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Really thinking about cutting down my effect pedals, and I only have 6

gary mitchell

gary mitchell

Jul 14, 2008
2,020
1,671
austin texas
#1
Since I got my new Aguilar Twin filter, I am thinking about cutting down to 3 pedals. my three would be my Keeley Bassist, to my Aguilar filter twin, and my Boss dd-3. I would be getting rid of my Fuzz pedal a guy made for me nice pedal its a copy of the old Dallas Arbiter, and get rid of the Boss GEB-7. I can tell a different in my sound even when they are turn off. And there is just to much EQing going on for me. Do you guys think I am crazy.
 
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#2
Nah man, if the pedals are bogging your tone down when bypassed, just replace them with either quality buffered pedals, true bypass pedals, or nothing at all. My "front end" of effects is just dirt, filter, modulation, and sometimes an octaver. The 'back end' (basic tone shaping and utility work) is tuner, compressor, and sometimes a preamp.

You're only crazy if you force yourself to use something that you don't like the effects of on your sound!
 
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#5
gary mitchell said:
Since I got my new Aguilar Twin filter, I am thinking about cutting down to 3 pedals. my three would be my Keeley Bassist, to my Aguilar filter twin, and my Boss dd-3. I would be getting rid of my Fuzz pedal a guy made for me nice pedal its a copy of the old Dallas Arbiter, and get rid of the Boss GEB-7. I can tell a different in my sound even when they are turn off. And there is just to much EQing going on for me. Do you guys think I am crazy.
Click to expand...

Some of my 2 cents...

You should feed filters a dry signal because it reacts to dynamics. A compressor tends to remove dynamics.

Fuzz pedal - I'm not really a fan of fuzz pedals especially for bass. I like the sound of overdrive or distortion more. So I would say, good riddance! Hehe

Graphic EQ - I personally wanted to buy a graphic EQ myself but decided against it because I realized I can achieve the tone I need using my bass' onboard controls and my preamps basic EQ. So I would say it is not crazy not to have them. :)
 
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#6
It's funny but cool, these 2 pedals work very well together. It really doesn't make much different which you put first. I find that the gain control on the Keeley bassist, really makes the Aguilar Filter Twin shine if put first. But that's to my ears and it seems to my worship band members like it better that way . I also play with a little 4 piece band on Saturdays and they like it. Both bands all have years of music and music gear under their belts, 3 of them play many different instruments, one has a 6 year degree in music. So I really can rely on what they say as far as sound, but I get most of my mechanics from here, if you can understand that. I think for what I do the Keeley Bassist and Aguilar and Delay is all I need. I would like to find an overdrive pedal with more sustain and just a slight overdrive.
 
#7
gary mitchell said:
Since I got my new Aguilar Twin filter, I am thinking about cutting down to 3 pedals. my three would be my Keeley Bassist, to my Aguilar filter twin, and my Boss dd-3. I would be getting rid of my Fuzz pedal a guy made for me nice pedal its a copy of the old Dallas Arbiter, and get rid of the Boss GEB-7. I can tell a different in my sound even when they are turn off. And there is just to much EQing going on for me. Do you guys think I am crazy.
Click to expand...

Gary, if your recent threads about these pedals are an indicator, then yes, they are bogging you down.

Try paring it down to two or three pedals for your current lineup. Store the rest until you're either sure about the reduced lineup or are ready to try them again. Also, however many you gig with, engage no more than two at a time.

Good luck!
 
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#9
Hey, not all of us are Justin Chancellor or Doug Wimbish. Use what feels right to you. In theory I'd love a board with multiple fuzzes, od's, distortions, filters, phasers, etc, but in reality I only really use 2-3 pedals at a time. Believe me, it makes playing this instrument much easier. One day, if I ever have a roadie and am playing large clubs or arenas I'll put together the board of my dreams. But for now a small board allows me to concentrate on the fundamentals and not get too far out there.
 
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#10
You're not crazy. Do what YOU want to do, it's your board. Of course you know that. I have fallen in to the rabbit hole and had 20 pedals on my board at one time in the past. Many times. But over time I started forcing myself to ditch stuff I didnt NEED. With my band we are really open to experimenting so that can leave a lot of room for trying new things. That led to me trying to cram as much as I could onto a PT Pro sized board. It was fun for a while but then I got tired of the tippy toe tap dance. I mean, do you really need 9 dirt boxes on your board?......(YES!!! haha)

After I cut back though, it was actually more freeing, I was more inspired because it was easier for me to see what I had to work with as opposed to having "all this stuff at my feet" to work with. So sometimes simpler is better/best. Dont get me wrong though, I still have like 12 or 13 pedals on my board haha but its made it more fun for me now.
 
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#16
I used to have a bunch of pedals. Some I used for 1 song a night. I decided it wasn't worth it.
I now have a tuner and an OCSD to breathe some "life" and "presence" in my DI/IEM rig.
The entire band noticed that more than any effects I used. I'm very happy. Pedaltrain Nano and I'm good to go.
 
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#17
SteveC said:
I now have an OCSD in my DI/IEM rig.
Click to expand...
Pretend I'm so ignorant I don't know what those letters mean. What do they mean? I know DI is probably a DI, direct line. The rest?
Today I wouldn't have a board without a SSBS Mini, the small do-it-all fuzz/overdrive, but for many years, the 90s especially, I never had a fuzz or missed one. Compressor and chorus delay, eq, yes. There were no fuzzes that did what myriad pedals do today, retain the low end. Your particular pedal, while it may be special, may not be to your liking. Have you tried a TAFM? Carcosa? etc
 
#18
BassBrass said:
Pretend I'm so ignorant I don't know what those letters mean. What do they mean? I know DI is probably a DI, direct line. The rest?
Today I wouldn't have a board without a SSBS Mini, the small do-it-all fuzz/overdrive, but for many years, the 90s especially, I never had a fuzz or missed one. Compressor and chorus delay, eq, yes. There were no fuzzes that did what myriad pedals do today, retain the low end. Your particular pedal, while it may be special, may not be to your liking. Have you tried a TAFM? Carcosa? etc
Click to expand...

Sorry. Almost all my gigs are DI (direct line) and I use IEM's (In Ear Monitors) so my board looks like this:
OCSD board.JPG

I use the OmniCabSim to give my DI and IEM sound a bit of "life" or "presence" and the Rolls is for my IEM's. All on a Pedaltrain Nano board. I absolutely LOVE this rig.
 
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#20
SteveC said:
Sorry. Almost all my gigs are DI (direct line) and I use IEM's (In Ear Monitors) so my board looks like this:
View attachment 3008881
I use the OmniCabSim to give my DI and IEM sound a bit of "life" or "presence" and the Rolls is for my IEM's. All on a Pedaltrain Nano board. I absolutely LOVE this rig.
Click to expand...
it's purdy. IEMs, oh I have a mental block about them, but Im Sure devotees know OCS, looks useful & well built.
 

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