• 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.

My personal pet peeves with pedals

#23
Katoosie said:
Do you think the depth and speed, if set low enough, would essentialy act as a mix or blend type of thing?
Click to expand...

Sort of. Depth sets the modulation depth on top of your signal, so the lower it is, the more subtle the effect. I never needed a blend with it, no loss of low end in my experience. Speed is your modulation speed. I used this pedal for a great Leslie-like effect with higher depth and faster speed settings. It honestly sounded great. I usually use my Phase 100 for that sort of thing, but Waterfall did fantastic one time I didn't have my phaser on board.

My usual go to settings for Waterfall are both knobs at around 11 o'clock, first switch set to (-) and second switch set to C (chorus). I don't use it as vibrato that much, but it's a pretty cool vibrato pedal too. I find that (-), a more discrete modulation is enough for the chorus to sound great in the mix. Sounds like a nice, classic, warm chorus effect to me.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Nuage420 and Katoosie
#24
el murdoque said:
This is a part of the game!

There's two kinds of effect people. The boring effect people are like "I want a chorus". Next time they are in the city, they pop in at their music store and buy whatever chorus they have. Probably a Boss. That gets used whenever there is a need for chorus. Problem done.

Then there's the Pedal Gourmands. It's not that easy for them/us/you.
Filling a slot on the pedalboard requires more of you.

You cast the net, pull it in and see what's there. Then you acquire one of your shortlisted pedals and put it on your board. By using the effect, you learn what you want and what you do not want.

And then you go online again with your new knowledge and apply that to refine your search. This lets you discover that there has been that one run of that one model in the second half of 1994 where they used a different component because the supplier made a mistake and 150 pedals were built to the wrong spec. This pedal can do one thing exceptionally well: The one thing you want from that kind of pedal, making it the perfect solution for your needs. Some boutique builder has copied that exact pedal in 2007, but only in a limited run and discontinued it in 2008, after another 150 units, so there is a total of 300 out there on the entire planet. It can be frustrating at times, but imagine the joy of finding one after months of searching. It's like the reward for beating an exceptionally hard boss in a video game. When you've tried time and again, rage quit, thought about giving up altogether .... and then finally make it, it's a much bigger bucket of hormones released into your system.

Getting a chorus is easy.
Getting a good chorus is much harder.
Getting the best chorus is hard, expensive and requires lots of research
Getting the unicorn, the one to rule them all is ... not entirely impossible, but it is a monumental task to set out and rig your board with unicorns.
I'm in the middle of that. I feel you.
Click to expand...
We should talk :D

Admiral Chew said:
I saw someone selling a Triungulo Barbanera (based on the Moog MF-101) on a UK bass forum. I ended up getting one and loving it. It has one of the best finishes I’ve seen on a pedal and is extremely versatile. I have a Chromatron, Proton and JoshWah but the Barbanera probably gets the most use at the moment. There’s a really sweet spot which can be fiddly to find but which sounds fantastic when it’s dialled in.

I then saw the Malombra (based on the Boss CE2W (CE1 mode)) had a similar finish and was intrigued. I found one near me on Reverb and gave it a shot. The mix knob really helps it out and it again looks fantastic. I posted an NPD about it a while ago because I couldn’t find anything on here about it (Triungulo Lab Malombra chorus for bass?).

They are made in Italy and Will, the guy that makes them, has been super responsive and kind in answering queries.
Click to expand...
This is a really big contender and isnt even that expensive. Awesome, really digging the whole package with this thing.

Snaxster said:
This is not an attack, but an observation: To me this reads not like a premise, but like an admission. It isn't about pedals, but about ADHD.

If your mind is focused and your thoughts are organized, your pedals will follow suit. The obverse also is true.
Click to expand...
Not even close, but sure.
I guess its easy to draw conclusions from a shallow observation.

Alien8 said:
The solution in so many of these scenarios could be an Empress Zoia.

You can make your own art.
You can make any sound you want.
You can have all the functions.

Better still... Rather than search for your next pedal, you can just "build" one, or download a patch that has one mostly built for you. All that youtube time can be used to learn how Zoia works and how all these pedals work to get you THE sound in your head.
Click to expand...
ZOIA is something that I try to avoid. If I wanted something so complex, I don't think I would have been making this thread. I'm sure it is amazing though! :hyper:
 
  • Like
Reactions: AudioTaper, monsterthompson, Admiral Chew and 1 other person
#25
Killing Floor said:
Demedash T60, solved. Get the polished one if you want something that looks unique.
And don’t disparage fuzz pedals! You want the best you need to buy 10 more.

Also it sounds like you haven’t even discovered warbly tape style delays. Get busy.
Click to expand...
Actually, delay it isn't but I am a very happy owner of the Old Blood Noise Endeavors Dark Star - it's a reverb and it has that tape type disintegration going on, dependant on the setting. It is absolutely crazy what this thing can do. You can even make it drone out and make noise forever and ever and ever and ever. Or let it die in agonizing, disintegrating psycho noise.

Its sweet as all h e c k, its dark and moody, super atmospheric and worth every penny. Highly recommend for you to check it out if you ever get a chance :)
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: BlueTalon, Nuage420 and el murdoque
#29
crguti said:
My personal pet peeves is when you love a pedal sound but then you 'discover' that the pedal is a tone sucker in bypass.... arrgh.
Click to expand...
It took me forever to finally get a MS60B to noodle around with. Apparently I'm just an outlier, but that thing straight-up destroyed my tone in bypass. Granted, people said you could leave it engaged with something like a noise gate set at a low level, but I really don't like having pedals with crappy bypass, period.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Katoosie
#30
Alien8 said:
The solution in so many of these scenarios could be an Empress Zoia.

You can make your own art.
You can make any sound you want.
You can have all the functions.

Better still... Rather than search for your next pedal, you can just "build" one, or download a patch that has one mostly built for you. All that youtube time can be used to learn how Zoia works and how all these pedals work to get you THE sound in your head.
Click to expand...

The Zoia is fine and dandy, and I currently have two (one pedal, one eurorack). However, the sounds in it really only get interesting if you’re willing to put in the time to tweak and customize patches. The stock modulation effects aren’t all that impressive. The chorus, flanger, vibrato, and tremolo modules are good enough, but not inspiring. The compressor is pretty plain. The cab sims are guitar focused. I do like the delay and the ghost reverb quite a bit. The point I’m driving at is that the Zoia isn’t a solution for someone looking for a plug n play multi fx box and expecting great stock patches at that price.

For me, the euro rack module is great. The cv jacks make it easy to modulate external modules and save LFO or envelope settings. If I’m deep into patching and running out of cables or modules, it’s handy to make a few virtual patches in Zoia and keep everything moving along.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Katoosie, BlueTalon, knumbskull and 1 other person
#32
I actually have one medium-sized pedalboard set up just to try out pedals and combinations. Expensive, but part of the fun -- and in some ways necessary to get an idea of how things will work at rehearsals and gigs.

That being said, there are some pedals that I tried over and over to make work for me because there was such broad TB consensus (I'm looking at you, MBD-2), but the trial and error is a big part of figuring out what works, what doesn't, and why we like what we like.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Katoosie and Nuage420
#33
Get the Ibanez mini Chorus!!! It sounds so impressive that I’m planning to try out the other pedals in that series. There’s a whole host of dirt and modulations, and if I’m to expect the same performance they’ll sound terrific on bass
 
  • Like
Reactions: Katoosie
#34
Low Down Brown said:
It's pricey and you have to wait a bit, but the Iron Ether Polytope is the best chorus I've ever used. If you really want chorus, check them out.
Click to expand...
Excellent suggestion. The Chase Bliss Warped Vinyl HiFi also offers the sound and functionality you are looking for (and much, much more!), but like the Polytope the art is nothing too exciting and that seems to be a dealbreaker for you.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Katoosie, Low Down Brown and Admiral Chew
#36
el murdoque said:
This is a part of the game!

There's two kinds of effect people. The boring effect people are like "I want a chorus". Next time they are in the city, they pop in at their music store and buy whatever chorus they have. Probably a Boss. That gets used whenever there is a need for chorus. Problem done.

Then there's the Pedal Gourmands. It's not that easy for them/us/you.
Filling a slot on the pedalboard requires more of you.

You cast the net, pull it in and see what's there. Then you acquire one of your shortlisted pedals and put it on your board. By using the effect, you learn what you want and what you do not want.

And then you go online again with your new knowledge and apply that to refine your search. This lets you discover that there has been that one run of that one model in the second half of 1994 where they used a different component because the supplier made a mistake and 150 pedals were built to the wrong spec. This pedal can do one thing exceptionally well: The one thing you want from that kind of pedal, making it the perfect solution for your needs. Some boutique builder has copied that exact pedal in 2007, but only in a limited run and discontinued it in 2008, after another 150 units, so there is a total of 300 out there on the entire planet. It can be frustrating at times, but imagine the joy of finding one after months of searching. It's like the reward for beating an exceptionally hard boss in a video game. When you've tried time and again, rage quit, thought about giving up altogether .... and then finally make it, it's a much bigger bucket of hormones released into your system.

Getting a chorus is easy.
Getting a good chorus is much harder.
Getting the best chorus is hard, expensive and requires lots of research
Getting the unicorn, the one to rule them all is ... not entirely impossible, but it is a monumental task to set out and rig your board with unicorns.
I'm in the middle of that. I feel you.
Click to expand...
I’m so happy to be a boring effects person. ;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Katoosie, Wannabass and red_rhino
#37
Spending "time with pedals" is similar to researching other bass gear. Once you have what you actually need (decent bass, amp, cab, tuner), the rest, for the overwhelming majority of players, is much ado about very little extra on top. Granted, for many (me included) that "extra" provides a lot of entertainment and satisfaction. I simply enjoy the journey, knowing that I can decide at any time that it was a fun ride that's over. I have read several posts on TB indicating that "pedal frustration burnout" is a thing and is curable by simply returning to bass>cable>amp. Ahhhh, the elegance of simplicity ;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Katoosie and red_rhino

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back