Effects V's No effects-let the debate be settled

[D.Don]

In my opinion dont get a pedal unless you really need it, i have bought several pedals on a whim and i sold them quickly

However if you are in the market for some pedals here are a list of pedals that I found to be good.
Aphex Punch Factory
Aphex Big Bottom Exciter
Fulltone Bass Drive Mosfet
and finally the Tech 21 Sansamp Bass Driver

And when you buy pedals, make sure you read alot and if you can, find a store with good testing capabilities and give them peds a shot first.

+1 on the aphex pedals, and for sansamp, I use the acoustic DI instead of bass di (fretless and wants more control over tone and dont really need drive).

D.Don

 

[Mudfuzz]

It depends on what draws you to an instrument, what sound you hear that makes you go "that's it", a big boom theory if you will
For me it was Cliff Burton's anesthesia that was that fist light bulb moment, so I needed distortion, luckily for me the headphone unit [the Sideman] had distortion [as well as flange and chorus] to help get me that sound that I wanted to hear which helped keep that initial influence going through the frist steps of learning to play. Fun with echo, phase and temolo fallowed. After I actually learned how to play well I stopped using effects for a few years and just did the bass-amp thing, and got in touch with my own feel and sound, and eventually found my self drawn back to effects [a bigmuff, wah and a space echo [I had the echo from the beginning but had stopped using it for a while], had fun got a filter [FX 25] and a boss ODB3 [] then I again stopped using effects for a few years and again reassessed my playing and them dove back into the world of effects, but now I really know haw to utilize them to compliment what I'm playing and when to turn them all off and/or just leave them at home.

I don't think there is a "good place to start" effects are about making interesting sounds and complementing the sounds you are trying to make, only you really know what sounds you want to make.

 

[Marill]

Am I best off not touching a bass pedal in my life and saving my self a lifetime of effects headaches?!

Yes please!! Save yourself (and a lot of money) before it's too late!!

That money could easily go to buying a better bass (or more!) later down the line.

 

[rzpooch]

I played for years without any effects, then I got the bug and bought a zoom b2. It is fun to mess with, but not really needed to to do the job of holding down the bottom end. One thing about it that I think is great for a new player is the drum machine. Meter is everything in my opinion and practicing with a drum machine will help tremedously! A simple bass line played in time is gold. That said, I would get a decent amp (loud enough to play live with a drummer) and bass before I got an effects unit.

 

[markjazzbassist]

there are no "best" effects, they all sound different and work in different applications.

for me, I love Effects so I use them, but you don't have to.

 

[RedCoatMonster]

If youre just starting out, my advice would be to steer clear of effects until youre a proficient bass player. You'd be suprised the cool sounds you can get out of your bass alone with some careful EQing and good technique. After you've got your technique down pretty well then is should be okay to start messing with pedals, just dont let it hamper your progress or come to rely on them. I personally LOVE effects, but I didnt even touch one until I had been playing atleast a year, and playing alot during that year.

Edit: Also, some of the more common effects to start using at first are overdrive, distortion, fuzz, chorus, flanger, just to name a FEW. Ive heard good things about the Zoom multi-effects so that may be a good place to start.

 

[afinalfantasy]

I personally have no use for effects right now, but they're fun to play around with. The only thing that annoys me is when some players are like knee deep in pedals and you can't hear their uncolored signal.

 

[Mudfuzz]

And that is why bend pedals are so important for bassists.

 

[franchelB]

I use a compressor/limiter/gate box in my effects loop. While I don't think it's an "effect" box, others might disagree with me. I use it to "protect" my Behringer 2X10 cab from overloading, not to mention it "evens out" my sound since I pluck my strings pretty hard...

 

[Hookus]

I did not know there was a debate going on about using effects or not to begin with. You could probably not find a single professional modern recording that did not use some sort of effect or effect plug-in, whether some sort of sonic maximizer or compressor or emulator, etc... Use them or don't, it does not matter, really.

They will not, however, make you a better bassist.

 

[Deluge Of Sound]

They will not, however, make you a better bassist.

That's the most important thing to remember. I've been using effects for a while now, but you really have to learn how to use the pedals to enhance your sound instead of just turning them on to sound cool.(Although there's nothing wrong with that )

 

[Adam Barkley]

I'm not really sure if there is a debate to be a had about the subject.

You can either use effects or not.

 

[SteveC]

How long have you been taking lessons?

How long have you been playing bass?

Why did your teacher suggest an effects pedal?

 

[Earwaxsculptor]

Well if you really want to develop great technique I think you should play as clean as you can, overdrive, fuzz, and distortion are GREAT at camouflaging bad technique, that is why I love them hahaha.... I think it was Marcus Miller that said "find you sound, then stop looking." Those are very VERY good words to live by on bass guitar.......I just wish I listened.

 

[Vin_MM_Sabre_79]

Responses on this thread are right on the money. i went from post to post agreeing with pretty much everything here.

... even the people who disagreed with each other.

 

[Adam Barkley]

I'd say this one has run it's course.

We've learned:

1. Beginners should focus on finding a good sound sans effects before diving into the world of effects
2. You should use effects and not let them use you.
3. Some bass players don't use effects.
4. Some bass players do use effects.
5. ....

Etc. and so forth.