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I'm new to effects..

D

daveyharve

Mar 14, 2007
2
0
Lancashire
#1
Hey all,

This is very amateur of me but I guess this is the right place to ask. What are the main types of bass effects that are used, and which pedals would you recommend for the desired effect?

I'm into rock/indie, so not too interested in thrash:bassist: sounds! I'd like some atmospheric sounds, and maybe something to make it sound fuller too.

I have no pedals yet apart from my boss tuner, so what should be number one on my shopping list?

Thanks,

Dave
 
#3
Some sort of overdrive or distortion pedal tends to be on most of our pedalboards, from what I've noticed.

However, I'd recommend going into the nearest guitar shop and plugging a bass into one of those large Boss pedal displays (the one with tons of pedals on it). Try them all out - it's the best way to learn about the kinds of effects out there (although personally, I wouldn't recommend most Boss pedals as the "best" of their kind for the sound... but that's a subjective thing).

If you're looking particularly for atmospheric tones, you're looking mainly for modulation effects. Here's some effect types to explore:

Phaser (a.k.a. Phase Shifter) - Creates a colorful "swoosh" effect... I always have a hard time describing this one. Think of Pink Floyd's "Breathe" on Dark Side of the Moon - the effect can be heard prominently on the guitars.

Chorus - Creates a sound much like two or more instruments playing in unison. Your signal is doubled, and the second signal is slightly detuned. Many chorus pedals go beyond this and can make your tone lush and deep in the process. See my Clone Theory samples on [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] for an example of this sound.

Delay - Repeats your note according to the delay time you set, and it decays as it continues to repeat for a short bit. You can do some crazy stuff with this!

Flanger - A bit similar to chorus and phasing. This creates a different kind of "swoosh" effect, much like a jet plane.

Search on TB for sound clips and samples, and try these kinds of effects out in person if you can. When it comes to modulation, most pedals don't need to be bass-specific to work well on bass! However, if you hear the low end of your sound drop out, then I'd avoid using it - not all pedals are friendly to the lower frequencies.
 
#6
Effects are fun and intereting but this section of Talkbass is dangerous there are pockets of GAS everywhere and 1 click can loose you... well your money will be lost.

+1 with Mr Boo.

I would add that for distortion/overdrive, you might want to add the Fuzz (is it a distortion?) anyway, if you look at the "Post your pedalboards (Part I, II, III)" you will see a lot of electro harmonix Big Muff Pi.
I was not into Fuzz before but this is a good pedal to do what it is supposed to do. rather cheap($30~40 used), and now in multiple versions, nano,NYC, Russian,... try them.

as far as overdrive, It seems that only a tube amp can do the job if you search for that effect in the forum. but there are some good pedals that will emulate this (maybe a Tech21 Bass Driver DI also called BDDI).

Julo

PS: beware of the acronysms, it can be difficult to understand/know what is going on see BDDI, PDDI,...
 
#7
julo said:
as far as overdrive, It seems that only a tube amp can do the job if you search for that effect in the forum. but there are some good pedals that will emulate this (maybe a Tech21 Bass Driver DI also called BDDI).
Click to expand...

:eyebrow:

While tube amps set the standard for bass overdrive, they're not the only things that can do it well... my GK 2001RB is awesome at overdrive, for example, and there are some great pedals out there that don't need to emulate the "SVT" sound to get good overdrive. The BDDI is definitely a nice option if it's the sound you want without having to get an actual Ampeg SVT, though.

Plus, running overdrive pedals into tube amps also allows for a broad range of tonal possibilities you couldn't get with the amp alone.

Just my two cents :smug:
 
#8
MysticBoo said:
:eyebrow:

While tube amps set the standard for bass overdrive, they're not the only things that can do it well... my GK 2001RB is awesome at overdrive, for example, and there are some great pedals out there that don't need to emulate the "SVT" sound to get good overdrive. The BDDI is definitely a nice option if it's the sound you want without having to get an actual Ampeg SVT, though.

Plus, running overdrive pedals into tube amps also allows for a broad range of tonal possibilities you couldn't get with the amp alone.

Just my two cents :smug:
Click to expand...

Please don't hit me!!!:crying:
 
#11
daveyharve said:
I'd like some atmospheric sounds, and maybe something to make it sound fuller too.
Click to expand...
Like our resident ghost said, chorus, delay, flanger, and phaser would fit this bill. You'd probably have the most fun with a delay pedal to start, that'll make the most significant impact at first. Then again, you can leave a phaser and chorus on all the time without annoying people too much.
julo said:
as far as overdrive, It seems that only a tube amp can do the job if you search for that effect in the forum.
Click to expand...
Um, not in this forum. Not to mention that it doesn't have to be tubes to sound good, and it doesn't have to be tubes to sound like tubes! My BJFE Blue Berry Bass Overdrive emulates power amp tube distortion so well that I sold my vintage Sunn amp. Also, pedals are much easier to control, in order to get real power tube distortion some high volume is (generally) pretty necessary. Not very practical for most situations. I can crank my overdrive pedals at bedroom practice levels, which is great for all the 1am noise sessions I enjoy a little too much.

Note that I'm not talking about preamp tube distortion. Why? Because preamp tube distortion sucks balls. :)
 
#15
daveyharve said:
I'm into rock/indie, so not too interested in thrash:bassist: sounds! I'd like some atmospheric sounds, and maybe something to make it sound fuller too.
Click to expand...

well i would go for a sansamp bass di for grit plus a chorus plus a delay......but the delay is used to give a close room boxy sound type reverb to thicken up the tone.

of course you might want to pop for the boss all in one bass effects and then you could find your own sound without breaking the bank.
 

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