• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

"must have" effects

T

thespentpenny

Oct 12, 2009
7
0
West Haven, CT
#1
I'm new to so many things on the bass. I've been playing for a while now (3 years) I don't mean that it's been a long while, just a little while....

Anyway, I'd love to hear some input on what are your "must have" bass effects pedals, and what they do.

I love a good, warm, mellow but creamy bass tone. I have a fender Aerodyne jazz bass, it's new to me, and I've been adjusting the neck, bridge etc. It's gonna need some work still, but it's more than functional as it is...anyway.

Yeah, what are your favorite bass effects, which do you use regularly.

Also, I play in a church praise and worship band mainly, and use a fender bassman I think it's a 60 watt amp there, just have a little practice amp here.
 
#12
There's a few things I see as "Must Have".

You must have a Tuner.
You must have some Modulation.
And you must must MUST have some dirt!

I like to use a bit of everything from the three dirt groups.
Overdrive, Distortion and Fuzz.

Of course, my "Must Have" pedal is always the next one I'm saving up for.
 
#13
seems like you're trying to spice an otherwise boring setup.

try the VT bass. i had mine sitting in the closet, since i was using its very versatile cousin, the sansamp paradriver for my dirt sounds, but dang, the array of dirt sounds in this thing are incredible. from thick to wooly, to sheer freakout edgy blasts, it can do literally everything for me now.

ebs octabass is another fun one to add some meat when your lines drift into the upper end of the fretboard.

try a chorus or even a flanger, too, or both, ala the fulltone choralflange. great for adding a little post punk / cure like tastiness to a bass line.

course, i kinda shy away from most compressors, but adding just a touch w/ a quality pedal really evens out the boomier bigger notes below the low E on my 5 strings.
 
#14
JimmyM said:
I have no must have. I could do everything I do with a clean tone and be fine. But I do use a few. For some types of music distortion is a must have. That's really the only effect I think is needed, although the other ones are quite fun indeed.
Click to expand...

+1

I never use any effects. I sometimes toy with the bass wah, and fuzz boxes, but nothing is a must have. For a little while, I had a huge funk band, and I only had 2 effects. I had a stereo flanger and an envelope filter. The flanger split my signal, and one side went to the envelope filter which went to a dirty old ampeg. The tubes in the ampeg helped to control the bass surge that came in when the envelope effect decayed. The other side went into an SWR rig. That setup was unreal, but moving to NYC totally changed the way I prepared for gigs. Now I just grab my bass and my cable, and I'm good to go.
 
#15
jetofuj said:
There is nothing like "must have" bass effects pedals. But as Jimmy said, pedals are fun!
Click to expand...

+1

Pedals are not a must, but they are mostly for fun ! Stuff like tuners and compressors are mostly utilities as opposed to being effects.

Gadgets like preamps (Tone Hammer, SansAmp Bass Driver, MXR M-80), chorus, flangers, filters (Bassballs !!!!) and octavers are fun and can really add to your sound.

The key is not to go overboard, but it all depends on the song and maintaining tone.

But mostly, it's all about FUN......
 
#17
Must have a good bass, nice combo/stack and some pedals that enrich your tone. Aphex Aural Exciter - is good to make your clean punchy. Fuzz is good to play slow parts, this one is to tasty for everyone. I feel good with the one in Bootsy Collins Signature wah - very different of anything i've heard for all the time. Than may be - i would try Duality. Coz' i like much B7K of this brand - very good for all purposes. For example - nice crunch and clean with an edge of high gain overdrive. Wah-wah? I do like Bootsy's and Chi-Wah-Wah - they are different and that's enough. The only clean boost that does not color my tone - i have found in Morley's Tripler - and i can run my signal to three combos/other sound sources. MXR Micro Chorus is so small but misty sound, its boost is a positive feature for me. Strymon Timeline is the must have in delays. As for me - it is very important part of my live sound. Enough complicated but it is very necessary almost in every track - from a little bit to much more recognizable. Fulltone Bass Drive runs to OCD - and is very special sound, some kind of crunchy sound with a boost if needed. MXR Flanger, DLS Rotosim and DLS Versa Vibe - are like a salt and a pepper - not much but sometimes beautiful. Markbass Super Synth is really useful to play guitar-like parts and even close to pipe sound, octaver is OK. Wet Neunaber Reverb is the best reverb i have ever tried - so small and so powerful. Dwarfcraft Hax - i use to self-oscilated pitched tone - from down (bike sound) to up (choir of voices - as with delay and reverb). Ibanez SB-7 - is a nice autowah-fuzz, i love it blended with Radial Bigshot.
 
#18
Based on the type of music you're playing, you may want reverb and delay pedals. I play a lot of ambient/post-rock music, and I use a Source Audio Dimension Reverb, Source Audio Phaser/Flanger, and TC Electronic Flashback. Along with a volume pedal, I can make some pretty awesome ambient swells, which would probably be useful for worship music. If you can spend a bit more, the Strymon El Capistan is probably the coolest delay pedal for bass (it's a dTape echo) and the Neunaber Wet Stereo Reverb is a phenomenal reverb pedal. I'm seriously GASing for both of those.
 
#20
For other types of pedals/effects, here's what I would recommend:

Tuner: Korg Pitchblack
Preamp/D.I.: Tech 21 Sansamp Para Driver or Aguilar Tone Hammer
Octave: Aguilar Octamizer
Fuzz: Earthquaker Devices Hoof Fuzz or EHX Deluxe Bass Big Muff or JHS 4 Wheeler
Overdrive: Darkglass B3K or Fulltone BassDrive
Compressor: Demeter Compulator or Keeley 4-knob Compressor
Buffer: Lehle Sunday Driver or JHS Little Black Buffer

As most have stated, none if this is really "must have" - more like "fun and useful to have."
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back