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"The best (...) pedal"

adamsmatthewj

adamsmatthewj

May 4, 2013
600
70
#1
Should be a fun thread! I know it's been done, but I'm adding a small twist...

Looking for suggestions for specific setups... Here we go!

Let's talk modulation first:
I'm really into chorus, flangers, and phasers. I own and love the tc electronic Corona Chorus, it sounds so phenomenal with my roundwound strung Jbass, the ways I have it set add low end, huge presence, lots of fluidity to legato lines, and a distinctly un-warbly beauty. Awesome sauce.
However, when I plug my flatwound strung Pbass into it, nothing happens lol! The way the tone's fundamental takes over with a P/flat setup just renders useless all the fun frequencies and overtones that a chorus like the Corona thrives on. Sounds like nothing. Weird!
That being said, anyone have any insight into some choruses with lots of tweakability that would add shape to a fundamental tone like a P/flat setup? Have heard good things about the EQD Sea machine and the MXR Bass Chorus Deluxe, but haven't tried either of them yet.

Phasers:
Have and love the Mooer NinetyOrange as well as the MXR Phase90, they're sweet stinkin pedals. The Mooer even works down to a low B without losing low end, just an awesome tone.
What other phasers you guys into for 5 strings? (They usually poop out in the middle of the fingerboard, that's why I specify 5ers) anyone see the MXR Phase99? Curious about that one too.

Flange?!
Own the Boss Bf-3, really love that one for it's tap-tempo, but it's noisy. Really noisy. (Although, I've found that almost all of Boss' awesome/quirky/cool sounding pedals are pretty noisy lol! Gotta embrace it and rock with it!)
What flange are youguys using? Anything quiet and subtle? I feel like it can take the place of a chorus if used correctly.

Anyway, just my rantings lol! Feel free to add your experiences about what is the "best" pedal for specific setups!
 
#2
While I can't totally relate to the situations you've specified, I'll weigh in if it helps.

Chorus: I use a J with flats and I love my Sea Machine. Tons of tweak ability, sounds great, tons of depth (particularly at 12v). Can also get crizazay, but has the ability to be dialed back with a blend (I forget which control it is at the moment).

Flanger: I use a BF-2 with the controls all pretty much at noon. It can definitely be subtle and used as a chorus. It too has some noise, but not too bad. I have thought about doing the Fromel mod to it at some point, but it's not totally necessary now.

Phaser: I can't speak to the question regarding 5 strings, so I'll refrain.

But in general, I think the Source Audio Orbital could serve in all the roles you've asked about above. I bought it to use as my dedicated phaser plus some other funky stuff. It can definitely approach Bf-2 tones and has some nice chorus tones. TONS of parameters to tweak too. I suspect it could be a single solution to all these issues.
 
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#3
adamsmatthewj said:
Should be a fun thread! I know it's been done, but I'm adding a small twist...

Looking for suggestions for specific setups... Here we go!

Let's talk modulation first:
I'm really into chorus, flangers, and phasers. I own and love the tc electronic Corona Chorus, it sounds so phenomenal with my roundwound strung Jbass, the ways I have it set add low end, huge presence, lots of fluidity to legato lines, and a distinctly un-warbly beauty. Awesome sauce.
However, when I plug my flatwound strung Pbass into it, nothing happens lol! The way the tone's fundamental takes over with a P/flat setup just renders useless all the fun frequencies and overtones that a chorus like the Corona thrives on. Sounds like nothing. Weird!
That being said, anyone have any insight into some choruses with lots of tweakability that would add shape to a fundamental tone like a P/flat setup? Have heard good things about the EQD Sea machine and the MXR Bass Chorus Deluxe, but haven't tried either of them yet.

Phasers:
Have and love the Mooer NinetyOrange as well as the MXR Phase90, they're sweet stinkin pedals. The Mooer even works down to a low B without losing low end, just an awesome tone.
What other phasers you guys into for 5 strings? (They usually poop out in the middle of the fingerboard, that's why I specify 5ers) anyone see the MXR Phase99? Curious about that one too.

Flange?!
Own the Boss Bf-3, really love that one for it's tap-tempo, but it's noisy. Really noisy. (Although, I've found that almost all of Boss' awesome/quirky/cool sounding pedals are pretty noisy lol! Gotta embrace it and rock with it!)
What flange are youguys using? Anything quiet and subtle? I feel like it can take the place of a chorus if used correctly.

Anyway, just my rantings lol! Feel free to add your experiences about what is the "best" pedal for specific setups!
Click to expand...

As for choruses, you want tweakablity, look no further than the IE Polytope. Man, talk about tweak city. Plus it sounds ridiculously awesome. I had one myself and loved it. But I was also looking for something that was going to help me cut down on the space my modulation section was talking on my board. That is when I found out what Source Audio Soundblox 2 was all about. Here is another perfect example of really tweakable modulation. You have everything right there for you in one neat little package and the ability have two presets at your toes. If you get the HUB, its endless. So my vote, for what youre looking for, is to get an Orbital Modulator by Source Audio. If you want more than two presets, grab a MIDI HUB while youre at it. SA stuff is the real deal. They make some really innovative products that simply sound amazing and function wonderfully. It may take some time to really grasp all the perimeters of some of their pedals, but once you do, you will be SO glad you grabbed pretty much anything they make. I myself use it. I use one preset for a flanger and one for a chorus. I may change one or the other for a phaser one of these days, but then again, I have the Zoom for that kind of stuff too if I wanted. Have you given any thought to a Zoom ms70cdr?? I really dig that pedal. Happy I decided to grab one.
 
#4
gregmon79 said:
As for choruses, you want tweakablity, look no further than the IE Polytope. Man, talk about tweak city. Plus it sounds ridiculously awesome. I had one myself and loved it. But I was also looking for something that was going to help me cut down on the space my modulation section was talking on my board. That is when I found out what Source Audio Soundblox 2 was all about. Here is another perfect example of really tweakable modulation. You have everything right there for you in one neat little package and the ability have two presets at your toes. If you get the HUB, its endless. So my vote, for what youre looking for, is to get an Orbital Modulator by Source Audio. If you want more than two presets, grab a MIDI HUB while youre at it. SA stuff is the real deal. They make some really innovative products that simply sound amazing and function wonderfully. It may take some time to really grasp all the perimeters of some of their pedals, but once you do, you will be SO glad you grabbed pretty much anything they make. I myself use it. I use one preset for a flanger and one for a chorus. I may change one or the other for a phaser one of these days, but then again, I have the Zoom for that kind of stuff too if I wanted. Have you given any thought to a Zoom ms70cdr?? I really dig that pedal. Happy I decided to grab one.
Click to expand...
Oh I didn't even think of the SA orbital! That's def something worth looking into, I think I even see em on the classified evry now and again
 
#6
Okay then....a couple from me (all taking into account that I have not tried many many many pedals in each category. And apologies for my obvious love and respect for both Musitronics and Moog.)

The best OCTAVE pedal is: for me it is between the Boss OC-2 and the Mu-Tron Octave divider. The Boss has that amazingly sweet synthy sound and is so rich and creamy. It is a guaranteed crowd and band pleaser. Then the Mu-Tron which has a rather sensitive (wonderful) tone knob that makes it a bit more flexible and it has a great and pretty subtle ring mod mode that is super fun. I have found a way to keep both on my board for now but I am sure that won't last too long. Real estate is precious stuff.

The best ENVELOPE FILTER pedal is: for me it has to be the Mu-Tron III. Ok, it can't do all the cool stuff that the Moog MF-101 can do but it has THAT sound. The Bootsy, Stevie Wonder, Estimated Prophet, Larry Coryell, etc sound. Nothing comes quite close to getting that sound. Honestly I prefer it on bass to guitar. The pains are the price, powering it, the size. Which is why the clone I found here (in the mail) is something that I have very high hopes for. No question an honorable mention goes to the Moog MF-101 LP filter. Which has much more potential and flexibility than the Mu-Tron. Check out Adi77s MP3 clips of synth sounds he made with his. Pretty awesome stuff.

The best PHASE pedals is: This one is harder as there are so many different kinds of phase. The pedal that absolutely defined the effect has to be the Musitronics Bi-Phase. But that is a bit out of reach for most of us. Half of it is a Phasor II and I am searching for a clone that would work well. I do ADORE the original 1974 MXR phase 90 and bought the reissue from Analog Mike. Just the right amount of richness and waves. Pretty amazing effect. I love how well it works with bass. The Moog 103 12 stage phaser is another of my favorites and definitely something that I will buy again soon.

The best DELAY pedal is: a place on the podium has to go to the Moog MF-104 which to me absolutely defines the genre. I have never heard an Analog delay with more flexibility, madness and potential all wrapped up in a cute little package than the Moog. This is the reason that the biggest thing on my GAS list is the Moog MF-Delay mini-fooger. Can't wait for that to appear in Europe. I bought an EHX Memory Boy a while ago because I needed a delay in a pinch and the Maxon that I was using at the time was getting fixed. I didn't expect to keep the EHX long and expected to flip it once the Maxon came back. But now a few years later the EHX has kept the place on the board more often than not. I don't really use any of the modulation options on it but love the lush analog delays that it gives me. The Maxon is a great unit as well.

Not even going to touch overdrive and fuzz as they are sensitive topics here and people are rather opinionated.
 
#8
gregmon79 said:
Dude, if you like phasers, you gotta check out the phasers in the new zoom B1Xon. The dual phaser is totally rad!! So much rich woorling goodness.
Click to expand...

Joo talkin to me homie?

Never owned a Zoom in my life other than their drum machine / rhythm generator. Sounds like that is a good reason to check out that pedal though...
 
#9
Mosfed said:
Joo talkin to me homie?

Never owned a Zoom in my life other than their drum machine / rhythm generator. Sounds like that is a good reason to check out that pedal though...
Click to expand...

Indeed I am. Thought I'd throw it out there. For the price tag, $70 I think, you can't beat. I even like most the dirt offerings. You just have to tweak it a bit. Spend some time building patches. But IMO the modulation and delays, even trems and vibratos, are damn great. I dig anything zoom is making now a days. Great stuff for the price.


Killing gods
 
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#10
I think I should try too. Ok. The Phaser of my choice is EBS. Tweakable and juicy, it has all the range of steps I need from 4-steps to even 18-steps. Lows can be bigger than my Trace Elliott 715 can accept, but I can fix it with internal pot. Very sweet sound, and of course - it colours the sound.
DLS Versa Vibe and Rotosim just do their job without unwanted colouration.
 
#12
Chorus: best one I ever played was the TC SCF. But I hate chorus now and have no plans to ever get another one.

Phase: I'm still married to the Small Stone, even though I use a Nano now.

Flange: Deluxe Electric Mistress by far. It's big, but it sounds magnificent.
 
#13
Chorus- zw34/analog chorus by mxr
Octave- mxr bod
Flanger- dod fx72 stereo bass flanger
Phaser- phase 90, although I am leaning toward the new phase 99
Envelope- mxr bef

It might seem like I'm an mxr fanboy. Although most of my gigging stuff is mxr, there are still some of the bass specific pedals I'm not sold on.
 
#14
gregmon79 said:
Indeed I am. Thought I'd throw it out there. For the price tag, $70 I think, you can't beat. I even like most the dirt offerings. You just have to tweak it a bit. Spend some time building patches. But IMO the modulation and delays, even trems and vibratos, are damn great. I dig anything zoom is making now a days. Great stuff for the price.
Click to expand...


Good to know. The size of the pedal kind of kills me but the local guitar storer is owned by a friend here In the valley and he lets me check things out at home through my own setup. He carries Zoom so I will see if he can get one in.
 

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