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Pedal suggestions please.

santucci218

santucci218

Jan 26, 2007
5,570
16
37
Pittsburgh
www.myspace.com
#1
i got about 250 dollars. i wanna get a few pedals to fatten my tone. i am really into slap and smooth out jaco like jazz. I was thinking maybe a compressor, and a slight chorus?

i wanted like 2-4 pedals. not over my price limit though.

please gimme a quick rundown of what i should get, what it does to tone, and how much it costs...please...thanks a lot TBers
 
#3
*puts on gloves, gets beatin' stick*

OK, I'll be nice. Santucci, the world of pedals is incredibly vast, and you've got a lot of reading to do before you ask "what should I get". For compressor info, check the links in my sig. For chorus, or any effect at all, search on the word "chorus" (or whatever) here in the fx forum and read everything you can, in order to make an educated request.
 
#4
might want to look at the aphex bass xciter to "fatten" up the tone. It also tightens up the sound a bit, sounds like its right up your alley. That'll only run ya like 90-100 bucks new. Theres a bunch of people around use em for everything. Also makes a nice D.I. With the remaining 150 if you want a compressor, theres a million ways to go. If you want some light compression, you could save a littl $ for cables and get the aphex punch factory. If you just need a little light compression, that should do the job nicely. Between those two pedals I'm sure you could make some steps towards that sound your going for. However I will say that you were rather vague about what you wanted, so I gave some pretty generic answers. but for 250 dollars those two pedals will definitly do a lot for your sound.
 
#5
I'd suggest a compressor (Ashdown Dual Band is $99 for more tweakability, but Aphex is the most transparent...you may want to check them both out). If you want a tone 'fattener', you can get a Sansamp BDDI, or the Aphex Bass Xciter. If you go with the Xciter, you'll have 50 bucks for patch cables and a sandwich :). Hell, for fattening, maybe a good bass EQ plus a compressor could do the trick, and you'd have even more money left.

These are a few of the things I find can thicken up my tone a bit.

1) A light/medium chorus
2) A light phaser + a light, bassy envelope filter
3) Careful equalization

One last piece of advice: try stuff before you buy it. If you can, lug your entire rig into the shop and hook things up one at a time. If you don't want to do that, buy from a website with a good return policy and test over a longer period.

PS: Searching probably would have been a good idea. Do some searches...there's plenty of threads just like this one, and additional ones for tone fattening etc.
 
#11
Since you are unfamilair with the wild, woolly, and weird world of effects, I'd suggest considering a multi-fx unit to start with. Multis package a whole array of effects (some you'll use, some not) and you can get familair with how each one alters, enhances, or mutilates your tone. You might be surprised at some of the things you like that you had never considered - or you might decide effects are worthless for your playing.

If you're dead-set on just a couple of individual pedals, a compressor and a chorus might be the answer for the sound you're looking for. For sound samples, poke around on the various manufacturer's websites. Many of them have samples.

Doing a search in this forum for specific items will get you a lot of info, too (as not-so-delicately mentioned previously).

Happy hunting! :)
 
#13
$250...u like slap, and jaco style jazz...interesting

first off, yes, cut ur mids for slap, but for jaco stuff, boost them back up and cut ur neck pickup out a bunch...that being said, an EQ pedal would be nice for u to either cut or boost ur mids

a chorus pedal and a delay would prolly be ur other 2 best bets (the chrous can work for both styles, and the delay is something i find wuite useful for jaco style jazz...he used 2 mxr rackmount ones himself)...i'd go all boss w/ a GEB-7 bass EQ, CEB-3 bass chorus, and a DD-3...if u purchase all 3 of these at musiciansfriend, that puts u RIGHT AT $250.

i would say keep ur bass/amp at a "jaco setting" with ur neck pickup backed off and the mids boosted and use the EQ to boost ur bass and treble and cut ur mids when doing slap passages...as far as the delay and chorus, have fun sitting down for a couple hours tweaking and practicing and zeroing in on ur sound

i hope this helped u out
 
#14
If it were my descision, I would buy a Tech 21 SansAmp Bass Driver DI and a Danelectro FAB Chorus. There are a lot of pedals out there that would do what you need, but IMO, if you buy pedals that do more than what you need, (Like the SansAmp), you will be less likely to outgrow them. I have found that having a SansAmp around makes life a little easier because it can be used for so many things. That particular chorus is debatable, though. Fifteen bucks isn't much of a gamble so it shouldn't sting that much if you discover that it isn't your cup of tea. Good luck.
 
#17
santucci218 said:
im not too into flangers. like i said, main things that i would use is a slight chorus, some compression, and 7-10 band EQ.

whats a bass envelope filter do?

are ashdown pedals good? they seem nice for 70 each.

ty
Click to expand...

Well, (quoting Joe P) a chorus is a flanger with regen/resonance set at 0.

That's why you still need to buy 16 FAB flange pedals. Throw in the FAB Metal for good measure too. It'll be just over your budget, but it's definitely worth it.
 
#19
His point was to mess with you since it looked like you haven't bothered to use the search function yet. :D It's one of our pet peeves here. Check it out: Search on "chorus", "envelope filter", "Ashdown", etc. But then again, 16 flange pedals could sound mighty awesome!
 
#20
Demeter Compulator compressor.
I don't leave home (or go to a gig) with out it.

A little compression goes a LONG way!!
And the Demeter is about one of the smoothest out there.
But it's also like $200!!!! Or something like that, I've had mine for so long, I forgot what I paid for it!!!:D
 

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