my ears.

I definitely get how a bassist must hold things down and be steady...still.

 

[Pewter camaro]

I never use pedals playing bass in the blues band except for an occasional Compression pedal. It’s a blues review so I also play guitar on a couple songs and turn on my JHS White tighty compressor and EQD plumes and don’t touch them for the 2 songs in my guitar set until I’m donee day I go back to bass. Lol. I’ve just never used them much for the traditional blues.

 

[bassbrad]

It depends on who I'm playing with but most folks expect me to bring some effects, especially in a trio setting which is often what blues gigs are. The trick is knowing how to use them strategically.

 

[Fuzzbass]

I know i dont get out much but i still dont see many Blues bassists using pedals.

Usually a clip on tuner only...this is dozens of times thru the past say 10+ years.

People use what they use (shrug). Bottom line is that there isn't much call for effects in traditional blues - I mostly see the occasional overdrive and/or compression pedal. It's more common to see fancier bass FX setups with funky blues bands.

i grew up with Cream, Mountain, Free, all using EB type basses but Cream and Mountain i was convinced the bass was using fuzz pedals but no, just an EB 'mudbucker' overdriving an amp.

Distortion from an overdriven amp still counts as an effect, even though it doesn't come from a pedal. The problem with overdriven tube amps is logistics. F'r instance: decades ago my favorite bass tone came from cranking my 70's SVT rig into overdrive. Unfortunately, I didn't get to do that very often: only outdoors, or on huge stages. That's why I and others love overdrive/distortion pedals: we can get the distortion we want at any volume level. Sometimes I'll add a compressor pedal to enhance that pushed-amp-rig effect, but my bare minimum is an overdrive pedal: it makes my rig sound loud even when it's quiet.

I'll do this for blues, country, oldies, pop... any genre. Getting back to blues: I'm currently in an all-original blues rock trio and the BL prefers my aggressive overdrive. "Most of my other bassists have used that traditional woofy bass sound, but I love that zing you have on top". I acknowledge that he's an exception, but I'm grateful for him: I can use Darkglass, even the Tech 21 DP-3X (King's X tone), and he likes it. Similarly, there are well-known blues acts (Buddy Guy) for which the bassist often has aggressive tone.