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Effects for a bass and drum two peice band

Crypt Ghast

Crypt Ghast

Dec 2, 2013
27
0
Vancouver
#1
Hey, my cousin and I are starting a project that will just be me on bass and him on drums. We are thinking of going in a lot of directs with this (noise rock, math rock, sludge/doom/drone metal). Currently all I have is a Ditto Looper, but I definitely need some more pedals to fill out the sound. Currently my wish list is
  • Swollen Pickle
  • POG2
  • Line 6 DL-4
  • OCD
  • Fuzzrocious Rat Tail
The only problem is... I don't have much money. I can probably spend $450 on pedals right now to get me started... so what should I get first? I was thinking the Pickle and DL-4 would be the best two to start with.
The POG2 is really expensive, is it worth it? Are there any cheaper versions of these pedals that aren't impossible to find? Any recommendations?
 
#3
Fuzz and pitch shifter are useful, so are more left-field distortion ideas like ring mods, bit crushers, sample rate reducers, that sort of thing. Really messy sounding. Add a delay and/or reverb and you're off to a good start.

Rather than a DL4 look at the M9, it's got all the DL4 delays plus a great pitch shifter in it and a good ring mod along with a ton of other good stuff, and it'll do any combination of three effects at once.
 
#5
If you want a lot of mileage out of 1 pedal try zoom b3 or line6 m9. Both are multis that are highly praised and can cover a lot of ground while you build up your pedal collection. I use the line6 m9 and use the stereo function to send 1 to a guitar amp and 1 to a bass amp to help beef up my tone.
 
#8
I did a bass/drums band thing for a while. We took our cues from stuff like B*st*rd Noise, Sub Rig Destroyer, Om etc...

Basically you have to fill a lot of room. Sounds fun, but it makes stuff tricky, especially if you have had a 'conservative' bass upbringing. Jamerson licks won't work here. Splitting your signal is the first big step. Try and think of one half as the 'I must keep on the bass' half and the other as the 'I must fill a guitar shaped hole' space. You can up the gain a lot more on the treble side. Octave up/down effects also fill in the space as well, but be prepared to have to play cleanly or live with weird sonic artifacts. Consider wiring your bass in stereo and running different effects chains off of each pickup...

I never got a definitive rig down for this stuff. The best results used Digitech gear. I split the signal from the bass, sent one half to a Digitech Hot Head pedal set to a high gain settng and the other half was sent to a Bad Monkey on a grindy bassy setting. The Bad Monkey then went to a compressor, whilst the Hot Head went to a delay pedal, phaser, chorus, etc etc etc...
 
#9
Crypt Ghast said:
  • Swollen Pickle
  • POG2
  • Line 6 DL-4
  • OCD
  • Fuzzrocious Rat Tail
Click to expand...

well these are all good already i suppose (good range of different overdrives and fuzzes, a delay that is able to do wicked stuff and octaver). maybe the micro pog would already do the trick if you'd like to go cheaper but try it first. generally looking for used pedals is an efficient way to save cost.

an envelope filter would give you further interesting tonal options.. flanger also springs to my mind.
 
#10
I agree with all the good ideas here, and I'll just place a little extra emphasis on the delay. The DL4 is good, but whatever you pick, it's the effect itself that is important. Specifically long delay settings - you can really add an extra dimension to the music. I was in a bass / drum 2 piece and that was a go to. I used a whammy and / or a WAH in front of the delay frequently, sometimes with distortion and often not. I pluck a lot of chords and notes higher up the neck. Obviously looping is a good way to go, and splitting to two different amps is awesome too... Basically anything that lets you layer your sound.

A good tip is to use the looper for ambient background noise that doesn't really have to sync up with the song... A little texture goes a long way. I used to volume swell dist. and ring mod tones (or POG/ whammy tones) and layer it a couple times to make it swirly. Good luck!
 
#14
I used to play in a Drums and Bass duo. My amp was the weakest link. Had I a bigger rig I'd have been set.

And in that here's my suggestion - get the DL4 and get the expression pedal. And keep your looper for sure. Here's why the expression is so important - you can control feedback to keep it from self oscillating too badly and there's a 'rhythmic delay' mode to which you can control your delay offsets. this way you can get some great rhythms without speeding or slowing the sample and in the process have some amazing backing.

I used it with anOC2, an EHX BMS and an EHX Worm, EHX Bassballs, and EHX Micro Q-Tron.

Tons of fun. I highly recommend having some kind of eq/filter/phase setting that stays in place to give you a second texture for overdubs.

Also, in time you'll probably want a second amp but you'll be able to do what you want with less if you have one decent ballsy rig.

The DL4 isn't anything really all that special until you set up the expression. I say that because a lot of people really think it's a great pedal...which it can be...but plug in that expression pedal and *WHAM* it's a fully usable tool.

You'll be well-served to look into a used M9 and get the expression for that and you're set with all the fx you'll need for now...though you'll want to update your drive offerings with real analog gear...more loop time, more mods, more delays, more filters, etc...all for under $450.

Good luck on your quest.
 
#17
Well I also play in a three piece Stoner/Doom/Sludge type band with elements of thrash, Punk, and psychedelic rock thrown in for good measure

during guitar solo's as we do not have a second guitar player, i have two separate signal paths...one runs distortion fuzz and or overdrive into an ocatve up pedal and on to a second amp...while my clean signal is blended with distortion or fuzz or overdrive which runs to my main amp...so as not to loose my fundamental..

so essentially i become a rhythm guitar player and bass player at the same time

the signal paths are voiced differently...

which requires a huge board and two amps and two cabs...but to me it's well worth it
 
#18
In a two amp setup you basically split the signal at some point and all fx before that go to both amps and all after that go to the corresponding amp.

This lets you:
- have a fat clean signal
- have an amp to do whatever you like to do, but without any low end loss at all

Funny things are (lets call the amps "CLEAN" and "WET"):
- Distortion and Octave up on the WET
- Octave down on the CLEAN
--> how lee sheet

It's nice to be able to mute the amps seperately. Example:
As an intro, you have only the WET with distortion. Then when the drum kicks in, you hit the tuner (or whatever mutes the CLEAN amp) and then you rock on.

My favourite is:
- Particle Reverb (is an amazing effect on the Line6 M5/9/13 units) on the WET
- Dubbey LPF sound on the CLEAN.

At the moment I'm playing such a setup. Two cabs, Glockenklang 410 for fat lowend and the "normal" bass sound. Then a closed 112 with a 6" mid-high speaker.

I use a TC G-System with some FX Loops. This controls only the WET amp. The CLEAN is clean only in my setup.
This way I have a rack, two cabs (one of them very small and 26lbs) and the pedalboard of the G-System.

I can just encourage you to follow that route. It is a bit more complicated than just bass cable amp, but at the moment, I cannot think of having something else.
 
#20
TinyE said:
I'm in a 3 piece and have been considering this to broaden my sound a bit, different effects loops for each amp. Can you please expand on your answer to help guide me a bit?
Click to expand...

Use a Boss LS-2 or other signal splitter to run a path to a bass amp; the other to a bass amp. If playing a bass, use octave up into the guitar amp (for sonic reasons AND so you don't blow the guitars amp's speakers).
I only delay on the guitar side to thicken things up. Bass is very simple - distortion/OD/fuzz. This way the bass stays solid and heavy. I do gain stacking on the guitar side.
 

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