Pedals or No pedals!?

[Pings Bass]

I've been "no pedal guy" for ages but my doubling rig has a tuner, EQ and line switcher, plus an HPF. I just use the EQ for the DB.

 

[rohi]

I'm moving more towards going directly into the amp. Never been a huge effects guy anyway, mainly just compression, eq/filters and a tuner. It feels freeing honestly

 

[StatesideRambler]

I began playing bass in the sixties and to this day I’ve never used an effect pedal of any kind when playing out; in the late 70s I tried a few in the rehearsal room but I heard nothing appealing. I have a Planet Waves strobe tuner that sometimes leaves the house and an Ampeg SCR-DI that never leaves the house.

Long story, short: nah.

 

[Real Soon]

I tried to create a chorus and reverb sound with my fingers once for the part in an artist's original production. Making reverb with one's fingers is really hard. Chorus is also hard if you want the up-and-down modulation (since it's slightly impossible to bend a string to make it flatter than the fretted note).

It's true that plenty of what we do is "good enough" bass to amp, but the idea of pedals is not relying on them like some crutch, but using them as tools to enhance an already good thing. Particularly tone-related ones. Ambient effects and whatnot are clearly a different discussion.

I'm working on setting up a small pedal strip to enhance the sound and headroom of my '60 P's signal going into my rig. Without it, things are fine, I sound good and everyone likes it. But I want HPF, EQ, compression, and a special-effects slot to level up from fine to fantastic, and one little box with one plug to power it all is well worth it to me.

 

[kosmicwizard]

Wayhuge just rereleased the purple platypus, you might want to check it out?

I have used bits and bobs in the past but I'd prefer it straight. I have an Electro-Harmonix chorus I use in the house, it has bass and treble controls which is what I look for. The Ashdown ABM800 I have has a built-in octaver but it doesn't track fast enough for what I want. Maybe Ashdown have improved it, mine is number 35, 1997 I think. One thing I have used on the amp is the valve overdrive, it's grittier than distortion, it has quite good cut. I might treat myself to a good octaver, not the kind of thing you can use all of the time but great when you need it.

 

[Stumbo]

Until recently, never any peddles. Now with my HPF and active 3 band eq bass, I can pound any rig into submission.

Prolly upgrade to and H/LPF so I can play with the high end as well. I play with a light touch so there's not much to compress.

 

[Michedelic]

I’ve been using pedals since the early 70’s; inspired by all the forward looking bassists like Tim Bogert, Soft Machine’s Hugh Hopper, and Greg Lake for fuzz, John Wetton for Wah(which I also used to mimic Bootsy), Chris Squire for all sorts of things, Roger Waters(and eventually Peter Hook)for delay, Anthony Jackson and others for phaser, and then all the studio treatments which led to pedals being developed to recreate that sound, doubling, chorus, tape flanging, as used by a variety of bassists...Jaco, Tina, Percy, Hooky again. I was thrilled when the original Electric Mistress came out in ‘77, first pedal that I ever bought new. Why should guitarists have all the ear candy? I play electric bass, I never was concerned with imitating upright, being stuck in the past. But as I’ve mentioned before, a pedal board is like a spice rack; each song is like cooking a particular dish, sometimes you need just just one or two things to give it some flavor, sometimes nothing. A six stringer, if he has any taste, doesn’t use every effect, all the time. Now I’m into octaves, synth pedals, ring modulators, the EHX sitar, and so on; helps me beat keyboard players at their own game. Always at the right time, right place, though.

It's supposed to be a good one; has a built-in flanger, too (whatever the Hell that is...).

You’ve been hearing flanged bass since the 60’s, on records by Hendrix, The Nazz, The Byrds, Small Faces, Beatles, Status Quo... back then by virtue of the fact that the entire mix(or specific parts)was manually flanged and given the “jet engine” sound, and later through outboard and pedal units; Jones’ work on Eno and Brand X albums, and Weymouth’s stuff on the early Talking Heads material got me going, made bass sound three dimensional, chorus thickening.

 

[BassPilot]

I don't use any peddles but I do use a Broughton HPF/LPF which I don't consider a "peddle".
I have an Ampeg SCR-DI which I've gigged with a couple of times and an Eden WTDI which I haven't gigged with. But I generally don't use either of them.
Other musicians sometimes tell me they like my tone and comment that it's just a great bass tone. For me, there isn't a better compliment from a tone perspective.

 

[Nashrakh]

Depends. Two of my bands benefit from a naked sound. For the other even my Pedal Tote is barely big enough to hold all of them.

 

[ajkula66]

Soft Machine’s Hugh Hopper

Talk about a forgotten giant, may he RIP. I never thought about bass the same way after hearing "Third" when I was 16 or so...

For me, it was Barry Adamson's work with Magazine that pushed me into experimenting with chorus and flanger...which in itself opened up numerous Pandora's boxes.

Yes, I've gigged with no pedals, I've recorded with no pedals and was completely fine with it. Nowadays I prefer playing through my little processor(s)...

 

[Clemouze]

I craft my tone with them , so many hours tweaking knobs..! They are more important than my amp ! ( Which is clean )

I have to say I passed more hours geeking on my tone than learning songs, that's my thing !

 

[soundsupport1]

I have a total of 8 pedals on my board. One is a tuner, one is a DI, one is an A/B switch, so they don't count.
The other 'always-on' pedal is an Eden Glowplug tube pedal, which adds a low mid warmth to the sound.
The other pedals I can take or leave, but they're on the board so they come with me. T-Rex Quint octave: use for organ-like sounds on traditional hymns. EHX Bass Soul Food: top end grit for rockier stuff. Boss AW-3 Dynamic Wah: pretty much never used. Fun to play around with at home, hardly ever live. Boss CEB-3 chorus: for that 1980s tone.

I generally go direct, hardly ever play with an amp nowadays. For that reason, with two basses, a switcher, tuner and DI are essential, and the Glowplug adds some nice amp-like girth to the sound.

YMMV.

Peace,
SoundSupport

 

[devnulljp]

I always used pedals, used to have a huge board and stacks more in the cupboard too. But over the last few years I haven't needed them. None of the work I was doing wanted much of anything. So my board now has a tuner, a compressor, and a DI, and that's all.

 

[cnltb]

I mostly like to be able to offer certain things and to play around with sounds and do enjoy pedals.
That said, the vast majority of what I do does not involve any stomp boxes at all.
Depends entirely on the situation.

 

[crabbybassman]

How else will I make my bass sound like a flute ? The compliments I receive far out weigh the complaints on my bass flute. Took along time to dial in that flute sound. It's just one thing I use the H9 for. But I'm down to two pedals. H9 and a Two Notes Le Bass. Everything I play is covered with just those. And except when I need my flute I really don't need anything but my bass and an amp. Pedals are extremely fun and inspire me to go outside the norm.

 

[Al Krow]

This thread is a bit of a refreshing surprise in terms of how many folk seem to manage just fine with no pedals. I was expecting a whole lot more gigging bass players to be saying that they wouldn't be seen (or more accurately, heard) dead without their compressor.

 

[Lagado]

This thread is a bit of a refreshing surprise in terms of how many folk seem to manage just fine with no pedals. I was expecting a whole lot more gigging bass players to be saying that they wouldn't be seen (or more accurately, heard) dead without their compressor.

That's one thing I would not use. All your dynamics and intensity should be done with your fingers. Them lazy boys...

 

[ThinCrappyTone]

How many fellow bass players don’t use pedals? And how any do use effects? I’m not against them. I just never wanted to rely on anything but my bass, amp, fingers, and occasional pick for tone. If you do used pedals, what pedals can you not gig without?

For me, tuner/mute pedal is essential, compressor is highly desirable, everything else depends on the music I’m playing. Usually a looper, a fuzz and a reverb or delay.

 

[Hundred proof]

Just “drive” stages, allows me a pushed amp sound with out a loud overdriven amp. Ideal for keeping stage volume reasonable.

 

[Taustin Powers]

I used to own a Aguilar Filter Twin. I eventually sold it because I never used it. Now all I have left is my L/HPF pedal, which is sitting on top of my amp, right next to my wireless receiver. I absolutely love having no clutter whatsoever on the floor!!!