Weird pedals for bass?

[EmaTheMirror]

I'd say that a lot of stuff by Death by Audio is quite "weird" (and "loud")

Especially if you fancy boxes with weird modulation fxs or destructive stuff that makes your signal cannibalise itself, yet retaining lows



(the stuff at 3:00 always makes me giggle)



Never tried them myself, though.

I do find the tip of experimenting with digital multiFXs (Helix...) quite clever, btw. At least you can narrow down your choices and sift out what you're not really gonna use, or come up with some fancy combos that really get interesting when working together.

Of course, if you go down the analogue route, a LS-2 or blend capabilities are always a great parachute for whatever effect you throw in the mix, when doing stuff with bass.

 

[Rib 13]

When I first started my YouTube channel, I was doing a video about playing bass through an EH Vocoder....the video itself was a complete laughable failure and never aired, but bass, vocoder, and microphone was a hoot and a half

 

[KellyC]

 

[40Hz]

Ring modulator.

 

[RandomKaren]

Anything by Parasit Studio. The Arcadiator is a good starting point. Bitcrushed octaves with tremolo stuttering is plenty weird. Parasit Studio pedals fall under the category of oddities and novelties. They are like the Ripley's Believe it or Not of effects... might even find a shrunken head in their pedal lineup.

I made their U-235 PLL-based suboctave, interesting pedal. Can get very deep.

 

[_One//Man//Mutiny_]

When I first started my YouTube channel, I was doing a video about playing bass through an EH Vocoder....the video itself was a complete laughable failure and never aired, but bass, vocoder, and microphone was a hoot and a half

An Iron Lung really is a ton of fun! I got one as well!

 

[DJ Bebop]

I'm liking this.

 

[Rolling Thunder]

Not too crazy, just unique. The EQD Astral Destiny. It's not like any plate or spring reverb. And it has interesting modulation options. I love the Abyss mode.

 

[daveX99]

a LS-2 or blend capabilities are always a great parachute for whatever effect you throw in the mix, when doing stuff with bass

I second this: I have a Boss LS-2 line switching pedal and it wasn't in my list above (see #31 above), as its 'just' a utility pedal, but it really helps when getting weird on bass. Another very satisfying acquisition, if not very flashy.

I use the A+B Mix setting to create 2 send/return loops: One loop is for the stranger stuff (modulation, reverb, etc), while the other is 'mostly' clean (I have some dirt, chorus and the aforementioned Night Wire in that loop). It allows me to stack some of the whacky stuff and still blend some cleanish signal back in, so the sound has some definition. A good example would be heavy reverb on one loop, but a clean signal in the other so you can actually hear the notes I'm playing, not just mush.

A dry/wet knob on a pedal is great, but when you want to really combine stuff, it isn't as helpful.

Bonus Confession: After jbybj's recommendation for Montreal Assembly's Purpll (#14 above), I went down a rabbit hole and ordered one ($200 shipped to US ). Oddly, they are selling blue Purplls currently.

 

[eddododo]

Looking for recommendations for some weird experimental type pedals for bass.

so this is hardly the craziest thing out there, but my offering is the Red Panda Context- it’s got reverb and delay modes, and I have two settings I really like for some interesting sounds

1) the ‘cathedral’ reverb, full wet (no dry), with decay to taste. You get these huge otherworldly drones and walls of sound, and it’s AMAZING with some thoughtfully-voiced chords.

2) Delay mode, extremely low delay time, and decay to taste. You’re making the delay time shorter than an audible delay, so that the note is stacking right on top of itself, with only enough delay to cause a slight phase change, which creates a comb filter- The different delay times in that range change the sound of the “filter” and the decay basically functions as a gain, since all you’re doing is putting more copies of the sound over itself near-simultaneously; It starts to clip at a certain point, and gets harsher as you go. So you have this harsh chip clipping, sound, unnatural robotic-sounding filtering. It can be fuzzy, or even get into a cool 8-bit / bit crush / harsh synth sound. Highly, HIGHLY recommend it, and encourage Searching for a similar used case on other delays.

 

[groooooove]

a really good leslie simulator is not "weird" but it's uncommon, and very very musical.

i find it to be seriously underrated - though the one i use is very expensive, the smallest version of the neo vent.

also Zvex machine is you're into wild stuff. work well with a clean blend, or if you're getting crazy and don't care about low end, on its own.

 

[Novarocker]

This is an effect I don't get. I don't see what they would be used for. Are there any popular songs throughout history that have used ring modulators that I would have heard, maybe?

Science by Incubus, Gonkulator to be exact is the ring mod pedal used. Love em, you can create and release so much tension through dissonance in a song with ring mod.

 

[GodPlayedBass]

so this is hardly the craziest thing out there, but my offering is the Red Panda Context- it’s got reverb and delay modes, and I have two settings I really like for some interesting sounds

1) the ‘cathedral’ reverb, full wet (no dry), with decay to taste. You get these huge otherworldly drones and walls of sound, and it’s AMAZING with some thoughtfully-voiced chords.

2) Delay mode, extremely low delay time, and decay to taste. You’re making the delay time shorter than an audible delay, so that the note is stacking right on top of itself, with only enough delay to cause a slight phase change, which creates a comb filter- The different delay times in that range change the sound of the “filter” and the decay basically functions as a gain, since all you’re doing is putting more copies of the sound over itself near-simultaneously; It starts to clip at a certain point, and gets harsher as you go. So you have this harsh chip clipping, sound, unnatural robotic-sounding filtering. It can be fuzzy, or even get into a cool 8-bit / bit crush / harsh synth sound. Highly, HIGHLY recommend it, and encourage Searching for a similar used case on other delays.

I'm very interested in this. I also like the price point

 

[eddododo]

I'm very interested in this. I also like the price point

I’ll see if I can do a lil demo of the Ødelay mode. The cathedral mode is actually why I got it, after watching a demo of it.. lemme see if I can find it

 

[MT Hope]

EHX Attack Decay. It is a reverse tape simulator that makes weird swells with a built in fuzz and an effects loop. Throw a Boss SY-1 in there. Why? Because it is the best or weirdest synth pedal? No, because it has an effects loop. Throw a PLL in there and now you got a stew cooking.

 

[PhatBottomBass1]

Pigtronix Mothership 2....WOW!

 

[Buzzment]

Pretty much all of my ambient pedalboard can do weird if needed,and it is needed quite frequently,so I'd recommend it all lol

 

[cnltb]

Pretty much all of my ambient pedalboard can do weird if needed,and it is needed quite frequently,so I'd recommend it all lol View attachment 5400801

What does obne do?

 

[Buzzment]

What does obne do?

The little white pedal?..It's an expression pedal called the Ramper by Old Blood Noise Endeavors..It's a great utility pedal that you hook up to a pedal that has expression capabilities..It ramps or modulates a certain parameter on the pedal etc..It has 2 waveshapes and can modulate at really slow to fast speeds constantly or one time etc..highly recommend....

 

[stubbsonic]

I just got a Tasty Chips Integral-- the primary purpose of which is reverb convolution, but it is absurdly flexible for other things as well. Not cheap, but currently (3/29/2024) on sale at Perfect Circuit for $340.

It's a dual convolution (two stereo convolvers, that run in parallel). Each can load true stereo (4 channels, stereo out for each L/R input)-- as well as mono & stereo impulse responses. As 4-bands of full parametric EQ (each selectable low/high shelf, band, or LPF), and much more. You can load everything from short mic, cab, amp, resonator impulses, all the way to 23 second cathedral impulses. But where it gets weird & fun is that you can record IR's right on the unit from the inputs. And you can load user IRs from a USB stick you insert in the side port. Holy moly this thing is crazy-- from the most glorious reverbs I've ever heard all the way to the weirdest alien filter taps, etc. It won't do EVERYTHING, as convolution has it's limitations, but it is fascinating and covers a vast amount of fun territory.

As an example, I recorded myself lightly tapping my acoustic guitar with a hammer. Then used the pitch control on the Integral to pitch it down an octave and boom, my fretless sounds like an upright.