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How many Bassists use no pedals?

Do you use bass pedals?

  • Yes:

    Votes: 443 47.3%
  • No:

    Votes: 494 52.7%

  • Total voters
    937
The only pedal I use is a Boss tuner pedal.
Could never make heads or tails of them and ultimately I was put off pedals by our guitarist who had several double decker pedal boards filled with 10's of thousands of dollars of pedals. All of which he couldn't fathom out how to use them.
Fantastic tools if you can take the time to master them....but I can live without them.
 
No. Not a single one. Just a clip on tuner.

I’ve tried experimenting with some in the past, but I have no fundamental usage for what I need playing live.

Any pedal I brought back then always found its way back to the music store! :laugh:

I’ll muck around with the effects on my computer just for some fun, my set up is as minimal as can be.

Sansamp - Amp - Cab.
 
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ramones_deedee011.jpg
 
I still use amps, which makes those "essential" tone shaping pedals redundant for me at best. (One amp even has the tuner built in!)
I used to use effects a little more - when funk & pop covers were my bread & butter, around the turn of the century.
It still comes up occasionally, like twice in a decade. I'll buy what I need for a production - preferably used, so I can recoup most of of the $$$ when I sell it after the show is done.
 
Funny the different directions we all go with this. I was a no pedal clean bass tone guy for my entire bass playing career, and voted such above when I first read this thread.

Had to change my vote. Now have a mini board with a tuner, a bass chorus, and darkglass vintage mictorubes distortion pedal. The darkglass pedal specifically is why I started using them and is always on. Really digging the added sustain and warmth from blending in just a bit of grit.
 
Some gigs i play with no pedals, sometimes I play with one, sometimes I have a small board (4-6 pedals), sometimes I have a big board (8+). I tend to carry the tools for the job. And it's usually better to have too much than not enough... I have to be very certain of what I will or won't need in order to carry only a little.
 
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I use zero bass pedals onstage, but I do use a couple in the studio....These.

View attachment 5215652
That seems backwards, as in the studio you already have those tone-shaping tools among the outboard gear/plug-ins, and you would have the pedals in a live situation to recreate that, or to cope with room acoustics inconsistencies.
 
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I noticed when reading the amp setting thread that not many contributors mentioned pedals in the response which is interesting, as that is part of many signal chains when settings are discussed.

I recognize I am a dinosaur and can't comprehend the why of any pedals at all and have reported having younger players asking about my tones because they can't see any pedals on stage, but I am not sure the frequency question has been asked before.

It would also not surprise me to see pedals are age related meaning people who grew up in the 80's on wards? I saw my first pedal (apart from Wah pedals) in the 70's. it was a Boss Phase 90, (Guitarist pedal - Think Keep Yourself Alive/Queen) the orange one, but never saw any bass pedals until much later.
Pedals are for wimps. :roflmao:
 
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