I try to keep it simple, I hate "fiddling" around at a gig... but must have for me; Tech 21 sans amp VT, Tuner, & compressor. for sake of simplicity I got a clip on tuner!
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What Are The "Must Have" Pedals?
- Thread starter Mr Cheese
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I try to keep it simple, I hate "fiddling" around at a gig... but must have for me; Tech 21 sans amp VT, Tuner, & compressor. for sake of simplicity I got a clip on tuner!
There really aren't any pedals you absolutely have to have as a bassist. Many help, but none are strictly necessary. That's especially true in session work, where the producer is the one calling the shots as to the bass tone he wants to hear in the mix, and is working at least as closely with the engy on his side of the glass as with you in the booth. You might own some signature piece of equipment that the producer heard you use on your last album for some other pop star, and wants you to bring it in for this one, but in general the average commercial recording studio is going to have a wealth of resources in equipment that beats yours by an order of magnitude. It's not unheard of for session bassists to not even be playing their own bass, because the bass they showed up with, while it sounds beautiful soloed, does something that doesn't sit, and the engineer can't shoehorn it into the track, so the bassist ends up re-tracking with a vintage P from the equipment locker.
All that said, the better you and your equipment are at crafting a useful, mixable tone, the more you'll be asked to use the stuff you're familiar with, and the more you can put a personal stamp on the sound you bring to a track, which gets your name out into the industry as someone producers want for more than your fingers. That signature sound still may not include pedals; you might well end up with a shockmount rack containing an amp head and a few choice rackmount processors like a multiband compressor, parametric or graphic EQ and IR loader, and your sound comes from your fingers on your bass into that rack and from there to the board or a set of cabs. Or, you can go the pedalboard route; it tends to be a little cheaper, in large part because the equipment is simpler in design, but if it works it works. Either way, bassists tend to have a few more "always on" effects, and far fewer "color" effects that are switched on and off, so whether your effects are on the floor or in a rack, more of your rig will have its lights on than your guitarist's board.
The effects, in pedal form or otherwise, that are most often used on bass are EQ and compression. Yes, they are effects; they change the sound of your instrument in noticeable ways. They are usually applied subtly, as "tone-shaping tools" instead of recognizable "hey, they're doing something cool to their sound" changes that you may call an "effect", but they are nevertheless doing something to your tone that you want to have happen. Both tools help make the bass sit in the mix.
EQ can emphasize frequencies within the "slice" of the full spectrum where the bass is supposed to be, and de-emphasize frequencies that clash with other instruments. Bass typically owns the spectrum from about 40Hz to about 600Hz, sharing the very lowest frequencies with the kick drum and starting to blend into the guitar's fundamental range beginning at 100Hz. Meanwhile, the midrange, 600Hz to about 4kHz, is usually a big mess that has to be carefully managed as virtually every instrument has significant "color" frequencies here, and many sound engineers make their lives easier by just taking the bass guitar totally out of that slice.
Compression is a volume-leveling tool. The plucked strings of bass produce a high-volume attack that decays over time. Reducing the volume of the peaks and bringing up the volume of the decaying tone produces a more even volume that keeps you in place in the mix, and that's what compression does. It is by nature a subtle effect, even when taken to extreme like in the "chicken-pickin" style of country/bluegrass guitar. On bass, it's usually used in two ways; to accentuate note attacks by delaying the onset of compression to increase the relative volume of these transient frequencies before "clamping down" on resonant tone, and to otherwise level out the dynamics of your playing to keep a solid foundation to the band's harmonies.
Beyond these two tools, other effects typically seen on guitar are possible and useful on bass as well, but they are typically applied more sparingly for a specific color to your sound. Generally speaking, there's no effect you just absolutely can't use on bass, but there are some common pitfalls.
- Many modulation effects, specifically chorus, vibrato and tremolo, work by generating a wave at a slightly different frequency from that of your dry signal. It doesn't take much of a frequency change to sound very out of tune on bass (the difference between open E and the F one fret above it is just 2.4Hz), and the last thing you want to do as a bassist is sound out of tune. Phasers work differently from these modulation effects, producing a similar moving sweep to the tone without changing pitch; consider a subtle slow phase effect instead of chorus to produce that three-dimensional shimmer.
- Other types of effects, mainly gain effects like distortion/fuzz and wahs but also flangers, can take your low end out of the mix, either directly by cutting everything not in the wah's band filter, or indirectly by clipping the peak levels of the fundamental frequency, or by phase-cancelling your lower notes with too severe a flange setting. Bass-specific versions of these effects commonly give you a blend control, mixing some clean tone back into the output to preserve your low end while still giving you the effect.
- Lastly, many time-based modulation effects, like reverb, can destroy the clarity of your sound by drowning your attack in the decay of your previous note. Consider using delay on bass instead of reverb; the echoes are a cleaner copy of your tone than the smeary wash of reverb, and you can very commonly adjust the tone of the decaying echoes to roll off the bass frequencies, giving you the percussive, rhythmic effect of delay without blurring your low end.
Only real must have pedal is of course a Tuner, not only for keeping in tune, but as a turn off button to stop sound going to the amp. Rest Depends on band, genre, etc. If I'm playing in a folk band with 3 guitarists last thing I want is a microtubes alpha omega. Playing in a 3 piece metal band, I'll take that pedal in a heart beat to thicken things up a bit. A compressor is nice to have to even things out, but I always find myself leaving it behind more oft than not. A decent chorus / EQ is good for parts when you want to punch through tonally.
Need? None. A tuner is really, really nice to have, though.
But you'll almost certainly want some kind of OD, and if you're not playing an active bass with EQ, some kind of EQ... but your amp has both of these things anyway.
And there are pedals that aren't particularly exciting, but can serve important functions, like compressors and HPFs and DIs and such. I don't play out so I don't bother with these, but if/when I ever do, I'll probably look into this stuff.
And then there's this whole huge world of pedals that almost nobody needs, but they sure are fun to play around with. Some people are not into this, for others, pedals themselves are a second hobby. If you're interested, go nuts. If you don't care, then hey, that's more money you don't need to spend. Personally I love noodling around with pedals, but it might not be for you.
But you'll almost certainly want some kind of OD, and if you're not playing an active bass with EQ, some kind of EQ... but your amp has both of these things anyway.
And there are pedals that aren't particularly exciting, but can serve important functions, like compressors and HPFs and DIs and such. I don't play out so I don't bother with these, but if/when I ever do, I'll probably look into this stuff.
And then there's this whole huge world of pedals that almost nobody needs, but they sure are fun to play around with. Some people are not into this, for others, pedals themselves are a second hobby. If you're interested, go nuts. If you don't care, then hey, that's more money you don't need to spend. Personally I love noodling around with pedals, but it might not be for you.
IMHO, there are no must-have pedals except a tuner. I do strongly suggest a compressor using an always-on setting. You might want some type of distortion to allow you get an aggressive sound when the song calls for it. And you might want a chorus pedal set to add a little "shimmer", can be cool for solos or riffs that use higher notes (if you don't overuse it). To me, any pedals beyond this are fun if you have cash to spare but not indispensable. The only must-have is a tuner.
I went for a long time with nothing. I would watch the guitar player and keys guy fumble around with their boards and batteries short cables and just laugh while the crowd would wait for the band to start. Good time for some bass and drums. My point is they are fun at home jamming but live a good bass ,cable and amp are all you need. Imo
If you have to ask, then there is nothing you must need. You would know that the sound effect is missing from your life.
I've done about 50-60% of my session work straight to the board, no pedals, no amp, just headphones or even desk monitors in the studio with engineer, hiring band/artist, producer, gaffer, groupies present.... but no pedals, often.
When I do bring a pedal, it's the EBS multi-comp. If needed, an overdrive of some type, a modulation pedal (specially with fretless as that is often the desired tone, or it was when I was playing full time)....
comps, effects etc in the studios were typically better than any pedals I could bring.
For session work though a transparent comp is pretty dang important, whether it's yours or the engineer's.
But I'll tell ya - you have to play pretty damn consistently to get away with no pedal compressor in a paying studio gig.
Having your own comp pedal buys you something very useful - you SOUND better, your tracks are easier to mix and to level and to edit, and you get rehired more often for future work by the engineer/producer/artist.
Or at least... that's my experience... but I was very very good at playing consistently without any effects, in my prime at least.
When I do bring a pedal, it's the EBS multi-comp. If needed, an overdrive of some type, a modulation pedal (specially with fretless as that is often the desired tone, or it was when I was playing full time)....
comps, effects etc in the studios were typically better than any pedals I could bring.
For session work though a transparent comp is pretty dang important, whether it's yours or the engineer's.
But I'll tell ya - you have to play pretty damn consistently to get away with no pedal compressor in a paying studio gig.
Having your own comp pedal buys you something very useful - you SOUND better, your tracks are easier to mix and to level and to edit, and you get rehired more often for future work by the engineer/producer/artist.
Or at least... that's my experience... but I was very very good at playing consistently without any effects, in my prime at least.
I have been using this, the Fender Downtown Express bass effect pedal. Overdrive, Compression, and EQ. Sounds great. 99.99% of audience members won’t be able to tell the difference, though, so cost-benefit analysis suggests one should go easy investing in a whole lot of effects for bass. I sometimes use the Jim Dunlop MXR M82 Bass Envelope Filter, which is a lot of fun to fool around with.
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Maybe...maybe not. In my little universe, there's a special charm in being able to throw-down a black box which is essentially a DI with embellishments, EQ being one. It's a known quantity when faced with strange backline gear, FOH, and wonky room acoustics.
Riis
There was a time when I had a bigger board than my guitar player ... not these days.
here is a rundown of what works for me, I play in a blues/rock based band harmonica, drums and a single guitar player using mostly a Strat or Tele through a small combo amp. He plays mostly cleanish with maybe some Tube Screamer type OD. The far right pedal is a clean boost used mostly to level match between my different basses, the Sole Pressure is used sparingly to add some grit when needed and the Voodoo Bass is set for mild tube like compression the JDI is well a DI that’s it.
here is a rundown of what works for me, I play in a blues/rock based band harmonica, drums and a single guitar player using mostly a Strat or Tele through a small combo amp. He plays mostly cleanish with maybe some Tube Screamer type OD. The far right pedal is a clean boost used mostly to level match between my different basses, the Sole Pressure is used sparingly to add some grit when needed and the Voodoo Bass is set for mild tube like compression the JDI is well a DI that’s it.
....the one on the left and the one on the right, respectively, at least wherever there's left hand drive
FWIW, without knowing how and what you play, musically, amplification and instrument, I don't think a "must have" pedal list exists.
I'd suggest learning and exploring what various pedal types do, and and apply them as you want and need stylistically. Effects and processors are simply extensions of the instrument, no different than alternate tunings, fingers vs. pick vs. slap and pop, or switching instruments for different vibes.
That said, much of the time I use nothing. The amp controls, instrument, and string choices work together to develop a particular sound. Effects and processors are used as icing on the cake to create a specific sound. YOUR sound may require a certain process or effect most or all of the time, or for a single passage in a single piece.
Anybody who tells you that you must have this or that without knowing you, your style, you abilities, and your goals is peeing in the wind.
EXPLORE!
I'd suggest learning and exploring what various pedal types do, and and apply them as you want and need stylistically. Effects and processors are simply extensions of the instrument, no different than alternate tunings, fingers vs. pick vs. slap and pop, or switching instruments for different vibes.
That said, much of the time I use nothing. The amp controls, instrument, and string choices work together to develop a particular sound. Effects and processors are used as icing on the cake to create a specific sound. YOUR sound may require a certain process or effect most or all of the time, or for a single passage in a single piece.
Anybody who tells you that you must have this or that without knowing you, your style, you abilities, and your goals is peeing in the wind.
EXPLORE!
Haha, but seriously..............the one on the left and the one on the right, respectively, at least wherever there's left hand drive
That would have happened once and then we would have had a talk about programming your stuff, and using presets, and knowing the set list!
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