Pedal board... or not? That is the Question.

[Admiral Akbar]

I’ve been playing bass for about 25 years. Rock, R&B, Jazz, funk, reggae, fusion...

I usually play going from bass straight into amp, no effects. Once in a while, I’ll use a MuTron III or octave pedal, but that’s about it. Looking through the pages of Talkbass, and more importantly, seeing other players on gigs, it appears I’m in the minority. Is it true most players use some sort of effects board?

It seems Bass players’ pedal boards often are as large and diverse as guitarists...

What say you, Talkbass?

 

[Maxfenderbass]

Pedals are fun, making your bass sounds out of the norm is an adventure all in itself. The key is moderation.

 

[basscapes]

My problem is that where my Rig is currently situated (in-law's front hallway), I can't even begin to put ALL my pedals on a board!

I'm down to the bare minimum of units right now- Tuner, Comp, Octave, Distortion, 2 Preamps, Amp, Speakers.

I've got between 12 and 15 pedals that I can use at any time- just no room to put them all down and use 'em!!!!

ARG.

ARG, indeed!

 

[klokker]

I have a small pedal board that I always take with me. I played for a long time without a pedal board and it was fine, but over time I wanted a little more dirt, grind and shine than I could get without one. It just works better in the mix. But even if I'm not going to use the effects, it's always nice to have a tuner and a DI available for situations where I'm ampless. So I always use it, even when I bypass everything.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Totally depends on the music you play. I've never been much of an effects guy (been playing about 35 years). Back in high school, when I play a lot of Floyd and the like, I would have a chorus to help fill out the sound (we didn't have as many tracks as on the recordings, obviously). Today, a few tunes need a bit of overdrive, but I just use the drive on my heads, and a footswitch to engage. Other than that, the only "effect" I use is the D-tuner on my basses, which I engage during songs if necessary. I just use a headstock tuner.

But plenty of other musicians here need effects for the music they play.

 

[Zbysek]

When I play my Steinberger electric upright, I usually don't bring pedal board-just tuner and HPF.

When I play bass guitar, I usually bring small basic pedal board (tuner, compressor, octaver). Sometimes, I bring additional effects, such as envelope filter or tube preamp.

Recently, I have been thinking about building a bigger pedalboard which could accomodate the rest of my (10+) pedals which had been sitting in my drawer.

 

[lz4005]

Is it true most players use some sort of effects board?

At shows I see about 50/50. Either plugging directly into the amp or a board with 5 or more pedals.
Depends a lot on the genre of music being played and the diversity of tones needed.
I'm usually the odd one out, with just one pedal not attached to any kind of board.

 

[Nick Danger]

Pedals are all the rage now, if you don't use pedals you get accused by other bass players on TB of playing boring music. I've been playing for over 45 years (mostly with no pedals), I get complimented on my bass playing often and have no problem getting gigs. Right now I use an MXR Bass DI+ which has a nice distortion feature that I use on 2 songs. I also use an amp that has dual preamps, compression, pass filters and 10 band EQ so really don't have much need for a pedalboard.

 

[Bodeanly]

Even though I only use three pedals (plus wireless receiver), it’s so much easier to move one thing instead of four. But I don’t use “effects,” just a pre, comp, and tuner.

 

[mark beem]

My three most common signal chains.

1. Bass → Tuner → Amp (if using an amp with built-in compression)
2. Bass → Tuner → Compressor → Amp (no built-in compression)
3. Bass → Tuner → Compressor → Preamp / DI → Board (whenever time and/or limited stage area prevent using a full rig)

The only time lately I've used effects has been when I've played my fretless (chorus & some reverb) and even then it's minimal.

 

[Big Hoss]

Mine is pretty simple.

Tuner, Zoom B3, Beat Buddy, Fender OD on / off footswitch.

No plans on adding anything else any time soon.

 

[BurtMacklinFBI]

I LOOOOOVE pedals. Granted, with a band I mostly just use compression, a couple dirt pedals and maybe some octave here and there, but I like having chorus, flange and envelope filter pedals on hand just in case I find the right opportunity to use them. Really though, a lot of my interest in pedals is purely for fun, if I'm playing a song that isn't really appropriate for effects I have no problem just sticking with a dry tone. I can't help but grin a little when I get an opportunity to kick a pedal on, though.

 

[Zooberwerx]

My tone is in the pedal board...the amp is a blank canvas so-to-speak. It's just tuner, comps, character preamp pedals and that's about it. On a plus side, I can stick it in front of just about any backline.

Riis

 

[basscapes]

My three most common signal chains.

1. Bass → Tuner → Amp (if using an amp with built-in compression)
2. Bass → Tuner → Compressor → Amp (no built-in compression)
3. Bass → Tuner → Compressor → Preamp / DI → Board (whenever time and/or limited stage area prevent using a full rig)

The only time lately I've used effects has been when I've played my fretless (chorus & some reverb) and even then it's minimal.

I'm a combination of 2 and/or 3-

Minimal Rig. Aside from a tuner, I almost always have a compressor on my bass and then right into my amp. This combination has a great tone and works for jamming or last minute calls.

The second "version" of my "Minimal Rig" incorporates a preamp pedal (in my case, Ampeg SCR-DI) and taking the DI feed from that to FOH. The amp and speaker are then pretty much "monitors" unless the sound guy couldn't even mix a cocktail, much less a band. At that point, I'll take the David Wm. Simms approach to sound engineering (see my sig. line)...

 

[Fun Size Nick]

I play direct to FOH or into backline 95% of the time, so a small board (comp & preamp) helps me sound how I want to sound no matter what I’m plugging into.

I rarely used effects when I lived in Australia and was using my own amp 100% of the time.

 

[JRA]

some, sometimes. but i'm not dependent.

 

[mark beem]

The second "version" of my "Minimal Rig" incorporates a preamp pedal (in my case, Ampeg SCR-DI) and taking the DI feed from that to FOH. The amp and speaker are then pretty much "monitors" unless the sound guy couldn't even mix a cocktail, much less a band. At that point, I'll take the David Wm. Simms approach to sound engineering (see my sig. line)...

My go-to Pre/DI of late has been my Aguilar Tone Hammer with no amp at all. We have our own PA and I can manipulate the EQs to get a good FOH and monitor sound.

 

[Pilgrim]

90% of the time, I don't use any pedal. There isn't any particular tune I've played where I've actually NEEDED it. But whether I actually need one or just feel like using one are two different things.

But I have a small board with three pedals: Korg Pitchblack Tuner - Baddest Bad Monkey OD - Fender '63 Reverb pedal.

That's it. I seldom use the OD, but I use the reverb fairly often on slow tunes to fill out the sound, and on every surf tune I play.

 

[basscapes]

My go-to Pre/DI of late has been my Aguilar Tone Hammer with no amp at all. We have our own PA and I can manipulate the EQs to get a good FOH and monitor sound.

I'm not really sure if (or WHAT) the SCR-DI has for any sort of speaker emu at the DI output, but I've used it for recording, and everyone that hears it (without knowing what I've done) thinks they're hearing a really well miked SVT!

I'll take that complement- in spades!

Maybe Ampeg GURU @JimmyM can chime in ('cause I can't even begin to look for my frequency genny and my o'scope right now!).

 

[instrumentlevel]

I use pedals sometimes. But my board is minimal. Then again, many of us have small pedal boards. Check out the thread: Show me your compact pedalboard setup