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Essential Bass Effects

#6
Brad Barker said:
i disagree--love chorus!
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I tried a Boss Bass Chorus, and in the small amount of time that I played with it, couldn't get a very good sound out of it.

My band's demo has Day of the Eagle (R. Trower) on it, and for the end grind part (which is a few minutes long by itself on our demo - Man, does our guitarist play a killer solo + rhythm section) I used a chorus sound that was built into our recorder (tweaked from the default) to very good affect on the bass track! I love how it worked out on that part, so I'm not giving up on chorus yet!

I've also experimented with very short reverbs on the bass - even some short gated reverbs; I think there may be something to that too. Since we're on the subject: do any of you use reverb? Is there a decent reverb pedal with some nice short 'rooms' in there?

Joe
 
#10
bassisten said:
Hi guys!


Ok, I'm a natural gear-freak, but I actually use my effects a LOT in some of my bands.


Reverb - (EHX Holy Grail)

Chorus/Flanger - (T.C. Electronics)

Distortion - (T.C. Electronics)

Bass Equalizer - Boss GEB7 (used as solo-level)

Loop-station and delays - Line6 DL4

Volume-pedal - Ernie Ball



Yeah...
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If you don't mind me asking, how much was the Boss Bass Equalizer? I'd really like to get one, if it's not too expensive. :)

Graeme
 
#13
Boss GEB7 are about £65.00 approx $100 i tried one and found it good as a solo boost but the eq i could achieve the same results back at the amp.

Boss chorus CEB3 i found in a loud rock band even on quiet songs it had to be maxed to hear the chorus at all.

Boss BF3 this is good as you can get chorus and Flanger from the same pedal , chorus type of sound if you turn the flanger down.

Waiting to try Aphex Bass exciter and Aphex Punch Factory compressor hopefully to arrive today.
 
#14
I use chorus, delay, wah, octaver, and compressor.

The only one of those that I would say is essential for me is the compressor (Tech21 compactor). I really notice its absence when my band does a quick and dirty no-effect practice...without, the sound seems amaturish on my setup. It helps me lay down a smooth, dependable sound for the rest of the band (I let the diva guitarists get the diva glory...me and my compactor are just happy to sit back and be the balls :bassist: )

The others are cool, but I wouldn't deem them essential. The chorus I use in about 50% of the songs (80s pop covers), and the delay wah and octaver in about 3.

The Nanny
 
#15
The Nanny said:
...The only one of those that I would say is essential for me is the compressor (Tech21 compactor)....
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Yup. Same with my Boss Compression Sustainer (I'll get a better one when I can, but this thing really does work well!). I use it full-time.
The Nanny said:
... I really notice its absence when my band does a quick and dirty no-effect practice. Without, the sound seems amaturish on my setup. It helps me lay down a smooth, dependable sound for the rest of the band...
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..better be careful how you say that, though. You're adding fuel to the guys who say "compressors are just used to make up for bad technique" - oy. For me the idea is that I can use how hard I pluck for either the purpose of controlling volume - which I would almost always like to remain fairly constant in my rock band - OR to control the TONE and character of the notes - which I just love to use to express myself. Of course if I'm not using a compressor then I can't use different tone characters in that way - unless, I suppose, I used a volume pedal to track along, furiously working to maintain volume.. but WAIT!.. That's what a compressor does, isn't it?!

I think that it's much more valuable to modulate tone and character, than to modulate volume. I need to keep my place in the mix, but still be a dynamic player; the compressor is my answer!

Joe
 
#16
Flangers and envelope filters are great for bass. I have a Boss GT-6B Bass Effects Processor pedal board and the effects in there are great and very tweakable. Though it's a little expensive, you won't need a huge aray of stomp boxes.

ElectroHarmonix BassBalls!!! My alltime favorite bass effect pedal. It's an envelope filter with a distortion switch. It's cheap ($80), easily found at most music stores and can really take a beating.

Bass effects are great as long as you use them wisely.
 
#20
Joe P said:
For me the idea is that I can use how hard I pluck for either the purpose of controlling volume - which I would almost always like to remain fairly constant in my rock band - OR to control the TONE and character of the notes - which I just love to use to express myself. Of course if I'm not using a compressor then I can't use different tone characters in that way - unless, I suppose, I used a volume pedal to track along, furiously working to maintain volume.. but WAIT!.. That's what a compressor does, isn't it?!

I think that it's much more valuable to modulate tone and character, than to modulate volume. I need to keep my place in the mix, but still be a dynamic player; the compressor is my answer!

Joe
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Wow, I've never been able to put into words why and how I use the compressor in my signal chain. That's perfect. Thanks.

Troll
 

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