Using Regular Guitar Pedals for a Bass?

[Thegreatzambini]

It’s been done for decades by many high-end professional bass players it’s not even a discussion really at this point as to whether it works or not.

 

[HolmeBass]

Muff clones seem to have a lot of low end, even without a clean blend.

A lot modulation works great, like an MXR Phase 90, or the Small Stone. Flangers and chorus also sound good on bass.

 

[JimmyM]

I don’t like guitar centric dirt pedals because most cut the lows too low for bass. Some get around that by blending the pedal with their clean sound, but I despise doing that.

 

[monti2889]

Use whatever sounds good. If you have something that's sucking low end out...I would suggest running it in parallel over trying to salvage the low end with an equalizer. Especially in the distortion/overdrive realm, rolling off the tone knob of the bass can help a bit. Also for some synthy sounds, pairing those bass suck pedals with an octaver can yield some nice results.

 

[BEADist]

I don’t like guitar centric dirt pedals because most cut the lows too low for bass. Some get around that by blending the pedal with their clean sound, but I despise doing that.

Do you also not like it if you apply a LPF set at 150 Hz to the clean signal? My ears do not perceive it as blended clean but just as extended bass range to the distortion in this way. Without a highcut on the clean signal I also really don't like mixing clean signal. Might also depend on the distortion maybe, I have not tried that many guitar dirt boxes with LPF clean blend. Maybe this would only work if the dirt box already have relative good low response to begin with?

 

[Vlad5]

I've done this, for example:

in > Badger Schism > Bass Mid Control + HM2 > out
............................> -------clean signal------- >

Basically, use a parallel blend pedal to retain your low end, while also using a hi pass filter (or selectable Q eq) to activate the guitar effect in the mid to high range only.

Boss LM2 and any hi pass filter/eq pedal will do.
This may only apply to drives and distortion.
I've used modulation effects designed for treble guitar with my bass guitar with no problems.
Chorus, delay, reverb, phaser, flanger, filter, tremolo, etc...

Just gotta listen to what the low end is doing to the effect, or what the effect is doing to the lowend.
If it sounds good, it is good.

 

[Colum]

Almost none of my pedals are bass pedals.
For Overdrive I use a Fairfield Barbershop and a Nobels ODR Mini. Both great Overdrives.

 

[keyofnight]

As folks have said, some guitar pedals cut off low end, or have EQ/Tone controls that are bad for bass. But I'll add that some wah pedals don't dip low enough into the bass frequencies to sound as good as they should. (I use a Fairfield Four Eyes as a kind of fuzz wah, and it has a pretty wide range on it, so I'm happy.)

Also, some effects that "track" a signal to make another signal are very touchy with lower frequencies, things like octave pedals, "synth" pedals, or whatever. This usually means you have to play cleanly, or the pedal will glitch out. (Lots of people love these glitches, so it's all up to you.)

That said, just don't make the mistake of only playing pedals that call themselves "bass pedals." You should always check here on TalkBass for reviews of any pedals you find interesting, and watch for bass demos those pedals. You'll be surprised at how much helpful info you'll turn up.

 

[superheavyfunk]

I have too many guitar pedals I probably don't need but I'm a beginner to bass in general. I know there's bass guitar pedals but is there any reason I SHOULDN'T be using regular guitar pedals for a bass? (Modulation, reverb etc). If low frequencies are the issue, would an EQ pedal do the trick?

I use some guitar pedals (OCD, Rat, Digitech Digital Delay, Macon Chorus, and more) as part of my regular rig and they sound great! Other ones I own and have tried sound terrible on bass… Just try it and then let US know what worked and what didn’t!

 

[Rib 13]

As many have stated, many pedals and effects cut low end. Besides some drives, its very noticable on a Chorus pedal. To me, the Chorus (if you decide to use one) should be bass specific, the others are just up to your taste

 

[cheapbasslovin]

It's just like guitar pedals:

Plug it in. Tweak it. Find a use. Take it to rehearsal. Realize your solo tone sucks. Retweak. Keep or cycle off.

 

[Koshchei]

If the pedal sucks low end, just put an EQ after it to put the low end back in.

 

[keyofnight]

Huh. Now that I think about it, I don't think I have any Bass pedals. All of them are just… pedals. lol. Does the Broughton HPF+LPF count? (I don't think it does.)

 

[jerry]

 

[Mechayoshi]

I vote strongly for the LS-2 method plus experimentation because of the two channels it has with the blend. (Channels can also be blended together)

Interestingly my issue with some bass tailored pedals were that I couldn't control the built in blend. It would almost sound like two pedals at once. With the Boss by contrast you have a complete sweep of the signal passing through and you'd be surprised to see that sometimes you only takes a slight blend of the clean to make heavy distortion sound powerful and clear. If there are situational effects that don't need to be in the chain constantly it's an A/B box for that too.

 

[matante]

It’s been done for decades by many high-end professional bass players it’s not even a discussion really at this point as to whether it works or not.

Not just decades but literally going back to the sixties.

 

[Thegreatzambini]

Not just decades but literally going back to the sixties.

Thanks Tips! Why did you assume when I used the word “decades” that I didn’t mean to go as far back as the 60s…?

 

[matante]

Thanks Tips! Why did you assume when I used the word “decades” that I didn’t mean to go as far back as the 60s…?

I didn't assume. I was stressing the point for other people reading the thread. Cheers.

 

[jasonmitsch]

If the pedal sucks low end, just put an EQ after it to put the low end back in.

https://youtu.be/E8NzQF_GvWE

 

[roffe]

I've modded my 2 overdrives for bass, changing a couple of capacitors in the signal path usually does the trick. The only bass-specific pedal I use is the MXR DI+, the rest are "guitar" pedals.