what Effects can you not live without?

[marmadaddy]

I have six pedals plus tuner and wireless on my board, but I'd call them "nice to have" rather than "must have".
In order of importance to me: chorus/modulation, VT Deluxe, compression, distortion, envelope filter, pitch shifter.

 

[Jared Lash]

Obviously the thread title is overstating things. I could live and I could gig without effects. But if I had to pick one or two that I've pretty much ALWAYS had it would be octave and overdrive.

The next tier of things I generally have and use are compressor, envelope filter and fuzz.

When I have the space I love delay and phaser. In fact phaser and delay are probably my absolute favorite effects but (at least for most of what I do) I rarely get to use them in gig situations.

 

[fishdreams]

I play both with and without effects. I use them for soundscaping purposes. The one essential pedal to my setup is the Digitech Whammy, but I just got a EHX Pitch Fork, and I think the Whammy will be history very soon.

 

[BartmanPDX]

I've owned to fx boxes, ever.
A Mutron, way the heck back in the 70's stolen by a guitar player; and what was maybe an mxr chorus flange I bought when I started playing fretless and discarded shortly after.

I haven't owned any for years and don't see adding any.

I think your use of 'fx boxes' is key here, and a distinction most people are missing.

Many people here, when they see 'effects' think it means things that radically change your sound -- fuzz boxes, phasers, chorus, etc.

However, many effects are subtle and people don't even realize they are using them.

EQ on your amp? It's an effect. ON/off/volume is all you need, right? What about compression? My first effect aside from EQ was the compressor on my amp. Not all effects are in stompboxes.

Many people have no stompboxes but still use some sort of effect, even if it's subtle or still gives you a clean sound, like adding a preamp. I play in a cover band so most of my stompboxes don't change my sound radically -- a little boost here for heavier parts, a different EQ setting for a different style of music, etc.. It's definitely possible to use stompbox effects and still preserve the 'pure' and 'clean' sound of your bass, though at a different level, or with different EQ, etc.

One of my most important stompboxes is a clean boost that I use if I suddenly discover I'm turned way down (usually at the start of the show, and when we have no sound man and don't run instruments through the PA in many small bars), so that I can bring myself up in the mix while still playing, without having to try to turn up my amp. It sounds kind of silly but it's saved me many times when the drummer and guitar player suddenly decideded to crank it up and I wasn't turned up enough.

 

[cnltb]

Yep, had it several years and really like it worx great with my basses.

Gotta luv a pedal with Klang!

Why do you ask?

One doesn't see it often.

 

[leonard]

SABDDI always on. Don't know if it's a love affair or a bad habit.

 

[JayJayEsse]

OD, octaver, envelope filter, delay with tap, and comp. Fretless with reverb is my current favorite.

 

[Kmonk]

All of these responses do nothing to help, and are unnecessary.
If you have no business in the effects forum, stay out of the effects forum.

The OP said all opinions are welcome!

 

[I am Soma]

micro pog and steel leather. with my tuning im not sure i could play without them.....i could but it would sound pretty lame.

 

[cm3ohana]

I've gone several pedals and lugged around a pedal board with my favorites for a while but, in the end, I find that I'm good with just a VT Bass DI in my gig bag and haven't used the pedal board in a long while.

 

[Nephilymbass]

I play hard rock and metal. So I'm not into fuzz or octave like someone who plays pop music. Not into envolope filters either. I think it has a lot to do with the style(s) you play.

If I had to I could go without any effects I could. Done it before, but that would be a bit boring for me. I like the grit I get out of my sans amp rbi, I like how my compressor adds sustain and makes me sound more consistant particularly when im jumping around and acting like im having a seizure onstage(I mean seriously anyone can play consistantly sitting on their butt) . I've owned a couple loopers and even if you don't use them live, they can be great for writing. Outside of those everything is just about having fun though. I like delays, I like chorus, I like some applications of reverb(although reverb is tricky and sometimes unusable live depending on each venues acoustics.

 

[Bryan R. Tyler]

The OP said all opinions are welcome!

It's very clearly not what the OP meant and not in the spirit of the thread though. And it's really rather impolite. If you look at the posting history that you or SanDiegoHarry or some of the other posters have in the Effects forum, it's just a series of "I don't like effects and don't think they're needed." Coming into the Effects forum just to post these responses in the few threads where it would technically not be trolling is still not in the spirit of the rules and certainly impolite.

It's no different than going into an Italian restaurant, sitting at a table with a menu, and when your waiter comes up and asks you what you'd like, you respond loudly so that he and all the other patrons hear that you'd like nothing because you don't like Italian food and think there's better food elsewhere. Then you leave. And then you come back and do that in the same restaurant every couple of weeks. This is done by multiple people at Il Restaurante Effecto.

You don't have to like Italian food. But it should be obvious that it's a real drag to the other patrons when someone insists on repeating out loud how much they don't like it.

 

[FretNoMore]

Thank you, great analogy.

 

[GlassOnion]

Pink BassMaster.

 

[tonemachine]

It's very clearly not what the OP meant and not in the spirit of the thread though. And it's really rather impolite. If you look at the posting history that you or SanDiegoHarry or some of the other posters have in the Effects forum, it's just a series of "I don't like effects and don't think they're needed." Coming into the Effects forum just to post these responses in the few threads where it would technically not be trolling is still not in the spirit of the rules and certainly impolite.

It's no different than going into an Italian restaurant, sitting at a table with a menu, and when your waiter comes up and asks you what you'd like, you respond loudly so that he and all the other patrons hear that you'd like nothing because you don't like Italian food and think there's better food elsewhere. Then you leave. And then you come back and do that in the same restaurant every couple of weeks. This is done by multiple people at Il Restaurante Effecto.

You don't have to like Italian food. But it should be obvious that it's a real drag to the other patrons when someone insists on repeating out loud how much they don't like it.

Well put.

I wish all moderators would regularly make posts of this nature in just about every forum in order to call out certain regulars in each one who too frequently show up seemingly for no other purpose than to exercise their negative, hostile personalities. They usually do this by twisting other people's words so that they can troll for attention. Or they just come in and state as fact their opinions on the subjective and then subtly, or not subtly suggest that anyone who doesn't agree is akin to an idiot. It really makes for unpleasant reading and, more importantly, it gets in the way of the good posts which are educational and/or fair-minded.

Some of us go into threads that don't inherently interest us because possibly we can learn something serendipitously or support someone looking for help; the perpetually-hostile-about-something guys get in the way and drive away others since the latter can't honestly tell the the former "what's up," lest the fair-minded be sanctioned for TOS violation. The end result is that valuable posters start going away when the unpleasant are continually allowed to work TOS loopholes in true-jerk fashion.

If a non-moderator posted the reasonable post that you just did, they would argue it in no civilized way. That's no fun for us regular, reasonable people. Thanks.

 

[grygrx]

Ok. This is amusing and all, but frankly this is the effects forums. Closing thread and tagging trolls, please read the subforum rules.

 

[grygrx]

All of these responses do nothing to help, and are unnecessary.
If you have no business in the effects forum, stay out of the effects forum.

You are not the mod. If you have concerns with a post, report it. The very question at hand here is the discussion and polling of people's opinions on this very topic. Would you rather it moved to misc?

 

[grygrx]

Thread reopened. I tossed out 8-10 warnings without even reading names just based on the content. Both sides.

1) You are not the moderator. If you are, moderate and shut up.
2) Considered options about non-effects use are fine. Cracking 'smart' jokes about it like it's not the 1,000,000th time we've all heard it is not. Yes, we have a complex at this point.
3) Report posts if you are concerned about the content. No, you will not be directly informed what happens as a result of your report. Yes, every report is looked at. No, I don't sit on Talkbass 24/7 to immediate remediate any 'pixel slight' you may have suffered in the intermediate hours.
4) Trolling trolls is trolling. (Say that 10 times fast)