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Good Pedal to Get for my First One
- Thread starter Psych0naut
- Start date
I love my big bass muff! I'd definitely give one a test run, but I'd drop cash for a good amp first, for $300 you can get a pretty good combo amp that'll last a while
Or learn how to tune by ear, which is even more important
I am an "ear player" but for a first pedal I presume you would agree that it's essential and comes before anything else. It's not fun, it's not sexy, but it is the first pedal in the chain for a reason. I totally respect your opinion, JimmyM, but if anyone asks me where to start, I say a tuner.
Doner Designs
Steve Doner
- Jun 2, 2012
- 5,784
- 6,819
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- Doner Designs is an alias for Steve Doner
A multi-effect box is good starting out because you can try a bunch of different effects and see which ones you use the most before investing in individual ones.
My personal favorites are the Ampeg SCR DI, the Tech 21 VT bass and the POG octaver. Big Muff is a classic distortion pedal that's reasonably priced if you are on a tight budget.
My personal favorites are the Ampeg SCR DI, the Tech 21 VT bass and the POG octaver. Big Muff is a classic distortion pedal that's reasonably priced if you are on a tight budget.
IMO, I would get a good amp first, then a good compressor.
Big Hoss
Up note, down note, blue note, brown note...
- Sep 5, 2014
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Used Zoom B3 and no you can't have mine. Drum tracks, looper, tons of effects and easy to use.
A better amp should be soon though...
A better amp should be soon though...
Big Hoss
Up note, down note, blue note, brown note...
- Sep 5, 2014
- 5,455
- 4,234
- Disclosures
- None
Okay just actually looked at the starter kit you got, and that amp... Before you drop a penny into a pedal of any sort, you REALLY ought to get a decent amp. Doesn't have to be a great amp, but get a quality amp with as much speaker, and as much power as you can afford.
I suspect you are both young, and fairly broke. Good thing for you old farts like me with back problems tend to unload perfectly good older gear that is heavy for newer lighter smaller technology, meaning old Peavey, Crate, Ampeg, Fender etc... combos can be had for a pittance. In my local Craigslist today I saw 2 non working (fuzzy sounding probably fixable speaker issue) 40 - 50 watt amps for free. Probably stab a new speaker in it and be good to go... I donated off my old Crate BX100, but I have seen them going for about $75.00 since then. Peavey TNT 15s 100 watt combos tend to go for about the same money...
You are never going to get the sound you want to hear out of a tiny speaker low wattage amp... I don't mean to throw cold water on budget restraints, I just am hoping to save you the experience I had...
I suspect you are both young, and fairly broke. Good thing for you old farts like me with back problems tend to unload perfectly good older gear that is heavy for newer lighter smaller technology, meaning old Peavey, Crate, Ampeg, Fender etc... combos can be had for a pittance. In my local Craigslist today I saw 2 non working (fuzzy sounding probably fixable speaker issue) 40 - 50 watt amps for free. Probably stab a new speaker in it and be good to go... I donated off my old Crate BX100, but I have seen them going for about $75.00 since then. Peavey TNT 15s 100 watt combos tend to go for about the same money...
You are never going to get the sound you want to hear out of a tiny speaker low wattage amp... I don't mean to throw cold water on budget restraints, I just am hoping to save you the experience I had...
I'd say go with a new amp. There's no point putting an effects pedal through a cheap little combo that can't handle it or make it sound good.
Well I respect your opinion as well. It's not bad advice by any means. But first off, it's not an effect
Second, he has a tuner. Third, I played professionally for probably 5 years before I ever bought a tuner. We all just tuned by ear back then. I would totally recommend getting a tuner so you can tune silently and quickly, but as many up-and-coming musicians I know who are completely lost without a tuner, I think it's way more essential to learn to tune by ear and totally get it down before you even think about a tuner.
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I'm not gonna say anything about whether you should get a new amp before any pedals, that's your decision, but once you decide you want to get a pedal, go for an Joyo Ultimate Drive. It's $30 and sounds great. I have around 10 pedals on my board and I've tried lots of dirt and the UD is still on my board. It's a clone of the OCD and sounds great. As far as whether its better than the OCD, I don't know, I have not yet tried the OCD. But the UD sounds fantastic, and for $30 its definitely worth it.
Ok, a few things here.
First off, the OP has a tuner, which is great! Count me among those who don't really count a tuner as an effect or a pedal. Anyway, he's got one, so time to move past suggesting that.
Secondly, the genre - stoner/drone. All the bands I've seen/known (which admittedly is not many, but some) playing that style tend to have some serious volume going on both at practice and on stage. This means that amp will not be cutting it. So, yes, thinking about grabbing a different amp is worthwhile. However, there is also a doomy sound quality to the bass in that genre, so I'd say there is a pretty good chance you'll be wanting/needing some dirt pedals sooner rather than later. There is a stoner/doom bassists thread on here that is very active and full of cool guys - pop in there, check it out, and ask those fellows questions about the genre that they play it, you should get some good answers.
Third...once upon a time when I was a wee little bass player, I bought my first dirt pedal before I upgraded an amp that I had, and I didn't regret it at all. The pedal sounded awesome, and using it was a massive step towards getting the tone that I wanted. So do whatever you want to. Yes, that amp is probably insufficient unless you intend to just be a bedroom player, so if you want to get out and start jamming with guys, more ampage is necessary. But if a pedal is where your heart is, go for that instead. Ultimately, you'll need both, so pick one to start with and the other will likely follow soon enough!
Fourth, the pedal. @gregmon79 gave an awesome list of suggestions for dirt pedals back a ways, check that out and look into them. Also suggested was the TAFM, which is one of my favourite pedals ever. For stoner/drone, I'm going to say though that a muff type fuzz is probably your best bet. Don't get the EHX BBM, there are WAY better pedals you can grab than that one, for not much money (case in point - the Vick pedals). Look out though - once you get into dirt pedals, the rabbit hole is bottomless. So many different kinds and styles and flavours to choose from. You can own 100 different dirt pedals and still not have enough.
Oh, and as for the suggestions to get a compressor or something like that - pffft. Stoner/drone demands a dirt pedal first. Honestly, I wouldn't even bother with the multi-effects suggestions either, as in a lot of cases their dirt tones are not great. The caveat here though is if you are getting more ambient-droney and want to mess around with reverb and delay and stuff, in which case a multi-effect pedal could be cool.
Fifth and last (even though it should have been first), welcome to TalkBass!
First off, the OP has a tuner, which is great! Count me among those who don't really count a tuner as an effect or a pedal. Anyway, he's got one, so time to move past suggesting that.
Secondly, the genre - stoner/drone. All the bands I've seen/known (which admittedly is not many, but some) playing that style tend to have some serious volume going on both at practice and on stage. This means that amp will not be cutting it. So, yes, thinking about grabbing a different amp is worthwhile. However, there is also a doomy sound quality to the bass in that genre, so I'd say there is a pretty good chance you'll be wanting/needing some dirt pedals sooner rather than later. There is a stoner/doom bassists thread on here that is very active and full of cool guys - pop in there, check it out, and ask those fellows questions about the genre that they play it, you should get some good answers.
Third...once upon a time when I was a wee little bass player, I bought my first dirt pedal before I upgraded an amp that I had, and I didn't regret it at all. The pedal sounded awesome, and using it was a massive step towards getting the tone that I wanted. So do whatever you want to. Yes, that amp is probably insufficient unless you intend to just be a bedroom player, so if you want to get out and start jamming with guys, more ampage is necessary. But if a pedal is where your heart is, go for that instead. Ultimately, you'll need both, so pick one to start with and the other will likely follow soon enough!
Fourth, the pedal. @gregmon79 gave an awesome list of suggestions for dirt pedals back a ways, check that out and look into them. Also suggested was the TAFM, which is one of my favourite pedals ever. For stoner/drone, I'm going to say though that a muff type fuzz is probably your best bet. Don't get the EHX BBM, there are WAY better pedals you can grab than that one, for not much money (case in point - the Vick pedals). Look out though - once you get into dirt pedals, the rabbit hole is bottomless. So many different kinds and styles and flavours to choose from. You can own 100 different dirt pedals and still not have enough.
Oh, and as for the suggestions to get a compressor or something like that - pffft. Stoner/drone demands a dirt pedal first. Honestly, I wouldn't even bother with the multi-effects suggestions either, as in a lot of cases their dirt tones are not great. The caveat here though is if you are getting more ambient-droney and want to mess around with reverb and delay and stuff, in which case a multi-effect pedal could be cool. Fifth and last (even though it should have been first), welcome to TalkBass!
I had a deluxe big muff from EHX has a blend control and high/low pass filters you can get some really good fuzz tones that way and keep your bottom end s well. If there aren't many music stores by you videos on YouTube are cool and buy used so if you don't like it flip it and probably not lose much money. Most of all enjoy!
Yeah definitely get a new amp if you aren't happy with your existing one.
Obviously the amp forum is where you should seek advice on that one - but if you can find any used Genz Benz Shuttles (I have the smaller 6.2 one that with a 610 4 ohm cab is MORE than I will ever need) they are amazing value. And you can really grow with them - the included cabs are pretty great as well. The 1x12 that comes with the Shuttle 6.2 is actually surprisingly amazing.
Obviously the amp forum is where you should seek advice on that one - but if you can find any used Genz Benz Shuttles (I have the smaller 6.2 one that with a 610 4 ohm cab is MORE than I will ever need) they are amazing value. And you can really grow with them - the included cabs are pretty great as well. The 1x12 that comes with the Shuttle 6.2 is actually surprisingly amazing.
You don't need another reply telling you to get a new amp right?
Take a look at the 'micro' amp heads. They aren't very expensive and often you can get a cab and a small head for $200-300 or so. If you get a combo you're stuck with the sounds that come out of one box. If you get say the Carvin, MB, or GK micro (I'm sure there are others) you can go to that music store with something useful and decide do you like a 115, 210, 212, or even bigger cab. Pawn shops and CL I think you'll find an even mix of combos and cabs but fewer heads or head/cab listings. There's nothing wrong with owning more than one of each either as you progress. Just like pedals, you might want one for certain things another for different ones.
More than once I have seen guitarists go from the starter amp to a combo and think the starter is better because they don't like the config of the combo they bought. I really think as you are buying your first amp it is best to stay away from a combo unless you get something that is really versatile or on the upper end of combos.
That being said my first upgrade from the practice amp was a Peavy Combo 300. I paid the guy $30 and put another $20 into it with wheels and handles, plus a can of deoxit. It's not quite gig reliable but has been rehearsal reliable.
Take a look at the 'micro' amp heads. They aren't very expensive and often you can get a cab and a small head for $200-300 or so. If you get a combo you're stuck with the sounds that come out of one box. If you get say the Carvin, MB, or GK micro (I'm sure there are others) you can go to that music store with something useful and decide do you like a 115, 210, 212, or even bigger cab. Pawn shops and CL I think you'll find an even mix of combos and cabs but fewer heads or head/cab listings. There's nothing wrong with owning more than one of each either as you progress. Just like pedals, you might want one for certain things another for different ones.
More than once I have seen guitarists go from the starter amp to a combo and think the starter is better because they don't like the config of the combo they bought. I really think as you are buying your first amp it is best to stay away from a combo unless you get something that is really versatile or on the upper end of combos.
That being said my first upgrade from the practice amp was a Peavy Combo 300. I paid the guy $30 and put another $20 into it with wheels and handles, plus a can of deoxit. It's not quite gig reliable but has been rehearsal reliable.
I found a Peavey Basic 112 on Craigslist for $50.
Peavey Basic 112 1x12 75W Bass Combo Amp | Musician's Friend
Peavey Basic 112 1x12 75W Bass Combo Amp | Musician's Friend
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No, most I've done so far is just jam with a friend. Plus, I just moved to a new city so I'll probably be playing by myself for awhile.
