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Reverb for Bass
- Thread starter SJan3
- Start date
I find delay to be better for creating ambiance and depth when playing solo or getting experimental, though I'm planning on playing with some reverbs on some projects this winter. Not helpful, I know. But my DD-5 really does create the bass version of the vibe I get turning up reverb on my guitar amps.
My favorite use of deep reverb is on sort of drone-y acoustic guitar
My favorite use of deep reverb is on sort of drone-y acoustic guitar
I use reverb, sparingly, on my fretless bass guitars. Some use delay. I prefer reverb. I'm using an original TC Hall of Fame. It doesn't need tweaking room to room. Consistent and quiet. And inexpensive.
I split my signal into 3: DI (mostly clean), effects, and distorted. The effects and distorted signals each go to their own amp, which are miced up. I use a small amount of plate reverb on the effects amp only, and leave the DI and distorted channels alone. Sounds great in recordings.
Walrus SLO. Replaced the EHX Cathedral for me as I didn't need the stereo.
I like to occasionally use some spring reverb with a pick. I use a Strymon Flint which works great - especially because it also has tremolo for the Twin Peaks vibe 
- but most spring reverbs work well enough to me. Modulated reverbs tend to get muddy for my taste.
- but most spring reverbs work well enough to me. Modulated reverbs tend to get muddy for my taste.
I was surprised to find the same thing myself. I had a Strymon DIG dual delay for months and loved it and thought I should get the real thing and grab a reverb. I ended up getting a Ventris and I love it, however I still find myself using the DIG delay for my big ambient soundscapey stuff.
Actually can get some amazing sounds blending the and stacking the 2 but that is another thread.
Ventris into LS-2 with the DIG blended and stacked at the same time with reverb. Amazing.
I don't use reverb a ton, but when I do I usually use one of the built in ones in my Boss MS-3...However my favorite reverb for bass is my Polara, I just don't use it enough to waste board space on it.
I think it has to do with the frequency of overtones in guitar vs. bass. The complexities of overtones in bass guitar are lower and simply better suited up to being picked up by delays.
That said, my experience with delay is limited and reverb is VERY limited with bass.
With little kids in the house, I've been on the search for the holy grail of headphone rigs for the last 10 years. Even with hi-fi headphone amps and EQs, things always sounded a bit dry. Awhile back, I discovered that the Hall of Fame Reverb has a setting called "Ambiant" that injects just the right amount of air into a signal...as if you're standing in front of a big backline rig. Subtle, but works like magic. You don't realize how much it's doing until you turn the thing off. Though it can do way more than that, I bought my HOF on the the virtue of that one "ambiant" setting alone.
Lon
Lon
I only use reverb with a chorus pedal on my fretless. Never use it on my fretted. Mine is a Behringer copy of a Boss. Works great.
It's been my experience that reverb sounds great on Bass if you're playing by yourself or maybe sparingly on a recording. If you are playing live, it's one of the quickest ways for the Bass to get lost in the mix and people hear you playing but not what you are playing.
I have a Zoom B3n. The reverb effects are very good. It's not clear that it's trying to emulate any particular reverb pedals, as it would be for the compressor patches. But good.
I don't use much reverb, but I do have a patch I created to mimic Janek Gwizdala's typical tone, which lops off just about everything above 4K or so, bumps low mids, and has some reverb and almost imperceptible delay.
I don't use much reverb, but I do have a patch I created to mimic Janek Gwizdala's typical tone, which lops off just about everything above 4K or so, bumps low mids, and has some reverb and almost imperceptible delay.
Try an Afterneath, already noted, or an MP Kosmos, my go to
I have an Afterneath that works well for underscoring - I can use it to "paste over" the spaces left when I do swells - it makes a good pad/atmospheric vibe realtively easy to do on bass. Use when driving a tune, it, like most reverbs, can destroy the vibe totally. Gotta know that.
