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Effects- where to start

KxLowender

KxLowender

Guest
Jul 20, 2014
48
17
36
Hull, UK
#1
Hey all.

I've always been happy with my natural sound, but lately, in the midst of certain songs, I feel it would be nice to have a bit more umph or pizazz! I think maybe I should start playing around with some effects. However, I don't want to pay lots of money to find out it's not my thing. Where should I start!?!

Thanks

Kieran
 
#4
Hmm, I dont know if it helps, but I added effects as I wanted them. Ive always played with a chorus, set pretty thick. I like that sound. Then I switched to a bass stereo chorus. Then I wanted a kind of warm slightly distorted tone on some of the harder parts of some songs so I added an overdrive/distortion pedal, then I added a delay on some parts, and a wah. Then I tried a multi effects proc...Then I decided it was too much and I wanted about a 50/50 blend of basic bass and effects....so I bought a second head and cabinet. Then I upgraded to a newer multi effects proc. ( i use the boss guitar version of the ME-50) I dont use the banks on it, just for the distortion, the chorus, the noise suspressor and tone modifyer and the wah. Then I got a splitter so I have signal that is clean (except for the original chorus) going to one amp/cab and I have the ME-50 and a few other effects going to the other amp/cab....Then, because I do alot of recording and was tired of uneven spikes, i went through several compressors until I settled on the old alesis 3060 that I have. its a dual channel, so each amp/cab is compressed as needed just to tame things down a bit...
Ive grown to hate the wah on the ME 50 though, so Im going to get a seperate wah
 
#5
Dave W said:
Start with a decent multi effects unit to get a good idea of what different effects sound like and do. The Zoom B3 or Zoom MS60B get my nod.

I have a ton of excellent effects and still gig my B3 on a regular basis.
Click to expand...

This is what I did. My first FX was a Zoom, I forget the model. It was back in the 90s, so not the ones you see now. 506 maybe? Anyhow, even then, Zoom stuff sounded really good, especially for the money.

But the important point is that I didn't really even know which effects I liked or didn't like. So a multi was a perfect entry into that world. Nowadays, I use single pedals on a pedalboard. But getting to where I am now would have taken a LOT more trial and error if I hadn't started with a multi.
 
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#6
I actually borrowed a zoom 506 from a friend a few years back, and I did like a few of the presets, but just found it a right pain to use. In the end it put me off multi fx altogether. I'm guessing the newer zoom pedals you've recommended are far easier to use. I might take the plunge on the ms-60b. I can see a few on eBay.

Thanks all

Kieran
 
#7
KxLowender said:
I actually borrowed a zoom 506 from a friend a few years back, and I did like a few of the presets, but just found it a right pain to use. In the end it put me off multi fx altogether. I'm guessing the newer zoom pedals you've recommended are far easier to use. I might take the plunge on the ms-60b. I can see a few on eBay.
Click to expand...

I haven't tried the newer Zoom models, but I do own the Boss ME50-B. It's much easier to program than the Zoom 506 I had previously. No scrolling through menus, just conventional knobs like you're used to, with the option to save settings in "patches".

One piece of advice: in any multi effects unit I've tried, the presets sound like they were designed to sound cool in a music store, but they end up being generally useless in a band situation. I usually wipe them completely and build my own settings from scratch. YMMV.
 
#10
I started out as you did, pretty happy with my fingers but with the problem that my amp, when set with a teaspoon full of dirt in the signal at low levels and more grit when i dug in would not fit the quieter parts of the ballad-type songs and i wanted the possibility to switch - during rehearsal it's quite easy to set the levels on the amp between songs but the FOH guy will freak out if you do that life. So i started off with a mild overdrive pedal. I was not competely satisfied with how that turned out and i figured that when i have one stompbox in the chain, i can add more.
So instead of adding another pedal, i bought a small board (pedaltrain nano) and put a second OD, a tuner and a compressor on there.
Now i have two single OD signals to choose from along with the possibility to combine them for heavy duty and a compressor to get tons of sustain if required. That totally did the job for me and i did not mutate into a GAS-driven-pedal-junky.
 
#11
bassmusic17 said:
Depends on what you mean by umph and pizazz. To me I think of a type of boost. A phat phuk b perhaps?

What exactly do you have in mind? Samples of what you mean?
Click to expand...

I love the bassist of placebos tone through out the albums. Sounds like straight up overdrive, with a tint of something else? I can really see me putting it into some of the stuff I play.

Another that I'd like to have a play with are fleas "sir psycho sexy" effect. Kind of dry and phasery? Anything George Clinton too

Thankyou

Kieran
 
Last edited:
#13
ImageUploadedByTalkBass1405950608.908203.jpg
 
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#18
You can't beat the Zoom MS-60B. It gives you an opportunity to experience different amps and effects. If you decide to add specific pedals later it is still useful on the board. I used to use a B-3 but now it stays home and I carry the MS-60B. Typically I use it for a tuner and compressor. Also where I play the cable for the bass is short so I get the length I need by plugging the 60B into their cable and then adding mine to the unit. Maybe someday they'll get a longer cable or position the bass differently.
 

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