What effects? Which settings? I need help!

[Haans]

I've never really bothered with effects on my bass before, apart from the odd overdrive (vintage Electro Harmonix Hot Tubes - awesome!), but I suddenly felt the urge to widen my horizon!

I mainly play a kind of country-ish rock type-a-thing, so I'm not looking for weirdness. I mainly want "better" sound, y'know? Suggestions to try out.

Here's what I got:
- OLP MM-2 (Stingray copy that packs a lot of punch)

- Boss GEB-7 equalizer
- Boss CS-3 compression/sustainer
- DOD FX80-B compression/sustainer
- Sovtek Big Muff Pi overdrive
- Electro Harmonix Hot Tubes overdrive
- Arion Phaser or Flanger... don't use this one much

Getting:
- Behringer V-Tone BDI21
- Danelectro Tuna Melt tremolo

I don't have an amp at home, and very short time at rehearsals, so what I need are some hints, tips, suggestions as to what to use and what settings might be useful. As I said, I'm not looking for any weird sounds, just subtle nuances, or perhaps a combo that really makes my bass sound great through the crappy amp in the rehearsal space. Enough of a challenge for you?

Any way a subtle chorus might improve the sound? Echo? Delay? I'm just completely blank. Any help would be much appreciated

 

[niftydog]

I would think you'd benefit from a better compressor. Like, one that you can tweak to get the sound you want, rather than those "one knob wonders." Not that they're bad, they just aren't all that suited to some bass oriented applications. (And yes, before anyone says anything, I know they have more than one knob!)

Chorus is always good for that kind of thing. I'm partial to a more subtle form known as detuning. The Boss Harmonist does it well. I can't really describe it, some people say it's like double tracking your instrument, but that doesn't really do it justice. Les Claypool uses extreme detuning for some of his sounds - but again, not really helpful. I'd suggest you try a Boss pedal like the Harmonist. I think the pitch shifters do it as well, like the Boss unit and the Whammy, but I've not been as impressed by them as the Harmonist.

Echo, or reverb can be useful, but it often just muddies up the mix when you're playing with a full band. Use it sparingly.

I reckon if you get good at tweaking a (fully featured) compressor and use it with your EQ pedal you might be onto something good. It'll really make you stand out in the mix, done correctly.