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What would YOU do??

Willem

Willem

Dec 26, 2005
2,055
11
Belgium
www.myspace.com
#1
As my title might make clear, I know it's all up to me in the end. But I was wondering what you would do if you were me...:confused:

I'm looking to add a third and final pedal. The reason I only want three pedals is because I have a threeway splitter cable with my adapter AND because I do not have a lot of money and I do not have a lot of need for effects.:ninja:

I'm in a trash metalband (just started writing originals), with lots of heavy riffin, solo's, duals, not to much double bass, sometimes a clean verse, well... you know the deal.:bassist:
I play mostly with a pick, but I'm working on fingerstyle and slap.

So my pedals are (or will be)
compressor (looking for the right one) but will be always on.
Xotic Bass BB Preamp used in moderation: during the duals, when I play alone, in some groovin' parts... and it takes care of all my od/dist/fuzz needs

Requierements for the pedal
- goes well with clean and distortion
- something I'll use often (more than once)
- something I'll use with my band (not just on my own in my bedroom):bassist:
- no tone suck;)
- no tuner, volume pedal, synth, envelope filter, multiFX, looper or blender:rolleyes:

So what would you add if you could only add 1 pedal and tell me what you'd use it for?
(I'm asking for YOUR opinion, not advice (wise guy talk) like 'get out and try everything', 'it's all up to you', 'Cliff used wha, get a wha', 'what works for me, might not work for you'...:hiding: )
 
#2
If you are on a budget, I'd look into the Hartke VXL pedal. Basically it is an outboard preamp with some tube emulation and a "tone shaping" feature that basically pulls the frequenices to a different part of the midrange. It is comparable to the Sansamp BDDI but about half the price.

Since you are playing metal, the "blend" and "bright" features could give you that extra edge of presence to cut through the high gain guitars.

Once you start getting into effects, it can be a long road. I use wah, distortion, chorus, flanger, bassballs, a sansamp, compressor, and a bass synth. I am hoping to pick up a delay pedal for my tapping or a ring modulator for screwed up tones. If I could choose only one, I'd choose the Sansamp BDDI.
 
#3
Its really up to you - you should go to a store and try everything out and buy what you think fits your situation best. In my opinion, you're really missing a wah pedal - lots of great metal bassists have used them, for example Cliff Burton. It could give you alot of musical flexibility - that's what I use. However, I acknowledge that what works for me might not work for you.
 
#4
Willem said:
Requierements for the pedal
- goes well with clean and distortion
- something I'll use often (more than once)
- something I'll use with my band (not just on my own in my bedroom):bassist:
- no tone suck;)
- no tuner, volume pedal, synth, envelope filter, multiFX, looper or blender:rolleyes:

So what would you add if you could only add 1 pedal and tell me what you'd use it for?
(I'm asking for YOUR opinion, not advice (wise guy talk) like 'get out and try everything', 'it's all up to you', 'Cliff used wha, get a wha', 'what works for me, might not work for you'...:hiding: )
Click to expand...

thats kinda hard for us to tell you what pedal to get if it has to be something you'll use, and something you can use in your band...I Don't know you, and i've never heard your band...how can I tell you what to get?
get a flanger
get a DOD 250 overdrive
get a whammy pedal
get a dunlop 105Q wah
get a phaser
get a delay pedal
get a Boss Chorus

pick one from the list that is easiest on your eyes and wallet, and thats my suggestion...i won't tell you that you should try them out for yourself, because, let's face it...thats a waste of time...;)
 
#5
I'd ditch the lot, and put the money towards a better bass or amp.

If you're not happy with the sound of your bass then address the problem don't hide it behind layers of mush. I want my sound up front and cutting through - no pedal is gonna get me there.

If you're totally happy with your straigh sound, and want to add some spice then look at a decent spec multi-fx - rackmount type. Less tone suck, less cables and greater flexability than a string of pedals. I can't say that ALL floor based multi-effects are rubbish, but most of the ones I've heard are aimed at the 15-20 year old market: all wizz and features, no tone (the perfect xmas presents to teenagers!).

Maybe you've been through all of this already, and a pedal is the right thing - but you did as what would _I_ do. The fact you don't know what you want to add suggests you just want another toy - I totally get that, but resit the temptation, and build a solid sound first.

Ian
 
#8
Willem said:
Let's rephrase...
I like my bass and amp.
I know you can't tell me what to get... I'm asking what you would get?
So if you (not me) could only add ONE pedal to compressor + distortion would it be wha, chorus, flanger or phaser and why?
Click to expand...

I find chorus more useful than flange or phase. My definition of Wha is "my bass sounds good, my bass sounds bad, my bass sounds good, my bass sounds bad, my bass sounds good, my bass sounds bad":D
 
#10
If you don't have the compressor yet, get the Aphex Orange Crush (or whatever they call their compressor), then get the Bass Xciter. You don't need a wah, and for metal, you don't want chorus. Forget about the delay too. For metal, you need big tone and chrunchy distortion. All that other stuff will suck your tone.
 
#13
IanStephenson said:
If you're totally happy with your straigh sound, and want to add some spice then look at a decent spec multi-fx - rackmount type. Less tone suck, less cables and greater flexability than a string of pedals. I can't say that ALL floor based multi-effects are rubbish, but most of the ones I've heard are aimed at the 15-20 year old market: all wizz and features, no tone (the perfect xmas presents to teenagers!).
Click to expand...

I'd suggest you need to open your eyes and your ears.
 
#17
Depending on what kind of sound you want, and what kind of player you are, I'd go for chorus or wah.

Go for the chorus if you want to thicken stuff up. Place a Boss CEB-3 before the BB Preamp to really get some punch from it. Seriously, the filter on the CEB is amazing!

As for the wah, that'd be a tougher choice IMO. As far as I'm concerned, I got lucky with the Dime CFH. Place it after the BB Preamp to get the most out of it (IMO/E). Depending on the wah, and if the BB gives lots of clean lows with it's dist, you can get a real growl out of it.

The other extreem would be my experiment with wah: Place really hi-gain dist/od before and after the wah. The wah then acts as an EQ filter so that the two dists/ods blend better. If both dists/ods have a bass control you don't need to worry about low end loss, even if the wah is one with a switch, and you leave it on all the time.
 
#18
DarkHarted said:
Depending on what kind of sound you want, and what kind of player you are, I'd go for chorus or wah.

Go for the chorus if you want to thicken stuff up. Place a Boss CEB-3 before the BB Preamp to really get some punch from it. Seriously, the filter on the CEB is amazing!
Click to expand...

Could you make some clips of dist + chorus?
Would be nice!:)

DarkHarted said:
As for the wah, that'd be a tougher choice IMO. As far as I'm concerned, I got lucky with the Dime CFH. Place it after the BB Preamp to get the most out of it (IMO/E). Depending on the wah, and if the BB gives lots of clean lows with it's dist, you can get a real growl out of it.
Click to expand...

Yeah I was thinking that too, but I don't know if I would use that often in band situation. First I'm gonna focus on getting a good compressor. I'm pretty sure that my sound will improve using one. The barber tone press did.

DarkHarted said:
The other extreem would be my experiment with wah: Place really hi-gain dist/od before and after the wah. The wah then acts as an EQ filter so that the two dists/ods blend better. If both dists/ods have a bass control you don't need to worry about low end loss, even if the wah is one with a switch, and you leave it on all the time.
Click to expand...

But that's not your bandfriendly board now, is it?:D

Before I get another effect I'll see what our songs will be like and if I need a wha or a chorus I'll get it than. I'll just use the thirth plug from my adapter plug for a €15 tuner I'll hook up to the tuner out from my amp. That means 2 cables from board to amp, but nothing some duckt tape can't overcome:p .
And in the meantime I'm saving up for a rack, with sennheiser wireless, korg DTR 1000, a rack drawer and a nice tube head (or pre + power). Maybe some midi to control pedals + footswitch stuff from the amp. Don't you just love falling from gas into gas? :smug:
 
#19
Willem said:
Could you make some clips of dist + chorus?
Would be nice!:)
Click to expand...
Already have one (sorta :D) : [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Hopfully, you can hear the slow/deep chorus I have going on when I hit the end of the riff and hold the last of the 3 long notes. Really gives it a swell/swirl type effect. Believe it or not if I recorded that w/o the chorus, the whole thing would've sounded rather "flat" :D

Willem said:
But that's not your bandfriendly board now, is it?:D
Click to expand...
:D
icon_twisted.gif
 

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