First pedal advice

[Jimmy Steel]

I'm looking into my first pedal and I guess what I'd be interested in is one that helps in making a rich funky tone, if there is one. Not necessarily a distorted or one that sounds like another instrument.
I like the sound of Flea and Joe Dart for example but there are many others and I have no idea what they're using, besides their hands and technique to get those sounds.
So could you recommend one pedal to get started with? Thanks a lot.

 

[catcauphonic]

I was told a bassists first pedal should be a compressor, so I went right out and got an Agro distortion Not sure what the funk dudes are using (I play rock), but after amassing a few dozen different types, if I personally had to do it all over again I'd pick up a Tech21 VTbass first... It's a great sounding tone shaper that includes Overdrive (if you set it that way) that's verrry versatile and can cop a lot of amp&cab configurations

 

[RyanOh]

If you want to dive into effect pedals without a lot of expense, I'd get a Zoom multi-effect pedal and play with compression, sub-octave, envelope filters, fuzz/distortion, whatever you want.

You can avoid spending hundreds or thousands on effects until you discover what you really want out of it. When you find the right sound, you'd want a dedicated pedal that does that thing.

I have a couple older ones, but this is the new version:
Zoom B1 FOUR / B1X FOUR Bass Multi-Effects Processors

 

[Jimmy Steel]

I really appreciate the responses. I will check out your recommendations. Thanks a lot.

 

[catcauphonic]

If you want to dive into effect pedals without a lot of expense, I'd get a Zoom multi-effect pedal and play with compression, sub-octave, envelope filters, fuzz/distortion, whatever you want.

You can avoid spending hundreds or thousands on effects until you discover what you really want out of it. When you find the right sound, you'd want a dedicated pedal that does that thing.

I have a couple older ones, but this is the new version:
Zoom B1 FOUR / B1X FOUR Bass Multi-Effects Processors

This is actually a really good answer for a decent introduction to effects. Never do the inexpensive all in one boxes have the best of each effect type, but you'll learn what individual ones may be most useful to you, and you can always upgrade them singly later if you decide any to be worth it at all. Plenty of bassists actually use ZERO effects!

 

[knumbskull]

Sounds like you could try a preamp or a compressor... but i wouldn’t spend money until you’ve tried a few different pedals.

BTW Joe Dart doesn’t use fx, so there’s a start!

If you could post a few examples of sounds you’d like to emulate, we might be able to recommend something.