Help me conceptualize what effects I need

[ComicBass]

Hi all:

So I've played for 30 years, with zero effects, other than an EQ pedal I had, before I got my current Ashdown amp rig.

For the last couple of years, my wife and I have been working up a whole bunch of stuff for solo bass and vocals. Apparently this is now a Thing some places, I guess they call it "Bass Face." We didn't know it was going to be trendy when we started doing it or I probably woulda had second thoughts. My wife does the singing (On a good day, I just sound like Tom Waits on a bad day), and I'm doing the solo bass thing. My new Ashdown rig has a built in compressor, and octaver. The octaver in particular, got me to thinking that maybe I should look into some effects, by way of filling up my sound a little bit, since I'm doing the solo thing.

Style-wise, we're pretty eclectic. We do some old country, some tunes that fall into the Celtic folk genre, I suppose, a little blues, some gospel, and a random assortment of other stuff (e.g. "Let's call the whole thing off," "they say I must be crazy") that I'm not coming up with easy categories for. But, we also tend to soup things up some. Particular, I tend to take stuff that is generally played straight and swing it pretty hard. In short, I kind of do whatever the Muses tell me to.

I was doing a little research on delays, and this seems like something I could use. The octaver on my amp is also proving useful.

So given the above description of our particular groove, what do you think, as far as effects that would fill my sound out some? Use small words. I spent an hour last night trying and failing to understand the difference between digital and analog, so I finally just gave up and decided I liked the sound of the analog delay a bit better than the digital, though in most of the examples, I really couldn't tell the difference. If it matters in your thinking, I'm playing a Modulus Genesis 5 string. I'm intending to get another pretty high end bass in the next few years, as I'd like to set it up for tapping and get into doing that.

Aaron

Since you have the compressor covered, I think delay and reverb are the next most important (at leased for me and especially solo).
My favorite pedal does both of those beautifully; the Earthquaker Devices Avalanche Run.
I love it. It is for sure my desert island pedal (after a tuner)

 

[micguy]

In most cases, adding reverb to a bass is a recipe for mud. This case strikes me as the exception to that rule. And I’d also argue for chorus. If you get stereo effects units, and have a stereo PA, or two amps, I think that’d be a good thing as well here.

 

[Aaron5]

Since you have the compressor covered, I think delay and reverb are the next most important (at leased for me and especially solo).
My favorite pedal does both of those beautifully; the Earthquaker Devices Avalanche Run.
I love it. It is for sure my desert island pedal (after a tuner)

Got any links to somebody playing bass through this pedal? Everything I'm finding so far is guitar.

 

[bass12]

Perhaps a MicroPOG for an octaver. Extremely easy to use, tracks really well and you can add in either high or low octave - or both. I would also be inclined to look at reverb and possibly chorus (I like the MXR Analog Chorus as it can get much more subtle than a lot of the choruses I’ve tried). Maybe also a simple looper (such as the TC Ditto) if you want to explore looping possibilities.

 

[Basslice]

+1 in the POG into Chorus. I just got the POG at xmass and get some real unique good sounds playing into the POG and then chorus . Very interesting in a good way.

 

[Dr Zee]

For being a duet like that I would suggest a looper pedal. you can record a phrase, have it repeat itself and play a second line with yourself. I'm working on a solo idea and beside the looper I have the EHX PogII as previously mentioned, a Chorus, a Flanger, a reverb and a distortion. Each one has a learning curve, I've added one at a time.

 

[Leonid Nidis]

Get a zoom b3n or something similar to figure out what effects are useful to you
Its good for giging on its self and a great option to avoid buying a bunch of pedals you might not use.

BTW It has a nice drum machine build in and a looper

 

[Gary Skip Price]

Hi all:

So I've played for 30 years, with zero effects, other than an EQ pedal I had, before I got my current Ashdown amp rig.

For the last couple of years, my wife and I have been working up a whole bunch of stuff for solo bass and vocals. Apparently this is now a Thing some places, I guess they call it "Bass Face." We didn't know it was going to be trendy when we started doing it or I probably woulda had second thoughts. My wife does the singing (On a good day, I just sound like Tom Waits on a bad day), and I'm doing the solo bass thing. My new Ashdown rig has a built in compressor, and octaver. The octaver in particular, got me to thinking that maybe I should look into some effects, by way of filling up my sound a little bit, since I'm doing the solo thing.

Style-wise, we're pretty eclectic. We do some old country, some tunes that fall into the Celtic folk genre, I suppose, a little blues, some gospel, and a random assortment of other stuff (e.g. "Let's call the whole thing off," "they say I must be crazy") that I'm not coming up with easy categories for. But, we also tend to soup things up some. Particular, I tend to take stuff that is generally played straight and swing it pretty hard. In short, I kind of do whatever the Muses tell me to.

I was doing a little research on delays, and this seems like something I could use. The octaver on my amp is also proving useful.

So given the above description of our particular groove, what do you think, as far as effects that would fill my sound out some? Use small words. I spent an hour last night trying and failing to understand the difference between digital and analog, so I finally just gave up and decided I liked the sound of the analog delay a bit better than the digital, though in most of the examples, I really couldn't tell the difference. If it matters in your thinking, I'm playing a Modulus Genesis 5 string. I'm intending to get another pretty high end bass in the next few years, as I'd like to set it up for tapping and get into doing that.

Aaron

i Have played bass for 45+ years and for the last 22 years I have played with a Boss DD2 Delay (that I bought used in 1988 & still works great) and a Boss Chorus Ensemble pedal...The delay takes my upper register soloing to unbelievable heights as well as mid bass thumping. The chorus ensemble is Awesome on super low E & B strings as well as upper register. The two combined is like a steam roller at upper volumes. I can not imagine playing bass without them. I have them along with a Boss Chromatic Tuner pedal in a hard plastic gig case with a snap lid that pops off for instant use as a three way pedal board. The Octaver is good for some very good effects but is very limited in its versatility. There are also some decent bass multi effects pedals by Digitech that wont break the bank. I play out often and use this combination always. If you can find a Boss delay that is older...say DD2 - DD3 - or even DD4 they have a little bit of an edge on the newer ones. I believe it is DD7 now. The Chorus Ensemble is a bit more versatile than the Boss Super Chorus but either will do. Hope this helps...like I say...I never leave home without them. I have mentioned this combo to many fellow warrior bassists in hopes that they too can define their playing style more definitively. I am confident this will kick up your style several notches. Best of luck. (BTW...I have toured the USA multiple times with various working bands and have literally crisscrossed the country over 150 times if this carries any weight)

 

[DJ Bebop]

I am a big proponent of multi effects, I'd just caution that the zoom unit's I've used have a terrible sounding octave up. I'd be comfortable using it for most anything else, but the octave up is harsh.

I concur, however the doubler octave up is cool.

 

[Gary Skip Price]

Right! However with the delay on and noodling around in the upper register it sounds very much like an electric guitar. I could see heads turning when I do that as if they are searching for the missing player who is soloing. Kind of fun lol

 

[Gary Skip Price]

I concur, however the doubler octave up is cool.

Just noticed your pic of Hendrix playing a Fender bass, lefty even. Can only imagine what that sounded like. Yeeeeow! Looks like a Jazz.

 

[lfmn16]

Yep, I've been the less is more guy, for 30 years. Just been thinking that some effects might be handy in this scenario.

Aaron

I vote for a multi-effects unit so you can try them all out and see what works for you. You might find you want to upgrade, or you might find them adequate.

 

[SteveC]

I think a "solo bass" gig lets you get away with/use effects that you maybe wouldn't use in a full band setting. Will you be doing chording or just "dressed up" bass lines? Reverb is probably where I'd go first. Maybe a chorus, possibly an octave. To me, the repertoire you list doesn't seem to (in my mind) call for a lot of drive or dirt.

 

[DJ Bebop]

Just noticed your pic of Hendrix playing a Fender bass, lefty even. Can only imagine what that sounded like. Yeeeeow! Looks like a Jazz.

 

[Lesfunk]

EHX c-9 organ pedal.
You can get some pretty interesting sounds

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

IMHO while effects like reverb and chorus don't work well w/ bass in a busy band mix, they are great for solo work. Also, since you're not specifically using the bass as a bass instrument, almost any pedal made for guitar you can use w/ bass. There's nothing wrong w/ digital, I'd look for one w/ an expression/volume pedal that does all the modulation FX. Also, I'd consider an octave pedal that does high and low octaves like the EHX pedals. You can experiment with some overdrive as well.

 

[NortyFiner]

Usually I answer such questions with "If you don't know what you need, you don't need anything." But since no one else has done it yet, I'll be the one to throw caution to the wind...

Meant in good humor, of course.

 

[bassfuser]

Not really an effect but you should consider getting a looper pedal. I just got a Boss RC-500 last week and I'm amazed how much I've been able to do with it. It's really easy to use and would open up a lot of versatility in what you'd be able to do on stage. I really like this Boss pedal because it's so easy to use.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

 

[BurningSkies]

Check out the Source Audio C4 as something that has a lot of sound options in the box. Can do the Octave shift sounds, but also a variety of envelopes, phasers, etc. with some on-board dirt/distortion to feed those effects. Big bang for your buck for quality and options.

For delay since you're going 'solo' I'd be looking at something that can do a bunch of delay styles and types and some more creative delay effecting. My go-to for that is the Strymon Timeline. It's also 'recording quality' and stereo if that's how you're staying. They make a really nice reverb (Big Sky) as well. Though I too love the simplicity & quality of tone of the Iron Ether Nimbus SE.

 

[Aaron5]

I think a "solo bass" gig lets you get away with/use effects that you maybe wouldn't use in a full band setting. Will you be doing chording or just "dressed up" bass lines? Reverb is probably where I'd go first. Maybe a chorus, possibly an octave. To me, the repertoire you list doesn't seem to (in my mind) call for a lot of drive or dirt.

I do quite a bit of chording. You are also right, that our repertoire doesn't generally call for much distortion or anything. However, sometimes having something available gives you a cool idea you wouldn't have had, otherwise. We do a fun version of the old irish tune "here's health to the company" that ended up having this kind of driving solo in the middle, that would actually sound pretty good with just a little fuzz or maybe a phaser. So I'm trying to find the line between giving myself some options that will prod my creativity, and becoming a real effects-head, which isn't really my style.