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I've already got the main effects pedals? What else do I need

#21
jbhaugh said:
The synth tone is exactly the attraction for me! But nice job describing why someone might prefer a digital octave/harmonizer pedal. (Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of really cool digital octave, harmonizer and pitch-shifter pedals out there - Eventide H9, Digitech Whammy, Meris Hedra, etc - but they’re a different thing that have their own uses, pros and cons).
Click to expand...

Cool, thanks, I'm happy you understand that I wasn't really trying to put down analog ones, just that I don't like them much on bass from my own experiences. Also I owned one of those DOD ones way way back and it couldn't track on bass at all.. ugh... really soured me LoL

Personally I'm picking up a donner harmonic square very soon... as I personally like the model it's a copy of, in fact it's my favorite pedal for simple harmonies (not intelligent harmonies).... and can also do some quick and dirty drop tuning if needed....

But... just wanted to add to this thread - pedals are awesome, I love pedals, they are so inspirational!
 
#22
It really depends on the style(s) of music you play as to what you NEED.

But I think every bass player needs to own a Boss OC-2 Octave and a good Fuzz pedal.

The OC-2 is a totally different beast to the octave on your Digitech pedal...

A good Preamp/DI box is also a must have if you are gigging.
 
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#23
mcrawfordmusic said:
It really depends on the style(s) of music you play as to what you NEED.

But I think every bass player needs to own a Boss OC-2 Octave and a good Fuzz pedal.

The OC-2 is a totally different beast to the octave on your Digitech pedal...

A good Preamp/DI box is also a must have if you are gigging.
Click to expand...
I would say that every bass player needs to use an OC-2 and some other ones to compare, until they find what they want - which might be an OC-2.

IMHO, for sure, every bass player could stand to own an effective octave down effect, whatever it may be. As a session player and gig-for-hire guy, I used to use the one in my behringer bass v-amp pro for recording and live gigs, tracked great, worked fantastic as a sub octave .... Due to how I hid it in my rack, nobody realized it was one of a couple dozen effects in a box that in total cost like $100 used......... Anything that gets the job done, tracks super reliably, and sound good for how you use it is a winner :-)
 
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#26
If you want something fun, try the EHX Bass Mono Synth. It's pretty cheap, tracks really well, and is basically a monophonic synth triggered by your bass - but you can also blend your bass tone into it.

I originally was looking at one of those Akai bass synth pedals (or a contemporary clone of one) - but with a synth keyboard at hand, I just couldn't justify laying out that kind of cash for that pedal. The EHX is much cheaper and a lot of fun.
 
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#28
ugly_bassplayer said:
Oc3 is digital.
Oc2 is analog.
Click to expand...

OC-3 is basically a digital emulation of the OC-2, with some additional functionality and the near-perfect tracking that comes with digital octavers
moon-bass said:
Pick up a cheap multi effects pedal. Play with the various effects and see what you like then pick up better versions/individual pedals of the ones you really like. Or pick up an HX Effects and call it a day.
Click to expand...

I tried this when I was a kid and it soured me on effects for like 20 years, because everything in the box was garbage. Maybe cheap multiFX units are better now, YMMV.
 
#31
Ric5 said:
Schematic diagram of my effects.

effects-sch-jpg.3803641
Click to expand...

How are the noise levels with your setup?
 
#32
jbhaugh said:
The synth tone is exactly the attraction for me! But nice job describing why someone might prefer a digital octave/harmonizer pedal. (Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of really cool digital octave, harmonizer and pitch-shifter pedals out there - Eventide H9, Digitech Whammy, Meris Hedra, etc - but they’re a different thing and have their own uses, pros and cons).
Click to expand...

dkelley said:
Cool, thanks, I'm happy you understand that I wasn't really trying to put down analog ones, just that I don't like them much on bass from my own experiences. Also I owned one of those DOD ones way way back and it couldn't track on bass at all.. ugh... really soured me LoL

Personally I'm picking up a donner harmonic square very soon... as I personally like the model it's a copy of, in fact it's my favorite pedal for simple harmonies (not intelligent harmonies).... and can also do some quick and dirty drop tuning if needed....

But... just wanted to add to this thread - pedals are awesome, I love pedals, they are so inspirational!
Click to expand...


That's part of the reason I have an analog octave(Foxrox Octron3) AND a digital octave(EHX Pitch Fork) on my board. Analog octaves, to me, sound much more organic. Plus, the Octron does a dirty octave UP, which is really great for filling out the sound spectrum when the guitar player wanders off into guitar player world. But, for anything that requires accurate octave work, I kick on the PF and things are good. I'll probably replace the PF with my Future Impact synth pedal, when I get it re-housed into the smaller enclosure. :thumbsup:
 
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#34
What do you need? All of them. ;) Effects pedals are one heck of a ride down the rabbit hole.

I'll throw one out there though - Earthquaker Devices Grand Orbiter v3. It's a phaser, tremolo, and a resonate filter all packed into one easy to use pedal. Phase is already cool effect with bass and it does it better than anything I've tried, but the resonate filter is where the secret sauce is at. You can really sculpt some cool tones and pair it with others (like overdrive) to find something completely different.

I basically have three effects that never leave my board - EBS OctaBass Blue Label, Darkglass AlphaOmega, and the Grand Orbiter. So octave, overdrive, and phase/resonate filter. The only other one that I plan to add is a fuzz, and that is something that I'd also suggest for your lineup. My current interest after watching a ton of video reviews is the Amptweaker Tight Fuzz Jr.
 
#35
Ric5 said:
Parallel processing

View attachment 3803640

1 - First I run into an equalizer

2 - Then I split the signal into 4 parallel signals with a rolls mixer.

3 - I run one of the parallel lines into the Line6 bass pod where I model an acoustic 360 with a rat or big muff distortion pedal. I use this to get a retro growlly distorted sound. Or I also model an Ampeg fliptop with the Rat Distortion pedal. And I also Model an old Marshall amp. With the bass pod I can get a wide range of clean or dirty sounds and various effects and model different amps and speaker cabinets.

4 - The second parallel signal goes into a MXR bass di+. I use this pedal to get a clean modern sound. It also has a distortion button that can give a moderate to extreme amount of modern distortion.

5 - The third parallel signal goes into a Marshall Guv'nor. This gives me an old 60s marshall stack sound. This can go from a small amount of distortion to an over the top marshall sound. This effect can give you a the classic Jack Bruce Cream tone.

6 - The fourth parallel signal goes into a Tech21 VT Bass pedal. With this effect I get a slightly dirty Ampeg SVT bass amp sound with a tube like growl.

7 - Then I remix the 4 signals back together and run it into a bass amp, or pa, or studio mixer. Because the signals are parallel I can mix clean and overdriven sounds together and still get effect and a sound that punches through the mix.

Schematic diagram of my effects.

View attachment 3803641
Click to expand...
I see you're a man of culture. I'm also into parallel chains, but your setup is really elaborate!
 
#37
jbhaugh said:
...

I tried this when I was a kid and it soured me on effects for like 20 years, because everything in the box was garbage. Maybe cheap multiFX units are better now, YMMV.
Click to expand...

Things have moved on considerably. I have a few of the individual pedals that are modelled in the Zoom B3n and would be hard pressed to tell them apart in a blind listening test. Add in a band and a crowd and there is little left to discuss, IMHO/IME.
 
#38
Jackheeds said:
I already own a
compressor
digitech droptune
bass overdrive
noise reduction

I don't know what else get because my droptune does an octave effect anyway and I can't see myself using any modulation effects
Click to expand...

Whilst I personally wouldn't know what to do with a noise reduction pedal the term 'need' is very personal when it comes to pedals.
What the ownership of which pedal would have prevented you from losing a gig in the past. That's the pedal you would have 'needed' and maybe should get next.
Or; what do you want to do and can't at this point for lack of a certain sound? Get that sound.
Beyond that...coloured bubbles.
 
#39
Get the HX Effects or HX Stomp (depending on your available space and "needs";)) - they've got almost everything and are good quality, so you'll be sorted if you ever want anything else in future as you progress or experiment different genres.:thumbsup:
 
#40
Luigir said:
IMHO If you don't know what to get just don't get anything. You are probably fine with what you have now. Start appreciating your stuff.
Click to expand...

This is actually the most solid advice in the thread. Effects are fun, don’t get me wrong there, but I have to agree that if you don’t know what you want to try and achieve then it’s just throwing things at the wall to see what sticks. That gets expensive and potentially frustrating really fast.
 

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