Effects for a starter...

Well since you guys are both new, your probably better off getting a multi effects unit, Boss and DoD makes one. Their low line, but they have a ton of differen't effects you can try. Although I don't know what your spending limit is. prices can range from 150 to thousands, so it's hard to say. I've been playing for about 9 years now and just about 3 years ago was when I got interested in bass effects. So I bought a DOD Bass tec to give me an Idea of what kind of sounds I'm looking for. Now that I figured out what works with my bass playing and setup, I've begun to look for the best company that makes each differn't effect, and I'll assemble what I like on a pedal board. This gives me what I want and nothing I don't. typically Multi effect boards give you about 3 effects you will use all the time and the rest are just a waste of time. just remember don't let effects pedals cloud up your practice time to perfect your bass playing technique. At least to me Effects are just the icing on the cake. you know what it's like to eat a peace of cake too much icing.

our engineer for our last CD project told me that a few notes played with percision and emotion is much more effective than a bunch of notes with no soul.

 

Ok.. first thing.. you do not want a multi-fx pedal, unless you want a large collection of crappy effects.

First you'll need to decide for yourself what you wish to accomplish.. what kind of sound do you want, do you want raw, tough sound ? do you want to sweep your tone while doing a solo ?

once you've decided what you want to accomplish,
decide what budget you're willing to spend on the effect.

Next go to some stores, bring your own bass (!), and try the effect box out. Do not go out and buy the very first one you see (!), tell the clerk you want to think it over. then go to another store and try some other's out.

If there's one pedal you really like.. check which store offers it for the lowest price.

tip : go this website : http://www.harmony-central.com/Effects/Data/#man
It has a huge review-database.

 

AllodoX beat me to it multi effects are real pieces of ****, a good first effect would be a tweakalbe envelope filter I love em, very cool.

 

IMO, a bassist/guitarist/etc. needs to learn how not to overuse effects. Bassists don't really need effects. It is better to get other things (i.e. lessons) before effects. You don't need effects to practice either.

 

Hi,

I was gonna go along with the crowd and say that for beginner getting used to the raw sound of the instrument was a good route. Especially coming from guitar, you'll need to build up clean technique (which is hard work), including but not limited to muting and ghost-noting and slapping and then some. It's those details that make or break a good bass player, not stupid-fast chops or "killer FX".

But it's hard to resist the EH Bass MicroSynth. (I'm a very bad man.)

And while you're at it, would you like a hit from my crackpipe? Just a little one? Make ya feel good, and you won't even want to practice...

 

if you do want fx, start with the simple set-up of

distortion
overdrive
chorus
wah

then move onto the other stuff

flange
reverb
envelope filter

but it really depend on your musical taste and what you want to achieve, boss make decent pedals in all these areas foir not alot of money.

 

I just bought a bass balls electro harmonix, and i love it. i thought I got a really good deal on it because it was marked at £95.99 and I got it for £79.99. but when I went in another shop looking foor a chorus foot switch i saw it for £10 less. I was soooo gutted. but anyway, imo u dont need distortion, it just wont cut thru the mix like overdrive. oh yeah, bbeh was my first single effect i have got bfx 708 aswell which satisfied me until i found out how much it sucked. anybody wanna buy a pedal?

 

the only pedals I have anymore are a Morley wah and an EH big muff... I got rid of the rest of 'em, and I really don't know where those two are right now. If you want to look at a multi-effects unit, I would suggest the bass pod... It sounds great, workds great, and has a lot of function for what it is... I would rate it much higher than most other comparable units...



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I suggest you try out different effects to see what you like. Muti-effects might seem cool, but I've seen horror stories (guitarist accidentely smashed his pieces when he stepped on it too hard).

I was lucky, my first effect was the Chorus buit into my Peavey amp (now I just need a footswitch). The Boss OD I just bought seems to be a very good pedal also (now it just needs a stupid power supply )