I think most of us who hang out in the effects forum know that most bands don't expect a bassist to use effects at all. How many of us really get to use effects in most band situations? In my cover band I use a distortion pedal for 1 song. In my originals band I use a PT Pro filled. Of course it took a lot of searching to find the right fit where I can creatively use effects at my discretion. I think with boutique and mainstream companies making more bass exclusive effects that more and more bands/bassists will employ effects on a bass more often.
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Lots of pedals
- Thread starter russpurdy
- Start date
The reason my board has so many pedals is because I'm in a cover band that plays a large variety of songs with different bass sounds. When I am doing original stuff, I don't use my pedals hardly at all. I feel to properly play the covers, you should have the sounds as well as the chops.
I feel the original post is completely over generalized.
There are some pros I have seen that use a pedal board the size of Rhode Island and some that plug straight into an amp and everything in between.
There are some pros I have seen that use a pedal board the size of Rhode Island and some that plug straight into an amp and everything in between.
I cant stand a set of strings that have been on my bass for more than three weeks to a month. I try all the tricks in the book to keep them zinggy. Eventually, you just have to change them. Plus, the pros are pretty much given strings for free, so that could be another reason why they do it.
I think we all, pros or weekend warriors alike, use what we like/want/need to. I really dont think being a pro has anything to do with the size of ones board. I think they have just figured out what works for them and they have stuck with it. Over time most people just know what works an what doesnt. I mean, you look at some guys, like (not a bassist) the guitarist from the Black Keys, his board is ever changing all the time. When I first started getting into the pedal thing, I wanted like 35 pedals all together at once. After I used them more and more I def cut that number down. I still have a lot but I can see myself cutting down even that in the future.
A lot depends on the type of music that given band plays. I always said that if I was just in a straight rock/blues band, I could probably rock a PT mini or something like that. But Im in a hard rock band that likes to experiment. There it is. So to me, in the end, having a small or big or medium sized board has nothing to do with being a pro or a weekend warrior.
I think the better question to me, would be, why do you think more pros use readymade/self made boards than they do PedalTrains or boards like that???? Hmmm........
Traditionally the effects on my board tend to fluctuated a lot because I like to try new pedals ... that's part of the fun. Recently though I have scaled down a bit, to pedals I actually use every gig verses pedals that I like but rarely use live.
I already change my strings often but if I could afford it I would change string after every gig .... love me some new strings!
I already change my strings often but if I could afford it I would change string after every gig .... love me some new strings!
What do you mean where did the OP go? You posted two hours after the original post and I have a life (not a very exciting one but it comes with responsibilities nonetheless).
This was meant as a discussion and thanks to the people that are discussing. I'm not trying to rag on anyone with huge pedalboards as I have one myself. I just thought it might make for an interesting topic to reflect on.
As for specific boards I'm thinking of.....
When I look at someone like Chris from Muse or Juan Alderete even they have pretty small setups for what they do in the studio and being known as "effects guys". Most of Juan's board I've seen have less than 10 pedals nowadays and wouldn't even qualify as "big" on this forum. Chris uses a complex amp rig but last I saw his effects drawer had a few muffs, the deep impact, animato, and maybe a few others. Yes, there are some artists that bring tons of pedals with them but it seems like even "effects guys (or girls)" don't bring as much as we think they might.
I think most people have hit the nail on the head when they talk about simplicity. If I used a chorus on a background part on one song in the studio I probably wouldn't drag it out on tour every night just for that. As an amateur, however, I don't get to play out a lot so testing out pedals in a live situation is a fun thing to do (and I'll admit it, I like to show off my gear to other musicians). It almost seems like us non-touring dudes and dudettes may have the luxury of experimenting a bit more rather than a pro that needs a very specific sound night after night to recreate recorded tunes.
That's my thought. Thanks to everyone else for sharing and continuing to share theirs.
And don't worry Joe, I'll start watching this thread every five minutes in case someone else posts. Good excuse to take the day off work
It definitely was a generalization and I thank the people that pointed out the reason we see a lot of huge pedalboards on here is the same reason you see swank hot rods in car magazines: not many people are going to post their 2006 base model Toyota Corolla. We've all seen one and know what it's about.
I kind of knew the answer before posting but I was curious if there were other theories besides the one I had come up with and it turns out that there are.
Again, the generalization just comes from things I have noticed while looking through all of the different "post your pedalboard" threads as well as doing searches of artists boards for something to do and checkin out that other bands stuff site (thanks to whomever posted that, my new favourite!)
scotch
It's not rocket science!
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Lots of great points so far!
As already mentioned, there's no reason signal degradation has to be an issue with all of the high quality routing options available.
Some pro's, particularly those associated with a single act, only have a handful of effects for the scope of that bands particular music. Others have more. Some, no effects at all!
Then, you have folks like myself who tour and record with multiple acts over the course of a year. In my humble career that means touring with 3 or 4 acts every year and dozens of studio projects. Effects have become a part of how I sound and work creatively, so my larger board reflects that. It's important to note that I rarely use every pedal on my board with a single given band or album project. All of the stuff on there, however, gets used when appropriate with the appropriate musical context.
This isn't limited to "pro's" either. Plenty of hobbyist/enthusiasts play in a variety of contexts as well! The whole key to a big board is knowing when to use something and when not to. Pedals are just tools. You don't pull out a circular saw to install a deadbolt. But, when you need to rip some plywood, you'll be glad you have the saw!
As already mentioned, there's no reason signal degradation has to be an issue with all of the high quality routing options available.
Some pro's, particularly those associated with a single act, only have a handful of effects for the scope of that bands particular music. Others have more. Some, no effects at all!
Then, you have folks like myself who tour and record with multiple acts over the course of a year. In my humble career that means touring with 3 or 4 acts every year and dozens of studio projects. Effects have become a part of how I sound and work creatively, so my larger board reflects that. It's important to note that I rarely use every pedal on my board with a single given band or album project. All of the stuff on there, however, gets used when appropriate with the appropriate musical context.
This isn't limited to "pro's" either. Plenty of hobbyist/enthusiasts play in a variety of contexts as well! The whole key to a big board is knowing when to use something and when not to. Pedals are just tools. You don't pull out a circular saw to install a deadbolt. But, when you need to rip some plywood, you'll be glad you have the saw!
What do you mean where did the OP go? You posted two hours after the original post and I have a life (not a very exciting one but it comes with responsibilities nonetheless).
This was meant as a discussion and thanks to the people that are discussing. I'm not trying to rag on anyone with huge pedalboards as I have one myself. I just thought it might make for an interesting topic to reflect on.
As for specific boards I'm thinking of.....
When I look at someone like Chris from Muse or Juan Alderete even they have pretty small setups for what they do in the studio and being known as "effects guys". Most of Juan's board I've seen have less than 10 pedals nowadays and wouldn't even qualify as "big" on this forum. Chris uses a complex amp rig but last I saw his effects drawer had a few muffs, the deep impact, animato, and maybe a few others. Yes, there are some artists that bring tons of pedals with them but it seems like even "effects guys (or girls)" don't bring as much as we think they might.
I think most people have hit the nail on the head when they talk about simplicity. If I used a chorus on a background part on one song in the studio I probably wouldn't drag it out on tour every night just for that. As an amateur, however, I don't get to play out a lot so testing out pedals in a live situation is a fun thing to do (and I'll admit it, I like to show off my gear to other musicians). It almost seems like us non-touring dudes and dudettes may have the luxury of experimenting a bit more rather than a pro that needs a very specific sound night after night to recreate recorded tunes.
That's my thought. Thanks to everyone else for sharing and continuing to share theirs.
And don't worry Joe, I'll start watching this thread every five minutes in case someone else posts. Good excuse to take the day off work
Oh good Russ. Its good to see you involved with the thread you started.
I'm guessing from your opening post, and this post that you really have a huge effects petal board - so just out of curiosity, which effects do you have? Thanks
I do understand the concept of simple setups, Less to deal with etc... I started playing bass because I like to play the bass not my pedalboard, but I don't understand why bringing less equipment on a tour is better if you write songs based on your pedalboard... I've never toured extensively but if a PRO band brings huge lights and sound gear and amps and this and that. Why would leaving a 50lb pedal board at home make a difference, especially if you have techs? Since we're talking about PRO bands that tour, they have a ton of techs. Not trying to start an argument, I just don't get that logic? Help me out. I really would like to understand. My band is in the process of buying a bus and touring actually sooo.. other than carrying it with me to venues or setting it up, why would I leave it at home??
While Juan gets a lot of press on TalkBass, his day-to-day touring realities might not be what you expect. He has a vid online discussing the small board he put together for his recent Deltron 3030 tour due to space/traveling restrictions. I can't count how many similar discussions I've seen from other pros in interviews, YouTube videos, etc.
I know for myself, I don't like having a ton of pedals on my live board (relatively speaking; I have 8 currently) because it's too much for me to deal with while also playing complex music, singing, and putting on a show. I doubt that would change simply because I had some roadies who could carry the gear in for me.
Most pros have a set setlist unlike most weekend warriors. I will be honest, I do not always use all my pedals in every gig, but I will use them enough to justify the space. Pros have a setlist for a tour and just need to take what they are going to use. I have a guitar buddy that went on tour in the states and went from a pedaltrain pro to a pedaltrain jr just for that tour, just took what he needed.
Sorry, I didn't realize that one post a day would make me seem uninvolved. Allow me to go quit my job, ditch my family, and sit at my laptop all day so that I can monitor my threads on Talkbass...
Anyways....
To answer your question I have three effects PEDAL (with a "D") boards. I use one smaller one with my originals band with the bare minimum. I sing and can't be tap dancing on pedals through a whole song. If I write something that calls for an effect I will add it to the board. My "big" board is for just about everything else. I use it to play around with at home, I do ambient prepared soundscapes with it and I also use it for a backing gig with a synth rock band. It's not what a lot of people would consider big as it only has 9-10 pedals but it takes up a lot of space and gets things done. The last board is for my lap steel with a comp, overdrive, fuzz, delay, and verb.
Now, if you specifically would like to know what each board has it's a mixed bag of off the shelf, boutique and DIY/custom stuff. If anyone actually wants to know:
Small Board: Korg Pitchblack, MXR Envelope, Fuzzrocious Demon King, TAFM, TC Flashback.
Big Board: Micro POG, Copilot Orbit, Modded Big Muff or EQD Hoof depending, Rat Tail, Boss LS-2, Boss Super Chorus, Zoom MS50G, MXR Carbon Copy, Line 6 M5, TC Ditto.
Steel Board: Boss Volume Pedal, Biyang Comp, Joyo Sweet Baby, GGG 69 Clone, Malekko 616 Dark, BYOC Verb.
DiabolusInMusic
Functionless Art is Merely Tolerated Vandalism
I think you think everybody uses as many pedals as you Russ. The amount of stuff you guys lug around on the effects board is just nuts. I do not think that many people use that many effects in the wild. I can think of one local bass player with an insane pedal board, it requires a supplemental board. Now guitarists on the other hand, total different story.
I use 3 pedals at most personally, and tuner and compressor hardly count as effects. It is just for simplicity and convenience. Most people start losing gear the more they start gigging in my experience, this is especially true for drummers.
I use 3 pedals at most personally, and tuner and compressor hardly count as effects. It is just for simplicity and convenience. Most people start losing gear the more they start gigging in my experience, this is especially true for drummers.
+1 on this as well. My board (8 pedals on a PT Jr.) is usually easily the biggest bass effects board at any show my band plays. Out of all the bands we play with, I can only think of one bassist off the top of my head who I know for sure has a bigger board than me, and I'm not entirely sure he actually uses more pedals (as opposed to bigger pedals spread out on a bigger board). In fact, in the last 10 years or so of gigging, I can't recall *any* bass boards substantially bigger than mine.
JAUQO III-X
Inactive
Oh okay, so your big petal board isn't really that huge or as big as I was picturing it. I only have 5 petals on my new 2014 Nano petal board - and I'm getting ready to build a second petal board too. Back in the old days (I'm in my 60s now) I played the west coast club circuit for years without any effects (just bass into amp), but I have racks and boxes full of old processors and stomp boxes in my home studio. And now I'm always using my new Nano board that I just built this year. Here's a pic of it http://www.talkbass.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=402404&d=1395629744 if you want to see it. Oh and I flipped the patch between the tuner and booster and spaced them better so now it looks better too.
I understand that you're busy and really don't have much time to post. But hopefully you'll continue to find enough time to participate in your own thread. Sometimes people start threads that could get touchy and then just bailout and IMO that's not cool.
So if you were on tour - what petals would you take and which ones would you leave at home, and why?
Except for my Ditto, I have all straight forward sound shaping processing on my new 2014 Nano petal board, so I'd take all of them.
BTW FWIW, I'm not really so sure the Pro's are really using less (maybe a few use less, and maybe a few use more). Anyway, I'll look for your post tomorrow.
Cheers
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I own more than 300 pedals, but the most that I take to a gig is four, and they're not even on a pedal board. I just put them on top of my amp head and switch the ones that I need in or out in between songs.
If I were a touring pro I would also minimize the gear, for weight/size reasons as well as for reliability. Less stuff to carry and less stuff that can break, and a known effects use every gig. But as I'm not, and I use my pedal board in quite different ways when noodling at home vs at a cover band gig, I choose to have pedals that cover both uses on the same pedal board. I don't use every pedal at gigs, but I don't want to rebuild the board too often or keep two different boards with two copies of several pedals.
Another issue could be money if you're actually trying to make a living from music; I suspect a lot of people here who are not music pros do put a substantial amount of money from their better paid day job into their music hobby, more money than a lot of touring musicians care to or even can spend.
Another issue could be money if you're actually trying to make a living from music; I suspect a lot of people here who are not music pros do put a substantial amount of money from their better paid day job into their music hobby, more money than a lot of touring musicians care to or even can spend.
