I think I'm in denial about pedals. I use a Zoom B1on only for the amp sims and so I can save presets for each bass. I don't consider myself a pedal user. That is where the denial comes in.
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"Pedals...? I Don't Need No Stinking Pedals!!"
- Thread starter Wolfhound32
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- pedals
Move along, nothing to see here. And no this isn't my collection.
That's Nick Reinhart's, right?Move along, nothing to see here. And no this isn't my collection.
Just using a bit of creative illustration
Agreed.
My point is simply that the norm appears to be moving toward people bringing 19 hammers to drive a single nail
Beyond that I'm just trying to get a read on the number of folks not using pedalboards
I'm not sure where you are, but where I am about 80% of the players I'm seeing are either going straight in to their amps, or have some minimal tone and signal shaping stuff like: compressors, an outboard pre, a DI, or a HPF/LPF. For the rest that are packing actual effect type effects, most are only using one dirt pedal of some type.
In my case, I'll pack a Keeley Bassist compressor (in case the room can benefit from some compression); an Ampeg SCR/DI (in case I need a DI), and a Broughton Audio HPF (which is permanently plugged into my amp's effects loop and dialed 90% up to correct for a design deficiency in SWR's SM-400 head). About 80% of the time I go straight in to my amp. The rest of the time, I'll use my compressor to clean things up up a bit to compensate for bad room acoustics. and that's about it. Once in a blue moon I'll use the SCR/DI when I'm playing out. And I'm far from alone in running this light pedal-wise.
I keep thinking that someday I'll bring along my Iron Ether Nimbus Reverb for a little razzle-dazzle. But in the end I always leave it home.
Where are you playing that the bass players are all packing these 19 hammer deep monster boards? Do bass payers take a lot of solos where you are or something?
Move along, nothing to see here. And no this isn't my collection.
Please tell me that's in a store!
Yeah I use a few different tunings these days. So I'm constantly tuning the low b or e up or down a full step. I also like new wound round strings so tuning isn't always as stable as if I was using a bass with flats that have been on it for a year.
This thread got me to thinking, and since this is an internet forum, I'm gonna talk about ME for a bit.
I am 57 years old, and all my life I have been messing with sound. I started young, Pre-school. I was always using my voice in odd noisy ways, nonsense words, strange timbre's, non verbal utterances. This activity continues to this day.
As a pre teen, I would play with tape recorders, using different speeds, and vocal deliveries to change up things, create inhuman sounds. I got my first bass when I was 16, and the first thing I did with it was to make atonal percussive noise with my friends.
For as long as I can remember I have been fascinated by altering sound before it enters my ears, using my hands, making different deflections or obstructions to change the nature of whatever I was listening to at the moment, still do, it's fun.
I remember with great fondness, back in the 90's, the first time I thought to stick a cell phone speaker in my Pie hole, and fluctuate the volume of my oral cavity. I could to that all afternoon.
My career of the last 30+ years has been in audio, editing, mixing, restoring, all around knob twiddler and maker of "squeaky-beepy".
So, when some creative, industrious individual or company, conceives of and executes a device that will mess with the sound of an electronic signal. I'm like a Pavlovian dog, I am powerless to resist, it's in my DNA. I do love the bass, and a big, wondrous, clean, high fidelity Boomph can be a beautiful thing, but for me, it's just who I am, who I've always been, someone who likes to eff with sound. God bless signal processing and the weird, twisted artists who make stuff that, given the right circumstances, could bring peace and joy to all the world.
I am 57 years old, and all my life I have been messing with sound. I started young, Pre-school. I was always using my voice in odd noisy ways, nonsense words, strange timbre's, non verbal utterances. This activity continues to this day.
As a pre teen, I would play with tape recorders, using different speeds, and vocal deliveries to change up things, create inhuman sounds. I got my first bass when I was 16, and the first thing I did with it was to make atonal percussive noise with my friends.
For as long as I can remember I have been fascinated by altering sound before it enters my ears, using my hands, making different deflections or obstructions to change the nature of whatever I was listening to at the moment, still do, it's fun.
I remember with great fondness, back in the 90's, the first time I thought to stick a cell phone speaker in my Pie hole, and fluctuate the volume of my oral cavity. I could to that all afternoon.
My career of the last 30+ years has been in audio, editing, mixing, restoring, all around knob twiddler and maker of "squeaky-beepy".
So, when some creative, industrious individual or company, conceives of and executes a device that will mess with the sound of an electronic signal. I'm like a Pavlovian dog, I am powerless to resist, it's in my DNA. I do love the bass, and a big, wondrous, clean, high fidelity Boomph can be a beautiful thing, but for me, it's just who I am, who I've always been, someone who likes to eff with sound. God bless signal processing and the weird, twisted artists who make stuff that, given the right circumstances, could bring peace and joy to all the world.
I have these...
- Wireless pedal
- Tuner
- Power brick
- Sansamp DI
No way man, I'll never use pedals.
Well, that's the last time a headstock collision leaves me fumbling for a tuner on stage. I'm getting a pedal tuner.
Man, I borrowed this guy's head that had a compressor and graphic EQ built in and I really love what those added to my sound... Out of my price range right now though... I bet I could find a pedal comp and pedal EQ to fill that gap in the mean time though...
Well, I've got 3 pedals, no way am I wasting time making all those connections right before a set, time to buy a board.
Hey, since I've got a board with free space on it, I might as well get an overdrive, now the gain on my amp can be set-and-forget. And I mean, if you're getting an overdrive you might as well get a fuzz too, right? Who doesn't love a little Big Muff action on the bass every now and then?
Well, shoot, all these pedals and I don't even have a delay? What if I want to do some "Echoes" style syncopated lines? And you know what goes great with a delay? A volume pedal so I can do those sweet cello swells.
Man, playing around with really short delay times made me really appreciate that whole Jaco chorus bass sound. Still got room on the board, why not fill that space?
What? 8 pedals on this board and I don't even have a wah? Screw it.
And that's how I went from a purist to a shoegazer in about a year's time.
Well, that's the last time a headstock collision leaves me fumbling for a tuner on stage. I'm getting a pedal tuner.
Man, I borrowed this guy's head that had a compressor and graphic EQ built in and I really love what those added to my sound... Out of my price range right now though... I bet I could find a pedal comp and pedal EQ to fill that gap in the mean time though...
Well, I've got 3 pedals, no way am I wasting time making all those connections right before a set, time to buy a board.
Hey, since I've got a board with free space on it, I might as well get an overdrive, now the gain on my amp can be set-and-forget. And I mean, if you're getting an overdrive you might as well get a fuzz too, right? Who doesn't love a little Big Muff action on the bass every now and then?
Well, shoot, all these pedals and I don't even have a delay? What if I want to do some "Echoes" style syncopated lines? And you know what goes great with a delay? A volume pedal so I can do those sweet cello swells.
Man, playing around with really short delay times made me really appreciate that whole Jaco chorus bass sound. Still got room on the board, why not fill that space?
What? 8 pedals on this board and I don't even have a wah? Screw it.
And that's how I went from a purist to a shoegazer in about a year's time.
My point is simply that the norm appears to be moving toward people bringing 19 hammers to drive a single nail
I don't think that is the norm. Social media is pretty good at displaying excess. And, with a few exceptions, I find that MOST of the people flaunting their boards on social media (guitar and bass players alike) can't really play all that well without those toys. To use your analogy, they couldn't hit that nail with a single hammer if they tried. They can't seem to hold down a groove and often hide behind all kinds of delays and other effects. That's not a rule, and there are always exceptions, but that's what I run into. The more effects on a board, the less likely they can actually play.
That said, I have nothing against well-used effects. Guys like Tim Lefebvre and Juan Alderete and Tony Levin sure put effects to good use, but certainly don't need them. I often have a few pedals of my own, though 90% of my gigs are straight to the amp, and I only use pedals about 10% of the time on the remaining 10% of the gigs where I might actually have them. In the studio, I do run quite a bit more with both distortion and octave, and even delays for certain things.
Is that you in the avatar? Hopefully no one can duplicate your eye and steal your identity. Or is that more like a year 2071 worry?
Back on topic - pedals. I use them.
More like eye-dentity, eh?
Hold it. Are you saying you can not use pedals and NOT be a jerkweasel about it????
makes sense...if my band ever plays in alternate tuning, I will have to recant my posts here and try a Digitech Drop or something..
I've just never had the time for pedals. I'm always learning new songs and found a bass tone that I really liked right away, so my focus is just on keeping up to speed with the songs. I love covering songs as much as someone else likes pedals I guess and my band and church gig keep my time occupied. Tuner only in the chain, a little lo-mid boost on the amp and I'm good. I play around with flats vs. rounds once in a while that's it.
For a very long time I didn't use any effect but I found some of them quite interesting to me.
I use a Boss loop station for creation purpose, I love distortion/fuzz/overdrive and I also enjoy synth but it took me more than 10 years of playing before I gave in. In a band setting I don't use them much but alone or playing a cover they are useful to create something more complete.
I use a Boss loop station for creation purpose, I love distortion/fuzz/overdrive and I also enjoy synth but it took me more than 10 years of playing before I gave in. In a band setting I don't use them much but alone or playing a cover they are useful to create something more complete.
