Pedals or No pedals!?

[Michedelic]

That is a cool bass. Who made that, please? The neck appears super thin - is it the photo angle or is it really thin?

Sorry, forgot to hit the “reply” button; look one post up

 

[Dr Zee]

been back and forth so many times there ought to be a song about it.
was "All About the Bass" for a long time, then got maybe the first Zoom bass pedal liked a lot of the sounds but it didn't hold up and never replaced it. Then got an Ashdown head with a sub built in, it's pretty cool never really had a tracking problem as another poster has mentioned. Hardly use that rig any more 'cause it weighs like 100 lbs.
Any way it has all led up to this mess, I think I need to actually get a pedal board !!!

 

[vvvmmm]

love pedals, but the band I'm now in just put the kibosh on overdrive, so now I'm done to nothing. Fine by me, less to carry, but I'm still very much a pedal fan.

Don't let them do that!!!!

 

[75Ric]

That is possibly one of, if not THE, first 5-string basses, as developed by that player, Jimmy Johnson, in conjunction with Alembic:
Jimmy Johnson (bassist) - Wikipedia
I’m not that well versed in all the lore, but there seems to be a parallel timeline involving Anthony Jackson on the east coast working with luthiers there to create extended range basses in the mid-70’s as well...
Anthony Jackson (musician) - Wikipedia

Thanks. I appreciate the background. I thought it might be special. It must be a dream to play.

 

[factory presets]

reverb,

Now you're scaring me.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

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?

Don’t use them. Mainly because the music I play does not require it, but if it did, I’d have them.

 

[Lorenzo V]

I don't use any pedals I think mainly because of the genre/style I play, and the fact I really like the 'pure' sound going in to my recorder. I use a rack mounted compressor going in to my desk, but once in, I don't mind a bit of harmonic distortion experimentation to enhance it. Also, I've never really cared for chorused bass tones, not that there's anything wrong with that, if it's your style.

 

[zontar]

Pedals or no pedals?

Either, both, neither?

Sometimes I use pedals, sometimes not.

I usually have a volume pedal plugged in, but more to cut out volume between songs, but also as an effect (Volume swell)

I also play guitar and use pedals more often on guitar--just kind of how I see the role of each instrument in most cases (& allowing for exceptions)

I also play unplugged a lot at home--so no way to use pedals.

other than a volume pedal, on bass I sometimes use chorus, autowah, octave & maybe an EQ pedal.

 

[murph7489]

No pedals, no racks, just bass> cord> DI> Amp head...nothing wrong with pedals but they're just not for me because really I play in a classic rock covers band and none of the songs we play require any effects from me. Once I did plug my bass in to the digitech multi verb rack that has tons of effects on it just to see what it would do for bass..I think that I had it plugged in for about 2 mins...done..YMMV tho..

 

[Funky Ghost]

I play for just myself and so get to play any genre I like. Pedals facilitate that. Parliament? No problem. Fuzz-a-riffic 70's ( or stoner ) rock? I got that. Mostly clean with just a hint of warmth, yeah I got that too. Wanna play Jeremy but don't have an 8 string bass? Yup, I can do it.

They're just tools for a job. Just like a fancy hammer wouldn't make me a better carpenter, the same is said of my pedals. They don't make me a better player but they allow me to do more than I could without them.

Have fun

 

[vvvmmm]

To extend yer metaphor, I like having more than one reason and manner in which to smash my fingers.

 

[ClaytonCroft]

I gig with only three pedals, all Boss - BB-1X Bass Driver, BC-1X Bass Comp, and a TU-2 tuner. My sound is pretty straightforward, just the classic P-Bass sound with a smidgen of overdrive and some compression. It gives the band I play in a solid foundation, so everyone can do what they need to do.

This is pretty much what I've decided on, rather than "chasing" the perfect all-in-one thing. a BB-1X, and TU-3 (and maybe add a chorus or octave later.) Growing up from the multis, which were useful in teaching me what I did/didn't need.

 

[WG Plum]

I love pedals, use 'em all the time.

 

[RestlessBoom]

To continue reviving this zombie thread- I spent my first 10 years playing without any pedals, then the next 10 with only 3. Over the last couple years I’ve completely gone down the rabbit hole and have upwards of 30, but only a few that I would consider “necessary” for gigs. And that’s mostly to be as versatile as possible when walking into a new space and figuring out what works best in that room. That being said, I LOVE pedals (now) and I appreciate the tone-shaping/altering possibilities they offer